刚果警察逮捕100名抗议者

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrested more than 100 protesters in cities across the country calling for presidential elections to be held by the end of the year.

Demonstrations took place in the capital, Kinshasa, the eastern city of Goma, and at least a half dozen other cities.

In Goma, witnesses said police used tear gas to disperse protesters, while in Kinshasa, media groups said several journalists covering the protests were briefly detained.

The U.N. Joint Human Rights Office in Congo condemned Monday\'s arrests, saying that "arbitrary arrests are incompatible with the right to information and right of freedom of assembly" guaranteed in Congo\'s constitution.

The youth movement Struggle for Change (LUCHA) organized the protests, timed to mark the July 31 deadline by the country\'s election commission to conclude a voter registration program, which was not met.

The group\'s spokesman in Goma, Justin Muhiwa, told VOA that Congo\'s election commission needs to set a date for the vote because it is the right of the Congolese people to hold an election.

President Joseph Kabila\'s second and final constitutional mandate expired last December, leading to growing political tensions in the country.

An agreement reached last year by the president and the opposition said Kabila could remain in office until elections are organized, and it set a deadline of the end of 2017. However, the election commission announced this month that it would not be possible to organize elections by the end of December.

Kabila\'s government has faced a wave of protests in recent months over the election issue. Growing unrest in the country has raised fears of a return to civil war, which ravaged the DRC for nearly a decade beginning in the late 1990s, leading to the deaths of millions of people.

刚果首都金沙萨、东部城市戈马，以及其它至少六个城市都发生了抗议示威。

在戈马，目击者说，警察动用催泪瓦斯驱散抗议人群。在金沙萨，媒体说，几名报道抗议示威的记者被短暂拘捕。

联合国在刚果的联合人权办公室对星期一的拘捕行动表示谴责。该人权办公室表示：“任意拘捕与刚果宪法保障的知情权和自由结社权不相符合。”

这次抗议的组织者是青年运动“为改变而奋斗”，抗议选在7月31日，刚好是刚果选举委员会结束选举登记项目的截止日期，但是该委员会没有如期完成登记工作。

“为改变而奋斗”运动在戈马的发言人告诉美国之音说，选举委员会需要确定投票日期，因为刚果人民有权利举行选举。

刚果民主共和国总统卡比拉第二届任期去年12月结束，导致国内政治局势日益紧张。

根据去年总统和反对派达成的协议，大选前卡比拉可以留任，并把选举最后期限定在2017年年底。然而，选举委员会这个月宣布，12月底以前不可能组织选举。

最近几个月因为选举问题先后多次发生抗议卡比拉政府的行动。刚果民主共和国日益动荡的局势让人们担心这个国家会再次陷入内战。上世纪90年代末刚果民主共和国曾发生近10年的内战，造成数百万人丧生。