The federal prosecutor in Belgium has asked for DNA samples from about 15 Congolese children who were adopted by families there, but who may still have living parents in DR Congo who never willingly placed them for adoption. It’s the latest development in a case Belgian authorities and media outlets…
A Congolese boy who traveled to the United States for medical care – capturing many hearts along the way – has left a few of them broken, on the news that he died during complications in surgery on Friday. Matadi Sela Petit, an 8-year-old from Kinshasa, was born with a…
The United States embassy in Kinshasa reopened on Tuesday, after closing its doors in response to a terror threat for more than a week. Embassy staff first announced the threat on November 24, and said the closure was effective the following Monday. The threat, based on what they described as “credible…
The Congolese mining entity Gécamines issued a scathing rebuke to international NGOs on Wednesday, with a report that seeks to debunk the years of allegations about corruption and missing millions. The 60-page report begins with an introduction from Albert Yuma-Mulimbi, a close ally of outgoing President Joseph Kabila and the…
Six people were killed Sunday in Kinshasa, as security forces shut down protest marches against President Joseph Kabila’s government organized by lay leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Roman Catholic churches. Florence Marchal, a spokeswoman for the United Nations mission there, told MONUSCO-affiliated Radio Okapi that there also were…
In Democratic Republic of Congo, the Roman Catholic community leaders planning a peaceful march on Sunday say they will go ahead with the protest despite a lack of approval from Kinshasa authorities. The Comité Laïc de Coordination (CLC) said Friday that “Christians, believers and men and women of goodwill” from all walks…
The Roman Catholic bishops who helped negotiate last year’s December 31 agreement on new elections in Democratic Republic of Congo have called on President Joseph Kabila to make clear he will not seek a third term. The National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) bishops released their statement during a press…
Donald Yamamoto, the acting assistant secretary for African affairs at the United States Department of State, testified before a U.S. congressional committee on Wednesday in defense of a USD$5.2 billion foreign assistance budget request for FY2018. Yamamoto, in a position that President Donald Trump’s administration has yet to formally fill,…
The bodies of two United Nations experts missing since March 12 in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been positively identified, the UN said in a statement late Tuesday. The remains of Zaida Catalan of Sweden and Michael Sharp of the United States were discovered by United Nations Mission in…
”Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.” On March 3, in a prescient last Twitter message sent by United Nations expert Zaida Catalan before she disappeared in the Kasai region of Democratic Republic of Congo, Catalan passed along this ancient proverb often attributed to…
Hervé Ladsous, head of the United Nations peacekeeping operations, has warned that any progress on the political crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) risks a reversal if the deal isn’t signed and implemented by all parties. Speaking to the 15-member United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, Ladsous said…
New information is coming in from Kinshasa, where about 20 people may have been killed by security forces in the city, as the constitutional term of President Joseph Kabila of Democratic Republic of Congo expired overnight. Reuters reports that Jose Maria Aranaz, the United Nations human rights director for DR…
The United Nations Security Council said it is closely monitoring political developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and remains concerned about escalating violence and instability ahead of the December 19 election deadline. “The Security Council reiterates its call upon all political parties, their supporters and other political actors to…