The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monuc) says harassment and arbitary arrests have disrupted the election campaign as the troubled Central African country edges closer to its first multiparty polls in 45 years on July 30.
The 17 000 Monuc peacekeepers — the UN’s largest force worldwide — will be assisted by a German-led European force (Eufor) of about 2 000 soldiers from different European countries, of which 700 will be stationed in the DRC.
Others will be on standby in neighbouring Gabon. With the Eufor command centre in the German port city of Potsdam, it will be the first time for Germany to lead an EU military operation.
Eufor soldiers are expected to mainly secure the Kinshasa airport and fly foreign election observers out of the troubled, mineral-rich country in case of an emergency.
But Eufor German commander Lieutenant General Karlheinz Viereck said his men would use ”deadly force” if needed and would not be restricted to Kinshasa but be deployed all over the country if troubles arose during their four-month mission.
However, the EU forces will not go to the east of the country where a 17 000-strong UN mission is trying to help the Congolese army control roaming militia groups.
The 18-nation force is limited by restrictions imposed by each soldier-contributing nation.
The volatile region is also home to the largest number of registered voters and is expected to be the epicentre of the month-long election campaign that has already been marred by violence.
The Carter Centre, a US-based human rights organisation, has deplored the intimidation of businessmen by government institutions to obstruct the of supply goods of services to rivals of incumbent Joseph Kabila.
Most of the 33 presidential candidates have been unable to start campaigning in the region due to harassment from supporters of more powerful candidates, the Carter Centre reports.
Police and security forces have also used live bullets in various parts of the country to break up opposition rallies.
Underpaid and barely-trained in law enforcement, Congolese police are better known as racketeers and guns for hire.
The European Union is conducting police training to ensure security at the expected 40 000 polling stations dotted over a country the size of Western Europe.
With less than three weeks to go to the July poll, President Kabila has made no statement on how his shaky coalition government will deal with the fractious ethnic tone of the campaigns or on claims of increasing police brutality.
In the absence of any government statements, observors fear western donors — the EU has already paid for over 80% of the whopping $480-million election price tag, will be caught in the middle of political conflict and government inertia.
Apart from the political minefields that lie ahead, the logistics of organising an election in a country as big as Western Europe but with only 500km of paved road or any reliable infrastructure, is no less of a challenge in the war-shattered state.
The elections will formally end a three-year transitional period after the end of a bloody five-year civil war in 2003 that left about three million people dead and involved the armies of seven African nations.
The DRC’s immense mineral wealth has been part of its misfortune, ensuring misrule and conflict for most of its existence. – Sapa-DPA