Third Call for March on Sunday, February 25th

The Lay Coordinating Committee called for its third non-violent march on Sunday, February 25th. According to the Committee, the two previous marches on December 31, 2017 and January 21, 2018 mobilized over 3 million people but they were violently repressed by the Kabila regime.

The central demand of the Committee is the implementation of the December 2017 agreement (Saint Sylvestre Accord in French). The Committee says that the Kabila regime's response to their demand has been bloody violence.

The Committee no longer believes in the good will of the Kabila regime. The government has rejected every window of opportunity offered  to it. The Kabila regime has demonstrated clearly that it wants to hold on to power undemocratically.

In calling for the people to stand up against the Kabila regime, the committee issued a warning to those who would:

• stand against democracy
• twist the words of the committee to justify violence and barbarism 
• oppose an independent investigation into the crimes and oppose a process to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators and those who issued the orders to repress the people
• seek to snuff out the aspirations of the Congolese people who are seeking a democratic alternative

The Lay Coordinating Committee called on the United Nations, European Union and the African Union to go beyond mere declarations in the face of the Kabila regime blocking the elections and carrying out violence against the Congolese people.

During the previous two marches, the government shut down the Internet in an effort to block images of security forces violence against the people from reaching the global media. Those of us outside the Congo, can help by amplifying the voices of those on the ground and spreading their message to the larger global community.

Click here to sign the petition to demand justice for the marchers in the Congo.