DRC Elections 2011 Watch: 1) Riot cops nip in the bud UDPS demo and PPRD counter demo; 2) Dr. No: Aubin Minaku says Kabila’s cartel not party to the “ping-pong match between CENI and the opposition”; 3) MONUSCO weekly press briefing: Peacekeepers not planning to replace DRC police; 4) Tshisekedi once again visits war criminal suspect Bemba at Scheveningen Prison Complex in the Netherlands; and 5) Meeting of two dinosaurs in Brussels: Kengo and Tshisekedi

1) Riot cops nip in the bud UDPS demo and PPRD counter demoMP Francis Kalombo (PPRD)PPRD Youth Wing LeaderOrganizer of the counterdemoThursday, September  29, at around 9 am (Kinshasa Time), UDPS demonstrators who had gathered around their headquarters on the 10th Street of the Limete quarter of Kingabwa Commune, set out for Lumumba Boulevard, the main thoroughfare running east-west from the N’djili Airport towards downtown Kinshasa. Led by...

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DRC Extreme Advocacy: Premiere of "Unwatchable--The Film": Hollywood dramatization of the rape of MAKISA in rural Kivu against the backdrop of rural England (Warning: Not for the Fainthearted)

DO NOT WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW BEFORE READING THIS INTROI stumbled upon the video below at ZDNet; an article by James Farrar entitled "Unwatchable: dial R for rape. How much does your handset really cost?"The video is so graphic ZDNet only put a link to it. I couldn't upload the video I captured on Dailymotion or YouTube due to their stringent policies on "violence" and "pornography" (mark this last word, it will recur below). The only option I had was to directly upload it here.  Excerpt from the article:"Summary: Unwatchable...

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Places like the Congo: 1) Kabila in Cuba: “Jamás traicionaré al Congo!”; and 2) More dangerous to fly in Russia than in the Congo

1) Kabila in Cuba: “Jamás traicionaré al Congo!”Joseph KabilaUnveiling the bust of his father in Havana, Cuba“Jamás traicionaré al Congo!” (Never betray Congo)(Credits)After his appearance at the UN General Assembly in New York, Kabila flew directly on official visit to Havana, Cuba, where he unveiled on Monday the bust of his father at the Parque de los Próceres Africanos [Park of African Heroes]. The other Congolese hero at the park is Patrice...

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DRC Elections 2011 Watch: 1) Presidential hopeful François Nicéphore Kakese Malela blasts Kabila and the Congolese Peaceful Elections Forum in... Addis Ababa; 2) MONUSCO Force Commander Gen Chander Prakash lays down elections’ security contingency plan; 3) Catholic Bishops Conference to mobilize 30,000 election observers countrywide; and 4) Questions about Rwandan citizenship of Vital Kamerhe dog presidential hopeful again

1) Presidential hopeful François Nicéphore Kakese Malela blasts Kabila and the Congolese Peaceful Elections Forum in... Addis AbabaPresidential candidate François Nicéphore Kakese Malela Chairman, Union pour le Réveil et le Développement du Congo (URDC) (Credits)At a press briefing held on Sunday, September 25, Presidential candidate François Nicéphore Kakese Malela took a swipe at Kabila for saying in his address at the UN General...

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DRC Elections 2011: 1) Children of Hemp to CENI Chairman: “On December 6, if Tshisekedi isn’t president-elect, CENI Chair Rev Mulunda, his kids, and his entire generation will be killed”; 2) Radio-Trottoir: Tshisekedi’s health declines; and 3) CENI: Number of MP candidates jumps to 19,000 and counting

1) Children of Hemp to CENI Chairman: “On December 6, if Tshisekedi isn’t president-elect, CENI Chair Rev Mulunda, his kids, and his entire generation will be killed”CENI female official slugging it out with Bana-CongoBehind Brussels Police bufferBrussels, Friday, September 23, 2011Video screen capture: Alex EngweteJohannes Fabian is an anthropologist whose books read as thrillers. In one of his memorable books— Out of our Minds: Reason and Madness...

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A case of acute congolaiserie: Rights lobby ASADHO demands that the government continue to provide free decent lodgings and meals to Congolese repatriated from Libya in early March

Hunt for Blacks in TripoliPhoto: ReutersThere’s a heart-wrenching article posted today on the portal of Radio Okapi entitled “DRC: Some repatriated Congolese from Libya live in destitution in Kinshasa.”An advice before going to read that article on Radio Okapi website: have within reach a huge box of Kleenex tissues—to contain or wipe the torrent of tears that would gush from your eyes and, incidentally, to blow your nose.These poor guys were repatriated...

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DRC Elections 2011 Watch: 1) Supreme Court of Justice finds against 5 presidential hopefuls rejected by CENI; 2) Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda talks to African ambassadors accredited to Kinshasa; and 3) “Dizzying numbers”: 13,401 MP candidates in 8 provinces for 500 seats

1) Supreme Court of Justice finds against 5 presidential hopefuls rejected by CENIDRC Supreme Court of JusticePhoto: Myriam Asmari/MONUSCO(Credits)On Wednesday, September 21, the Supreme Court of Justice rejected the petitions introduced by the following 5 presidential hopefuls whose candidacies were rejected by CENI:1. Ismaël Kitenge Pungwa;2. Rev Jean-Paul Moka;3. Jean-Pierre Lokongo Limbala;4. Rev Vanga Kaniki ; and5. Mrs. Léonard Lomami.These...

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DRC Elections 2011 Watch: 1) Major MONUSCO airlift operation underway to deploy electoral kits countrywide; 2) CENI okays access to server, audit of electoral rosters and is poised to publish voters’ registry; 3) Outbreak of “Balkanization Conspiracy Theory”; 4) Grim Reaper sightings: Plot-Fatwa to assassinate Kabila; 5) French anti-racism lobby SOS RACISME denounces attacks of Rwandan expats by Bana-Congo during Kagame Paris visit; and 6) Jaynet Kabila to chair UNESCO Regional Research and Documentation Center for Women, Gender and Peace-building in the Great Lakes

1)  Major MONUSCO airlift operation underway to deploy electoral kits countrywideUnloading electoral kits from a MONUSCO C-130 Hercules aircraftSeptember 17, 2011Bunia airstrip, Orientale ProvincePhoto: Sylvain Liechti/MONUSCO(Credits)MONUSCO press release:“Kinshasa, 16 September 2011 – Three cargo planes transporting three hundred tons of electoral material landed at N’Djili International Airport, in the Congolese capital, on 14 and 15 September....

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