#Congo #Brazzaville : interdiction du meeting d’un parti d’opposition, qui dénonce une atteinte à la démocratie https://t.co/zXC8HLm0Bn
— Clément Boursin (@ClementBoursin) March 28, 2023
Peaceful Assembly
Prefect of Brazzaville bans opposition meeting
On 23rd March 2023, the prefect of Brazzaville issued a decree prohibiting opposition party Mouvement Républicain (MR; Republican Movement) from holding a gathering scheduled for 26th March 2023 at the stadium Hugos in Brazzaville, while reportedly threatening the arrest of the organisers if they defied the ban. In the decree, the prefect said that there were “irrefutable elements which demonstrate that the meeting was likely, not only to damage the social fabric but also to disturb public tranquility”.
In a statement, the CSO Centre d’actions pour le développement (CAD) said that the meeting, initially planned for 9th March 2023, was first banned as the local authorities claimed that the political party MR was not legally recognised. After sending proof of its legal existence, the MR informed authorities the meeting would take place on 25th March 2023. Despite a meeting between the MR and local authorities, the prefect prohibited the meeting.
Sit-in by former municipal employees to demand payment of their pensions
On 14th September 2023, former municipal employees held a sit-in in front of the Brazzaville city hall to demand the payment of their pensions. The protesters banged pots and held placards with slogans such as ‘Pensioners, 8 years without pension’. According to the Union des retraités des municipalités du Congo (URMC; Union of Municipality Pensioners of Congo), a total of 630 former municipal employees who retired between 2015 and 2022 do not receive pensions as no deductions were made for the social security fund in their monthly pay slips. The former municipal employees regularly hold similar sit-ins.