By Correspondents * – IPS/Al Jazeera
DOHA, Dec 22 (IPS) – Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been responsible for the deaths of at least 24 people since President Joseph Kabila's re-election was announced on Dec. 9, Human Rights Watch says.

"At least 24 people were killed by security forces between December 9 and [...]

By Emmanuel Chaco
KINSHASA, Dec 10 (IPS) – Fears of violent demonstrations against the provisional results of the presidential elections – released on Dec. 9 by the electoral commission – have given way to terror in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has crackled with the sound of gunshots and the firing [...]

By Anselm Nkinsi
KINSHASA, Dec 1 (IPS) – Nadine Mbwol suffers from konzo, an epidemic paralytic disease that affects the lower body. "I lost my marriage because of this disability," she says sadly.

Many people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) believe that this disease, which affects many young, female victims like 20-year-old Mbwol, is caused [...]

By Badylon Kawanda Bakiman
KIKWIT, DR Congo, Nov 12 (IPS) – The 11 candidates contesting presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo all pledge to improve peace and security in the country – promises received with varying degrees of scepticism by Congolese voters.

"Our ambition is to provide our country with 150,000 soldiers and 200,000 police [...]

By Emmanuel Chaco
KINSHASA, Nov 10 (IPS) – "In truth, none of the candidates and none of the parties have a programme for society," asserts Mastaki Mushosi, one of the leaders of the National Union of Catholic School Teachers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Campaigning in DRC began at the end of October for the Nov. [...]

By Robyn Leslie

Refugees say Rwanda’s problems do not stem from economics, access to land – but rather a lack of peace. / Wendy Stone/IRIN

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 9 (IPS) – They should be wary of each other. The historical conflict between their ethnicities has resulted in Africa’s largest genocide.

But Claude Kayitare sits on the [...]

By Kristin Palitza

Former child solider Mulume* (front left) feels hopeless about his future. / Credit: Einberger/argum/EED/IPS

BUKAVU, DR Congo, Nov 2 (IPS) – Murhula’s* life changed forever when he was nine years old. It was the year that he learned to kill, torture and rape.

It was the year militia entered his school in a [...]

By Jessica McDiarmid

There are fears that a "land rush" in the developing world is leading to hunger, conflict and human rights abuses. / Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

FREETOWN, Oct 31 (IPS) – The adoption of international guidelines to regulate so-called land grabs has been pushed to next year after negotiators failed to agree on conditions for [...]

By Badylon K. Bakiman

The leading parties are doing little to ensure greater numbers of women are elected to parliament, but Congolese women are acting for themselves. / Aubrey Graham/IRIN

KINSHASA, Oct 28 (IPS) – Women make up just 12 percent of the roughly 18,000 candidates who will stand for election to parliament in the [...]

By Zukiswa Zimela
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 21 (IPS) – With six weeks to go before the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, civil society organisations say the elections will not be fair, as many doubt the ability of the country’s electoral authorities to ensure transparency.

The DRC is set to go to the polls [...]

By Kristin Palitza

The village of rape survivor Angeline Mwarusena continues to be threatened by militia. / Einberger/argum/EED/IPS

BUKAVU, DR Congo, Oct 17 (IPS) – Angeline Mwarusena, 61, sits on a small wooden bench in front of her hut, head bent, shoulders slumped. Her voice is barely audible. Four years ago, three soldiers from the [...]

By Kristin Palitza

The village of rape survivor Angeline Mwarusena continues to be threatened by militia. / Einberger/argum/EED/IPS

BUKAVU, DR Congo, Oct 17 (IPS) – Angeline Mwarusena, 61, sits on a small wooden bench in front of her hut, head bent, shoulders slumped. Her voice is barely audible. Four years ago, three soldiers from the [...]

By Kristin Palitza

Years of war forced Passion, 13, to live on the street. / Einberger/argum/EED/IPS

GOMA, DR Congo, Oct 16 (IPS) – Five years into democracy, with the elections just a few weeks away, the majority of Congolese children continue to face a bleak future.

Years of bitter and bloody war in the eastern Democratic [...]

By Emmanuel Chaco
KINSHASA, Sep 27 (IPS) – "Every quarter, more than a hundred women with fistulas – including many younger than 20 years old – are admitted for surgery in Maniema province," says nurse Julie Mawazo. "The number of affected women who don't have the means or awareness to come in must be far greater."

Each [...]

By Emmanuel Chaco

Defence lawyer Nick Kaufman (l) and Callixte Mbarushimana. Kaufman argues prosecutors have no evidence of his client's responsibility for atrocities. / Courtesy International Criminal Court

KINSHASA, Sep 23 (IPS) – Sometime in the next two months, activists and survivors of horrific violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo will find out if [...]