Congo: A Proposed Law Stirs Protests

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/world/africa/congo-a-proposed-law-stirs-protests.html

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Antigovernment protests in the Democratic Republic of Congo have left at least a dozen people dead, officials said Thursday, as the Senate postponed a vote on a proposed law that the opposition fears will prolong the president’s time in power. The proposed law would require a census before the presidential election next year, but the vote was postponed until Friday. Critics say the logistical challenges of conducting a national census would delay the election. Parliament’s lower house passed the measure on Saturday, setting off protests in Kinshasa, the capital, and other cities. Since Monday, 12 people have died, a government spokesman, Lambert Mende, said Thursday, and more than 400 people have been arrested. But a coalition of human rights groups said the death toll was much higher.