US sanctions Congo police chief, prompting sharp rebuke

KINSHASA, Congo – Congo’s government is denouncing the U.S. government’s sanctioning of a top police official who activists say is linked to dozens of deaths.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Thursday it is adding Celestin Kanyama to its Specially Designated Nationals List.

Congo’s embassy in Washington called the move “an infringement on our sovereignty.”

Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, a diplomatic adviser to Congo’s President Joseph Kabila, warned the decision would undermine relations and “embolden those who seek to divide our nation.”

Kanyama is the police chief in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa. The Treasury statement says that “under his leadership, police forces engaged in the targeting of civilian protestors through acts of violence.”

The statement also noted a “pattern of repression” by Kabila’s government ahead of scheduled elections in November.