<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>The United Nations’ top human rights official voiced alarm today about rising ethnic tension and calls to violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo following disputed elections.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Massive delays and bureaucratic chaos marred the Dec 20 ballots to choose the president, lawmakers for national and provincial assemblies, and local councillors.</div><div><br></div><div>So far, the election commission has only announced the result of the presidential vote – a landslide victory for incumbent Felix Tshisekedi that the opposition has rejected as a sham.</div><div><br></div><div>“I am very concerned about the rise in ethnic-based hate speech and incitement to violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” (DR Congo) said UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk.</div><div><br></div><div>He said the post-election calls for violence were particularly concerning in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu – which have been plagued for decades by armed groups and ethnic killings – as well as the regions of Kasai and Katanga.</div><div><br></div><div>Tshisekedi hails from Kasai and Moise Katumba, one of his main rivals, from Katanga.</div><div><br></div><div>“Hateful, dehumanising, and inciteful rhetoric is abhorrent and can only deepen tension and violence in the DRC itself, as well as putting regional security at risk,” Turk said.</div><div><br></div><div>He urged the authorities “to thoroughly and transparently investigate all reports of hate speech and incitement to violence and to hold those responsible to account”.</div><div><br></div><div>Election-related tensions are common in the DR Congo, which has a history of authoritarian rule and violent government overthrow.</div><div><br></div><div>Some 250 different ethnic groups live in the vast country. It sits on considerable mineral wealth but little trickles down to the population of around 100 million. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>