AfricaNews editorial desk
A popular rights activist Floribert Chebeya has died mysteriously in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was found partially naked on the back seat of his vehicle with traces of female hair and condoms. He is reported to have received threats from the police in the past.
Monitored media reports say he had been ordered to meet the national police boss and had sent a text message to his wife that he was at the police headquarters.
Rights group Amnesty International, according to the BBC, said oppression of activists in DR Congo is growing.
The driver of the activist is still at large and it was not clear whether the police headquarters meeting actually took place.
Chebeya was head of the rights group Voice of the Voiceless and had been campaigning in defence of democracy and human rights in DR Congo since the early 1990s.
"We are stunned and appalled by the suspicious death of such a prominent and respected human rights defender," Veronique Aubert, Amnesty's deputy Africa director, said in a statement
The London-based rights group has called for an investigation into his death.
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