by Susan Freudenheim, executive director, and Ann Strimov Durbin, director of advocacy and grantmaking
Tear gas fired into maternity wards. Pro-democracy protesters arrested, tortured, wounded, some even killed. Children attacked with machetes. Villages reduced to ash. These scenes were witnessed in recent days by the Jewish World Watch (JWW) field representative in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In his war-torn country, he is the eyes and ears of JWW, which was founded in 2004 to fight genocide and mass atrocities. The political situation in the DRC is so perilous that he asked that we not use his name.
The current brutality is largely linked to the DRC’s upcoming presidential election, scheduled for Dec. 23. Rich in mineral wealth yet rampant with corruption, Congo hasn’t seen a peaceful transfer of power since achieving independence from Belgian colonialism in 1960. The current president, Joseph Kabila, has led the country since his father’s assassination in 2001, and, according to the DRC constitution, should have left office in December 2016, after his second term.
A recent and rare bipartisan effort by the U.S. Congress aims to ensure the Congolese people can exercise their democratic rights, through the “Democratic Republic of the Congo Democracy and Accountability Act” (H.R. 6207). Introduced on June 25 by Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Ed Royce (R-Calif.), the bill passed through the House Committee on Foreign Affairs just days later. It now awaits passage by the full House and Senate.