American policy as a Democratic republic of Congo

The Democratic republic of Congo (RDC) which left into 2002 a war which destroyed approximately four million human lives, has a transition government since 2003. The government of transision made a considerable progress by unifying the country, although there still were groups armed operative out of control of the government. These armed groups remained mainly in the Eastern provinces of the Nord Kivu, the South Kivu, Katanga and in the district of the Ituri of the Orientale province. The file of the human rights of the DRC remained poor. Serious violations of the human rights, including massacres, executions, removals, acts of torture, rapes, were perpetrated as well by groups armed operative out of governmental control as often by the Congolese army itself. In 2005, however, the DRC took important measures leading to a democratic government while enlisting more than 25 million Congolese to vote in a series of elections intended to transfer the capacity from the transition government for a government elected by the people. The Congolese voters approved a new constitution at the time of the referendum held on December 18th.

The United States approached the crisis of the human rights and democracy in DRC by providing support for the transition government and the Independent electoral commission (CEI) to help to promote the democratic elections; while working to put an end to the conflict in the east of the DRC; by promoting the responsibility for the abuses for the human rights, and by developing the infrastructures and the capacity necessary to consolidate stability, to dissuade from the conflict, and to pave the way for a democratic transition in 2006. The United States also provided assistance to the victims of violations of the human rights, financed training programs and of education to support a change in the prevalent social climate, and made efforts to restore the paralyzed legal system.

In 2005, the United States continued to take part in the International committee of Accompaniment of the Transition and several commissions to promote the transition and to facilitate the elections. The new Constitution of the DRC, written with the assistance of skilled technicians of the United States and since then approved by popular vote includes/understands 77 articles referring to protection human rights, the separation of the capacities and governmental decentralization.

The United States supported the National Democratic Institute (NDI) which organized workshops and construction of capacities drilled to reinforce the political parties and sponsored a Code of conduct signed by 187 political parties. It also organized seminars on the democracy, the transparency, the development of electoral constituencies and the communications internal. The seminars for 980 participants of the civil society (of which 230 were women) allowed a direct contact with the representatives of the political parties.

The CEI of the DRC which the United States assisted by financing the IFES enlisted 25 million voters in 11 provinces in a country of the size of Western Europe practically without infrastructure. The IFES worked on the operational functions, including the management of the employees and the aptitudes of transport and of the communications for the offices in each province of the DRC. The official ones of enrôlement were recruited and formed to direct more than 36.000 centers of enrôlement of voters. The day of the constitutional referendum, 55 official of the United States was useful like observers of the referendum in Kinshasa and through the country.

To promote the freedom and the independence of the press, the United States provided a financing to ONGs for the time of emission to the national radio and the television channels for questions treating of the human rights, of the elections, and the democracy. With the support of the embassy, a group of young people in the agitated oriental party of the country published a review on the democracy, the elections and the political questions. A partner of the local press developed and provided political and electoral information by the Community mediation of 82 radio stations and television channels, the written press, and the theater. By means of the Programme of Leadership of International visitors, the president of the Congolese Association of the owners of Radios travelled to the United States for a training course. The financing of the United States also made it possible two Congolese journalists to take part in a regional conference on journalism in Africa.

Five democratic resource centres financed by the United States became the pivots of the engagement of the civil society and facilitated the participation of 350 ONGs in the electoral process. ONGs partners carried out activities to solve local conflicts and to make it possible to the citizens to promote the democratic change in their own communities. The United States also supported 140 programmes for resolutions of conflicts based in the communities in seven provinces.

The sponsorship of the United States helped the activists of the civil society to write and re-examine 66 new articles for the drafting of the Constitution. These articles increase protections of the human rights and reinforce legal independence; they will create also the balance of power among the branches of the new government, as soon as he is elected. The law on sexual violence was added to the list of the essential laws for 2006 following the support of the United States and the partners. The United States financed a general evaluation of the legal sector via an ONG of the United States Global Rights in four Eastern provinces. ONGs multiples financed by the United States provided legal support in 2005 for the survivors of violence based on the kind. International Rescue Committee identified more than 100 victims of violence sexual and of victims accompanied by the legal process, of the recording of a request to the court, until the audiences. They educated 2000 people on the rights of the victims and visited more than 100 institutions religious, legal, administrative, of the civil society, and traditional to promote justice for the victims of violence sexual. The support of the United States allowed that an ONG local publishes a book on the rights of the prisoners, translated into four local languages, for the distribution with the prisoners, the police force, and the military personnel with three of the manifestly deplorable prisons of the DRC.

The United States provided to the victims sexual mutilations by rape/(which one estimates that there are at least 60.000 in the oriental party of the country) with medical help and references for the services, as well as the plea, social rehabilitation, and the legal support. Only in the province of the South Kivu, ONGs supported by the United States facilitated more than 30 continuations for rape. The financing of the United States also helped to identify the women victims of sexual abuses and to assign advisers and transport to them towards the services.

More than 100 groups of the human rights received American technical assistance and formation in 2005, more especially to work with stigmatized children. The reinstatement of these children - is children soldiers, children of street, members of groups, marked children of sorcery, moved children of the interior, crippled children, or hard-working children remained a high priority. The United States gave support for the communities at the risk for the separation and the abuse the children in an attempt aiming at stopping the massive violations of the human rights against the children.

The United States supported the formation which provided assistance logistic and technical to the Local committees anti-corruption to engage the civil authorities, legal, religious, and military in the effort anti-corruption and to hold official the public persons in charge of practices of legal taxation and to put an end to the public abuse of authority.

In 2005, the United Nations tackled the questions of human rights in DRC. The Commission on the Human rights took a resolution on the technical assistance (known like Point 19) on the DRC, supported by the United States. The Third Committee of the General meeting of the United Nations adopted with a majority crushing a resolution on the DRC, only Rwanda and Uganda voter against it.

The trade-union activities were backed by the Center of Solidarity financed by the United States, which promotes the harmony of work and the resolution of the conflicts. The center worked with the employers, the government and the trade unions to solve the disagreements and the litigations. The United States also financed the second year of intitiative triennial a regional catch by the International Program of the International organization of Work for the elimination of the child work with an aim of demobilizing and of rehabilitating the children soldiers and of reinstating them in their old communities. The program which presents many aspects approaches the multiple needs for the children soldiers by the laws, the mechanisms of monitoring, and the construction of the capacity of the government institutions. It supports also the economic reinstatement of former children combatants by the éducaiton, the formation, the financial support, and the reinforcement of the community. To tackle the question of the traffic of people (TIP), the financing of the embassy supported an ONG working with young girls risking or already implied in the prostitution in the Eastern areas in prey with the conflicts. The United States also created funds TIP working with the UNICEF for the reinstatement of women and girls removed by the armed groups. The intention of the funds is to develop a national plan of rehabilitation for the removed people which is parallel to the national plan of Disarmament, Démobilisation and Rehabilitation for the ex-combatants.

Random links: