Ed Markey — Senator Markey on U.S. Policy in Central Africa - Feb. 10

Thank You mr. chairman very much miss last week I sent a letter to secretary Kerry expressing deep concern about the situation in the DRC and in particular president Kabila's apparent attempts to delay elections and stay in power beyond the time allowed under the DRC's Constitution as I wrote my letter president Kabila has played an important role in the DRC's path from war to relative stability but that very progress is now threatened by his apparent intent to defy his country's constitutional foundation this apparent attempt to subvert the Constitution appears to be part of a growing trend in which President Kabila's government feels free to defy the DRC's laws we have seen it in the closing of political space violent repression closure of media outlets we also see it in the government's general suspension of exit visas for children adopted by American families through the DRC's court system in my letter I stressed the need to build on your efforts to persuade President Kabila to move forward with the DRC's presidential election as required under the Constitution I believe is critical that we clearly and unequivocally communicate the following three points to president Kabila number one he should immediately clearly and publicly state that he will not remain in power once his term ends this year to provided there is verified on-the-ground progress towards a free and fair national election this year including an end to the current efforts to close political space and crackdown on peaceful dissent the US and international partners will help fund the electoral process and three if he fails to meet clear benchmarks required to hold a free and fair election this year then the United States and other partners will implement targeted sanctions on President Kabila and his inner circle could you comment on what actions the administration is anticipating in the event that President Kabila does not allow for free and fair elections Thank You senator Markey and the the letter was certainly received and we appreciate it again the attention being played to the Great Lakes we think this is a time and I hear this from the Congolese people all the time where they appreciate the sense that the eyes of the world are on this moment in the country I think there is a lot of pride while we certainly talk about our own policy under President Obama of emphasizing constitutions and term limits the reality is that this is the Congolese people's constitution it's their decision overwhelmingly to support term limits it's their position that they've supported their own constitution and open political space and pluralism and I think they see this with a great deal of pride as having been something that was forged out of an incredibly brutal and difficult period of multiple Wars and suffering and I think the desire right now is not to be for or against any individual but to be for a better future and better constitution and I think there's strong appreciation that the United States government has been there to support the Congolese people and that hard-fought constitutional space as secretary thomas-greenfield noted we have pursued a variety of both positive and negative incentives and looking at the situation in DRC and communicated clearly and in advance that there will be consequences if certain actions are taken that undermine democracy or undermine security we've seen the US government's willingness to do that in Burundi and sanctioning both members of the government for acts of oppression as well as members of the opposition in the case of DRC we already have an executive order as I mentioned 13 671 that gives us the the ability to consider those actions the hope is still that this is going to be a historic opportunity where the government and opposition and others come together and figure out a path forward but the stakes are so high in terms of human human potential human suffering but also the inevitable regional component of dynamics in the DRC that we want to do as much before this becomes a crisis as we can so my concern is that it's obvious what Kabila is doing and where he's going and that he understand how hard the United States is going to come down on him and his cronies on him personally on his cronies personally so that he is made a symbol of of international reproach and that we have a plan in place that he clearly understands that will be imposed upon him and that we will not stand on the sidelines on this issue in March of 2015 more than 400 bodies were found buried him a rural part of the country Human Rights Watch has suggested that some of the bodies were those of individuals who had died in anti-government protests over a proposal to delay the 2016 presidential elections the two television channels that were shut down were owned by a former governor of the province in Katanga who is known to be a strong political opponent of the government and so there's a clear progression with regard to what is taking place in this country there's a long unfortunate history in this in this country so is the United States committed to taking strong action in the event that Kabila does in fact continue down the pathway that he is progressing absolutely senator we are we have used every diplomatic level at the highest level to impress upon President Kabila the importance of him stepping aside it is not it is unusual that he would get a call from the president he is gotten visits from the secretary we are encouraging him to make the right decision and it's our hope that he will make the right decision the consequences of him making the wrong decision the horrible consequences of him making the wrong decision is the impact that this will have on his people and him ruling a country that is imploding around him having that situation happened in DRC is much bigger than what we've seen happening in in Burundi so that's the biggest consequence but in terms of using the tools that we have to apply sanctions on him there's no hesitation to do that I think the important thing is that we have to get others in the that is something that we're working on as well president Kabila has a legacy already he kept this country relatively peaceful over the past few years that legacy is going to be lost his reputation will be lost if he does not gracefully leave power and have his country continue to proceed down the road of democracy thank you