United States Senate WASHINGTON, DC 20510 January 24, 2018 His Excellency Joseph Kabila Kabange President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Palais de la Ne Ave de Lemera Kinshe Democratic Republic of Congo Dear President Kabil Ambassador Haley’s recent trip to the African continent was an important opportunity for the United States government to outline its policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo and to emphasize concern regarding the Congolese election timeline, We are pleased that, following the Ambassador’s visit, the Congolese Electoral Commission (CENI) announced that elections will take place before the end of December, 2018. However, more work needs to be done to facilitate these elections. Continued delays in holding elections have increased tensions, unrest, and instability in your country. Nearly two million people fled their homes in search of safety in 2017, making it the country with the world’s highest level of new displacement last year. In total, with more than 4 million internally displaced persons inside DRC and 620,000 Congolese refugees sheltering in other countries, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs refers to this as “the largest displacement crisis in Afric We note the statements by the African Union, Catholic Church, and United Nations Security Council in recent weeks that clearly state there cannot be any further election postponements. We now wish to ensure that the Congolese Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) and the Government of the DRC implement the calendar and do not undertake any actions that further delay long overdue elections, To that end, we will monitor whether the government completes actions necessary to support the CENI timeline below, by providing adequate resources, ensuring transparency and accountability for those resources, and passing the necessary election legislation. We will look for the completion of these benchmarks: Issuance of district-level voter registration figures before April 7, 2018; Completion of any legislation to enable redistricting by May 8, 2018; Fulfill the constitutionally-required step of “calling the electorate” by June 23, 2018; Publishing of the final list of presidential and parliamentary candidates by September 19, 2018; and © Holding presidential, parliamentary, and provincial elections by December 23, 2018.We believe this timetable will help ensure that elections are held before the end of December 2018, and that they are free and fair. Any efforts to modify the constitution or alter presidential term limits would be counterproductive. Representatives from your government continue to insist that you are committed to carrying out these elections, and that you do not intend to serve beyond the two terms mandated by your constitution. We ask that you make a public statement to that effect. Finally, we ask that your government demonstrate its commitment to a credible elections process. Immediate release of political prisoners as agreed to in the December 2016 Accord and permitting peaceful protests and political meetings organized by the opposition and civil society groups to take place would show such a commitment. The cruel and violent attack by state security forces on political protests on December 31 in which civilians were killed is unacceptable and those responsible should be brought to justice. Further, we ask that you halt the crackdown on media and freedom of expression by providing access to media that has been arbitrarily banned, We believe taking necessary actions to ensure the CENT benchmarks are met, in addition to releasing political prisoners, and opening of political space is necessary to demonstrate your commitment to democracy and the well-being of Congolese men, women, and children Sincerely, F 5 7 . CORY BOOKER Unite States Senator United States Senator (OHINNYSSAKSON ‘CHRISTOPHER A. COONS United States Senator United States Senator be bake fly Mall TOM UDALL JEFFREY A. MERKLEY United States Senator United States Senator Letter to Presidemt Kabila, Page 2