Post-Election Tensions Grip Congo

Incumbent candidate Joseph Kabila was declared the winner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Presidential election today, despite allegations of electoral fraud from his main political opponent Etienne Tshisekedi, who has already said he would not recognize the results. 

With the United Nations presence winding down in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after over a decade long peacekeeping mission, observers fear growing tensions over the contested elections could lead to renewed violence and political instability.

The international community has invested billions of dollars trying to strengthen government institutions and improve the security situation in a country where 4 over million people died from war between 1997-2004. A state security force crackdown against the civilian population or violent uprising against the government would be a serious blow to UN efforts in the region. 

The country’s electoral commission said Kabila had secured 49% of the popular vote,while Tshisekedi received 32% support.

The Commission had planned to release the final results days ago, but logistical problems delayed the official announcement and instead it released results as they became available.

Preliminary numbers giving Kabila a comfortable lead were rejected as fraudulent by Tshisekedi supporters and other opposition groups earlier this week.

In a television interview with French news network France 24 shortly after Kabila was declared the winner today, Tshisekedi again categorically rejected the results.  

“I consider myself, from this point forward today, the President elect of the Democratic Republic of the Congo” he said over the phone from Kinshasa.

Tshisekedi called on the international to community to intervene and urged his supporters to remain calm and vigilant while waiting for the next developments. 

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon today released a statement urging that:” any differences regarding the provisional results of the polls to be resolved peacefully through available legal and mediation mechanisms.”

Tshisekedi told France 24 today that Congolese institutions were controlled by Kabila and couldn’t be trusted to resolve the situation. 

The UN has so far refused to comment on allegations of voter fraud or election rigging, instead reiterating calls for the country’s political leadership, security forces and civilians to maintain calm and exercise restraint. 

Reports in Congolese media earlier this week indicate officials for the UN’s Mission in the Congo and various diplomats have met with both Kabila and Tshisekedi.

On Tuesday, International Criminal Court Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said his office was following the post-election situation in the Congo closely and warned the country’s political leaders against inciting attacks. He said he had already received some reports of  politically motivated attacks and said the court wouldn’t hesitate to prosecute any Congolese politician responsible for post electoral violence, regardless of their political affiliation or position in government. 

Kabila assumed the Presidency of the Congolese provisional government in 2001 after his father President Laurent Desire Kabila, an eastern rebel leader who overthrew the Mobutu regime in 1997 with the help of Uganda and Rwanda, was assassinated in a failed coup attempt. Joseph Kabila won the country’s first ever election in 2006.

Tshisekedi is a long time political opposition figure in the Congo. He refused to run in the 2006 election because he said it failed to meet democratic standards and was rigged in favor of Kabila.

Coons Wants U.S. To Continue Aiding Post-Gaddafi Libya

By Adrianna McGinley

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told reporters Thursday that it would be a good idea for the United States to continue assisting Libyan rebels as they look forward to a world without Moammar Gaddafi.

Numerous outlets are reporting today that Gaddafi was captured and killed in a remote area near his hometown of Sirte this morning. U.S. officials have yet to confirm anything, but Libyan National Transitional Council officials are saying that Gaddafi was killed after NATO warplanes reigned fire on his convoy, which then reportedly enabled rebel forces to attack him on the ground.

Coons shared his assessment of what America’s policy should look like regarding Libya during a press conference in the Capitol on Thursday.

“Our engagement in Libya, which takes a different turn today, can and should remain one that is scaled appropriate to the needs of the Libyan people to now quickly transition to a stable democracy,” Coons said.

“How things move forward in Libya will send critical signals to the rest of the region and to the world, so I do think the United States has a real and strong interest in continuing to be engaged.”

Coons spoke following a closed-door meeting held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which focused on President Obama’s decision last week to order American forces to Central Africa to combat the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Coons said he backs administrative action to deploy roughly 100 troops there with the purpose of providing training to African forces battling the LRA, a reigning terrorist militant group led by Joseph Kony.

“I support and think this modest, reasonable action was an important next step in what has been a multiyear effort,” Coons stated.

Tunisia, Seeking Democratic Anchors, Joins ICC

The new interim government of Tunisia joined the Rome Statute of the International Court today, making it the 116th country and only the fourth member of the Arab league to become a party to the tribunal.

Tunisian Ambassador Ghazi Jomaa met with Secretary General Ban Ki Moon earlier today before making the announcement.

 Jomaa said this was one of several steps his government was taking to set the foundations for a democratic state in the wake of the January 14th revolution that led to the ousting of despotic President Ben Ali and helped inspire pro-democracy protests through out the Middle East.

 “As it prepares to hold a its first free election next October, to draft a new constitution and revisit many of it domestic laws, Tunisia is also taking concrete steps at the international level to confirm the important steps it is taking for its future” said Jomaa, adding that his country would be ratifying other international rights treaties on issues like forced disappearances and torture in the coming weeks.

 The Tunisian Ambassador said joining the ICC was a way to:“  send a clear message about our genuine commitment to anchor Tunisia irreversibly on the path of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”

 Former President Zine al Abidine Ben Ali was hastily tried in absentia by a court in Tunis last week, where he was found guilty of embezzling state funds and handed a 35 year prison sentence as well as being fined more than 30 million dollars. 

 The former President dismissed the court’s decision, calling it a “parody of justice”. Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia during the protests were he remains, despite Tunisia’s request for extradition.

Libya Suspended From UN Rights Body, ICC Expected To Move Quickly On Security Council Referral

The international community is stepping up pressure on the Gaddafi government in Libya, as reports of violence continue to come out of Tripoli and Western parts of the country.

The United Nations General Assembly today agreed to suspend Libya from its seat on the Human Rights Council, as all members of international rights body, including Libya’s representatives, had requested it to do last week in Geneva.   

Today’s decision was accepted by consensus, but Venezuela’s Ambassador to the United Nations warned the General Assembly against the possibility of an American led military intervention in Libya.

“Venezuela calls for the rejection of warmongering mobilization of the US Air Force and Navy in the Mediterranean Sea.”  said Ambassador Jorge Valero  “We deplore the double standards applied to Human rights by imperialist countries. The death of one single human being in Libya is painful. Also painful are the death of thousands of human beings suffering from imperialist military invasions.” 

US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice fired back at Valero’s criticism, saying her country utterly rejected the “ugly distortion” by the Venezuelan Ambassador. 

“At a time when this assembly is acting in unison in support of the Libyan people, it’s shameful that one member state, whose own reprehensible record speaks for itself, would manipulate this occasion to spread lies, foster fear and sow hate.” Rice told the Assembly. 

Speaking before the General Assembly, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon outlined the most recent reports of violence through the country and praised the Human Rights Council’s decision to open an international inquiry into the alleged abuses.

On Saturday, all 15 members of the Security Council agreed to a resolution imposing financial sanctions and travel bans on the Gaddafi regime. The council also requested the International Criminal Court investigate reported incidents of violence that have taken place through out the country since February 15th. 

This is the second time the Security Council has referred a case to the ICC. In 2005, the Council passed a resolution bringing the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan to the attention of the court. Both China and the US,  permanent Security Council members not party to the Rome statute, abstained from voting. At the time, American officials at the UN said referral to the ICC was the main reason for abstaining. 

Beijing and Washington’s representatives at the Council voted in favor of an ICC referral on Saturday, but the US reportedly insisted on the inclusion of a clause that would protect government officials and nationals of non ICC member states from international prosecution “related to operations in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya established or authorized by the Council”. 

 Some initial reports voiced concern that the exemption could protect foreign mercenaries hired by the Gaddafi regime, but in a press conference this morning, Christian Wenaweser, President of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court, told reporters the resolution’s language was meant to exclude foreign mercenaries responsible for attacks on Libyan protesters and opposition groups.

The  final decision whether or not pursue a greater investigation will be up to head ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, who is expected to make an announcement quickly once he is formally notified by the Security Council. Wenaweser said the head ICC prosecutor would also be coordinating his decision to investigate with the Human Rights Council’s inquiry.

House Republican Urges Obama To Reject Lobbying Attempt From Sudan Government

By Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico

U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf's (R-Va.) objection to a Sudan lobbyist presence in Washington, D.C. didn't find much of an audience Thursday, but the Congressman moved past the small crowd, calling on President Barack Obama to reject the Sudanese government's prospective representation at the Capitol.

"Today, I am sending a letter to President Obama urging him to make it clear, in no uncertain terms, to both the State Department and the Treasury Department's office of Foreign Assests Control, that under his administration, the government of Khartoum, will not be granted the necessary waiver to hire a lobbyist," Wolf said. "A modern day accused war criminal is sitting as a head of the state of government of Sudan."

Wolf noted Sudan President Omar al-Bashir's March 2009 arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, and said in June 2004, he was part of a delegation of Congressmen who went to Sudan, where he witnessed what he described as "the nightmare."

When al-Bashir was issued an ICC warrant, the Sudan government said they did not recognize the ICC as a legitimate agency.

Wolf said new consideration of Sudanese representation in the nation's capital, "would be a disgrace and must not be permitted to take place under any circumstances."

The Sudan government has not been represented in Washington, D.C. for more than four years, largely due to what the U.S. government once said was genocide in the country's Darfur region.