III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 386 

Urging the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to fulfill 

its agreement to hold credible elections, comply with constitutional limits 

on presidential terms, and fulfill its constitutional mandate for a democratic transition of power by taking concrete and measurable steps towards holding elections not later than December 2018 as outlined in 

the existing election calendar, and allowing for freedom of expression 

and association. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2018 

Mr. FLAKE (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. COONS, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. MENENDEZ) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

MAY 24, 2018 

Reported by Mr. CORKER, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble 

JULY 16, 2018 

Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the Government of the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo to fulfill its agreement to hold credible elections, 

comply with constitutional limits on presidential terms, 

and fulfill its constitutional mandate for a democratic 

transition of power by taking concrete and measurable 

steps towards holding elections not later than December 


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SRES 386 ATS 

2018 as outlined in the existing election calendar, and 

allowing for freedom of expression and association. 

Whereas the people of the United States have a strong relationship with the people of the Democratic Republic of 

the Congo (DRC) and a strong commitment to the principles of democracy and adherence to the rule of law; 

Whereas in 2006, the Government of the DRC adopted a new 

constitution that limited the President to two consecutive 

five-year terms, which for President Joseph Kabila expired on December 19, 2016; 

Whereas President Kabila swore to uphold the constitution of 

the DRC as part of his oath of office; 

Whereas the constitutionally required elections have not yet 

taken place; 

Whereas citizens of the DRC have repeatedly demanded that 

their constitutional right to elect a new President after 

two terms be upheld and that President Kabila must 

therefore step down; 

Whereas, on December 31, 2016, the National Episcopal 

Conference of Congolese Bishops mediated a political 

agreement between the ruling coalition and main opposition parties under which President Kabila is prohibited 

from running for a third term, constitutional changes 

which would extend the President’s time in office are prohibited, and elections were to be held before the end of 

2017; 

Whereas, on March 31, 2017, the United Nations Security 

Council adopted Resolution 2348, which called for a 

‘‘swift implementation’’ of the December 2016 political 

agreement, including ‘‘peaceful, credible, inclusive and 


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timely elections no later than December 2017, leading to 

a peaceful transition of power’’; 

Whereas, on June 21, 2017, the United Nations Security 

Council adopted Resolution 2360, which stressed ‘‘the 

importance of the DRC and its national partners taking 

all necessary steps to accelerate preparations for the elections without further delays’’; 

Whereas, on November 5, 2017, the Congolese electoral commission released a calendar that would delay elections 

until at least December 23, 2018, while noting numerous 

‘‘constraints’’ that could impact respect of this calendar; 

Whereas the failure to hold constitutionally required elections 

has increased political uncertainty, violence, and instability inside the DRC, and the United Nations UnderSecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said that amid the political 

stalemate, ‘‘conflict is rapidly spreading across the country and in appalling ways, even in a country blighted by 

violence and insecurity for decades’’; 

Whereas despite contributions in billions of dollars in development, peacekeeping, humanitarian, and diplomatic support from the United States and the international community over the past two decades, persistent insecurity 

has plagued the DRC and a perpetual humanitarian crisis is devolving rapidly further as a result of President 

Kabila’s continued effort to maintain the presidency; 

Whereas the natural wealth of the DRC is monopolized by a 

narrow few and enabled by endemic corruption, regional 

proxy conflict, and poor governance, which together have 

promoted insecurity and resulted in rates of internal disVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 Jul 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR386.ATS SR386

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placement, disease, and mortality approaching the highest in the world; 

Whereas political space in the DRC continues to be heavily 

restricted, as evidenced by arrests and detention of members of the political opposition, democratic activists, and 

journalists, and by restrictions on fundamental freedoms 

such as speech and assembly, and Congolese state security forces have repeatedly responded to peaceful 

protestors with violence including assaults on Catholic 

communities; 

Whereas American Michael Sharp and Swede Zaida Catala ́n, 

members of the United Nations Group of Experts, were 

assassinated in 2017 while investigating reports of atrocities by state security forces in the Kasai region, and 

there has been little effort made by the Government of 

the DRC to cooperate with any independent investigation 

into these murders; and 

Whereas members of the opposition have been targeted, arrested, harassed, and violently attacked by security 

forces: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses concern that the Government of 

3 the Democratic Republic of the Congo failed to hold 

4 elections in 2016 as required by its Constitution and 

5 later failed to fulfill its political commitment to hold 

6 elections in 2017; 

7 (2) expresses concern that the growing security, 

8 humanitarian, and human rights crisis in the DRC 


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1 is exacerbated by the lack of a duly elected leader2 ship; 

3 (3) recognizes that impunity and the lack of ef4 fective rule of law undermine democracy, and that 

5 the arrest and detention of civil society activists and 

6 the harassment of political opponents close political 

7 space and repress peaceful dissent; 

8 (4) calls on the Government of the Democratic 

9 Republic of the Congo to complete concrete steps to10 wards holding elections, including— 

11 (A) issuance of district-level voter registra12 tion data; 

13 (B) completion of legislation to enable re14 districting; 

15 (C) fulfillment of the constitutionally re16 quired step of ‘‘calling the electorate’’; 

17 (D) publication of the final list of presi18 dential and parliamentary candidates; and 

19 (E) holding presidential, parliamentary, 

20 and provincial elections by December 23, 2018; 

21 (5) calls on the opposition to take all steps pos22 sible within the DRC to support and promote imme23 diate free, fair, and inclusive elections; 

24 (6) welcomes United States Government sanc25 tions targeting several senior security officials and 


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1 other individuals responsible for human rights 

2 abuses, impeding democracy, and gross corruption in 

3 the DRC; 

4 (7) encourages the careful vetting of all planned 

5 United States assistance to Congolese state security 

6 forces to ensure that its impact and importance to 

7 United States national security objectives outweigh 

8 the potential damage to United States interests that 

9 might result in working with the state security serv10 ices of the DRC; 

11 (8) notes the importance of continued unity 

12 among the international community that untested, 

13 unpiloted technology, such as electronic voting ma14 chines, given their high cost, risk of failure, and po15 tential for manipulation, should not be used if a 

16 credible election process is intended to benefit all 

17 Congolese citizens; 

18 (9) calls on the Government of the Democratic 

19 Republic of the Congo to cooperate with United 

20 States, Swedish, and United Nations officials to en21 able a credible and independent investigation of the 

22 killing of Michael Sharp and Zaida Catala ́n, and to 

23 identify and bring to justice those responsible for 

24 their murder; 


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1 (10) calls on the Government of the Democratic 

2 Republic of the Congo to end political arrests and 

3 free political detainees, including youth activists, in 

4 support of a credible and inclusive electoral environ5 ment; and 

6 (11) urges the President of the United States, 

7 in close coordination with regional and other inter8 national partners, to use appropriate means— 

9 (A) to provide appropriate electoral assist10 ance to support the organization of credible 

11 elections in the DRC by December 23, 2018; 

12 and 

13 (B) to deter further electoral calendar slip14 page and abuses against the people of Congo, 

15 including through the consideration of targeted 

16 sanctions against high-level DRC officials, in17 cluding close associates of President Joseph 

18 Kabila responsible for further delay of or im19 pediment to elections or otherwise maintaining 

20 President Kabila’s rule beyond the constitu21 tion’s two-term limit. 

Æ 


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