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U.S. POLICY TOWARD POST–ELECTION

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, 

AND HUMAN RIGHTS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

Serial No. 112–130

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

RON PAUL, Texas 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

CONNIE MACK, Florida 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

DAVID RIVERA, Florida 

MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania 

TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina 

ROBERT TURNER, New York 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

DENNIS CARDOZA, California 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania 

CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut 

FREDERICA WILSON, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

YLEEM D.S. POBLETE, Staff Director 

RICHARD J. KESSLER, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

ROBERT TURNER, New York 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

KAREN BASS, California 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESSES 

Mr. Donald Y. Yamamoto, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of 

African Affairs, U.S. Department of State ......................................................... 7

Daniel B. Baer, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, 

Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State ...................................... 19

Sarah E. Mendelson, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Agency for International Development .......................................................................................... 25

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

Mr. Donald Y. Yamamoto: Prepared statement .................................................... 9

Daniel B. Baer, Ph.D.: Prepared statement .......................................................... 21

Sarah E. Mendelson, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ................................................. 27

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 54

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 55

The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global 

Health, and Human Rights: Prepared statement .............................................. 56

Question submitted for the record by the Honorable Russ Carnahan, a Representative in Congress from the State of Missouri, with written response 

from the U.S. Department of State and USAID ................................................ 59

Material submitted for the record by the Honorable Donald M. Payne, a 

Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey .............................. 61

Material submitted for the record by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith ...... 63

(1)

U.S. POLICY TOWARD POST–ELECTION 

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:17 p.m., in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Tom Marino (member 

of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. MARINO. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. And to our 

guests, thank you for being here, and to our constituents and 

friends out in the audience, thank you for being here as well. 

Our hearing today will examine U.S. policy options for dealing 

with the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 

one of the priority countries in the United States’ Africa policy as 

identified by the administration and as confirmed by congressional 

legislation and oversight over the past several years. 

This country is two-thirds the size of Western Europe and borders nine African countries. Its problems extend well beyond its 

borders—and I should insert, Chairman Smith is unavoidably detained, and he asked me to fill in for him, so this is the chairman’s 

statement that I am reading. 

The subcommittee last examined the situation in the DRC in a 

hearing in March of last year when the storm clouds were gathering in advance of the November elections. The DRC is now struggling with the aftermath of those elections. Opposition political parties and civil society, especially the Catholic Church, appear unwilling to accept the results of the Presidential and legislative elections. Opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi received 32 percent of 

the votes, but he believes he was cheated out of the votes that 

would have made him the winner in the elections. He has staged 

a Presidential swearing-in ceremony and announced that he will 

form a government. He also has called on supporters to march with 

him to government headquarters. However, government armed 

forces have surrounded his home since the Presidential results 

were announced on December 9th, and even his aides have been 

prevented from meeting with him. 

Suspicion persists that this election was manipulated in favor of 

incumbent President Joseph Kabila. The Carter Center, who observed the vote, as well as the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC and most of DRC’s civil society, all 

cast serious doubt on the announced outcome of the election. AcVerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:09 May 01, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\020212\72652 HFA PsN: SHIRL
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cording to the Carter Center, ballots were missing in some areas 

while results for Kabila in other areas were deemed unrealistic. 

Calls for new elections not only continue but appear to be growing 

in intensity. 

Perhaps government intimidation has minimized any uprising by 

a discontented population, or perhaps the Congolese have accepted 

that Kabila will do whatever it takes to ensure his victory. It could 

be that poverty and a lack of information among the population has 

restrained the widespread resort to protest. Still, there is significant instability throughout the country. This calls into question the 

long-term stability of a country that is critical to U.S. interests, 

which includes the continued flow of strategic minerals. 

Congolese have reason to be skeptical that they will ever have 

a stable government that functions on their behalf. There has been 

one crisis after another since independence in 1960, caused by the 

selfish actions of predatory leadership. An estimated 4 million Congolese lost their lives in two wars from which they are still recovering. Most Congolese remain poor, hungry, and in danger of violence. Their government cannot provide the most basic necessities 

for their families. Public administration is virtually nonexistent, 

with civilian servants demanding payment for even the most routine services. 

MONUSCO is handling security, and the World Health Organization is dealing with the country’s public health issues. The challenge for the international community is to help build the capacity 

and the political will of the Congolese officials to assume the responsibility for caring for and protecting their citizens. 

Since November, violence attributed to the Congolese military, 

the Rwandan rebel group, the Democratic Force for the Liberation 

of Rwanda, and local militia, have caused more than 100,000 Congolese to become internally displaced persons or refugees. Local 

vigilante groups have clashed with the Rwandan rebels in North 

Kivu Province and displaced about 75,000 people from 30 villages 

in North Kivu Province. Similar clashes in Ituri and northern Katanga have had a serious impact in those areas as well. 

This raises serious concerns for a potential humanitarian crisis. 

Women continue to be targeted for abuse in the DRC. A study that 

recently appeared in the American Journal of Public Health concluded that an average of 48 women and girls are raped every hour 

in this country. So before our hearing today has ended, more than 

100 females in the DRC will have been raped. 

However, there remains hope for the DRC despite the current 

crisis. Even during the worst stages of the global financial crisis, 

the World Bank was predicting that the DRC’s economy would 

grow by 7 percent annually over the next several years, making it 

one of the world’s fastest growing economies. At the local level, 

Congolese reportedly have developed coping methods for an absent 

government. Women have developed rotating credit systems to 

compensate for an inaccessible banking system, and farmers have 

banded together to rent trucks to jointly take their product to market. 

Since the early days of Congolese independence, the United 

States has been involved in the DRC and continues to play a significant role there. In Fiscal Year 2011, economic support funds 

3

were targeted to support the Government of Congo stabilization 

and recovery program through support to community, recovery, reconciliation, conflict mitigation resolution, and the extension of authority. International military education and training funds focus 

on training Congolese officers on military justice, human rights, 

and joint operations. 

The United States also provides significant humanitarian assistance to the DRC. The United States provided bilateral aid to the 

DRC of more than $205 million in Fiscal Year 2008, $296 million 

in Fiscal Year 2009, $282 million in Fiscal Year 2010, and $215 

million in Fiscal Year 2011. The Obama administration requested 

more than $262 million for Fiscal Year 2012. 

Our hearing today will allow the administration agencies primarily responsible for the United States’ relation with the DRC to 

report on what our Government can and will do to help the world’s 

12th largest country weather this crisis. 

Before I introduce our witnesses this afternoon, all full statements by members and our panelists as well as other related statements or materials will be inserted into the record. 

I defer now to my colleague, Ranking Member Congressman 

Payne. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much, Chairman Marino, and let me 

commend you for pinch-hitting for Chairman Smith, who is, as you 

know, a very strong advocate of human rights. And during all of 

my hearings over the last 20-some years he has been at just about 

every hearing. So let me just say that this is a very timely hearing, 

and we are certainly convening this at the right time. 

Since the November elections in the Democratic Republic of 

Congo, bipartisan members of both the House and the Senate have 

called for increased U.S. involvement to stave off violence, death, 

and the loss of the democratic gains achieved since 2006, the last 

election that was held. Some of us have been calling for increased 

involvement for much longer. As a matter of fact, it was last year 

on International Women’s Day that we began our subcommittee 

business for the 112th Congress with a hearing on the DRC. Witnesses on the private panel warned that there will be continued 

crisis and that the election would be a difficult task to cover. The 

warning was clear and precise. To quote Mr. Affleck, ‘‘If the situation continues in the same direction as it is now, Congo will have 

deeply flawed elections in November that will not meet minimum 

international standards and will be neither free nor fair.’’

Mr. Chairman, in the wake of that hearing, you and I, Mr. 

Smith, along with Mr. Carnahan, Mr. Fortenberry, Ms. Bass, Mr. 

Wolf, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Crowley, and Mr. McGovern sent letters 

to the White House asking that the President appoint a special 

envoy—to reappoint a special envoy. Last month the administration announced the appointment of Ambassador Barrie Walkley as 

Special Advisor for the Great Lakes and the DRC. While this is a 

great step in the right direction, the appointment came weeks after 

the flawed election, and in the midst of a political crisis that could 

have potentially been avoided. 

As an adviser instead of an envoy, it is not clear that Ambassador Walkley will have the same political support and resources 

necessary to succeed in his very challenging mission. 

4

Only the second election since emerging out of the brutal civil 

war, the November elections were supposed to represent a significant milestone along with the DRC’s path toward stabilization. Instead, the elections highlight the severe political crisis that is the 

undercurrent of all other ailments that plague the Congolese people. It is a crisis that did not start last November or even over the 

last few decades. The crisis in the Congo stems from its colonial 

history. 

As we all know, the Congo was the personal province of the King 

of Belgium, solely his, and he took resources and had a brutal rule 

where amputations were started, which we saw in the recent wars 

in the east of Africa. But that started under King Leopold, and we 

still see remnants of it today. So many of the things that began 

many years ago have impacts today, and the Congo went through 

many crises. When it became independent, there was only one college-trained person in the entire country when Belgium just left. So 

the country started way behind. 

Then regional conflicts, when Mr. Kabila came after Mobutu’s 

terrible reign, so the country never really has had an opportunity 

to develop. Then we had the Rwandan and Ugandan help of Kabila 

to get into office. Then, after that, the first African world war 

where Angola and Namibia and Zimbabwe fought with the Congo 

against Uganda and Rwanda. So I think it is amazing that even 

though things are very bleak, this country still continues to move 

forward. And I think that we have to look at the determination of 

the Congolese people, in spite of all of the terrible legacies that 

have been laid upon them, that they continue to move forward. 

So now in the wake of the elections, the Congo is at a critical 

junction in the history, as they move toward peace and stability. 

The legitimacy of the Kabila regime has been questioned and the 

future of democracy hangs in the balance. Joseph Kabila was sworn 

into office December the 20th. Only one head of state attended, 

Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Ambassadors from foreign nations, 

including the United States, were present at the swearing in. Rejecting the results, opposition leader Tshisekedi held his own 

swearing in under virtual house arrest in his garden. 

In December, Chairman Smith and I called on the administration 

to work with our partners in the international community and an 

inclusive group of Congolese stakeholders to conduct an independent review of reported electoral irregularities, to help mediate 

the crisis to avoid further political unrest. 

With additional protests planned, we hope that a dialogue is underway, and we must remember that as the political standoff continues to unfold, the people of the Congo continue to suffer. They 

suffer at the hands of armed groups that rape and pilferage to instill fear and to keep resistance away. They suffer from the neglect 

of a government that lacks the capacity to provide for their basic 

needs. They suffer from the resource grab that has for hundreds of 

years, as I mentioned before, left them unconscionably in poverty 

while companies and governments, militiamen from their own 

country, but countries from around the world profit from the misery of the people of the Congo. Today for the sake of the Congolese 

people, we are here to examine the lessons learned and figure out 

a way forward. 

5

Lastly, I must add that the American people stand in solidarity 

with the people of the Congo. One of my constituents, Reverend 

Phyllis Zoon of Newark, is a mission advocate at the Monmouth 

Presbytery. She sent me a passionate letter on behalf of herself and 

her parish and the Presbyterian Church of the USA, asking me to 

urge the administration to protect the human rights and democracy 

in the Congo. Ms. Zoon expressed concern for the citizens killed at 

the hands of the Congolese forces. Her letter just highlighted that 

she would hope that we would move toward ensuring that the people of the Congo are protected, and I would ask that the letter be 

submitted to the record. 

Mr. MARINO. Without objection, sir. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance 

of my time. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, Ranking Member Payne. 

Now I turn to Congressman Turner who has a statement to 

present. 

Mr. TURNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be very brief. I am 

here to learn. As Congressman Payne so eloquently pointed out, 

the sad history of this nation began with the abrupt departure of 

the Belgians, the most corrupt, brutal, and unenlightened colonialists in all of Africa. The legacy, I think, was compounded with 

United States policy in an attempt to keep the Congo intact in the 

early 1960s. 

Despite the religious, tribal, geographic, and other elements that 

may have dictated a different take, and I am not sure if that is 

something that this Government could look at once again—is the 

size and scope of this manageable, and will the representative democracy and the rule of law ever really be possible with all these 

distractions? But with that said, I yield back. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, Congressman Turner. 

I now recognize our colleague, Congressman Carnahan. 

Mr. CARNAHAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member 

Payne for holding this hearing. The long history, both pre- and 

post-independence of violence and exploitation surrounding the 

DRC’s vast natural resources has severely impacted the ability of 

this country to realize its enormous potential. 

Eight years following the 2003 peace accords, the DRC remains 

enmeshed in debilitating challenges, from ethnic conflict to widespread corruption, extreme poverty, and inconceivable human 

rights abuses. 

Last year, this committee appropriately held a DRC hearing on 

International Women’s Day. The ongoing presence of armed militias, in the eastern Congo in particular, has continued to perpetuate civil strife and a crisis of sexual and gender-based violence 

against women and children, with hundreds of thousands of rapes 

committed. 

As life becomes increasingly uncertain for the Congolese people, 

the U.S. and the international community must do more to advance 

the mediation process, meaningful security sector reforms, and improve governance to elevate civil society, and to combat the illicit 

mineral trade that props up militias, enables cycles of violence, and 

deprives the Congolese of critical natural resources. 

6

In closing, I want to thank the panelists for being here today and 

sharing their expertise with this committee. I appreciate your time, 

and I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, Congressman. 

I wanted to bring to your attention that Ranking Member Payne 

has brought to my attention that he cannot remember the last time 

that Chairman Smith was not here. I have been informed that he 

has a very serious infection in his leg and cannot be with us, and 

I think I can vouch for all of us saying if he could walk here, crawl 

here, or be drugged here, he would be here. So we hope that he 

gets better very soon. 

I have a little bit of a tradition that, since I have been occasionally doing these, is I wait to ask my questions last. So I am going 

to ask the ranking member and former chairman, Congressman 

Payne, my colleague, to start off the questioning after we hear your 

testimony. 

I am going to introduce the witnesses first. Ambassador Donald 

Yamamoto, United States Department of State. Ambassador 

Yamamoto is no stranger to this subcommittee, having testified before us last March at a hearing about the DRC, and on two other 

occasions last year. He has served since 2009 as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs in the 

U.S. Department of State. His prior assignments include serving as 

U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia from November 2006 to July 2009 

and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs from 2003 to 2006. 

Dr. Daniel Baer, United States Department of State. Dr. Baer 

has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor since November 2009. He has 

served in many different offices in the State Department prior to 

his work in DRL, including the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific 

Affairs, the Bureau of African Affairs, the Office of Multilateral 

and Global Affairs, and the Internet Freedom Office. Prior to working for the State Department he taught at Georgetown’s business 

school and had a fellowship at Harvard. Welcome. 

Dr. Sarah Mendelson, USAID. Dr. Mendelson has served as Deputy Assistant Administrator in USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, 

Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance since May 2010. She has 

brought nearly two decades of experience working on issues related 

to human rights and democracy to this position. She was the director of the Human Rights and Security Initiative at the Center for 

Strategic International Studies and worked as a program officer in 

Moscow with the National Democratic Institute in 1994 and 1995. 

She has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and advised 

Human Rights Watch and the Council on Foreign Relations. Thank 

you for being here. Welcome. 

I see that my good friend and colleague Congresswoman Bass is 

with us. Did you care to make a statement? 

Ms. BASS. No, I will wait for questions. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you. I turn the floor over to Ranking Member Payne. 

We will start with the Honorable Yamamoto. Please limit your 

statement to 5 minutes, but your entire written statement will be 

entered into the record. 

7

STATEMENT OF MR. DONALD Y. YAMAMOTO, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, 

and again it is a great honor to appear before this subcommittee 

with you, Mr. Chairman Marino and, of course, Ranking Member 

Payne and Madam Bass and Turner and Carnahan are here, and 

our prayers are with Congressman Smith. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you. 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. I also ask forgiveness that our Assistant 

Secretary, Johnnie Carson, could not be here today. 

The DRC, with its immense mineral and water wealth and strategic location, is important to the region, to international investors, 

and countries seeking resources. For the United States, the DRC 

has a special humanitarian commitment for this country and for its 

people. The DRC’s turbulent history from outside interference to 

internal development challenges have never allowed it to really 

fully live up to its economic promise and the stability that the people of the Congo richly deserve. 

The Congo lacks a functioning state authority throughout much 

of the country, lacks the capacity to provide basic services such as 

health care, education, and infrastructure, and lacks a fully functioning justice system and bureaucracy. The security forces are frequently undisciplined, ill-equipped, poorly trained, and irregularly 

paid. 

It is in this context that the DRC held its second democratic election since the end of the Mobutu era, and the first election was 

wholly organized and directed by the Congolese—this is really the 

first election directed by the Congolese themselves since independence. Unlike 2006, the elections were largely managed by the 

United Nations and other international donors. The USG found the 

management and technical execution of these elections to be seriously flawed, lacking transparency, and not on par with the positive gains in the democratic process that we have seen in other recent elections in the region and elsewhere. 

Secretary of State Clinton noted that, ‘‘We were deeply disappointed that the Electoral Commission’s provisional results were 

affirmed without a full investigation of alleged irregularities, despite opportunities to do so.’’

Mr. Tshisekedi and his supporters went so far as to hold their 

own swearing-in ceremony and to declare themselves the rightful 

winner of this election. Mr. Tshisekedi is virtually under—in homearrest, surrounded by the police. 

We have called on due process and judicial procedures to be followed in this case. We also deployed many observers from the U.S. 

mission and from other areas to attend provinces throughout the 

Congo. 

To coordinate our efforts in the DRC on December 9th, Secretary 

Clinton announced the appointment of Ambassador Barrie Walkley 

as our new Special Advisor for the Great Lakes and the DRC. We 

are also concerned about the savage reign of terror by the LRA and 

the illicit trading of the DRC’s natural resources which denies its 

people access to its own assets. 

8

We currently have approximately $11 million in 2010 funds specifically aimed at increasing the transparency and regulations of 

the trade in key minerals in eastern DRC. We also recently notified 

Congress of an additional $4.7 million in 2011 for Complex Crisis 

Fund resources that we will apply to promoting traceability and 

monitoring in the regional minerals trade. 

The DRC and the United States have a solid and positive relationship, and our Governments continue to engage at the highest 

level on a range of issues that are aimed toward democracy, a 

peaceful and stable Congo. Mr. Chairman and the honorable members of this subcommittee, I look forward to answering your questions today. Thank you. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, sir. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Yamamoto follows:]

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Mr. MARINO. Dr. Baer, please. 

STATEMENT OF DANIEL B. BAER, PH.D., DEPUTY ASSISTANT 

SECRETARY, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND 

LABOR, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Mr. BAER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Payne, and the other members of the subcommittee. Thank you 

for the opportunity to testify today in light of what Secretary Clinton has described as seriously flawed Presidential and parliamentary elections held on November 28th. I know the committee has 

demonstrated sustained interest in the DRC, and I appreciate that, 

and I appreciate also your continued focus on the human rights climate in the DRC. 

As Ambassador Yamamoto has just outlined, the administration 

is monitoring events closely and shares Congress’ concerns. We are 

taking action as events unfold. For example, in recent days the Department spokeswoman publicly expressed our concern about reports that Radio France International had been shut down. We 

urged relevant Congolese authorities to reinstate RFI’s frequencies 

immediately, which they did, and we will continue to advocate to 

all Congolese political leaders and their supporters, the need to act 

responsibly and renounce violence. 

I would also like at the outset to reiterate our serious concerns 

about gender-based violence in the DRC, which I know has also 

been an interest of this committee. Every hour of the day, dozens 

of women are raped in the DRC, dozens of women every hour. This 

is why the United States continues to champion improved protection of civilians, especially an end to the epidemic of rape and gender-based violence. The United States has worked successfully to 

secure new Security Council resolutions—sanctions against individuals who lead armed groups operating in the DRC or are linked to 

crimes involving sexual- and gender-based violence and illegal 

child-soldier recruiting. 

Additionally, the United States led the adoption of a U.N. Security Council resolution that supported, for the first time, due diligence guidelines for individuals and companies operating in the 

mineral trade in eastern Congo. 

In general, and in part as a result of the training provided by 

the United States to the Congolese national police, the police in the 

DRC have exercised restraint when dealing with demonstrators 

and protestors. However, in some notable instances during the runup to the elections and in their immediate aftermath, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo resorted to excessive 

force to break up protests. Citizens were shot and beaten, detained 

without charge, sometimes in the middle of the night, and sometimes disappeared. 

The government has also placed restrictions on the freedoms of 

speech, press, and assembly in breach of democratic norms. We expect the DRC Government will be tempted to resort to such behavior in the future. For this reason, the USG has repeatedly and will 

continue to forcefully make clear that such violations of civil and 

human rights are unacceptable and must cease immediately, and 

that the perpetrators of human rights violations must be brought 

to justice. 

20

Now, the court system in the DRC is dysfunctional at best, and 

in many parts of the country nonfunctional. The electoral law, for 

example, calls for the establishment of a constitutional court, 

among whose functions would be the review of electoral challenges, 

but to date the new court has not been established. The existing 

court system will be severely challenged to judge impartially and 

credibly the thousands of challenges expected to be filed by disappointed parliamentary candidates. When provincial elections 

take place later this year, there will be more challenges. This surely will exacerbate the already troubling situation. Moreover, the 

Congolese Supreme Court is widely considered to be biased toward 

President Kabila, and its decision validating his electoral victory 

was extensively criticized as premature, unfair, and poorly executed. 

The U.S., the international community, foreign governments, 

international organizations, and NGOs have contributed billions of 

dollars and sent thousands of advisers into the DRC over the years. 

To date, unfortunately, the Government of the Democratic Republic 

of the Congo has not shown the same commitment to reform, and 

we need to be clear: Without a strong and sustained commitment 

by the government to democracy and human rights, little can be 

done that will be sustainable. 

We all know that the DRC is one of the least developed countries 

in the world. Even were the government completely committed to 

improving democracy and human rights, its abilities are limited, 

and developing the capacity of the Congolese Government, enacting 

laws, and transferring tools and know-how is but a small part of 

the solution. Helping them foster and inculcate a respect for 

human rights and the rule of law, and embedded into institutions 

as a way of doing things, is the central task and the larger part 

of a sustainable solution. 

I have already addressed the issues surrounding the courts. In 

addition, a robust and free media sector must be established and 

allowed to function. A vibrant civil society must be supported and 

recognized as a vital partner in building a stronger DRC. Corruption must be tackled so that entrepreneurship and economic growth 

can win the day. Children must be educated and all people need 

to know their rights and be given a chance to understand through 

experience how those rights undergird democratic societies. 

All these things are hard, long-term tasks. They all require leadership and commitment from the top of the government, and none 

can be accomplished until the government is able to provide for the 

physical security of its people. Democracy and human rights are 

both contributors to and dependent on peace and security. 

In conclusion, I want to assure the subcommittee that the administration is unwavering in its commitment to move Congo to internationally accepted human rights standards and norms. Thank 

you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee. I welcome 

your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Baer follows:]

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Mr. MARINO. Dr. Mendelson. 

STATEMENT OF SARAH E. MENDELSON, PH.D., DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE, U.S. AGENCY FOR 

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Ms. MENDELSON. Good afternoon, Chairman Marino, Ranking 

Member Payne, members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today about the Democratic Republic of 

the Congo. I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the 

work of USAID with you, such great supporters of Africa, and with 

my colleagues from the State Department with whom we work so 

closely. For me personally, it is a great pleasure to be back testifying before you, and I am very sorry Chairman Smith is ill, and 

our best wishes are with him. 

How each country reconciles, or not, with violent episodes from 

its past is an important driver of political development. In the 

DRC, democratic institutions and processes play a vital role 

through which the country can overcome political divisions, reinforced by years of conflict. During the past several years some real 

progress has been made toward strengthening democratic institutions and processes in the DRC, including adoption of a revised 

Constitution and successful elections in 2006. 

Through our assistance programs, the United States Government 

has sought to help support a stable and democratic state, one that 

is at peace with its neighbors and provides for its citizens. We pursue our programs with a particular focus on the costs of conflict 

borne by women and youth. 

As you know, Presidential and legislative elections held in the 

DRC on November 28th were widely anticipated as an opportunity 

for the DRC to move beyond its past and advance toward democracy and stability. The Independent National Election Commission, 

the CENI, took primary responsibility for managing the elections 

with some international support. Established just 8 months before 

election day, the CENI was able to register 32 million voters. Millions of Congolese citizens went to the polls. 

The CENI’s accomplishments should not be underappreciated. 

However, the CENI’s management of the electoral process was generally inadequate. Even allowing for the significant logistical challenges inherent to the DRC, nearly every step of the electoral process was delayed. International and domestic observers, as well as 

Secretary Clinton, have noted considerable flaws throughout the 

process in the pre-election period, on election day, in the tabulation 

of votes, and in the process for electoral dispute resolution. In my 

written testimony I discuss these issues more fully and describe 

steps that could be taken to improve the proficiency, transparency, 

and credibility of future elections in the DRC. 

USAID supported the 2011 election process through direct funding for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and the 

Carter Center to support civic and voter education as well as international election observation and capacity-building of human rights 

organizations to observe the elections. The IFES civic education 

program reached over 19 million people, providing citizens accurate 

information on elections and enabling them to effectively particiVerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:09 May 01, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\020212\72652 HFA PsN: SHIRL
26

pate. The Carter Center deployed 10 two-person teams of international long-term election observers to all provinces in the months 

preceding the elections and on election day, working closely with 

domestic observers from the Catholic Church, among others. These 

efforts were instrumental in identifying key election-related irregularities. 

Moving forward, USAID has a range of ongoing programs that 

support citizen involvement in democratic processes and facilitate 

political reforms, including strengthening the rule of law institutions, including the constitutional court once it is established, civic 

education activities through robust partnerships with a range of 

civil society organizations across the DRC, good governance activities that seek to engage productive civic participation and democratic processes, including community-based organizations and civil 

society groups, election monitoring and human rights work implemented by the Carter Center, which will be essential for assessing 

any human rights violations or conflict during upcoming elections, 

and of course media sector development through Internews Network that builds the capacity of Congolese media institutions, particularly community radio stations. 

At the same time USAID has been providing assistance to the 

DRC to support the electoral process, we have also undertaken a 

number of activities and actions to mitigate the potential for violence, such as establishing early warning mechanisms, monitoring 

incidents of violence, and supporting conflict and atrocity prevention activities. Our reconciliation work provides opportunities for 

conflict-affected groups to interact and save spaces to address 

issues of mutual concern, reconcile differences, and promote understanding and trust and work on common goals. 

USAID is also addressing the causes and consequences of human 

rights abuses that are being fueled by conflict in the DRC, including sexual- and gender-based violence and trafficking in persons. 

And attention to these issues is essential before the DRC can enter 

on a path to long-term sustainable development. 

The United States and our partners in the international community remain dedicated to supporting efforts for stability and prosperity in the DRC, although ultimately, of course, advancing democracy, human rights, and good governance there requires the engagement of the Congolese people and political commitment by the 

Government of the DRC. We are hopeful such a path will be taken. 

The written testimony I submitted to the subcommittee expands on 

the themes I have presented. I welcome any questions you have. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, Dr. Mendelson. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Mendelson follows:]

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Mr. MARINO. Now I think the timing is right for me to ask my 

colleague and Ranking Member Payne to lead off the questioning. 

Thank you, sir. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. We should have an interlude 

with an instrument. I finally got a chance to ask a question. 

Let me thank all of the witnesses for your testimony, and let me 

ask a question perhaps to all the panelists, and you may want to 

answer it or not, but—and I will probably do that with most of the 

questions unless it gets to specific USAID questions, and I will certainly relate it to you. 

In March of last year our subcommittee heard testimony from 

witnesses who warned of the current electoral crisis. As noted in 

today’s testimony, these elections were marred by violence, reports 

of fraud, and logistical gaps. Yet, even if the electoral irregularities 

and other flaws had not emerged, administering elections of this 

scale in this country with little infrastructure was going to be challenging without these other problems. 

As it has been mentioned, more than 31 million registered voters, 

estimated 19,000 candidates for 500 parliamentary seats, 11 candidates for Presidency, a country about one-fourth the size of the 

United States. To what extent, if at all, do these elections represent 

a setback for democracy and moving forward in the DRC, and do 

you believe that the problems would—would the outcome be the 

same if these election frauds were not committed? In other words, 

was it enough, in your opinions, to change the outcome of the election? We do know, and it is clear, that there were many problems. 

The question basically is: Do you believe that the outcome would 

have been different without these problems? Ambassador? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Thank you, Congressman Payne. From 

the 2006 elections where some of us were there as election observers and to look at the process, it was almost entirely managed and 

paid for by the international community, and the feeling was that 

for the ownership and for the people of the Congo, that they wanted to take ownership of this process. And so the next election, this 

second election, had a much more integrated dynamic, that the 

Congolese would be the authorities on this electoral process. 

So is it a setback? It is one step in the process of the democratic 

process in the Congo. It is an issue that the people in the Congo 

wanted, and it is something that we had supported. We started the 

process of supporting this election earlier, back in 2008 and 2009, 

with the IFES and later on with the Carter Center. But were there 

sufficient funds? And of course the answer is, there is not always 

sufficient funding to do that, but this was a step that we took. 

The other issue, too, is that if you look at the elections, this election compared to the 2006 elections, you didn’t have the violence 

that was marred after those elections with the problems of militias, 

by Bemba, Kabila, and other groups. Here, the death toll was what 

was unacceptable, but not the level we saw in 2006. 

As far as the results of the election, we were very clear from the 

outset, I think all of us were in the international community, that 

these elections were not transparent, they lacked transparency and 

did not measure up to the democratic gains made in other African 

elections. However, whether these irregularities would have been 

36

sufficient enough to have changed the outcome of those elections is 

unclear. 

But the issue is that the process has begun and that through our 

commitment after the election by Secretary Clinton and the State 

Department, we are committed to ensuring that the electoral process will continue to progress and address the needs and build the 

trust and confidence of the people of the Congo. 

Mr. PAYNE. The electoral body does not—committee does not 

have the national—Congo Independent National Election Commission does not have any civil society, I believe, on that Commission. 

And I wonder if you believe that for civil society to be a part of that 

CENI would improve—or CIMCO would improve—well, CENI 

would improve the confidence that the people of the Congo would 

have in that body? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. I will defer to my colleagues, but overall 

the CENI reflects the process established. And, of course, how the 

CENI is established, et cetera, will be for the Congolese to determine. But I defer to you. 

Mr. BAER. Obviously the CENI is established under a statutory 

authority, and so the way it is established is part of the law. But 

I think in general our approach has been not only in the Congo but 

elsewhere around the world to encourage the participation of civil 

society and to encourage governments to make civil society partners, particularly in electoral processes where the credibility of 

processes can be enhanced to the extent that civil society is participating. 

I think that your question speaks to a more general challenge 

that lies ahead in the Congo. And building off your last question 

in terms of whether this was a setback, certainly it wasn’t a step 

forward. And in order to move forward, there is not only the challenge of improving the execution of elections but also mitigating 

the political tensions that have arisen. And one of the ways that 

the political problems can be solved is by making a more inclusive 

process across the board. So engaging with civil society on the part 

of the CENI would be one example of how that might be executed. 

Mr. PAYNE. Dr. Mendelson, as you know, a team of international 

election experts from the International Foundation for Electoral 

Systems, IFES as we all know it, and the National Democratic Institute, the NDI, were in the DRC from January the 5th to the 

13th assessing the feasibility of conducting a review of the results 

of the November 28th legislative elections. Please describe in detail 

the results of IFES and NDI assessment, and how feasible are the 

proposed recommendations that they made? 

Ms. MENDELSON. So in Secretary Clinton’s statement on December 20th, she said, ‘‘We believe a review of the electoral process by 

the Congolese authorities and outside experts may shed additional 

light on the causes of irregularities, identify ways to provide more 

credible results, and offer guidance for the ongoing election results 

for future elections.’’

So we funded a small team from IFES and NDI for a scoping 

mission to ascertain if a more comprehensive assessment was feasible. We were very clear that we would not play any role in validating or certifying electoral results or processes. 

37

The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo allowed the team to meet with a range of stakeholders, and the 

CENI, in particular, allotted significant time to spend with this 

team; but unfortunately the types of activities that the GDRC was 

hoping that the team would undertake were not in line with the 

team’s priorities. So by the end of the time in the DRC, it was clear 

that a more comprehensive assessment would not be feasible. 

To your specific question, there has not been a detailed assessment done, and they have not published specific recommendations. 

Mr. PAYNE. Let me ask this to Assistant Secretary Yamamoto. 

According to the official results, as we know, upheld by the Supreme Court on December 16th, Kabila would have gotten 49 percent of the vote while Tshisekedi received 32 percent. Tshisekedi 

has refused to accept these results and has inaugurated himself as 

President. Tshisekedi has also called for the cancellation of all legislative results, and the opposition is reportedly organizing mass 

protests for February the 16th. 

In your opinion, what can we do to ensure that Congo does not 

descend into further conflict and instability as a result of the 

flawed elections? How likely is it that a standoff between President 

Kabila and opposition leader Tshisekedi will escalate into mass violence in the coming weeks or months? What is the current status 

of the mediation efforts between the government and opposition, 

and what impact, if any, has this electoral dispute had on regional 

stability? As we know, the Great Lakes region is very fragile. 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Thank you, Congressman. The issue for 

us is that we have been in close discussions, private discussions 

with Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson, our Ambassador James 

Entwistle, and his deputy Sam Laeuchli out in Kinshasa with 

every part of the opposition, particularly Tshisekedi as well as 

President Kabila and Mulunda from the CENI. 

In respect to your question, the issue is that on the short term 

to avoid problems from escalating beyond where they are now is 

that there has to be open political dialogue first and also communication to ensure that there is transparency not only in the process but also in the discussions. We also have called and move forward in discussions privately on opening more political space, ensuring that the opposition and all people have the right to express 

their will but also responsibly express those wills without violence, 

and also to have a commitment from all parties that they will not 

commit themselves or that they would avoid violence, et cetera. 

And so in the short term is dialogue, communications, open political space, and over the long term is much more technical assistance and commitment to capacity building. 

What does this portend for the regional stability in the area—to 

your last question—is that all the countries are clearly focused on 

what happens in the Congo but also what is happening in neighboring countries, from Burundi to Congo, Brazzaville, et cetera. 

Our special adviser, Barrie Walkley, is currently in discussions 

with the regional leaders. And that is important to work with our 

Ambassadors, to get their views, and also to bring better communications and dialogue so that it doesn’t spiral out, and that there 

is a confidence building among the participants of this region. 

Thank you. 

38

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, Ranking Member Payne. My good 

friend, colleague, and neighbor, Representative Karen Bass. 

Ms. BASS. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and also thanks to the ranking 

member, but I appreciate the chair for moving forward and holding 

this hearing, and I definitely want to express my best wishes for 

Chairman Smith, that he gets better. 

I wanted to ask a few questions, kind of following up on what 

you were saying, Mr. Yamamoto. You described what is needed, 

you know, in the future dialogue, communication, political space, 

technical assistance, and capacity building. And I have not had the 

opportunity to travel to the DRC, but everything that, you know, 

I have read and in the hearings, it sounds as though a situation 

of chaos is there. So how do you have dialogue, communication, political space, TA, and capacity building in the midst of chaos is one 

question. 

And then I want to switch reels in a minute and talk about the 

minerals, but I just want to understand what is the impact or what 

has been the impact of our statements as the United States regarding the elections and the situation in the DRC? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Let’s go to the last part first. I think the 

statements have been very important because it underscores, I 

think, our position, and also the credibility of what we have observed in the elections, electoral process. It also calls to all the parties, not only the government but also the opposition, that this is 

what we have seen, these are the problems, these are the issues 

that we need to resolve, and this is the way forward. 

The other issue, too, is to work with the neighboring states on 

what is happening in the Congo precisely so that no one misinterprets or misunderstands what is happening or that the commitment from the international community and the United States still 

remains very important to that region and also to the neighboring 

states. 

But more important is the private dialogues that we have made 

with Mr. Tshisekedi and Mr. Mulunda and, of course, the President 

himself, on what we see and what we can do together to ensure 

that this does not spiral out of control, and what steps are necessary to restore confidence and trust in the people in the Congo 

in the electoral process. And it is going to take time. 

As to your first question, how do you bring chaos—or how do you 

bring order to what seemingly looks like chaos? It is going to take 

time, it is going to be difficult, it is going to be challenging, but I 

think the areas that we are focusing on are the right areas that 

we need to focus on. It is going to be in the short term is to build 

that confidence, to build the communication, to build transparency; 

and over the long term, to dedicate and commit toward capacity 

building, judicial reforms, and political reforms. And I would like 

to defer also to my colleagues who are really at the forefront of 

some of these programs. 

Ms. BASS. But, I mean we started off this hearing talking about 

in the hour that we have this hearing, how many women are going 

to be raped? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Yes. 

39

Ms. BASS. I am having difficulty understanding the difference 

that we make. Do we consider the Kabila government, do we consider it legitimate? I mean, what leverage do we have? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. The leverage is not just with the President, with President Kabila and his government. The leverage is 

with all the parties together. 

Let me just give you an example. Between 2003 and 2006, you 

know, with our tripartite group we made about 26 visits to the region to understand better what we need to do, what the problems 

were. But more important is by our mere presence in these remote 

areas is to underscore that we are committed to finding a solution. 

I think the groups that we deployed not only from the Embassy but 

also from the Department of State, also the support for the other 

organizations underscored that we remain committed toward finding solutions and toward working with the people of the Congo. 

Yes, it is going to be hard, as you say. The problems are enormous, 

but we need to tackle them one step at a time, issue by issue, and 

I think over the long term there will be a tremendous amount of 

progress. 

Ms. BASS. Secretary Baer? Mendelson? 

Mr. BAER. Thank you, I agree with Ambassador Yamamoto. I 

would just say that when we looked back 10 years ago, there were 

thousands of people dying every day, and one of the things, unfortunately, we have been working on is preserving enough stability 

to make the incremental progress that he described. And, unfortunately, when you have a territory as large as the Congo is, with 

as little development as the Congo has, and as poor of a justice sector and as poorly controlled of a military, the challenges can seem 

insurmountable. 

I think that Secretary Clinton’s visit to Goma 2 years ago underscored her personal commitment, particularly on the fight against 

sexual- and gender-based violence. Under Secretary Otero went 

last October. Assistant Secretary Carson has on numerous times 

engaged with the government on this. So I think our engagement 

is important. I think one of the things that are important——

Ms. BASS. Is the communication such that like the majority—I 

don’t want to say ‘‘majority,’’ but who knows that we go? 

Mr. BAER. Oh, I was going to say one of the most important effects of our engagement is that it gives credibility to the people on 

the ground who are engaging. If you look at the election context, 

one of the most loud voices in the domestic context has been the 

Catholic Church. And to the extent that the international community is calling out concerns and flaws, it gives credibility to those 

domestic voices who are also calling out their concerns. 

And we all recognize that in order to solve the governance challenges from which the violence flows, that there is going to have 

to be a political solution at the domestic level. It will be with our 

support, but it is not going to be of our doing. It is going to be of 

the doing of the Congolese people. And to the extent that we can 

give credibility to those voices that will be part of that political solution, our voices add value to theirs. 

Ms. MENDELSON. I have been working on a biography, Suggested 

Political Transition, for over 20 years. And it is a non-linear path. 

And I think that again when you look at this election versus 2006, 

40

what is really striking about it is that the international community 

did not shepherd it, it was Congolese. And there are going to be 

setbacks and certain parts that did go well. Election day itself was 

much more peaceful, very large turnout. 

The idea that there is tremendous chaos and that we can’t do 

any kind of assistance in that or development work in that environment isn’t borne out by the actual impact that some of our investments have. I share your concern both in terms of the gender-based 

violence and the human trafficking costs. I think that the administration is very devoted both to the National Action Plan where we 

are really focused in on postconflict and conflict regions, and trying 

to come up with measurable interventions that we can be held accountable for. 

We are about to launch a new counter-trafficking policy at 

USAID in the next couple of weeks. We are going to increase modestly our investments income, adding trafficking in the DRC. So we 

understand this is a larger piece than we alone can do, but we are 

very focused on trying to find evidence-based programming interventions that we know are going to work. 

Ms. BASS. If you don’t mind, Mr. Chair, may I ask a few more 

questions? 

Mr. MARINO. Congresswoman, you can have all the time you 

need. 

Ms. BASS. Thank you. I wanted to switch reels for a minute, and 

I believe that Dr. Baer had mentioned earlier about U.S.-issued 

guidelines regarding the mineral trade, and I wanted to know if 

you could talk a little bit about that. I am specifically interested 

in who is involved in the mineral trade. Are there a lot of U.S. companies involved or are they European companies? Who is engaging 

in the mineral trade? 

Mr. BAER. Historically, the mineral trade has included every 

range of actors that you describe, from the small shop or the oneperson show that sells to a middle man that sells to a middle man 

that sells to a middle man, to large multinationals. I don’t know 

which U.S. firms are operating there now, if any. I know that many 

firms have, because of the violence, even made initial planning missions, but have not chosen to develop mining operations, et cetera, 

or have paused or withdrawn. 

I believe Rio Tinto is still operating, but I believe FreeportMcMoRan has ceased recently. I may be getting them inverted. So 

there are a range of firms operating. 

Ms. BASS. Are those firms here? I am not familiar with those 

names. 

Mr. BAER. Rio Tinto is Australian and Freeport-McMoRan may 

be a U.S. firm, I am not sure. In any case, they operate with Congolese partners in most cases as a joint venture. 

The challenge for whoever the operator is, whether it is a domestic Congolese operator or an international firm, the challenge is 

making sure that the supply chains are secure, being able to know 

the provenance of the minerals, because what happens is the revenues get siphoned off at various side points or get smuggled in—

the minerals get smuggled into a clean supply chain, allowing rebel 

groups to fund their activities. And so the reason why the international community is focused on that is to try to starve the rebel 

41

groups of this source of funding. And, of course, the rebel groups 

have been the primary perpetrators of the sexual- and genderbased violence. 

I think it is a good thing that the OECD has developed guidelines on due diligence for supply chains. And we expect that as 

companies learn to better implement those guidelines that that will 

help solve parts of the problem. But to be completely straight with 

you, it is a monumental practical challenge, given all of the challenges that we have already described, the vast distance, the lack 

of police, et cetera. It is a huge challenge and will be one going forward, but it is one that responsible companies are going to figure 

out a way to solve. They figure out a way to solve problems with 

supply chains of all sorts all over the world, and they will figure 

out how to solve it and we continue to look to them to make 

progress on that. 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. And just to add to Dan’s comments, we 

still await the Securities and Exchange Commission issuance of the 

new regulations under section 1502, because this will increase the 

confidence of U.S. firms of what the regulations and guidelines are 

in operating in the Congo so that they can make the adjustments. 

Right now, not knowing what the regulations are, it creates a lot 

of insecurity and questions about how they can manage the conflict 

minerals. And also it has repercussions on the people of the Congo 

in that area as far as unemployment and other issues. But I think 

after the regulations are issued that will help. 

In the meantime, the ICGLO, which are the regional groups, are 

making plans, are moving forward. We continue to talk to American businesses about trade in the Congo because we need to be 

there. 

Ms. BASS. And can I get that information somewhere, like who 

is involved? Because I am just wondering when we are talking 

about civil society and all that, I am just wondering if there is a 

way that they can be engaged. Some of the major companies, 

whether U.S. or otherwise. 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Sure. We can provide you that information and we will come and brief you privately. 

Ms. BASS. I would appreciate that. 

Mr. BAER. One of the initiatives that we have engaged with U.S. 

firms on, as well as other multinational firms, is called the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, which has to do 

specifically with the private security contractors and public security 

forces that multinational firms use to protect their assets, and 

making sure that they are trained and ensuring their respect for 

human rights. And so that is something we have discussed both 

with the Congolese Government and with multinational firms. 

When I was in Kinshasa last June I had a small meeting with 

a number of firms that are represented there. So we are working 

with firms on that. And to your question about civil society, there 

is a very against-all-odds and extremely vibrant civil society in 

eastern Congo that works on issues like this every day. And many 

of the firms that are operating there are in contact with them, and 

that partnership will certainly be part of the long-term solution. 

Ms. BASS. Okay, great. I love those firms, too, the security firms. 

42

Ms. MENDELSON. May I add that USAID has a very interesting 

responsible minerals trade program that began in Fiscal Year 

2010. It has three basic components. It is about infrastructure and 

regulatory reform, the protection of communities and child-free certification, and technical assistance to develop a pilot program for 

this conflict-free mineral supply chain to get sector users involved. 

And we have an extracted industry advisor currently out in the 

East with a group of users to explore how to work together. We can 

get you additional details if you want. 

Ms. BASS. Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, Congresswoman Bass. I now turn to my 

colleague, Congressman Turner. 

Mr. TURNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A question for you, Mr. 

Ambassador. We have recently deployed about 100 military advisors that could cross between Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo to 

advise—maybe they could get involved in other things as well. But 

can you tell us about the progress, how we measured the progress, 

is there a timetable on this, will it expand?

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Thank you very much, Congressman, 

for your question. In our last testimony of course we had with Assistant Secretary Vershbow, Department of Defense, explained the 

process of assigning up to 100 Special Forces members in the role 

of training, not so much in a combat role, but in training and support for the troops of the CAR and Uganda and Congo in order to 

help them have the capacity and capability to go after Joseph 

Kony, Odhiambo, and the others in the LRA process. 

We are approaching, as you know, the 150-day mark for a review 

of the process, and at that time I think we will have more information for you. As far as training, I think the training process is going 

through extremely well. But the question comes in: When are they 

going to get Kony? When is this going to come to an end? I think 

we have to look at it as a very long-term process, but that our role 

in this is really a very small part in the sense that it is training; 

because ultimately it is going to be the Congolese, the Ugandans 

and the CAR themselves who are going to bring this to a conclusion. Our role is to support. 

We did file a War Powers Act request, and we thank you very 

much for your support on this process. 

Mr. TURNER. The mission is defined more than simply taking out 

Mr. Kony; is that true? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. That is correct. The main function is to 

build a capacity, the training and the support to give them the capabilities, and it has capabilities to carry this out. But again it is 

a comprehensive approach. Not only is it militarily, but also it is 

to bring in other programs such as USAID has a cell phone program which provides cell phones and communications to local communities which, through the cell towers constructed by USAID 

communities, can communicate with each other to say where potential attacks are taking place by the LRA. As you know it is very, 

very difficult to go after the LRA. You are talking 150 to 200 troops 

operating in a size less than the size of Colorado. It is a very huge, 

immense area. 

Mr. TURNER. I yield back, thank you. 

43

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, Congressman Turner. I believe that 

Ranking Member Payne had some follow-up questions. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. I was in eastern Congo this 

past summer of 2011 and we visited an IDP camp in Goma where 

the IDPs were from villages that were attacked by Joseph Kony. 

At the present time—let me just make it very clear that I support 

the U.S. effort of sending U.S. troops to train the Ugandans and 

the Congolese. I think Kony has been around for 20 years. It is a 

disgrace, the terror that he has inflicted on people. He should have 

been taken out 20 years ago. It is 20 years too late. But I hope that 

we will be able to train the troops so that we can finally eliminate 

this scourge that has been around. 

Do we have any assessment of where he is now? He was in the 

Congo at that time? Maybe, Ambassador, do you know if he is in 

the CAR or is out of Uganda? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. I think, Congressman, there is obviously 

information and et cetera that we work with. I think we probably 

should give you a separate briefing on some of the details, but suffice it to say that the commitment and the enhancement that our 

troops are able to bring to bear in this endeavor has been extremely positive, but also it has to be in the context of a very comprehensive approach. And one of the positive results we are seeing 

is the number of people who are leaving the LRA. You are talking 

core fighters, along with some of the 800 or so people accompanying 

the LRA groups, so that is a very positive sign. 

And then the continuation of reconciliation and reintegration, not 

only of Uganda, of the Acholi community, but also in other areas, 

has been very positive and is helping to bring these people out. 

Mr. PAYNE. Let me ask you, how are the current relations between DRC and Rwanda and are they still having joint exercises 

together on the eastern border? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. They did have a joint operation. Right 

now we continue to promote open dialogue between the two governments and that is one of the main roads that Ambassador Barrie 

Walkley is going to do in his discussion. As you know, he went to 

the ICGLR meeting in Uganda in December and will continue that 

process and bring all the parties together in an open dialogue. And 

so it continues as positive and it continues to progress. 

Mr. PAYNE. In regards to MONUSCO, they have a different mandate now. It is supposedly more robust. And secondly, I understand 

that there is a need in their operation for attack helicopters. Do 

you know where that stands and whether that can be provided to 

the U.N.? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. I know for the United Nations—we are 

talking about MONUSCO now. The core mandate for MONUSCO 

is stabilization which is opposite of MONUC which is much more 

peacekeeping. But from MONUSCO one of the main challenges has 

been air assets. We have spoken of this in great detail with the 

head of MONUSCO, Roger Meece. And you are absolutely correct; 

this is an issue that we continue to grapple with. We have gone to 

other countries to help support, and this continues to be a challenge. 

44

Mr. PAYNE. I know in the previous election, all six elections, the 

South African armed forces assisted in the delivery of ballots and 

so forth. Were they involved in this election also? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Yes. And also the Angolans as well. 

Mr. PAYNE. Very good. Just a final question. Could you tell me 

in your opinion the difference between a special adviser that has 

been appointed by the President rather than the special envoy that 

has served previously and that we asked to be reappointed? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. I think a lot of the differences are probably more nuances. But as far as the Special Advisor is concerned, 

Ambassador Barrie Walkley was—as any envoy or advisor—was selected among a group of candidates, and he proved to be the best, 

given his linguistic abilities, also his ties to the region not only 

with the DRC but in other areas. And more important is because 

he has the trust and confidence not only of the Secretary of State, 

Secretary Clinton, but also of the Assistant Secretary, Johnnie Carson, and also of the Ambassadors in the region, who Ambassador 

Barrie Walkley knows personally and worked together with, as well 

as Roger Meese, the head of MONUSCO. So it has been a very productive and cooperative relationship. 

Mr. PAYNE. So there is no difference in the titles? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. There are nuances. 

Mr. PAYNE. I beg your pardon? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. There are nuances. 

Mr. PAYNE. Seems like that is a sensitive question around the 

Department of State. No one wants to speak out on it.

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. But I don’t think you will see any less 

commitment or any less dedication to this endeavor. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. MARINO. Thank you, Congressman Payne. 

I have a couple of questions based on my colleagues’ questions 

and I am just going to get right to the point here. I was a prosecutor for 18 years, so that is how I get right to the point. 

First of all, I was just in Africa 2 weeks ago, on the continent. 

I was in Ghana and Liberia. It was an extraordinary, eye-opening, 

heart-wrenching experience, particularly in Liberia. After 13 years 

or 14 years of war—civil war, albeit—the first female President, 

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has taken control of the situation and seems 

to be doing an excellent job, for which she has her work cut out 

for her, particularly the abuse of women and children. This seems 

to be a thread running through the entire—at least from my experience, the southern part of the Continent of Africa. But be that as 

it may, I get the impression that the administration is accepting 

the status quo, almost a hands-off approach. 

And please correct me if I am wrong, but if I am wrong, please 

give me, Ambassador Yamamoto, and anyone else who wants to 

chime in on this, please give me specific examples of this not happening. 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Congressman, you raise a very fundamental issue in the role of development. I defer to Sarah as well. 

But as Ambassador in both Ethiopia and Djibouti—and of course 

I served as Charge ́ in Guinea-Conakry—one of the issues that we 

are committed to, and Secretary Clinton really raised this during 

her trips to Africa, and that is the status of women. By raising the 

45

status of women and fighting the issues of sexually-based violence, 

we can not only enhance the integrity, the honor, and the status 

of women, but also development, and also create stability in those 

communities. And that is something fundamental right now that 

has really changed dramatically. Certainly in this administration, 

it has come out very prominently. 

All the programs that we are doing throughout the continent—

and I think that Secretary Clinton received a call from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and I think immediately she went off for the inauguration to lend support to the efforts and the issues that she takes 

very personal and she supports very strongly. That is something 

that our Secretary has done as well throughout her trips, and she 

will be making another trip to Africa. 

The program, I will give you one example. What we did in East 

Africa right now through USAID and the programs is, we have 

these community-based development projects where we do community schools. And for the moms we do micro-enterprise loans. For 

the dads we are doing agricultural progress, because 80 percent are 

agricultural based. We are doing land certification programs and 

other issues. But what we are finding out is that for daughters, 

their moms are their heroes. This is an issue that we are expanding, and a project and program that USAID and the State Department and our Embassies are really taking a hands-on approach 

and supporting. And as we talk to our Ambassadors, this is one of 

the things we are looking at and hearing stories throughout the 

Continent. 

Sarah, do you want to——

Mr. MARINO. I will get back to you in just one moment. But, 

please, Dr. Mendelson. 

Ms. MENDELSON. I had the pleasure over the last several months 

working very closely on the National Action Plan with my colleagues from USAID and State and the White House. And really 

under the leadership at USAID of Administrator Shah and Deputy 

Administrator Steinberg who has decades of commitment to the 

issue of women, war, and peace. We are really trying to advance 

a paradigm shift where issues of the safety and security of women 

and children are woven through our entire understanding of what 

stability and development is. 

If the National Action Plan is actually fully implemented we 

would have, through the Department of Defense, Department of 

State, and USAID, a very different conception of how we engage in 

stability. It would be both stand-alone programs but really fully 

woven through every health, education, fully integrated. And I 

think as somebody who is a private citizen, worked on this for a 

long time, it is potentially extremely exciting. And of course the 

President of Liberia herself was one of the authors of U.N. Resolution 1325, very involved in the whole concept of women, war, and 

peace. So it has taken 10 years. We have come late to the game 

in many ways, but we are fully committed to implementing this 

over the next many months. 

Mr. MARINO. Dr. Baer, you had a comment? 

Mr. BAER. Sure. First of all, thank you for the question. You are 

doing a good job of channeling the chairman because it is the kind 

46

of question I have grown used to getting from him, and of course 

I share others. 

Mr. MARINO. There will be more following. 

Mr. BAER. No person of good conscience could possibly look at the 

Continent of Africa and accept the status quo. And nobody that I 

work with in the administration does. And so first of all, let me say 

that I think there are a range of ways that we are engaging, and 

oftentimes the most important ones are in small ways. One of 

things, for example, that we are doing is working on helping train 

women journalists, because one of things we found is in order to 

get the problems of women and children solved, you have to get the 

stories of women and children out. And so training women journalists across Africa is one of the things we are focusing on. 

More specifically, we have taken concrete action in the multilateral sphere to focus attention on crises in Africa that have a particular impact on women and children, like the conflict in Cote 

d’Ivoire last year which we raised with the Human Rights Council 

and have supported follow-up action since. I was out in western 

Cote d’Ivoire in October, that continues to be an issue of concern. 

There are ways that we Ambassadors across the continent under 

Secretary Clinton’s direction and under the support of Ambassador 

Verveer, are focusing their attention on women community leaders, 

particularly because, as Sarah says, we learned the lesson over the 

last 20 years that peace and security arrangements that don’t include women and women’s views do not work. And so it is absolutely the case that this administration is focused on improving not 

only the condition of women but also their participation in solving 

the problems that face the continent. 

Mr. MARINO. I completely understand your compassion and position in this; believe me, I do. And Ambassador Yamamoto, I equate 

it to, as you come in here, you are walking on a tightrope with one 

end in our hand and we are not quite sure where the other end 

is connected. So you have a fine line to walk. 

But let me pose this scenario, and I credit Secretary Clinton for 

being there for the inauguration of the President. I missed it by a 

couple days. I wish we could have been there, we weren’t able to, 

but we did meet with her and have a lengthy conversation. 

But all the programs that you have implemented and you hope 

to implement concerning raising the level of the female, to women’s 

proper role, I mean let’s face it, it always seems no matter where 

in the world that the wives, the mothers, the grandmothers are 

keeping the rest of us focused and narrow. I know that is the way 

in my home. That is just the way it is. When I was raised, my 

grandmother and my mother, and now my wife, just took over. And 

instead of having two kids, she calls me the third kid. 

Be that as it may, as devoted as our intentions are, what do we 

do with Kabila who just says, I am not going to cooperate, and still 

has the control that he exercises? What do we do about an individual like that, regardless of the programs that are implemented? 

And, Ambassador, please, would you please start off? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. As you know, we provide about $7 billion in assistance programs, most of it is earmarked, but the issues 

that we distribute and implement, most of them, over 80 percent, 

are through NGO groups, with the social civil societies and commuVerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:09 May 01, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\020212\72652 HFA PsN: SHIRL
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nities in the communities locally, not through the government. And 

that is how we get through and around leaders or people opposed 

to it. 

Mr. MARINO. How do you get Tshisekedi’s attention, seriously get 

the attention? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. Tshisekedi, that is a very—it is difficult. 

Speaking with him, he has a very strong-minded mind, but the 

question comes in talking to not only him but also to his people. 

And that goes back to I think the DRC on the type of government 

that is going to be formed after his election. And we called for an 

inclusive government. That means inclusion of all parties and all 

groups, including Tshisekedi’s people, not himself, but—so that 

helps to influence that wing of the opposition party. 

Mr. MARINO. I understand your diplomatic responsibility and approach, believe me, and I would not trade positions with you for all 

the money in the world. But I seem to—it just—it is just not connecting. 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. One thing is that—I am getting more 

notes here. 

Mr. MARINO. Sorry. Please take your time, and I understand. 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. I think it is very telling that Mr. 

Tshisekedi called for a general strike and very few people came to 

the party to participate. But more important is, going back to the 

heart of your question, is how do we really bring a societal change? 

How do we bring fundamental changes? And at every level we have 

thought, with USAID, with our colleagues, and I will give you some 

examples. Some things that we have done over the last decade, we 

have trained 140,000 peacekeeping troops throughout Africa. 

AFRICOM has helped in training the 391 battalion in the DRC. It 

is part of that process not only for peacekeeping but also for civilian control. 

The other issue is security sector reform, which is a fundamental 

basic, through all the countries and all the development, because 

SSR is really critical if you want to see rapid development. 

The other issue, too, I will give you an example, is the formation 

of the Africans themselves forming groups like the AMISOM in Somalia. They are doing it themselves because that is an integral 

threat to them. And so our job is to help support those efforts. And 

I think by giving the societal changes and dramatic changes at the 

basic or life thing, that is going to speak volumes and help over the 

long term. 

Mr. MARINO. I think we need to bring more attention on an international basis, significant attention, and expose what is taking 

place there for what it is worth or not worth. 

Let me pose this, if you don’t mind. I see the women in Liberia, 

and certainly in Ghana, taking a very aggressive and important 

role. But are we setting up perhaps an environment for the equation of an Arab Spring? 

Mr. BAER. In Liberia and Ghana? 

Mr. MARINO. Yes. No, excuse me, no. What we are talking about 

right here in the DRC, when you say you are implementing these 

programs. I am sorry for not being clear on that.

Mr. BAER. Obviously, Ghana remains a bright spot in the continent. And actually speaking to your comments earlier, I lived in 

48

Ghana for a time, and one of my favorite sayings there was when 

an old woman dies, it is like a library has burned. And certainly 

the appreciation of women’s leadership is something we hope to see 

elsewhere. 

I don’t think we predict—obviously there are conditions unique 

to every context, including in the Middle East where we have seen 

political transitions this year. And while there are some similarities, there have have been different causes and events that have 

led to them. I don’t think we predict any kind—that type of political transition in the near term in the DRC. 

I think what we do predict is that the tensions that are there 

now, the political tensions between Kabila and the opposition, are 

tensions that need to be dealt with and they need to be dealt with 

in a meaningful way in order for people to be satisfied. And the 

good news is there are a range of things that the President can do 

and that others in the government can do to bring civil society in, 

to bring the opposition into conversation and dialogue, and to move 

the country forward. One of the things that they can do is commit 

to better election processes going forward, and that is something 

that they will have the support of the international community to 

do. 

Mr. MARINO. Okay. Dr. Mendelson. 

Ms. MENDELSON. Our programs did not cause the Arab Spring, 

for better or worse. 

Mr. MARINO. If that is what you think I inferred, I did not.

Ms. MENDELSON. The dignity and respect agenda that we saw on 

display in both Tunisia and Egypt are obviously very powerful for 

people around the world, but they are fundamentally the responsibility and revolution of Tunisians and Egyptians. And I think a lot 

of us are very humbled in watching them. 

But the programs that we conduct and the support we gave to 

Congolese civil society and the population are just as Dan said. I 

think that the ability to have independent critical media, better 

election architecture, civil society organizations that are robust and 

listening and responding to the needs of the population, are important. They are a part of our values, and they are in response to demand on the ground. 

Mr. MARINO. And we have to also be addressing issues, keeping 

our eye on a month, 6 months, a year down the road; because we 

don’t want to be caught in a position where we are caught off guard 

again, and the disasters that could happen because we are looking 

at this particular moment in time instead of trying to calculate and 

predict what the future may bring. You agree with me there. 

Ms. MENDELSON. Totally agree. We are not—at least we at 

USAID aren’t particularly good at predicting the future. Maybe our 

colleagues at the State Department are better at it. But I will say 

that we as an administration have been very focused on what is 

called the Presidential Study Directive 10. In August the President 

launched a process where we are looking at atrocity prevention. We 

are trying to figure out what tools we can bring to bear, where the 

gaps are, early warning systems, response. Obviously this is about 

political leadership. 

In the context like the DRC, we are really actively working to try 

and figure out what are—are there technological fixes; should we 

49

be using certain kinds of—we mentioned the cell phones and cell 

towers. Are there ways in which we can better organize ourselves 

to be responsive? Do we see patterns of violence? 

Mr. MARINO. None of us will be able to predict the future with 

accuracy, but my position has always been before we make a radical change into something, we have to sit down and seriously—you 

folks have to sit down and seriously ask yourselves and consult 

with us, if you want our input or any assistance, what happens if? 

Ms. MENDELSON. We are also actually in the process of a 5-year 

strategic planning process. We see this as an enormous opportunity 

to put everything on the table and say how do we get to where we 

want to be? Should we be doing more investments in the democracy 

sector? Should we be doing less in others? What does the recent 

past tell us about what we should be doing differently? 

Mr. MARINO. Chairman Payne. 

Mr. PAYNE. Just on the question of Etienne Tshisekedi. You 

know, I see a number of Congolese here, so there could be some 

Tshisekedi supporters and Kabila supporters, whatever. However, 

the future of the Congo is going to be with new, young, emerging 

leadership. I met with Tshisekedi back in the nineties when he was 

complaining about Mobutu, halfway with him, sometimes not with 

him. He had a parade back in, I don’t know, 1991 or 1992 that he 

was going to be President. I think that he had a lot of ability and 

talent, but his time unfortunately was when Mobutu had control 

over the country and would not allow free and fair elections. Of 

course U.S policy supporting Mobutu, which was wrong, but it was 

a Cold War policy. And so whether the election, as we know was 

flawed, the future of the Congo is not with Tshisekedi. Like I said, 

his time has come and passed. 

[Disturbance in the hearing room.] 

Mr. PAYNE. It must be Tshisekedi’s brother or something. 

The question is there needs to be a development of new leadership. There are many Congolese in the United States who are 

young, they want to go back, they have talent, they know the resources of the country, they know that it is probably the wealthiest 

country in the world, but the people suffer from poverty. And so I 

think we can spend a lot of time on whether it was fair or free. 

I think what we need to do is to try to move forward, try to have 

democratic institutions strengthen so that we can then move forward. I am not pro-Tshisekedi or pro-Kabila, I am simply proCongo. And the future is not back in the nineties, but it is going 

to be in the future. 

And so I just want to say that we can—still does not change the 

fact that the elections were flawed and they—I do have to commend the Congolese Government for trying to pull it off by itself 

which, without much resource, I believe the United States put 

about in the 2006 elections. Ambassador, do you think it was $80 

million or $90 million? 

This time we gave them $12 million, but the country pulled off 

the elections with that. That shows a growth, at least in the fact 

that they are moving forward to some degree. So I just thought I 

would say that. I knew I would get someone upset, but I think the 

future is in the hands of the new, younger visionary Congolese that 

50

want to see the country grow with its resources, rather than a few 

people who still want to keep the old system going. 

Mr. MARINO. Congresswoman Bass has another question, please. 

Ms. BASS. Yes, I wanted to follow up, Ambassador, with something you were telling me before about the relationship that we 

have with some of the neighboring countries. And I wanted to know 

if you could be a little more specific which countries; what is the 

relationship; how is it helpful? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. I think the relationship between the 

Congo and the neighboring countries is such that we want to avoid 

the problems we had in the past. We had countries going into the 

Congo to exploit the wealth, and so what we are trying to do is 

have a protection and respect for the sovereignty of states. That is 

number 1. 

Number 2 is to improve the relationships between these countries. One of the processes or fundamental objections we participated in the tripartite long ago, but continues today is, how do you 

open and maintain a dialogue between all these countries with 

each other? Obviously, they all have their own respect of strategic 

interests, but how do you support and coordinate, for instance, 

Rwanda, on the concerns of the FDLR, or Uganda with the problems with the LRA and other issues, with the CAR, and the Congo, 

Burundi? 

Ms. BASS. Maybe I misunderstood you earlier. I thought you 

were referring to the U.S. relationships with some of the other African countries in trying to help with the situation. 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. I think, well, in that context, the United 

States plays a role, because we are kind of like the neutral observer, the neutral arbiter. And we have been able to give information, bring parties together, but, more important, to be a neutral 

person, to hear the issues on all sides. I think that is a very critical 

and important role that we play. 

Ms. BASS. Okay. 

Mr. MARINO. I do have a specific question that Chairman Smith 

would have asked had he been here, and I am going read it. 

There has been discussion in the DRC of the formation of a government of national unity as the best remaining means of resolving 

what has become a post-election crisis. Similar responses to flawed 

elections in Zimbabwe and Kenya have not been successful. You 

have stated that the administration is not promoting a coalition 

government. What then would be your response to efforts to form 

a government of national unity in the DRC? 

Ambassador? 

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. I alluded to it a little bit earlier, but it 

is not so much the coalition, it is an inclusive government. I think 

that will help support the aspirations of the people of the Congo 

and make—really what I think you, Congressman, have raised 

with the idea of the Arab Spring, is what President Obama said in 

Ghana 3 years ago, and the fundamental pillar of our relationship 

is to ensure that there are democratic values; in other words, governments that are accountable to the people. And through an inclusive government, to have the Congolese Government accountable to 

all factions, whether they are supporters of Tshisekedi, supporters 

51

of Kamerhe, supporters of Kabila. That is really the fundamental 

issue that we are looking at. 

I am sorry the other person left because everyone, it doesn’t matter the ages or whatever, the aspirations I think are there to bring 

about a better tomorrow for the people as you, Congressman 

Payne, have always done throughout your time in Africa. And that 

is what we are trying to achieve here as well. 

Mr. MARINO. In getting to closing here, what bang are we getting 

for our buck in the United States? And what other countries, and 

to what extent, are they contributing to these efforts?

Mr. BAER. I should really let the bucks talk, but let me just say 

20 seconds worth of framing. I think it is important to underscore 

the importance of the value of our investment in preserving stability in the places where stability is, and allowing the incremental 

progress and law enforcement and justice, and to remove investments would cause back sliding. 

And so I think it is often difficult to value, and no one wants to 

overvalue keeping the ball where it is on the field, but losing yardage is really expensive, and we are always trying to push it down 

the field. So I just want to underscore the importance of the investments we are making on things like building the judicial sector, 

helping train them to investigate SGBV, help reform the way they 

manage prisons. All those things are having an impact, even if the 

progress is still very incremental. 

Ms. MENDELSON. It is absolutely critical that we not penalize the 

Congolese people because of the way in which elements of a government did or did not execute this election. So as we think about—

compared to other parts of the continent, we have actually invested 

or are investing relatively little. And remarkably we have, as I 

think others have alluded to, small investments have yielded some 

very interesting results where, for example, working with citizens 

in local governments, having citizens hold accountable local governments to make sure their tax receipts are going to support what 

the authorities say they are supporting. 

I totally agree with the idea that going forward an emphasis on 

new—a new cohort and leadership is really critical, and I think 

that is true across the continent, I think it is true in this country. 

That is sort of—those two pillars of leadership in open government are ways in which we are doing what is usually called good 

governance work in a kind of 21st century way, layering on the use 

of technology and making sure citizens have voices. But it is really 

critical that we not—and of course you asked the question of bang 

for the buck, and the answer comes out that we are going to cut. 

We need to be thinking about how we support Congolese people 

going forward. 

Mr. MARINO. Please keep a very, very stern eye on our tax dollars as if that money were coming out of your individual pockets, 

please. 

In my last question, in looking for a remark from you, what do 

we do about the Central African Republic coming over into the borders and kidnapping people; and even on the east, other countries 

coming in, the LRA? Be more specific, thank you—going into the 

DRC and actually doing mining? 

52

Ambassador YAMAMOTO. That is again the hope that our Special 

Forces unit will bring as far as training and capacity building enhancement. More important is talking to our Ambassador Barrie 

Walhley in the area. He has been able to talk to the President and 

the people and work very closely with them. 

You know, as far as the number of attacks are way down in the 

area, the number of groups that are leaving the LRA to go to reconciliation has been up, and so I think that part has been a 

progress. You want to add to that? 

Mr. BAER. My only addition would be it continues to be a driving 

concern. The assistance we are giving in order to go after the LRA, 

the assistance in training is important and particularly important 

for the DRC, because even though the attacks are down, as the 

Ambassador said, down to 278 in 2011 from 306 the year before, 

86 percent of those attacks are happening in the DRC. 

Mr. MARINO. Do any of my other colleagues have a comment or 

statement, please? 

Mr. PAYNE. I would just like to clarify what I was saying, that 

we need to have new, young, vision and ideas. I don’t necessarily 

mean young in chronological age. I mean people who have a vision. 

What we need is a vision for the leadership of the Congo. 

I just want to say one final thing; that we are losing a very talented person who has been a very close associate of mine for the 

entire time I have been in the Congress, Ted Dagne. Ted is leaving 

the CRS to be a special envoy to the U.N., to the President of 

South Sudan and we—Ted and I have traveled maybe three dozen 

times to Africa. He knew every leader, he knew every rebel, he 

knew more rebels than leaders. And he would drag me into the 

rebel dens and we would be talking and discussing. 

We went to Congo, and we met with Kabila while Mobutu was 

still President. Of course, the State Department didn’t like that. Do 

you remember that, Ambassador? He remembers. 

Ms. BASS. He shook his head. 

Mr. PAYNE. We have gone to the battlefields of South Sudan 

when Dr. Garang was leading his forces. We have been in Burundi 

meeting with the Hutus in villages. And in Rwanda, he has done 

more to stabilize Rwanda, South Sudan. I know of no other person 

who has dedicated himself and has really made a big difference to 

the lives of millions of people in Africa. And so we will certainly 

miss him, I will miss my traveling partner, but I want to say he 

was a tremendous asset to our country. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. MARINO. You are welcome. I want to thank Chairman Payne 

and Congresswoman Bass for sticking this out with me. I want to 

thank our distinguished panel. It was very informative. 

Please see that you do get the documents and information to my 

colleagues for which they asked. I appreciate that very much. I 

thank the people sitting in here listening to this hearing, and it is 

again—after my trip, it is extraordinarily important that we know 

all these issues and make solid, concrete decisions. Thank you very 

much, and the hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 4:05 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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QUESTION SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE RUSS CARNAHAN, A REP- RESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI, WITH WRITTEN RE- SPONSE FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND USAID 

Question: 

All Panelists: Last year, this Subcommittee fittingly held a DRC hearing on International Women’s Day. As you know, the Administration recently announced the 

U.S. National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace, and Security—the goal of which 

I wholeheartedly commend: ‘‘to empower half of the world’s population as equal 

partners in preventing conflict and building peace in countries threatened and affected by war, violence, and insecurity.’’

This marks an important step to realizing the goals of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions, including 1888, 1889 and 1960, which 

prioritize combating sexual and gender-based violence. The rampant and really unimaginable level of sexual violence in the DRC acutely shows why this initiative is 

so urgent. I’m hoping you will be able to put the NAP into the DRC’s context.

• Please discuss the Administration’s overarching gender strategy in the DRC—

from education and prevention, to security sector and rule of law reforms to 

survivor treatment and supporting women in civil society. Particularly, how 

are we addressing the growing socialization of violence against women, what 

are we doing to engage men and boys in this effort, and how are we supporting the inclusion of Congolese women in mediation and demobilization 

processes, and promoting their overall advancement in society? 

Answer: 

The United States government is dedicated to working toward greater empowerment of women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in all sectors of society—including in political, social, and economic realms—as a key to promoting peace 

and prosperity. To that end, we take gender into consideration when designing and 

implementing programs in all sectors in the DRC. Currently, the State Department 

and USAID are in the process of developing Agency-specific Women, Peace, and Security implementation plans as directed by the President’s Executive Order 13595. 

These plans will incorporate time-bound, measurable, and resourced actions designed to meet the objectives established in the National Action Plan (NAP), including the engagement of women in peace building and political processes and the protection of women and girls from conflict-related violence and abuse. The State Department and USAID are working to ensure that agency implementation plans include effective, coordinated action at the country level in the DRC. These efforts are 

in support of the DRC’s own National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, 

which has outlined the government’s commitment to promoting the crucial role of 

women in restoring and maintaining peace and security. 

The NAP is based upon five key pillars: institutionalizing a gender-sensitive approach to diplomatic, development, and defense-related work in conflict-affected environments; encouraging the participation of women in peace processes and decisionmaking; strengthening the protection of women from violence; supporting the prevention of conflict; and increasing the emphasis on the needs of displaced women 

and girls in relief and recovery operations. 

Participation in Peace Processes and Decision-making—The United States has 

supported the DRC’s efforts to emerge from conflict and realize a just and lasting 

peace based on democratic principles, governed by the rule of law, and respectful 

of human rights, including those of women and girls. In order for the DRC to 

progress, it is critical that Congolese women are empowered to be equal partners 

in all sectors. Our programs in the DRC support women’s participation in democracy 

and governance programs, security sector training, and in education and economic 

initiatives. 

For example, the Department of State hosted a conference in October 2011 to reinforce women’s participation and engagement in the political process in the DRC, 

bringing together women in Congolese civil society, political party leaders, and influential actors in the women’s rights field from across the provinces and Kinshasa, 

to share experiences and reinforce networks. 

Protection from Violence—The United States government is particularly concerned 

about the continuing high rates of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) 

throughout the DRC, including the use of mass rape as a weapon of war, the growing socialization of violence against women, and the need to engage men and boys 

in this effort. Ultimately, the responsibility for protecting civilians and holding perpetrators accountable belongs to the government of the DRC. We are working with 

government and non-government partners in the security, judicial, health, and education sectors to prevent and respond to SGBV. 

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The U.S. government funds SGBV projects that provide critical care and treatment services (medical, psychosocial, legal, and economic) to survivors of SGBV and 

their families. A range of community mobilization and outreach activities are striving to transform the underlying attitudes and behaviors that perpetuate SGBV and 

increase awareness about its costs and consequences, including its relationship to 

HIV risk. These activities will also strengthen the capacity of social institutions, 

civil society organizations, and communities to respond to and ultimately end such 

violence. 

A key to SGBV prevention is holding perpetrators accountable and fighting impunity for these crimes. Establishing reliable judicial mechanisms is an essential first 

step. This includes ensuring witnesses, victims, and judicial officers are protected, 

which is critical to successful investigations and prosecutions. U.S.-funded judicial 

sector programs work to increase access to justice for vulnerable populations—including SGBV survivors—by providing legal aid through human rights organizations 

and by organizing mobile courts to improve access to more remote areas. We provide 

training to police, attorneys, health care workers, military justice personnel, and 

military commanders—just one of the ways we are engaging men in the effort to 

prevent SGBV. Our partners at the Department of Defense are helping to improve 

the security sector by providing support for infrastructure upgrades to facilities used 

by other service providers and by developing training modules for use by the Congolese military. 

Furthermore, the United States strongly supports the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and its efforts to help the Congolese government bring peace and stability to the DRC. We encourage 

MONUSCO’s efforts to effectively implement its mandate, including its innovative 

initiatives to protect civilians through Joint Protection Teams, Community Liaison 

Assistants, and Community Alert Networks, and we have provided resources for the 

MONUSCO-facilitated Prosecution Support Cells to investigate and bring to justice 

perpetrators of the most egregious crimes in eastern DRC, including SGBV. 

Conflict Prevention—The Department of State and USAID are promoting women’s 

roles in conflict prevention, integrating gender perspectives into conflict early-warning and response systems, and investing in women and girls’ health, education, and 

economic opportunity to create conditions for stable societies and lasting peace. 

The Department of State is strengthening early warning mechanisms by incorporating communications technology—including a reporting hotline, digital mapping, and video-conferencing—into current programming to increase civilian protection in eastern DRC. 

A new conflict management and mitigation program managed by USAID works 

with minorities and marginalized women to mitigate conflict, to address human 

rights issues (such as trafficking in persons and SGBV), and to support conflict prevention, early warning, and response activities. This initiative will also provide opportunities to advance women’s economic empowerment through increased access to 

credit, livelihood training, and enterprise support activities. 

Additionally, a new USAID education initiative will seek to empower adolescent 

girls through education by providing access to a safe, enabling learning environment 

conducive to leadership skills development for positive participation in society. 

Access to Relief and Recovery—The United States government is responding to the 

distinct needs of women and children in conflict-affected disasters and crises, including by providing safe, equitable access to humanitarian assistance. 

The U.S. supports partners, including a range of non-governmental organizations 

(NGOs), the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), and the International Committee of the 

Red Cross (ICRC), in efforts to prevent and respond to SGBV and to empower 

women affected by war in the DRC. UNHCR’s program includes skills training, 

rights awareness, sensitization about laws and services, training of military personnel, provision of emergency shelter, and provision of medical and psychosocial 

support. NGO programs provide skills training, income-generation assistance, and 

mental health services to survivors of SGBV and other vulnerable women; and engage communities, specifically men, to enhance protection and prevention of SGBV 

through community education and discussion groups.

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MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE DONALD M. PAYNE, A

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY


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MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, 

A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, AND CHAIRMAN, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS


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