On Wednesday, January 18, the Enough Project and the Atlantic Council will host, “DRC's CENCO Agreement: A Foundation for Real Political Transition?” in Washington, DC.
There may still be hope yet to bring the Democratic Republic of Congo back from the brink. Senior Congolese politicians, western diplomats, and French television are reporting that Joseph Kabila and the political opposition are getting closer to signing a deal on a democratic transition, brokered by the Catholic bishops in Congo, CENCO.
Grave concerns about worsening crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as Kabila fails to hold elections or come to agreement with opposition. He suddenly names new government, and his last legal term ended at midnight Kinshasa time.
Enough Project calls on the U.S. Treasury Department, European governments to work with financial institutions to address news reports of suspicious transactions in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Enough Project calls on the U.S. Treasury Department, European governments to work with financial institutions to address news reports of suspicious transactions in the Democratic Republic of Congo
A new film, Merci Congo, by filmmaker Paul Freedman explores the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that has torn lives apart and killed millions of people – and what we as individuals can do to help stop it.
Today, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed Évariste Boshab, Vice Prime Minister and Interior Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kalev Mutond, Director of the country’s National Intelligence Agency (ANR) on its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.
The Enough Project along with a coalition of 72 Congolese and 14 international human rights organizations have called on the European Union and the United States to expand targeted sanctions against those most responsible for recent violent repression and other serious human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
On Tuesday, November 29, Enough’s Associate Director of Policy for the Great Lakes Region, Sasha Lezhnev, testified in Congress before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on democracy and human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Testimony of Sasha Lezhnev, Enough Project Associate Director of Policy, given on November 29, 2016 before the U.S. Congress’ Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on “Democracy and Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
In a hearing before the U.S. Congress’ Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission today on “Democracy and Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Sasha Lezhnev, Associate Director of Policy at the Enough Project, presented testimony on strategies to avoid a violent crisis in the Congo, in particular through the use of greater U.S. financial pressure to create leverage in support of a democratic transition process.
Tomorrow, November 29, Sasha Lezhnev, Associate Director of Policy at the Enough Project, will testify alongside a distinguished panel of senior U.S. officials and Congolese and international activists before the U.S. Congress’ Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on “Democracy and Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
On November 14, the United States House of Representatives passed H.Res.780 - A resolution urging respect for the constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the democratic transition of power in 2016,by a vote count of 416-3.
For so many who came together as Congo activists, Katherine Fleming Yarges was a light—and a rock. Whether stepping up to Run for Congo Women, as one of A Thousand Sisters, taking on conflict minerals in the 45,000 penny campaign, or shooting protest selfies for Outcry for Congo or Special Envoy Now. Katherine was a steady, glowing presence that represented the very best of the Congo activist community.
On October 27th, 2016, six distinguished experts discussed how to address the crises of democracy and conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The event launched a new Enough Project comprehensive study authored by Sasha Lezhnev, "A Criminal State: Understanding and Countering Institutionalized Corruption and Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo".
Enough's new comprehensive study reveals how the Democratic Republic of Congo is not a failed state—for everyone. It is a failure for the vast majority of Congolese who suffer from abysmal security, healthcare, and education services. However, it is an efficient state for ruling elites and their commercial partners who seek to extract or traffic resources at the expense of Congo’s development. Over the past 130 years, Congo has had many elements of violent kleptocracy, a system of state capture in which ruling networks and commercial partners hijack governing institutions and maintain impunity for the purpose of resource extraction and for the security of the regime. Violence has been the systemic companion of these regimes. This study argues that President Kabila and his close associates rely in large part on theft, violence, and impunity to stay in power at the expense of the country’s development. If international policymakers are to have a real impact in helping Congolese reformers actually reform the system, they need to shift the lens through which they view the conflict.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is not a failed state—for everyone. It is a failure for the vast majority of Congolese who suffer from abysmal security, health care, and education services. However, it is an efficient state for ruling elites and their commercial partners who seek to extract or traffic resources at the expense of Congo’s development.
If international policymakers are to have a real impact in helping Congolese reformers actually transform the system of violent kleptocracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, they need to shift lenses. Policies should focus on creating significant consequences for those most responsible for the system of violence, corruption, and undermining of democracy. This can be done by creating new leverage using tools of financial pressure normally reserved for countering nuclear proliferation and terrorism aimed at isolating certain leaders from the international financial system, and increasing support for Congolese civil society organizations and journalists to hold the government accountable.
In a major report released today, the Enough Project shows that the Democratic Republic of Congo is not a “failed state,” exposing a highly functioning system of violence and corruption structured to allow President Joseph Kabila and his close associates to maintain power and profit from natural resource deals at the expense of country’s development.
In several recent publications and Congressional hearings, the Enough Project has used the term “violent kleptocracy” to describe the nature of the principal systems in place in our organization’s focus countries: Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Somalia. Although the details and structure of the violent kleptocracy may differ in each country, the results are similar: conflict, death, impunity, democratic deficit, and wide-scale looting of state assets.