Democratic Republic Of The Congo - Tips
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Bureau of African
Affairs
June
2007
Background Note: Democratic Republic of the
Congo
Flag of Democratic Republic of the Congo is sky blue field divided
diagonally
from lower hoist corner to upper fly corner by red stripe
bordered by two
narrow yellow stripes; yellow,
five-pointed star appears in upper hoist
corner.
PROFILE
OFFICIAL
NAME:
Democratic Republic of the
Congo
Geography
Location: Central Africa. Bordering nations--Angola, Burundi, Central
African
Republic, Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania,
Uganda, Zambia.
Area: 2.345 sq. km. (905,063 sq.
mi.; about the size of the U.S. east of the
Mississippi).
Cities: Capital--Kinshasa (pop. 6.5 million). Regional
capitals--Bandundu,
Bukavu, Goma, Kananga, Kindu,
Kisangani, Lubumbashi, Matadi, Mbandaka,
Mbuji-Mayi.
Terrain: Varies from tropical rainforests to mountainous terraces,
plateau,
savannas, dense grasslands, and
mountains.
Climate: Equatorial; ranges from tropical rainforest in the Congo
River
basin, hot and humid in much of
the north and west, cooler and drier in the
south central area
and the
east.
People
Nationality: Noun and
adjective--Congolese.
Population (2004 est.): 58
million.
Annual growth rate (2004 est.):
2.99%.
Ethnic groups: More than 200 African ethnic groups; the Luba, Kongo,
and
Anamongo are some of the larger groupings
of
tribes.
Religions (2004 est.): Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, other
syncretic
sects and traditional beliefs 10%, Kimbanguist
10%, Muslim
10%.
Language: Official--French. National languages--Lingala, Swahili,
Kikongo,
Tshiluba.
Education: Literacy (2004 est.)--65.5% in French or local language.
Schooling
(2000 est.)--none 41.7%, primary 42.2%, secondary 15.4%,
university 0.7%.
Health (2004 est.): Infant
mortality rate--94.69/1,000 live births. Life
expectancy--49
yrs.
Government
Type: Republic; highly centralized with executive power vested in
the
president.
Independence: June 30, 1960 (from
Belgium).
Constitution: June 24, 1967; amended August 1974; revised February
15, 1978;
amended April 1990; transitional constitution promulgated
April 1994;
Constitutional
Act promulgated May 1997; draft constitution proposed but not
finalized March 1998; transitional constitution adopted on April 2, 2003.
A
new constitution was passed by the transitional parliament on
May 2005. The
D.R.C. held a constitutional referendum on
December 18-19, 2005. Official
results indicated
that 84% of voters approved the constitution. The
new
constitution was promulgated in a
ceremony on February 18,
2006.
Branches: Executive--President is head of state. Cabinet is appointed
by the
ruling party in the parliament. Prime minister is elected by
the parliament.
Legislative--The 500-member lower house of parliament
was elected in July 30,
2006 national elections. Provincial Assemblies
elected the Senate in October
29, 2006 elections. The Senate elected
provincial governors. Judicial
--Supreme Court (Cour
Supreme).
Administrative subdivisions: Ten provinces and the capital city,
Kinshasa.
Political parties: President Joseph Kabila's
party is Parti du Peuple pour la
Reconstruction et le Developpement
(PPRD). Two main coalitions represent
President Kabila and his presidential run-off challenger, former
Transitional
Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba. Other opposition
parties include Union pour
la Democratie et le Progres Social (UDPS),
Forces du Futur (FDF), Forces
Novatrices pour
l'Union et la Solidarite (FONUS), Parti Democrate Social
Chretien (PDSC), Mouvement Social Democratie et Developpement
(MSDD),
Mouvement Populaire
de la Revolution--Fait Prive (MPR-FP), Union
des
Nationalistes et
des Federalistes Congolais (UNAFEC), and Mouvement National
Congolais/ Lumumba (MNC/L). Former rebel movements-turned-political
parties
include the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie
(RCD), Mouvement pour
la Liberation du Congo (MLC), and independent
splinter groups of the RCD
(RCD-ML,
RCD-N).
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and
compulsory.
Economy
GDP (2003): $5.6
billion.
Annual GDP growth rate (2005):
6%.
Per capita GDP (2005):
$120.
Natural resources: Copper, cobalt, diamonds, gold, other minerals;
petroleum;
wood; hydroelectric
potential.
Agriculture: Cash crops--coffee, rubber, palm oil, cotton, cocoa,
sugar, tea.
Food crops--manioc, corn, legumes, plantains,
peanuts.
Land use: Agriculture 3%; pasture 7%; forest/woodland 77%; other
13%.
Industry:
Types--processed and unprocessed minerals; consumer
products,
including textiles, plastics,
footwear, cigarettes, metal products; processed
foods and beverages,
cement,
timber.
Currency: Congolese franc
(FC).
Trade: Exports (2002)--$1.040 billion. Products--diamonds, cobalt,
copper,
coffee, petroleum. Partners--E.U., Japan, South
Africa, U.S., China. Imports
(2002)--$1.216 billion.
Products--consumer goods (food, textiles), capital
equipment, refined petroleum products. Partners--E.U., China, South
Africa,
U.S.
Total external debt (2002): $8.211 billion. (Currently under revision
due to
HIPC decision point in
2003.)
GEOGRAPHY
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.) includes the greater
part of
the Congo River basin, which covers an area of
almost 1 million square
kilometers (400,000 sq. mi.). The country's only outlet to the Atlantic
Ocean
is a narrow strip of land on the north bank of the Congo
River.
The vast, low-lying central area is a basin-shaped plateau sloping
toward the
west and covered by tropical rainforest. This area is
surrounded by
mountainous terraces in the west, plateaus merging into savannas in the
south
and southwest, and dense grasslands extending beyond the Congo
River in the
north. High mountains are found in the extreme
eastern
region.
D.R.C. lies on the Equator, with one-third of the country to the
north and
two-thirds to the south. The climate is hot and
humid in the river basin and
cool and dry in the southern highlands.
South of the Equator, the rainy
season
lasts from October to May and north of the Equator, from April
to
November. Along the Equator, rainfall is
fairly regular throughout the year.
During the wet season,
thunderstorms often are violent but seldom last more
than a few
hours. The average rainfall for the entire country is about 107
centimeters (42
in.).
PEOPLE
The population of D.R.C. was estimated at 58 million in 2004. As many
as 250
ethnic groups have been distinguished and named. Some of the
larger groupings
of tribes are the Kongo, Luba, and Anamongo. Although
700 local languages and
dialects are spoken, the linguistic variety is
bridged both by the use of
French and the
intermediary languages Kikongo, Tshiluba, Swahili,
and
Lingala.
About 50% of the Congolese population is Christian, predominantly
Roman
Catholic. Most of the
non-Christians adhere to either traditional religions
or
syncretic sects. Traditional religions include concepts such
as
monotheism, animism, vitalism, spirit and ancestor worship, witchcraft,
and
sorcery and vary widely among ethnic groups; none is
formalized. The
syncretic sects often merge Christianity with traditional beliefs
and
rituals. The most
popular of these sects, Kimbanguism, was seen as a threat
to
the colonial regime and was banned by the Belgians.
Kimbanguism,
officially "the church of Christ on Earth by the prophet Simon Kimbangu,"
now
claims about 3 million members, primarily among the Bakongo tribe
of
Bas-Congo and
Kinshasa. In 1969, it was the first independent African church
admitted to the World Council of
Churches.
Before independence, education was largely in the hands of religious
groups.
The primary school system was well developed at independence;
however, the
secondary school system was limited, and
higher education was almost
nonexistent in most regions of the country. The principal objective
of this
system was to train low-level administrators and
clerks. Since independence,
efforts have been made to increase access
to education, and secondary and
higher education
have been made available to many more Congolese. According
to
estimates made in 2000, 41.7% of the population has no schooling,
42.2%
has primary schooling, 15.4% has secondary
schooling, and 0.7% has university
schooling. At all levels of
education, males greatly outnumber females. The
largest
state-run universities are the University of Kinshasa, the University
of Lubumbashi, and the University of Kisangani. The elite continue to
send
their children abroad to be educated, primarily in
Western Europe.
HISTORY
The area known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated
as early
as 10,000 years ago and settled in the 7th and 8th centuries
A.D. by Bantus
from present-day Nigeria. Discovered in 1482 by
Portuguese navigator Diego
Cao and later explored by
English journalist Henry Morton Stanley, the area
was
officially colonized in 1885 as a personal possession of Belgian
King
Leopold II as the Congo Free State. In 1907,
administration shifted to the
Belgian Government, which
renamed the country the Belgian Congo. Following a
series of riots
and unrest, the Belgian Congo was granted its independence on
June 30,
1960. Parliamentary elections in 1960 produced Patrice Lumumba as
prime minister and Joseph Kasavubu as president of the renamed
Democratic
Republic of the
Congo.
Within the first year of independence, several events destabilized
the
country: the army mutinied;
the governor of Katanga province attempted
secession; a UN peacekeeping force was called in to restore order;
Prime
Minister Lumumba died under mysterious
circumstances; and Col. Joseph Désiré
Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko)
took over the government and ceded it again
to President
Kasavubu.
Unrest and rebellion plagued the government until 1965, when
Lieutenant
General Mobutu, by then
commander in chief of the national army, again seized
control of the
country and declared himself president for 5 years. Mobutu
quickly centralized power into his own hands and was elected
unopposed as
president in 1970. Embarking on a
campaign of cultural awareness, Mobutu
renamed the country the Republic of Zaire and required citizens to
adopt
African names. Relative peace and
stability prevailed until 1977 and 1978
when
Katangan rebels, staged in Angola, launched a series of invasions into
the Katanga region. The rebels were driven out with the aid of
Belgian
paratroopers.
During the 1980s, Mobutu continued to enforce his one-party system of
rule.
Although Mobutu successfully maintained control during
this period,
opposition parties, most notably the Union pour la Democratie et le
Progres
Social (UDPS), were active. Mobutu's attempts to quell
these groups drew
significant international
criticism.
As the Cold War came to a close, internal and external pressures on
Mobutu
increased. In late 1989 and early 1990, Mobutu was
weakened by a series of
domestic protests, by heightened
international criticism of his regime's
human
rights practices, and by a faltering economy. In April 1990
Mobutu
agreed to the principle of a
multi-party system with elections and
a
constitution. As
details of a reform package were delayed, soldiers
in
September 1991 began looting
Kinshasa to protest their unpaid wages. Two
thousand French and Belgian troops, some of whom were flown in on U.S.
Air
Force planes, arrived to evacuate the 20,000
endangered foreign nationals in
Kinshasa.
In 1992, after previous similar attempts, the long-promised
Sovereign
National
Conference was staged, encompassing more than 2,000 representatives
from various political parties. The conference gave itself a
legislative
mandate and elected Archbishop
Laurent Monsengwo as its chairman, along with
Etienne Tshisekedi,
leader of the UDPS, as prime minister. By the end of the
year Mobutu
had created a rival government with its own prime minister. The
ensuing stalemate produced a compromise merger of the two governments
into
the High Council of Republic-Parliament of
Transition (HCR-PT) in 1994, with
Mobutu as head of state and Kengo
Wa Dondo as prime minister. Although
presidential and legislative elections were scheduled repeatedly over
the
next 2 years, they never took
place.
By 1996, the war and genocide in neighboring Rwanda had spilled over
to
Zaire. Rwandan Hutu militia forces
(Interahamwe), who fled Rwanda following
the ascension of a
Tutsi-led government, were using Hutu refugee camps in
eastern Zaire as bases for incursions against
Rwanda.
In October 1996, Rwandan troops (RPA) entered Zaire, simultaneously
with the
formation of an armed coalition led by Laurent-Desire Kabila
known as the
Alliance des Forces Democratiques pour
la Liberation du Congo-Zaire (AFDL).
With the goal of forcibly
ousting Mobutu, the AFDL, supported by Rwanda and
Uganda, began
a military campaign toward Kinshasa. Following failed peace
talks between Mobutu and Kabila in May 1997, Mobutu left the country,
and
Kabila marched into Kinshasa on May 17, 1997.
Kabila declared himself
president, consolidated power around himself and the AFDL, and renamed
the
country the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.).
Kabila's Army Chief and
the Secretary General of the AFDL
were Rwandan, and RPA units continued to
operate
tangentially with the D.R.C.'s military, which was renamed the Forces
Armees Congolaises
(FAC).
Over the next year, relations between Kabila and his foreign
backers
deteriorated.
In July 1998, Kabila ordered all foreign troops to leave the
D.R.C. Most refused to leave. On August 2, fighting erupted
throughout the
D.R.C. as Rwandan troops in the D.R.C.
"mutinied," and fresh Rwandan and
Ugandan
troops entered the D.R.C. Two days later, Rwandan troops flew
to
Bas-Congo, with the intention of marching
on Kinshasa, ousting Laurent
Kabila, and replacing him with the newly formed Rwandan-backed rebel
group
called the Rassemblement Congolais pour la
Democratie (RCD). The Rwandan
campaign was
thwarted at the last minute when Angolan, Zimbabwean,
and
Namibian troops intervened on
behalf of the D.R.C. Government. The Rwandans
and the RCD
withdrew to eastern D.R.C., where they established de
facto
control over portions of eastern
D.R.C. and continued to fight the Congolese
Army and its foreign
allies.
In February 1999, Uganda backed the formation of a rebel group called
the
Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo (MLC),
which drew support from among
ex-Mobutuists and ex-FAZ
soldiers in Equateur province (Mobutu's
home
province). Together,
Uganda and the MLC established control over the northern
third of the
D.R.C.
At this stage, the D.R.C. was divided de facto into three segments,
and the
parties controlling each segment had reached military
deadlock. In July 1999,
a cease-fire was proposed in Lusaka, Zambia,
which all parties signed by the
end of August. The Lusaka Accord
called for a cease-fire, the deployment of a
UN peacekeeping
operation, MONUC, the withdrawal of foreign troops, and the
launching of an "Inter-Congolese Dialogue" to form a transitional government
leading to elections. The parties to the Lusaka Accord failed to
fully
implement its provisions in
1999 and 2000. Laurent Kabila drew increasing
international criticism for blocking full deployment of UN troops, hindering
progress toward an Inter-Congolese Dialogue, and suppressing
internal
political
activity.
On January 16, 2001, Laurent Kabila was assassinated. He was
succeeded by his
son, Joseph Kabila. Joseph Kabila reversed many of
his father's negative
policies; over the next
year, MONUC deployed throughout the country, and the
Inter-Congolese
Dialogue proceeded. By the end of 2002, all
Angolan,
Namibian,
and Zimbabwean troops had withdrawn from the D.R.C.
Following
D.R.C.-Rwanda talks in South
Africa that culminated in the Pretoria Accord in
July 2002, Rwandan
troops officially withdrew from the D.R.C. in October
2002, although there were continued, unconfirmed reports that
Rwandan
soldiers and
military advisers remained integrated with RCD/G forces
in
eastern D.R.C. Ugandan troops
officially withdrew from the D.R.C. in May
2003.
In October 2001, the Inter-Congolese Dialogue began in Addis Ababa
under the
auspices of Facilitator Ketumile Masire (former president
of Botswana). The
initial meetings made little progress and
were adjourned. On February 25,
2002, the dialogue
was reconvened in South Africa. It
included
representatives from the government, rebel groups, political
opposition,
civil society, and Mai-Mai
(Congolese local defense militias). The talks
ended inconclusively on April 19, 2002, when the government and the
MLC
brokered an agreement that was
signed by the majority of delegates at the
dialogue
but left out the RCD/G and opposition UDPS party, among
others.
This partial agreement was never implemented, and negotiations
resumed in
South Africa in October 2002. This time,
the talks led to an all-inclusive
powersharing agreement,
which was signed by delegates in Pretoria on December
17, 2002, and
formally ratified by all parties on April 2,
2003.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
Following nominations by each of the various signatory groups,
President
Kabila on June 30, 2003 issued a
decree that formally announced
the
transitional government lineup. The four vice presidents took the oath
of
office on July 17, 2003, and most incoming
ministers assumed their new
functions within days
thereafter.
A transitional constitution was adopted on April 2, 2003; a new
constitution
was promulgated February 2006. Extensive executive,
legislative, and military
powers are vested in the president. The
legislature does not have the power
to overturn the government
through a vote of no confidence. The judiciary is
nominally
independent; the president has the power to dismiss and
appoint
judges. The president is head of a
35-member cabinet of
ministers.
President Joseph Kabila has made significant progress in
liberalizing
domestic
political activity, establishing a transitional government,
and
undertaking economic reforms in
cooperation with the World Bank
and
International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, serious human rights
problems
remain in the security services and
justice system. The eastern part of the
country is
characterized by ongoing violence and armed conflict, which has
created a humanitarian disaster and contributed to civilian deaths
(more than
3.8 million, according to a prominent international
non-governmental
organization). MONUC continues to play an important peacekeeping role in the
D.R.C., and in October 2004, its authorized force strength increased
to
16,700.
On July 30, 2006 the D.R.C. held its first free, democratic,
multi-party
elections in more than 40 years.
The D.R.C.'s 25 million registered voters
were charged
with electing a president (from a field of 33 candidates) and
500 deputies to the National Assembly (out of a total of 9,709
candidates).
Despite some unexpected technical and logistical
difficulties, coupled with
isolated incidents of violence and
intimidation, the elections were held in a
largely calm and orderly
fashion. Voter turnout nationwide was
high,
particularly in
the eastern provinces, compared to the December
2005
constitutional
referendum.
The Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) on August 20, 2006
announced
official provisional results
from the July 30 presidential
elections.
According to CEI
figures, incumbent Joseph Kabila won 44.81% of the votes
cast versus Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba's 20.3%. As no candidate
won a
majority of votes in the first round and in accordance
with the country's
electoral law, the top two
recipients, Kabila and Bemba faced off in a second
round of balloting.
Threats to the D.R.C.'s transitional process were marked
by military
clashes in Kinshasa just hours after provisional election results
were
announced. This crisis was exclusively confined to central Kinshasa in
the Gombe area and was essentially a clash between Vice President
Bemba and
President Kabila's militias. The runoff presidential
elections were held on
October 29, 2006. On November 27, 2006
the Congolese Supreme Court declared
President Kabila the
winner over Vice President Bemba by a margin of 58% to
42%.
Kabila was inaugurated on December 6,
2006.
Voters in July 2006 also chose from among 9,709 legislative
candidates to
fill 500 seats in the National
Assembly, representing 169
electoral
districts. Approximately one-third of these districts elected one deputy by
a
simple majority. The rest were multiple-seat districts, ranging from
two
representatives to a maximum of 17 (in
one of Kinshasa's voting districts).
In these areas, deputies
were chosen by proportional representation using
open party lists. To select the winners in multiple-seat districts, all
valid
votes cast were first divided according to political party.
Next, an
"electoral
quotient" was determined by dividing the number of votes cast by
the number of representatives to be elected. Finally, the number of
votes a
party received was divided by this "electoral quotient"
to determine how many
seats the party will win. The candidates
ultimately elected are those who
received the
highest number of votes within their particular party lists.
National Assembly deputies will also serve five-year terms and there
is no
restriction on the number of times they can be
re-elected.
Organizing the D.R.C.'s July 2006 elections presented significant
logistical
challenges. Supported in large part by the MONUC
peacekeeping mission, the
Independent Electoral
Commission opened more than 50,000 polling stations
nationwide and employed some 300,000-poll workers on election day and
to
oversee the ballot counting process. The
presidential and legislative ballots
were printed in South Africa and
altogether weighed nearly 1,800 tons,
requiring 75 round-trip flights between the D.R.C. and South
Africa.
The population of the D.R.C. is estimated to be about 60 million, and
the
country's electoral law grants the right to
vote to those ages 18 or older.
For the July 2006 elections,
the CEI reported that of the
25,420,99
registered voters, 17,931,238 went to the polls, a voter participation
rate
of 70.54%. Of the 17.9 million ballots cast, 993,704
(approximately 5%) were
disqualified due to empty ballots or marking
errors. In 2005, approximately
25.7 million Congolese
registered as voters (out of an original estimate of
28 million
eligible to do so). In the D.R.C.'s December 2005 constitutional
referendum, roughly two-thirds of all registered voters
participated.
The D.R.C. legislature held its first session on September 22, 2006.
On
February 26, 2007, Prime Minister
Antoine Gizenga and the new Congolese
cabinet formally took office. In May 2007, Kengo wa Dongo was elected Senate
President.
Principal Government
Official
President--Joseph
Kabila
ECONOMY
Sparsely populated in relation to its area, the Democratic Republic
of the
Congo is home to a vast potential of natural
resources and mineral wealth.
Nevertheless, the D.R.C. is
one of the poorest countries in the world, with
per capita
annual income of about $98 in 2003. This is the result of years of
mismanagement, corruption, and
war.
In 2001, the Government of the D.R.C. under Joseph Kabila undertook a
series
of economic reforms to reverse this steep decline. Reforms
were monitored by
the IMF and included liberalization of petroleum
prices and exchange rates
and adoption of disciplined
fiscal and monetary policies. The reform program
reduced inflation
from over 500% per year in 2000 to only about 7% at an
annual rate in 2003. In June 2002, the World Bank and IMF approved
new
credits for the D.R.C. for
the first time in over a decade. Bilateral donors,
whose assistance
has been almost entirely dedicated to
humanitarian
interventions in recent years, also are beginning to fund
development
projects in the
D.R.C. In October 2003, the World Bank launched
a
multi-sector plan for development and reconstruction. The Paris Club
also
granted the D.R.C. Highly Indebted Poor
Country status in July 2003. This
will help
alleviate the D.R.C.'s external sovereign debt burden
and
potentially
free funds for economic
development.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the Congolese economy, accounting for
56.3% of
GDP in 2002. The main cash crops include coffee, palm oil,
rubber, cotton,
sugar, tea, and cocoa. Food crops include
cassava, plantains, maize,
groundnuts, and rice. Industry, especially the mining sector,
is
underdeveloped relative to its potential in the D.R.C. In 2002,
industry
accounted for only 18.8% of GDP,
with only 3.9% attributed to manufacturing.
Services reached 24.9% of
GDP. The Congo was the world's fourth-largest
producer of industrial diamonds during the 1980s, and diamonds
continue to
dominate exports, accounting for over half of
exports ($642 million) in 2003.
The Congo's main copper and cobalt
interests are dominated by Gecamines, the
state-owned mining giant.
Gecamines production has been severely affected by
corruption, civil
unrest, world market trends, and failure to
reinvest.
For decades, corruption and misguided policy have created a dual
economy in
the D.R.C. Individuals and businesses in the formal
sector operated with high
costs under arbitrarily enforced laws. As a
consequence, the informal sector
now dominates the economy. In 2002,
with the population of the D.R.C.
estimated at 56 million, only 230,000 Congolese working in private
enterprise
in the formal sector were enrolled in the social security
system.
Approximately 600,000 Congolese were employed by the
government.
In the past year, the Congolese Government has approved a new
investment code
and a new mining code and has designed a new
commercial court. The goal of
these initiatives is to
attract investment by promising fair and transparent
treatment to
private business. The World Bank also is supporting efforts to
restructure the D.R.C.'s large parastatal sector, including Gecamines, and
to
rehabilitate the D.R.C.'s neglected infrastructure, including the
Inga Dam
hydroelectric
system.
The outbreak of war in the early days of August 1998 caused a major
decline
in economic activity. Economic growth, however, resumed
in 2002 with a 3%
growth rate continuing in 2003 at
5%. The country had been divided de facto
into different
territories by the war, and commerce between the territories
had halted. With the installation of the transitional government in
July
2003, the country has been "de jure"
reunified, and economic and commercial
links have begun to
reconnect.
In June 2000, the United Nations established a Panel of Experts on
the
Illegal Exploitation of
Congolese Resources to examine links between the war
and economic
exploitation. Reports issued by the panel indicate
that
countries
involved in the war in Congo have developed significant economic
interests. These interests may complicate efforts by the government
to better
control its natural resources and to reform the mining
sector. A final panel
report was issued in October 2003. The Panel of
Experts mandate was not
renewed.
FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Its location in the center of Africa has made D.R.C. a key player in
the
region since independence. Because of its
size, mineral wealth, and strategic
location, Zaire was able to
capitalize on Cold War tensions to garner support
from the West. In
the early 1990s, however, in the face of growing evidence
of
human rights abuses, Western support for the incumbent government waned
as
pressure for internal reform
increased.
D.R.C.'s relations with neighboring countries have often been driven
by
security concerns, leading to
intricate and interlocking alliances. Domestic
conflicts in the
Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Angola, Rwanda, and
Burundi
have at various times created bilateral and regional tensions. The
current crisis in eastern D.R.C. has its roots both in the use of the
Congo
as a base by various insurgency groups attacking
neighboring countries and in
the absence of a strong Congolese
Government with a military capable of
securing Congo's borders. The war has been exacerbated and prolonged by
the
exploitation of Congo's resources by neighboring countries.
Although 2003 and
early 2004 saw a number of improvements in regional
relations, mid-to-late
2004 was marked by increased
tension between the D.R.C. and
Rwanda.
U.S.-CONGOLESE
RELATIONS
Its dominant position in Central Africa makes stability in the D.R.C.
an
important element of overall stability in
the region. In December 2006, the
D.R.C. inaugurated its first
democratically elected president in over 40
years, the culmination of the Congolese people's efforts to choose
their
leaders through a peaceful, democratic
process. The United States is proud to
have played a role in the peace
process in the D.R.C., and encourages peace,
prosperity, democracy,
and respect for human rights in the
D.R.C.
The United States remains a partner with the D.R.C. and other central
African
nations in their quest for stability and growth on the
continent, and
facilitated
the signing of a tripartite agreement on regional security in the
Great Lakes region between the D.R.C., Rwanda, and Uganda in October
2004.
Burundi formally joined the Tripartite Commission
in September 2005, and the
Tripartite Commission is now Tripartite
Plus. The United States also strongly
supported U.N. efforts to create
a Joint Verification Mechanism to monitor
the border
between the D.R.C. and Rwanda. From the start of the Congo crisis,
the
United States has pursued an active diplomatic strategy in support
of
these objectives. In the long term, the United
States seeks to strengthen the
process of internal reconciliation and
democratization within all the states
of the region to promote
stable, developing, and democratic nations with
which it can work to address security interests on the continent and
with
which it can develop mutually beneficial
economic
relations.
The United States appointed its current ambassador to the D.R.C. in
2004. The
D.R.C. appointed its current ambassador to the United States
in 2000. The
Congo has been on the State
Department's travel advisory list since 1977.
Principal U.S.
Officials
Ambassador--Roger
Meece
Deputy Chief of Mission--Thomas
Dougherty
The U.S. Embassy is located at 310 Avenue des Aviateurs, Kinshasa
(tel.
243-81-2255872; fax
243-81-3010561). Mailing address is American Embassy
Kinshasa, Box 31550, APO AE
09828.
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS
INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises
Americans
traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information
Sheets, Public
Announcements, and Travel Warnings.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all
countries and include
information on entry and exit requirements, currency
regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime,
political
disturbances, and
the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.
Public
Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly
about
terrorist threats and other relatively
short-term conditions overseas that
pose significant
risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings
are
issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel
to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or
unstable.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling
abroad
should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau
of Consular Affairs Internet
web site at
http://www.travel.state.gov, where the
current Worldwide Caution,
Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings
can be found. Consular Affairs
Publications,
which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a
safe
trip abroad, are also available at
http://www.travel.state.gov.
For
additional information on international
travel, see
http://www.usa.gov/
Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
The Department of State encourages all U.S citizens who traveling or
residing
abroad to register via the State Department's travel
registration website or
at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate
abroad. Registration will make your
presence and whereabouts known in
case it is necessary to contact you in an
emergency and will
enable you to receive up-to-date information on security
conditions.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be
obtained
by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and
Canada or the regular
toll line 1-202-501-4444 for
callers outside the U.S. and
Canada.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S.
Department of
State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S.
passport
information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer
service
representatives and operators for TDD/TTY
are available Monday-Friday, 7:00
a.m. to 12:00 midnight,
Eastern Time, excluding federal
holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S.
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP
(877-394-8747) and a web site at
http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm
give the
most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations
or requirements,
and advice on food and drinking water safety for
regions and countries. A
booklet entitled "Health
Information for International Travel"
(HHS
publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government
Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202)
512-1800.
Further Electronic
Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at
http://
www.state.gov, the Department of State web
site provides timely, global
access to
official U.S. foreign policy information, including
Background
Notes and daily press briefings
along with the directory of key officers of
Foreign Service
posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)
provides
security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies
working abroad through its website
http://www.osac.gov
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and
market
information offered by the federal
government and provides trade leads, free
export counseling, help
with the export process, and
more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
provides
authoritative economic, business, and
international trade information from
the Federal
government. The site includes current and
historical
trade-related releases, international market research, trade
opportunities,
and country analysis and provides access to the
National Trade Data Bank.
***********************************************************
See http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/ for all
Background
notes
************************************************************
To
change your subscription, go to
http://www.state.gov/misc/echannels/66822.htm
Democratic Republic of the Congo
