US SENATE : SASSOU NGUESSO’S RE-SELECTION UNDERMINES WORLDWIDE DEMOCRACY
In a tweet published on March 22 2021, Senator Jim Risch, the Ranking member of the powerful US Senate on foreign relations committee said that :
It is up to now the first reaction of an american official about the ongoing flawed electoral process in the Republic of the Congo. After the death by Covid-19 of Sassou Nguesso’s main challenger Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, the Congolese electoral administration run by judge Henri Bouka, refused to cancel the election according to the article 70 of the active constitution. The Congolese junta is according to local politics and civil society sources conducting an electoral coup under closed doors. The Internet remains shut and the Congolese government is using Covid-19 restrictions to crack any protestation attempt.
Access Now, AfricTivistes, Freedom House, Sassoufit and 47 other organizations called on the authorities of the Republic of Congo not to censor the internet. It is time to sound the alarm because the Republic of Congo as the opponent Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas is in imminent danger of death because the arsenal of repression, more than 500 tons of weapons, has already been delivered.
On November 6, 2020 leaders amongst which Professor Ramin Jahanbegloo, Myroslav Marynovych, Jianli Yang, Rafał Dutkiewicz, Andreas Bummel, Tamara Adrian, Jakub Klepal and others called for Freedom in the Republic of the Congo: “The holding of free and transparent elections in the Republic of the Congo is crucial for the stability of Africa above all it is an investment by the international community for democratic renewal.”
The Sassoufit Collective welcomes Senator Jim Risch declaration and call for targeted sanction like those on the Burma Junta. We are confident that the USA and like-minded countries will not tolerate a sham election under China-Turkey interference in the Republic of the Congo.”
About the Committee
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was established in 1816 as one of the original ten standing committees of the Senate. Throughout its history, the committee has been instrumental in developing and influencing United States foreign policy, at different times supporting and opposing the policies of presidents and secretaries of state.
