LATEST ACTION ALERT: VIOLENCE RISES IN THE DRC (Dec 14, 2011)

Violence has resulted from the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) November 28 presidential elections, with international monitors doubting the poll’s credibility and opposition parties organizing protests.

Although official results state that President Joseph Kabila was re-elected, reports surfaced indicating that the electoral commission was more prone  to discard ballots in areas where opposition vote was high.

The Carter Center, whose observers monitored the vote, noted that some constituencies reported “impossibly high” rates of 99 to 100 per cent voter turnout with all, or nearly all, votes going to President Kabila. The results also lack transparency, given that the electoral commission hasn’t yet announced the poll-by-poll results.

As a result, violence has broken-out between opposition supporters and Congolese security forces, leaving at least four people dead and many shops looted. Opposition parties are planning for country-wide protest which they claim will remain peaceful.

With protests also taking place in Canada about this election result, it is important to have our own government call for increased transparency in the DRC. In 2009 and 2010, Canada spent $50 million in aid on the DRC, and this should not be in vain.

Please take two minutes and use our email writing tool HERE to have Canada demand the DRC have a transparent process and fully publish its poll-by-poll election results to ensure fairness of the electoral process.

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