FREEDOM & RIGHTS INITIATIVE Kampala, Uganda E: [email protected] Mob. +256 717512262 www.frinitiative.org

President Jean-Claude Junker President of the European Commission Rue de la Loi 200 1049 Brussels Kampala-Beni, June 1, 2016 Re: Congolese President Joseph Kabila’s defy constitution and Impunity in Beni Massacre

Dear President Jean-Claude, We are writing to urge you to use your influence in diplomatic and development ways against the horrific crimes of genocide and crime against humanitarian laws as classified at international level to mark publicly the European Union’s profound concern about the precipitous deterioration of the human rights situation particularly in North Kivu/Beni territory in DR. Congo and to press for concrete and immediate independent investigation against the crimes committed in international standard level where one tribe is being massacred under hiding complicity of the government. Specifically, we ask that you urge the outgoing President Joseph Kabila to release individuals who are being prosecuted on politically motivated charges including those young civil rights activists of LUCHA, to follow up on commitments to decriminalize libel by introducing in future a new legislation to this effect, and to repeal restrictive legislation that runs counter to Congolese’s international obligations with respect to freedom of expression, association, and assembly that are being threatens by the ruling regime. DR Congo’s failure to make progress on meeting human rights and fundamentals freedom benchmarks set for it by the UDHR as prerequisites for the respect of human dignity and President Kabila’s refusal to leave power after his last mandate that expire at the end of this year and as he continue manufacturing malicious reasons to allow him hang up on power this have forced the citizens to rethink that the political format he is using linked to the same of Mobutu’s dictatorship era. However, the human rights situation in DR Congo is deteriorating, and we urge you to use you to involve particularly for a robust solution in the actual political crisis and armed conflict and violence in DR Congo and invest your efforts to urge EU’s tops leaders to speak out in a principled and firm fashion about the EU’s human rights concerns on DR Congo outlined in their actualised progress report that resulted few weeks ago a special meeting by some international powers who set up a list of applicable sanctions to implement against some tops politicians of the present ruling regime who are supporting the use of repressive and violence against peaceful activists.

For years, DR Congo’s human rights record has been marred by government efforts to silence some independent voices through intimidation, harassment, assassination and politically motivated criminal charges and imprisonment. In many stakeholders reports assessing human rights in DRC highlighted serious, ongoing human rights violations related to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and freedom to peaceful demonstration always reprimand by repressive actions of the ruling regime across the country. Now 19 months since peoples in Beni territory of North Kivu Province continue surviving massacres and genocide when the survivors and eyewitnesses reveals how the Congolese ruling regime is indirectly involved in these tragedies against its own citizens it massacring when the international community keep silent, also there still increase in the level of abuses and restrictions of basic freedoms, especially as the country prepares for November 2016 presidential vote prohibit by the outgoing president Kabila. Recently, Congolese constitutional court authorities declared that Mr. Kabila will remain hanging up on power even in absence of tenure of running the upcoming elections that close space for civil society, since the regime imposed a system that control the freedom of press and expression by restricting independent journalists and human rights defenders to not publish reports related to the Beni massacre or any picture revealing the situation connected to these atrocities, and many activists who makes government critics have either been convicted or are being prosecuted on politically motivated charges. More than 20 government critics include political activists, journalists, social media bloggers, human rights defenders, and other people expressing criticism of the government. In more than half of those cases, the authorities have used blatantly trumped-up state security or public order disobedience charges. In others, they have invoked bogus charges of inciting violence, as was the case with opposition political leader the lawyer Muyambo, Eugene Diomi Ndongala, LUCHA activists, the focus of last month’s USA-UK-France urgency sanctions against the regime. We thank you for your attention and wish you a productive action to save people in Beni territory victims of massacre and crime of genocide. Please accept, Excellency, the assurance of our highest consideration.

Sincerely,

John Mutombo Kalume President