Senators Call for More Sanctions Against DRC
A bipartisan group of senators urged the Trump administration to expand sanctions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, saying current restrictions have not done enough to curb corruption and human rights abuses there. The sanctions should include additional designations of DRC government officials and increased restrictions on officials who are creating “new companies” to avoid U.S. sanctions, nine senators said in an Aug. 17 letter to Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
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Although U.S. sanctions “have proven to be effective in DRC in recent years,” the administration can boost pressure, said the senators, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch, R-Idaho, and ranking member Bob Menendez, D-N.J. The U.S. should “continue to urge” the DRC government to remove generals who have been sanctioned and to establish an “accountability mechanism” for DRC military officers responsible for “grave crimes.”
The administration should also consider sanctioning actors in DRC’s gold industry, including companies and middlemen in Rwanda, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates who help move DRC gold. This will help “disrupt illicit supply chains” involving DRC companies, the letter said.