More
than 50 people died in clashes in the capital Kinshasa in September as
the opposition called on Kabila, in power since 2001, to step down amid
fears he wanted to stay in office after his term ends in December.
European
Union foreign ministers said the bloc was "deeply concerned by the
political situation (and)... strongly condemns the acts of extreme
violence."
"The
EU will use all the means at its disposal, including individual
restrictive measures against those responsible for serious human rights
violations, those who promote violence and those who would try to
obstruct a consensual and peaceful solution to the crisis," a statement
said as the ministers met in Luxembourg.
EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini will now study the issue, it added.
Diplomatic sources told AFP last week the bloc was looking at people close to Kabila as possible sanctions targets.
Shortly
after the September killings, Washington put two Kabila allies -- army
commander Major General Gabriel Amisi Kumba and former inspector of
police General John Numbi -- on its sanctions blacklist for undermining
democracy.
Kabila
first took office in 2001, and in 2006 a new constitutional provision
limited the presidency to a two-term limit which expires in December.
At the beginning of this month, the DRC's electoral commission said it would seek to delay a vote until November 2017.
The
foreign ministers said Monday that a political "dialogue must lead to
the holding of presidential and legislative elections as soon as
possible in 2017."
Their
statement did not mention a specific date but said the issue must be
resolved by December 19 when Kabila's term official ends.
The
EU has previously imposed a series of sanctions -- trade restrictions,
asset freezes and travel bans -- on the DRC over rights abuses.
No comments:
Post a Comment