President Bush Praises, Offers Help to Embattled Congo Leader

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct. 26, 2007 — -- President Bush congratulated Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila today on progress the war-torn country has made since its first democratic elections in 40 years, but human rights groups and the United Nations warn that the African nation still faces a potential humanitarian catastrophe.

Last year, the DRC had its first democratic elections in decades after more than 10 years of war left at least four million Congolese dead and millions of others traumatized by rape, kidnapping, and brutality. The elections were considered relatively peaceful and fair according to U.N. and NGO monitors, but in the months since, near war has broken out between government security forces and major rebel groups in the eastern regions of the country. Some 800,000 civilians have been displaced since January because of the conflict, according to the U.N. Mission in the Congo (MUNOC).

President Bush acknowledged the problems in the DRC's eastern region and pledged that the United States would help. "We talked about the eastern part of his country," said President Bush. "And he shared with me his strategy to make sure that the government's reach extends throughout the entire country and that there is stability throughout the country."

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said that the United States has opened up a diplomatic office in the region with one foreign officer, but said more may follow. "The Congolese have a desire for the U.S. to have a presence in the eastern province," said Johndroe.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have criticized some of Kabila's tactics used to extend the "government's reach." An Amnesty International report released on Wednesday, "DRC: Torture and Killings by State Security Agents Still Endemic," accuses the government's special forces under Kabila of committing systematic torture and violence against political opponents, before, during and after the elections. The report states that many of those arrested are still in detention without access to due process and that no state security officers have been held accountable for these crimes.