The CHARTER of

THE UNITED CONGOLESE PARTY

PREAMBLE

Reaffirming our commitment to the Congolese People and the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo;

Having special regard for the Preamble to the Constitution, which states that We, the Congolese People, United by destiny and history around the noble ideas of liberty, fraternity, solidarity, justice, peace and work;

Driven by our common will to build in the heart of Africa a State under the rule of law and a powerful and prosperous Nation based on a real political, economic, social and cultural democracy;

Reaffirming our adherence and attachment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child and the Rights of Women, particularly to the goal of equal representation of men and women in the institutions of the country, as well as to the international instruments relating to the protection and promotion of human rights; and

Reaffirming our inalienable and immutable right to organize ourselves freely and to develop our political, economic, social and cultural life in accordance with our own genius;

Having special regard for Title I, Chapter 1, Section 2, Article 5 of the Constitution, which states that national sovereignty belongs to the people, and all power emanates from the people;

Having special regard for Title I, Chapter 1, Section 2, Article 6 of the Constitution, which states that every Congolese who enjoys his/her civil and political rights has the right to create a political party or to become a member of a political party of his/her choice; and

The political parties participate in the expression of the popular will, the strengthening of the national conscience and civic education;

Having special regard for Title I, Chapter 1, Section 2, Article 8 of the Constitution, which states that political opposition is recognized in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the rights linked to its existence, its activities and its fight for the democratic conquest of power are sacred;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 11 of the Constitution, which states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 12 of the Constitution, which states that all Congolese are equal before the law and have the right to equal protection by the law;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 15 of the Constitution, which states that the public authorities are responsible for the elimination of sexual violence used as an instrument in the destabilization and displacement of families; and

International treaties and agreements notwithstanding, any sexual violence committed against any person with the intention to destabilize or to displace a family and to make a whole people disappear is established as a crime against humanity punishable by law;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 16 of the Constitution, which states that the individual is sacred, and the State has the obligation to respect and protect him/her;

All persons have the right to life, physical integrity and to the free development of their personality, while respecting the law, public order, the rights of others and public morality;

No one may be held in slavery or in a similar condition;

No one may be subject to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment; and

No one may be submitted to forced or compulsory labor;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 17 of the Constitution, which states that individual liberty is guaranteed;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 22 of the Constitution, which states that all persons have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 23 of the Constitution, which states that all persons have the right to freedom of expression;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 24 of the Constitution, which states that all persons have the right to information; and

The freedom of the press, the freedom of information and broadcasting by radio and television, written press of any other means of communication are guaranteed, subject to respect for the law, public order and the rights of others;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 26 of the Constitution, which states that the freedom of demonstration is guaranteed;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 1, Article 27 of the Constitution, which states that all Congolese have the right, individually or collectively, to submit a petition to the public authority;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 2, Article 37 of the Constitution, which states that the State guarantees freedom of association;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 3, Article 60 of the Constitution, which states that the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties guaranteed by the Constitution is incumbent on the public authorities and all persons;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 3, Article 61 of the Constitution, which states that in no case, not even when the state of siege or the state of emergency has been proclaimed, is a derogation admissible from the following rights and fundamental principles:

The right to life;

The prohibition of torture and of cruel, inhumane or degrading punishment or treatment;

The prohibition of slavery and servitude; and

The freedom of thought, of conscience and religion;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 4, Article 63 of the Constitution, which states that all Congolese have the sacred right and duty to defend the country and its territorial integrity in the face of an external threat or aggression;

Having special regard for Title II, Chapter 4, Article 64 of the Constitution, which states that all Congolese have the duty to oppose any individual or group of individuals who seize power by force or who exercise it in violation of the provisions of the Constitution;

Having special regard for Title III, Chapter 1, Article 69 of the Constitution, which states that the President of the Republic is the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity, national sovereignty and the observance of international treaties and agreements;

Having special regard for Title III, Chapter 1, Article 74 of the Constitution, which states that the President of the Republic takes an oath before the Constitutional Court and solemnly swears before the Congolese nation:

To observe and defend the Constitution and the laws of the Republic;

To be guided only by the common interest and the respect of the rights of the individual; and

To loyally fulfill, as a faithful servant of the people, the high duties that have been entrusted to him;

Having special regard for Title III, Chapter 1, Article 165 of the Constitution, which states that high treason is established if the President of the Republic has deliberately violated the Constitution or if he or the Prime Ministers are identified authors, co-authors or accomplices of grave and specific human rights violations, or of the transfer of a part of the national territory;

Failings in matters of honor and integrity are established particularly if the conduct of the President of the Republic or the Prime Minister is contrary to morality or if they are identified as authors, co-authors or accomplices of embezzlement of funds, corruption or unjustified enrichment; and

An insider crime of the President of the Republic or the Prime Minister is established if they conduct commercial operations with regard to immovable assets or goods on which they possess privileged information that they use for their benefit before it is known by the public;

Having special regard for the Bakajika Law of May 28, 1966, which states the soil and subsoil of the Democratic Republic of Congo belongs to the Congolese people;

Reaffirming our commitment to the OAU Charter, the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance;

Having special regard for Articles 2 and 3 of the OAU Charter, which solemnly reaffirm the principles of the sovereign equality of all Member States, non-interference in the domestic affairs of States, as well as respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each State and for its inalienable right to independent existence;

Reaffirming our commitment to the Charter of the United Nations;

Having special regard for Article 51 of the Charter, which recognizes the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs;

Having special regard for UN General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, which strongly reaffirms the right to self-determination and the principle of territorial integrity, in particular paragraph 6 which clearly states that any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and territorial integrity is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the United Nations;

Having special regard for UN General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV), Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, which condemns any action whatsoever which would dismember or impair, totally or partially, national integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent State;

Reaffirming our commitment to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

Having special regard for Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of December 16, 1966, which recognizes that all peoples have the right of self-determination and by virtue of that right, they freely determine their political and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development;

Considering that all men and women are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness;

Considering that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men and women, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;

Considering that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, the people have the right to alter or abolish it, and to establish a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness;

Considering that when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security;

Whereas such has been the patient sufferance of the Congolese People;

Whereas the mineral wealth of the Congo makes the Republic potentially the richest country in the world, yet it consistently ranks among the poorest and most undeveloped;

Whereas the history of the current President of the Republic and his government is a history of rampant corruption and repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over the Congolese People;

Whereas the Republic has been racked by war and conflicts fueled by competing armies and warlords, the pillage and plundering of its natural resources by armed groups, the illicit trafficking of these plundered resources, and the exploitation and slavery associated with trade in its conflict minerals;

Whereas the Congolese People currently live under a politico-military foreign occupation that has driven them down and keeps them in a condition of servitude to a bloody dictatorship or competing armies;

Whereas the ongoing war in the Republic has been called the “Great War of Africa,” is said to be the deadliest war in modern African history, and has directly involved nine African nations and about 20 armed groups;

Whereas it has been reported that the genocide or holocaust in Central Africa has claimed some 6-10 million lives in the Republic since 1996, with 1,500 people dying every day;

Whereas the UN Security Council used such estimates to put together a 20,000 troops-strong peacekeeping mission for the Republic, the largest such operation in the world;

Whereas tens of thousands of children have been forced to fight as soldiers in the war and conflicts, and the Republic has one of the highest rates of child soldiers in the world;

Whereas millions of the Congolese People have been displaced from their homes;

Whereas the UN has called the Republic the center of rape as a weapon of war, and commentators have described the Congo as the worst place on Earth to be a woman;

Whereas recent studies found that sexual violence is rampant not only in conflict areas but also in the home, with nearly one woman subjected to some form of sexual abuse every minute;

Whereas such studies found that as many as 1,152 Congolese women are raped every day, a rate equal to 48 per hour, and up to 433,785 in a one-year period;

Whereas experts have stated that 40 years of “steady economic and political decline” may explain the high incidence of rape in the Republic;

Whereas this steady economic and political decline has also resulted in mass illiteracy and unemployment, forced and compulsory labor, and cruel and inhumane treatment;

Whereas the mineral wealth of the Congo makes the Republic potentially the best place in the world to do business, yet it consistently ranks at the bottom and so the list of legitimate international business actors that are actually in the Congo doing business is remarkably short;

Whereas there are a tiny number of jobs available with legitimate businesses and organizations, and there are millions and millions of people trying to figure out how to eat every day;

Whereas more than 71 percent of the Congolese People live under the poverty line, and the average income for Congolese citizens is between $95-161 per year, depending on the source;

Whereas, meanwhile, the President of the Republic and leaders of his government cut secret deals with foreign businessmen and cartels, giving them monopolies and exclusive rights to Congolese minerals, allowing them all – including the President and his ministers – to share billions of dollars in unjust profits every year;

Whereas strikes and protests are routinely crushed, workers are shot or summarily executed, and vocal opposition and trade union organizers are arbitrarily arrested, detained and tortured;

Whereas, despite reports to the contrary, the situation is far from improving;

Whereas there is no independent election commission and the last national elections were so flawed and the results so compromised, we do not know who really won;

Whereas there have been neither provincial nor local elections;

Whereas we cannot say we have a duly elected president and government, and there are no mechanisms for democratic elections and institutions;

Whereas this latest political legitimacy crisis has resulted in renewed violence and continuing human rights violations;

Whereas the illegitimate president has neither the power nor the moral authority to bring order to the country, and lacks the political will to implement democratic elections and institutions;

Whereas the president and his advisers and ministers lack the political will because of their vested interest in their corrupt, patrimonial system of predatory rule;

Whereas the Republic’s problems are basically political and the Congolese People have no voice, we are in desperate need of a transformative political solution and good governance;

Whereas the leaders of Africa and the world – especially those who continue to invest billions of dollars in foreign aid to the Republic – must be persuaded to abandon their failed policies and stop legitimizing a corrupt regime;

Whereas the international community must be persuaded to instead use its leverage to support Congolese efforts to get a process going that is truly democratizing – that opens things up, gives the People a voice and enables them to achieve a legitimate, transparent and accountable government;

Whereas the Republic has the resources to empower and develop itself, and to become truly self-sufficient, free and independent; and

Aware of our responsibilities before God, the Nation, Africa and the World;

We political exiles and others who escaped from predatory rule and/or persecution during different periods of the history of our country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, met in the diaspora in order to form the United Congolese Party; and

Solemnly proclaim this Charter:

DECLARATION

We, the Congolese People, are Sovereigns, not subjects, servants or slaves. All power and authority in society emanate from us.

We are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights, we institute governments and delegate to them certain enumerated powers.  Governments derive their just powers from our consent, and nowhere else.

Our country is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its soil and subsoil belong to us.  As Sovereigns, we choose to live in a democracy that is a true republic, guided by principles of classical liberalism and republicanism. Sadly, we currently have neither a democracy nor a republic.

Our country has had a good constitution since 1960. As Sovereigns, we want a president and government that will stay within the strict confines of this constitution. Sadly, we do not currently have such a president or government.  Instead, we have suffered a long train of abuses and usurpations that, pursuing invariably the same object, have reduced us under absolute despotism.

As Sovereigns, it is our right, it is our duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for our future security. We have the right to alter or abolish our government when it becomes destructive of its ends, and to establish a new government, laying its foundations on such principles as to us shall seem most likely to affect our safety and happiness.

As Sovereigns, this is what we set out to accomplish, starting with the exercise of our civil and political right to create a political party. In doing so, we cherish the spirit of the Congolese People, seek to keep their attention alive and to reclaim them by validating and treating them as the Sovereigns they are.

Article 1 – Creation

The UNITED CONGOLESE PARTY (“the UCP”) is created in order to most effectively participate in the expression of the popular will, strengthen the national conscience and civic education, and democratize the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Article 2 – Goal

The goal of the UCP shall be to ensure:

  • The ultimate sovereignty of the Congolese People is systematically applied in its fullest implications:
    • The Congolese People responsibly exercise their sovereignty over governments and institutions;
    • Governments and institutions responsibly:
      • Serve the Congolese People and operate on the consent of the governed;
      • Stick to the true guiding principles of classical liberalism and republicanism;
      • Remain good, honest, ethical and safe;
      • Protect and defend the Congolese People, the country and its territorial integrity;
    • Fundamental rights and freedoms are secured for everyone; and
    • The Republic is socially, economically and politically stronger than ever, and the Congolese People are safe, secure, prosperous and happy.

Article 3 – Purposes

In this direction, the purposes of the UCP shall be to utilize the new media technologies to:

  • Engage the People: facilitate civic conversations, civil debates and practical dialogue on the situation in the Congo, Africa and the world; be respectfully honest and acknowledge differences but find and emphasize common values and interests; build bridges and develop consensus on points of agreement; and unite into popular coalitions or social networks of the willing in order to address specific problems that are restricting democracy and individual freedom;
  • Instill principles: affect a recovery and elaboration of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the original and most fundamental American ideals and conceptions that transformed and inspired the world – sovereignty, rights, constitutions, representation and consent – and the true guiding principles of classical liberalism and republicanism;
  • Expose corruption: shine a bright light on abuses and usurpations, with a primary focus on violations of the provisions of the Constitution, and a secondary focus on violations of the Bakajika Law of May 28, 1966; the OAU Charter; the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights; the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption; the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance; the Charter of the United Nations; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child and the Rights of Women; UN General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples; and UN General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV), Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations;
  • Instruct policies: enlighten the Congolese People so they think for themselves and gain the ability to exercise sufficient control over governments and institutions with a wholesome discretion; develop and send written instructions from the People to policymakers that not only frame the issues in their best interests and help them to understand the links between democracy and individual freedom and security, social, economic, political and spiritual progress; but give them ways to improve that are consistent with the instilled principles and based on reason, truth and ethics;
  • Affect a political transformation: inspire and prepare the Congolese People and leaders of the UCP and other parties for the imminent transition to democracy and a true republic; develop and execute a campaign to democratize the Republic; train members of political parties and legislative bodies; build an alternative political leadership that will be accountable to the People; help this leadership implement a program capable of meeting the needs and expectations of the People, and move from opposition to power; and
  • Implement practices: operationalize and work for the long-term by moving beyond theoretical to practical application; help governments and institutions improve by working with them to implement the instructed policies and modern, 21st Century practices based on reason, truth and ethics; maintain the rule of law, fight off hostile armies, rebel groups and terrorists; and secure fundamental rights and freedoms for everyone.

Article 4 – Inspiring Vision

The UCP shall be inspired and animated by the elevating, transforming vision that motivated the American colonists – way back in the second half of the 18th century – to rise from obscurity, defend the battlements of liberty and then, in triumph, hearten and sustain the cause of freedom everywhere.  Americans stood side by side with the heroes of historic battles for freedom and with the few remaining champions of liberty in the present.

Borrowing from Pamphlets of the American Revolution (Harvard University Press, 1965):

The American colonists’ ideas and words repeated as ideology the familiar utopian phrases of the Enlightenment and of English libertarianism. What they were saying by 1776 was familiar in a general way to reformers everywhere; yet it was different.  They found a new world of political thought as they struggled to work out the implications of their beliefs in the years before Independence.

This critical probing of traditional concepts became the basis for all further discussions of enlightened reform, in Europe as well as in America. The radicalism the Americans conveyed to the world in 1776 was a transformed as well as a transforming force.

This is the same radicalism the UCP is now bringing to the Congo as a transforming force. And we dedicate this effort with particular appreciation and reverence to:

  • The Founders of America, who inspired the world with their elevating, transforming vision; by founding a great republic, and by defining the fundamental freedoms and principles upon which ideal governments should be instituted all over the world.
  • Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave who became a leading spokesman for the Abolitionist Movement in America, and for civil and political equality. He appealed to the Declaration of Independence in seeking freedom from slavery for all Americans, and his Independence Day speech in 1852 is often considered the greatest of all abolitionist speeches.  He called the signers of the Declaration brave men, great men, and even heroes, because of their dedication to the “eternal principles,” the “saving principles” of justice and freedom that were set forth in the document.
  • George Washington Williams, an American who, in 1890, wrote and published “An Open letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo,” which condemned the brutal and inhuman treatment the Congolese were suffering at the hands of the colonizers. He spurred the first public outcry against the regime running the Congo under which some 10 million people lost their lives.
  • Mark Twain, an American author and humorist who wrote “King Leopold’s Soliloquy,” a 1905 pamphlet that was a work of political satire harshly condemnatory of King Leopold’s rule over the Congo Free State. It was written as Leopold speaking in his own defense, raving madly about all the good things he had done for the people of the Congo.  As Leopold, he told the world how America and thirteen great European states were persuaded; how their representatives met in convention in Berlin and made him Head Foreman and Superintendent of the Congo State; how he hoisted his flag and “took in” a President of the United States, and got him to be the first to recognize it and salute it.  As Leopold, he said it was possible they would like to take that back, now, but there is no danger; neither nations nor governments can afford to confess a blunder.  As Leopold, he whined about all the pests who told the world that he ruled the Congo State as a sovereign absolute, irresponsible, above all law; trampling the Berlin-made Congo charter under foot; seizing and holding the State as his personal property, the whole of its vast revenues as his private “swag”; claiming and holding its millions of people as his private property, his serfs, his slaves; their labor his; the food they raise his; the riches of the land his and gathered for him by the men, the women and the little children under compulsion of lash and bullet, fire, starvation, mutilation and the halter.  And when they fell short of their tasks through hunger, sickness, despair, and ceaseless and exhausting labor without rest, and fled to escape punishment, Leopold’s black soldiers hunted them down and butchered them and burned their villages; how Leopold was wiping a nation of friendless creatures out of existence by every form of murder, for his private pocket’s sake.
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., who led the civil rights movement in America. Between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over 2,500 times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action.  He led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience, and inspired his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” a manifesto of the Negro revolution.  He directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered the most famous speech by any American in the 20th century, in which he said:

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.  I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.  “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”  I have a dream that one day… the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.  I have a dream that one day… a desert state sweltering with the heat and injustice will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.  I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.  I have a dream today.  I have a dream that one day… little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today… This is our hope.  This is the faith that I go back to the South with… With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.  With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.  This will be the day… From every mountainside, let freedom ring.  And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual: “Free at last!  Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

Article 5 – Sovereignty

The UCP shall affect a recovery, elaboration and continuous practical application in the Congo of the original American conception of sovereignty.

Borrowing from Pamphlets of the American Revolution (Harvard University Press, 1965):

Of all the intellectual problems colonists in America faced in the second half of the 18th century, one was absolutely crucial.  In fact, it was over this one issue that the American Revolution was actually fought.  On the pivotal question of sovereignty, which is the question of the nature and location of the ultimate power in the state, American thinkers gradually departed sharply from one of the most firmly fixed points in 18th century political thought.  The course of intellectual, political and military events brought into question the entire concept of a unitary, concentrated, and absolute governmental sovereignty (first the crown, then the parliament).  This was effectively challenged by those who had sought constitutional grounds for limiting parliament’s power in America.  And it was eventually replaced by a new assumption that the ultimate sovereignty rested with the people.

As American President Ronald Reagan put it in his Farewell Address to the People:

Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: “We the People.” “We the People” tell the government what to do; it doesn’t tell us.  “We the People” are the driver; the government is the car.  And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast.

This is what the UCP is now bringing to the Congo. We the People of the Congo are Sovereigns.  From here on, we tell the government what to do and where to go; it does not tell us.

Article 6 – Constitution

The UCP shall affect a recovery, elaboration and continuous practical application in the Congo of the original American conception of a constitution.

Borrowing from Pamphlets of the American Revolution (Harvard University Press, 1965):

The Americans transformed the notion of what a constitution is. The heart of the matter was the sense in which the constitution could be conceived of as a limitation on the power of governments.  Americans were stating not only that an act of parliament against the constitution is void, but that it was the duty of the courts to strike down such acts.

In 1768 Samuel Adams wrote that the constitution is fixed. Finally, in 1776 came the conclusive pronouncements.  The primary function of a constitution is to mark out the boundaries of governmental powers.  In order to confine the ordinary actions of governments, the constitution must be grounded in some fundamental source of authority.  This special authority could be gained if the constitution was created by an act of all, and it would acquire permanence if it were embodied in some written charter.  Defects, of course, might be discovered and would have to be repaired.  There would have to be some process by which to alter the constitution without disturbing its controlling power as fundamental law.  Every seven or any number of years, a provincial jury should be elected to inquire if any inroads have been made in the constitution, and to have the power to remove them; but not to make alterations unless a clear majority of all the people direct it to.

Thus created and secured, the constitution could effectively designate what part of their liberty the people are to sacrifice to the necessity of having government. Finally, all the fundamental rights should be guaranteed, not granted, by the constitution.

American constitutionalism stated the idea of a constitution as a set of fundamental rules by which even the power of the state shall be governed and which even the legislature is absolutely forbidden to alter. They are never to be added to, diminished from, nor altered in any respect by any power besides the power which first framed them.

As American President Ronald Reagan put it in his Farewell Address to the People:

Almost all the world’s constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which “We the People” tell the government what it is allowed to do.  “We the People” are free.

This is what the UCP is now bringing to the Congo. We the People of the Congo are free.  From here on, we view our constitution as a permanent document in which we tell the government what it is allowed to do.

Article 7 – Rights

The UCP shall affect a recovery, elaboration and continuous practical application in the Congo of the original American conception of rights.

Borrowing from Pamphlets of the American Revolution (Harvard University Press, 1965):

Accompanying the shift in understanding described in Article 6 was another change that contributed to the transforming radicalism of the American Revolution. The rights that constitutions exist to guarantee were understood in the early years of the period to be the inalienable rights inherent in all people by virtue of their humanity.  There was an increasing emphasis on the universal and inherent qualities of rights.  Americans attacked the idea that rights are matters of favor and grace granted by charters from the king.  Charters, like all aspects of the law, are declarations but not gifts of freedoms.  Kings and parliaments cannot give the rights essential to happiness.  We claim rights from a higher source.  We are born with them.  They exist with us, and cannot be taken from us by any human power without taking our lives.  In short, they are founded on the immutable maxims of reason and justice.

Their claim was only that the source of rights be recognized as the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate, and that as a consequence the ideal must be understood to exist before the real and to remain superior to it, controlling it and limiting it. But what was the ideal?  What precisely were the ideal rights of man?  They were, everyone knew, in some sense Life, Liberty, and Property.  American leaders exhorted their countrymen to draw up a petition of rights and never desist from the solicitation until it be confirmed into a bill of rights.  No voice was raised in objection when in 1776 the idea was proclaimed, and acted upon, that all the great rights should be guaranteed by the terms of a written constitution.

This is what the UCP is now bringing to the Congo. We the People of the Congo are Sovereigns.  From here on, we will never desist from the view that we are born with our fundamental rights, and they exist with us.  They cannot be taken from us by any human power.  They are guaranteed by our written constitution.

Article 8 – Representation

The UCP shall affect a recovery, elaboration and continuous practical application in the Congo of the original American conception of representation.

Borrowing from Pamphlets of the American Revolution (Harvard University Press, 1965):

What had taken place in the early years of American colonial history was the partial re-creation, as a matter of fact, of a kind of representation that had flourished in medieval England but that had faded and been superseded by another during the 15th and 16th centuries.  In its original, medieval form, elective representation to parliament had been a device by which “local men, locally minded, whose business began and ended with the interests of the constituency,” were enabled as attorneys for their electors, to seek redress from the royal court of parliament.  And local communities bound their representatives to local interests in every way possible: by requiring local residency, by closely controlling the payment of wages for official services performed, by instructing representatives minutely as to their powers and the limits of permissible concessions, and by making them strictly accountable for all actions taken in the name of the constituents.  As a result, representatives of the commons in the medieval parliaments did not speak for any other group larger than the specific one that had elected them.

The American colonists drifted toward this original form of attorneyship in representation. They moved to bind representatives to local interests.  The Massachusetts town meetings began the practice of voting instructions to their deputies to the General Court.  What counts was the extent to which representation worked to protect the interest of the people against the encroachments of government.

The virtues of binding representatives by instructions were now explicitly explored. In most cases, the “persuasive influence” if not the “obligatory force” of instructions should be insisted upon.  A representative who should act against the explicit recommendation of his constituents would most deservedly forfeit their regard and all pretention to their future confidence.  The right to instruct representatives has been denied only since the system of corruption began to take hold.  Then it was that arbitrary ministers and their prostituted dependents began to maintain this doctrine dangerous to our liberty, that the representatives were independent of the people.  Elected representatives are trustees for their constituents to transact for them the business of government, and for this service they, like all other agents, are paid by their constituents.

The right of free men and women not merely to choose representatives but to bind them with instructions is an ancient and unalienable right in the people. Constituents have nothing less than an inherent right to give instructions to their representatives, for representatives are properly considered the “creatures” of their constituents, and they are to be held strictly accountable for the use of that power which is delegated to them.

This is what the UCP is now bringing to the Congo. We the People of the Congo are Sovereigns.  From here on, we choose our representatives, we bind them with instructions, and we hold them strictly accountable for the use of power we delegate to them.

Article 9 – Consent

The UCP shall affect a recovery, elaboration and continuous practical application in the Congo of the original American conception of consent.

Borrowing from Pamphlets of the American Revolution (Harvard University Press, 1965):

American arguments such as those articulated in Article 8 led to a recovery and elaboration of conceptions of government by the active and continuous consent of the governed that had flourished briefly a century earlier and had then faded during the Restoration, persisting subsequently only as arguments of the most extreme radicals and of the most vociferous and intransigent leaders of the parliamentary opposition. The view of representation developed in early America implied, if it did not state, that direct consent of the people in government was not restricted.  Where government was such an accurate mirror of the people, consent was a continuous, everyday process.  In effect the people were present through their representatives, and were themselves, step by step and point by point, acting in the conduct of public affairs.  No longer merely an ultimate check on government, they were in some sense the government.  Government had no separate existence apart from them.  It was by the people as well as for the people.  It gained its authority from their continuous consent. The traditional view of law was soon replaced by the American view that the binding power of law flowed from the continuous assent of the subjects of law; the American view that the only reason a free and independent man/woman was bound by human laws was this – that he/she bound him/herself.

This is what the UCP is now bringing to the Congo. We the People of the Congo are Sovereigns.  From here on, we will create government of the People, by the People, for the People, which gains its authority from our continuous consent; which governs by the active and continuous consent of the governed.

Article 10 – Classical Liberalism

The UCP shall affect a recovery, elaboration and continuous practical application of the true guiding principles of classical liberalism.

Borrowing from Modern Political Philosophy (M.E. Sharpe, 1999):

Central to the classical liberalism of the 19th century is a commitment to the liberty of individual citizens.  Freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly were core commitments, as was the underlying conception of the proper role of just government as the protection of the liberties of individual citizens.  Also central to classical liberalism was a commitment to a system of free markets as the best way to organize economic life.

Borrowing from “What Is Classical Liberalism?” (National Center for Policy Analysis, 2005):

Classical liberalism was the dominant political philosophy in the United States prior to the 20th century. It was the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson and the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and it permeates the Declaration, the Constitution of the United States, and many other documents produced by the people who created the American system of government.  Many of the emancipationists who opposed slavery were essentially classical liberals, as were the suffragettes, who fought for equal rights for women.

This is what the UCP is now bringing to the Congo. We the People of the Congo are Sovereigns.  We are committed to individual freedom in its fullest application.

Article 11 – Classical Republicanism

The UCP shall affect a recovery, elaboration and continuous practical application of the true guiding principles of classical republicanism.

Borrowing from “Republicanism” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006):

In political theory and philosophy, (classical) republicanism refers to a loose tradition or family of writers in the history of western political thought, including Machiavelli and his 15th century Italian predecessors; the English republicans Milton, Harrington, Sidney, and others; Montesquieu; and many Americans of the founding era such as Jefferson and Madison.  The writers in this tradition emphasize many common ideas and concerns, such as the importance of civic virtue and political participation, the dangers of corruption, and the benefits of a rule of law; and it is characteristic of their rhetorical style to draw heavily on classical examples—from Cicero and the Latin historians especially—in presenting their arguments.  Classical republicanism was developed in the Renaissance, inspired by the governmental forms and writings of classical antiquity, and is built around concepts such as civil society and civic virtue.

This is what the UCP is now bringing to the Congo. We the People of the Congo are Sovereigns.  We are committed to building a strong and vibrant civil society, overseeing the everyday process of public policy-making and governing, ridding the Congo of corruption in all forms, and establishing the rule of law.

Article 12 – We Have a Dream

The UCP is a coalition of conscience and, like Martin Luther King, Jr. before us, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, we still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream, which is a truly universal dream.

We have a dream that one day the Congo will rise up and live out the true meaning of the universal creed. “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”  We have a dream that one day, the sons and daughters of former Congolese slaves and miners, and the sons and daughters of former slaveowners and mine owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood.  We have a dream that one day even the Congo, a country sweltering with the heat and injustice, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.  We have a dream today.

This is our hope. This is the faith that we dream of going back to the Congo with.  With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood and sisterhood.  With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.  From the eastern Congo, let freedom ring.  And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every mine, from every province and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black and white men and women, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual: “Free at last!  Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

Article 13 – Comprehensive Plans for the Freedom and Elevation of the Congolese People

The UCP believes the world is indebted to America, for it was in America that all of the above transformative conceptions and principles were first reduced to practice, exemplified, and its utility and practicability first established. As Frederick Douglass said in his Dred Scott speech:

The Constitution, as well as the Declaration of Independence, and the sentiments of the founders of the Republic, give us a plat-form broad enough, and strong enough, to support the most comprehensive plans for the freedom and elevation of all the people of this country, without regard to color, class, or clime.

We now plan to utilize this same broad platform to support the most comprehensive plans for the freedom and elevation of the Congolese People, starting in the diaspora and working our way back into our country.

Just as the Americans did before us, We the People of the Congo now plan to rise from obscurity and defend the battlements of liberty.

In this direction, the UCP and its leaders shall:

  1. Formally establish and publicly launch the UCP, and then build it into a popular movement that is supported by an ever-increasing number of people of good will, not only in the Congo but in Africa and around the world.
  2. Design, launch and execute a Campaign to Democratize the DRC – Put the “D” in DRC. As an early part of the Campaign, form an exploratory committee that will speak and listen to the Congolese People in the diaspora and, as much as possible inside the Congo.  Find out what they need and want in and from a political party, a (potential) government in exile, and a true republican democracy.  Use their feedback and inputs to develop and execute comprehensive plans that show the way and lead to a true republican democracy.  Promote the Campaign far and wide in order to attract the support of an ever-increasing number of people of good will.
  3. As part of the Campaign, ensure someone produces a comprehensive civil society vehicle – a modern, 21st Century “civic center” in the form of an integrated media and technology platform. This will be the first and only place Congolese individuals can go to effectively exercise their national and global citizenships, and to eventually exercise their sovereignty (supreme authority and power) over governments and institutions.  This will be the common platform individuals can use to be the Sovereigns they are, and effectively:
    • Engage one another in civic conversations, civil debates and practical dialogue; find and emphasize common values and interests; build bridges and develop consensus on points of agreement; and unite into popular coalitions or social networks of the willing in order to address specific problems that are restricting individual freedom;
    • Learn about the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the original and most fundamental American ideals and conceptions that transformed and inspired the world – sovereignty, rights, constitutions, representation and consent – and the true guiding principles of classical liberalism and republicanism;
    • Understand the abuses and usurpations the People have suffered, with a primary focus on violations of the provisions of the Constitution, and a secondary focus on violations of the Bakajika Law of May 28, 1966; the OAU Charter; the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights; the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption; the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance; the Charter of the United Nations; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child and the Rights of Women; UN General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples; and UN General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV), Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations;
    • Provide feedback and inputs on proposed public policy solutions to these abuses and usurpations;
    • Vote on written instructions from the People to policymakers that give them ways to improve based on reason, truth and ethics;
    • Build support for the imminent transition to democracy and a true republic; for an alternative political leadership team accountable to the People;
    • Help this alternative leadership team implement a program capable of meeting the needs and expectations of the People, and move from opposition to power;
    • Exert their supreme authority and power over legislation, public laws and policies;
    • Help governments and institutions improve by working with them to implement the instructed policies and modern, 21st Century practices based on reason, truth and ethics;
    • Retain sufficient control over those entrusted with the powers of governments and institutions; and
    • Secure their inalienable rights, including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
  4. As part of the Campaign, take all of the feedback and inputs of the Congolese People and work to:
    • Review the civil, political, social and economic outcomes of the policies and practices of the current President of the Republic and his government;
    • Review the current policies and practices of the current president and his governments and institutions;
    • Draft a report that details the findings of these reviews, and present it to the People for discussion;
    • Survey the People to learn what they, as Sovereigns, want done to address these findings;
    • In the spirit of George Washington Williams:
      • Draft an open letter to the President of the Republic, communicating these findings and what the People want done about them, and allow the People to sign it;
      • Draft an open letter to the leaders of Africa and the world – especially those who continue to invest billions of dollars in foreign aid to the Republic – communicating these findings and what the Congolese People want done about them, and urging them to abandon their failed policies, stop legitimizing a corrupt regime, and instead use its leverage to support Congolese efforts to get a process going that is truly democratizing – that opens things up, gives the People a voice and enables them to achieve a legitimate, transparent and accountable government;
    • Send these open letters to the president, to the leaders of Africa and the world, and to business leaders across Africa and around the world;
    • Further to these open letters, begin to draft a continuous and ongoing series of instructions from the People, as Sovereigns, to the President of the Republic and his government, and to the leaders of Africa and the world, and allow the People to vote on them;
    • Regularly send these instructions to the President of the Republic and his government, and to the leaders of Africa and the world;
    • Invite all people of good will – no matter where they live in the world – to support them in these efforts; and
    • In the spirit of both Frederick Douglass and George Washington Williams, publish “The New Commoner” as an online journal of the diaspora.
  5. As part of the Campaign, organize and hold a Sovereignty Conference that will be the anti-Berlin Conference of 1885. Invite political and business leaders from across Africa and around the world.  Whereas the Berlin Conference resulted in a treaty that formally gave King Leopold possession of the Congo, and a political and commercial logic that has treated the Congolese People as slaves, the Sovereignty Conference will result in a treaty that will formally give the Congo back to the Congolese People, and a new political and commercial logic that will treat them as the Sovereigns they are.  The Congolese People will become Sovereigns and owners, and this will set the stage for free and fair markets, and free and fair trade.  Further, everything that has happened since Leopold has happened under the undue influence of the certain members of the international community.  Under the new system that will be designed at the Sovereignty Conference, any entity that wants to do business in the Congo will have to sign a contract with the Congolese People, and agree to treat them as Sovereigns and owners.  Under the new system, everyone will benefit – not just the big companies and cartels, certain members of the international community, the president and his ministers, and the army commanders and warlords.  From here on, everyone will eat at the same table.
  6. As part of the Campaign, work to develop and present to the Congolese People plans to:
    • Establish and support democratic and republican institutions at all levels;
    • Reform the security sector;
    • Attract legitimate international business actors to the Congo, create jobs and build the economy;
    • Thwart any attempt of corruption, economic predation or misappropriation of public goods;
    • Strengthen the national sovereignty and independence;
    • Promote social justice and the equality of all before the law;
    • Advance the policy of health and well-being for all;
    • Upgrade education, culture and work;
    • Develop an appropriate status for foreign residents;
    • Contribute to land reform; and
    • Work for the promotion of the African Union, African Integration and especially for peaceful coexistence in Central Africa.

Article 14 – United We Rise in the Congo

The UCP and its leaders shall offer the use of this broad platform and all of its elements to all Congolese political parties, organizations and individuals who oppose the current president, his regime and their corrupt, patrimonial system of predatory rule. United we rise in the Congo, divided we fall.

If we are to achieve the freedom and elevation of the Congolese People, starting in the diaspora and working our way back into our country, and if we are to succeed in rising from obscurity and defending the battlements of liberty, we must work together on common ground, united in opposition to the current regime. And we must coordinate our efforts.

In this direction, the UCP and its leaders shall:

  1. Share with all Congolese political parties, organizations and individuals who oppose the current president, his regime and their corrupt, patrimonial system of predatory rule:
    • This Charter;
    • Details and progress of the Campaign to Democratize the DRC with leaders of democracy movements in all African countries; and
    • Access to the comprehensive civil society vehicle – the modern, 21st Century “civic center” in the form of an integrated media and technology platform. This is the first and only place Congolese individuals can go to effectively exercise their national and global citizenships, and to eventually exercise their sovereignty (supreme authority and power) over governments and institutions.  This is the common platform individuals can use to be the Sovereigns they are.
  2. Work together and coordinate all efforts in pursuit of our shared goals.

Article 15 – United We Rise in Africa

The UCP and its leaders shall also utilize this broad platform and all of its elements to support comprehensive plans for the freedom and elevation of all Africans. United we rise in Africa, divided we fall.

Just as the Americans did before us, as We the People of the Congo are rising from obscurity and defending the battlements of liberty, and as we are triumphing in this cause, we will hearten and sustain the cause of freedom in all of Africa. Americans stood side by side with the heroes of historic battles for freedom and with the few remaining champions of liberty in the present.  And so will we Congolese today.

In this direction, the UCP and its leaders shall:

  1. Share with leaders of democracy movements in all African countries:
    • This Charter;
    • Details and progress of the Campaign to Democratize the DRC with leaders of democracy movements in all African countries; and
    • Details of the comprehensive civil society vehicle – the modern, 21st Century “civic center” in the form of an integrated media and technology platform.
  2. Support the replication of these elements in all African countries.
  3. Support the efforts of democracy movements in all African countries.

Article 16 – Millennium Development Goals

The UCP shall support international efforts to build a better world by pursuing the achievement of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. These goals form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions.  They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.

Article 17 – International Treaties and Agreements

The UCP shall communicate and establish good relationships with leaders of international and regional multi-governmental organizations, foreign governments and powers, and political parties and democracy movements, and enter into and sign international treaties and/or agreements that will advance democracy and freedom in the Republic, Central Africa, the African Union and around the world.

Article 18 – Organization

The UCP shall consist of the following political bodies:

  • Executive Council;
  • Provincial council;
  • City council;
  • Congress; and
  • Members.

Article 19 – Executive Council

The Executive Council of the UCP is the primary executive body that shall consist of the following:

  • President of the Party;
    • Political, economic, social and cultural advisors;
    • Staff;
    • Press secretary;
  • Vice President;
  • Treasurer;
  • Secretary General; and
  • Directors:
    • Political, economic, social and cultural.

The President of the Party shall be responsible for setting goals and working with the advisors, staff and other members of the Executive Council to develop strategic plans and blueprints.

The President of the Party shall be responsible for working with Congress to develop the policies that will make success possible.

The President of the Party shall be responsible for entering into and signing international treaties and/or agreements that will advance democracy and freedom in the Republic, Central Africa, the African Union and around the world.

The Vice President shall be responsible for assisting the President.

The Treasurer shall be responsible for managing the finances.

The Secretary General shall be responsible for administration.

The Directors shall be responsible for working with the Provincial Council to ensure the strategic plans and blueprints are executed.

Article 20 – Provincial Council

The Provincial Council of the UCP is the secondary executive body that shall consist of the following:

  • Leader of the Party in each country of the diaspora;
    • Staff;
    • Press secretary; and
  • Directors in each country:
    • Political, economic, social and cultural.

These Leaders and Directors shall be responsible for coordinating with the Executive Council, translating the strategic plans and blueprints into tactical plans, and working with the City Council to execute them in the countries they live in.

Article 21 – City Council

The City Council of the UCP is the tertiary executive body that shall consist of the following:

  • Leader of the Party in each city of each country of the diaspora;
    • Staff;
    • Press secretary; and
  • Directors in each city:
    • Political, economic, social and cultural.

These Leaders and Directors shall be responsible for coordinating with the Provincial Council and executing the tactical plans.

Article 22 – Congress

The Congress of the UCP is a representative body that shall consist of the following:

  • Speaker of the Congress;
  • Committee Chairs; and
  • Representatives of the members of the UCP living in the diaspora.

The Congress shall be responsible for representing the interests of the members of the UCP living in the diaspora, and assisting the President of the Party in the development of the policies that will make success possible. In order to do both properly, members of the Congress shall be responsible for regularly and frequently surveying the members of the UCP, and using the data gathered in these surveys to inform the development and reforms of the policies of the Party.

All members of the Congress shall be appointed by the President and/or members of the Executive Council, the Provincial Council, and the City Council.

The Speaker of the Congress shall be elected by members of the Congress. The Speaker shall choose collaborators on the basis of social equilibrium.

The Committee Chairs will be appointed by the Speaker of the Congress.

Article 23 – Members

The members of the UCP are Congolese individuals in the diaspora who have joined the Party.

Article 24 – Conflicts and Disputes

Conflicts and disputes between leaders and/or members of the UCP shall fall within the jurisdiction of the Speaker of the Congress. In order to mediate and resolve conflicts and disputes, the Speaker may form a standing committee that he or she will chair.

Article 25 – Amendments

This Charter shall never be added to, diminished from, nor altered in any respect by any power besides the power which first framed it – the Executive Council.

Amendments can be proposed by any member of the UCP, but proposed amendments do not have to be considered by the Executive Council unless a clear majority of the Congress and/or members of the UCP formally direct the Executive Council to do so.

To consider proposed amendments, and to amend this Charter, the Executive Council shall:

  • Make proposed amendments known to all members of the UCP;
  • Request that members of the Congress survey members of the UCP on proposed amendments;
  • Convene a special joint meeting of the Executive Council and the Congress;
  • Preside over a joint debate and deliberation on proposed amendments; and
  • Vote on proposed amendments, and on amendments to proposed amendments.

Article 26 – Rules of Procedure

Rules of Procedure shall be developed by the Executive Council in order to establish the standard operating procedures of the UCP, for and/or in accordance with all of the above articles.

CONCLUSION

With this Charter, We, the Congolese People, are formally and publicly invoking our sovereignty.

As Sovereigns, we are invoking our fundamental rights, which are emphasized in this Charter. These are the inherent rights each of us was born with.  These are the natural rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Since the history of the Congo, going back to King Leopold, is a history of rampant corruption and repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over the Congolese People, as Sovereigns, we are invoking our sacred right, our duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for our future security; to establish a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to us shall seem most likely to affect our safety and happiness.

As Sovereigns, we are invoking our constitutionally guaranteed right and duty to defend the country and its territorial integrity in the face of an external threat or aggression, and to oppose any individual or group of individuals who seize power by force or who exercise it in violation of the provisions of the Constitution.

Since the Republic’s problems are basically political and We the Congolese People have had no voice, and since the leaders of the international community – especially those who continue to invest billions of dollars in foreign aid to the Republic – have been legitimizing the corrupt regimes that enslave us, as Sovereigns, we are taking responsibility for our own destiny; we are creating our own transformative political solution; and we are showing the leaders of Africa and the world how to get a process going that is truly democratizing, that opens things up, gives the People a voice and enables them to achieve a legitimate, transparent and accountable government.

Our Republic has the resources to empower and develop itself, and as Sovereigns, we are taking the first steps to become truly self-sufficient, free and independent.

As Congolese, we remain driven by our common will to build in the heart of Africa a State under the rule of law and a powerful and prosperous Nation based on a real political, economic, social and cultural democracy.

The Congolese civil rights movement begins today.

Adopted on this 30th day of June 2013, the Charter of the UNITED CONGOLESE PARTY.

THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE