The European Union is set to impose more sanctions against more Congolese officials amid worsening violence in the country.
Reuters reports that the EU is poised to add up to nine names onto its list of Congolese officials, imposing asset freezes and travel band on them.
They join seven others, including members of the Congolese army and police, the bloc put on its list in December citing “serious violations of human rights”.
DR Congo’s violence worsened towards the end of last year, following President Joseph Kabila’s failure to step down at the end of his mandate.
The government said elections could not be held in November as scheduled because many people had not been registered as voters. The failure to conduct the vote meant Kabila stayed on as president.
Opposition leaders condemned the move, saying it was Kabila’s plot to cling on to power longer than his mandate.
Worsening militia violence in recent months has also raised fears of a backslide toward the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions.
The Congo government has repeatedly denounced earlier sanctions imposed by the EU and United States as unjustified and illegal, and has threatened diplomatic retaliation.
