[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 511 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 511

   Reinforcing the United States-Senegal relationship and urging the 
Government of Senegal to conduct free, fair, transparent, and inclusive 
                    elections on February 25, 2024.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 18, 2023

    Mr. Cardin (for himself and Mr. Risch) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Reinforcing the United States-Senegal relationship and urging the 
Government of Senegal to conduct free, fair, transparent, and inclusive 
                    elections on February 25, 2024.

Whereas Senegal has been one of the most stable democracies in Africa, having 
        peaceful, democratic transfers of power in 2000 and 2012, and never 
        suffering a military coup d'etat;
Whereas Senegal is a regional leader and advocate for democracy in West Africa, 
        having made important contributions to a democratic transition in The 
        Gambia and pressing military juntas in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and 
        Niger to restore democracy and yield power to civilian elected 
        authorities;
Whereas Senegal is one of the United States closest partners in Africa;
Whereas the United States allocated $144,000,000 in bilateral assistance to 
        Senegal in fiscal year 2022 focused primarily on health, agriculture, 
        basic education, and good governance;
Whereas Senegal completed a $540,000,000 United States Millennium Challenge 
        Corporation (MCC) compact in 2015 focused on increasing agricultural 
        productivity and is now implementing a second, five-year $550,000,000 
        MCC compact focused on increasing access to electricity and has pledged 
        $50,000,000 of its own resources toward this project;
Whereas Senegalese security forces have long benefitted from United States 
        security assistance and cooperation designed to increase 
        professionalism, support United Nations peacekeeping deployments, and 
        enhance Senegal's ability to conduct maritime security, counter violent 
        extremism, and combat narcotics trafficking;
Whereas President Macky Sall was elected to a second and final term in office in 
        2019 in elections that were generally regarded as free and fair, despite 
        the disqualification of two prominent opposition party leaders due to 
        prior corruption convictions;
Whereas, in July 2023, President Sall announced that he would retire in 2024, 
        after insinuating that he would pursue a third term, in accordance with 
        the Senegalese constitution which limits presidents to two terms in 
        office, thereby becoming the first president in Senegalese history to 
        respect constitutionally mandated term limits and setting in important 
        precedent for future presidents of Senegal;
Whereas the February 2024 election will be the first presidential election in 
        Senegalese history without an incumbent president on the ballot;
Whereas, according to Afrobarometer public opinion polling, the Senegalese 
        people prefer democracy to any alternative (84 percent), believe the 
        president should be limited to two terms in office (79 percent), and 
        reject the concept of military rule (71 percent);
Whereas, according to the same polling, the Senegalese people say their country 
        is either not a democracy or a democracy with major problems (53 
        percent, an 8 percent increase since 2021), and are not satisfied with 
        the way democracy is working in Senegal (51 percent);
Whereas Freedom House lowered Senegal's rating from ``Free'' to ``Partly Free'' 
        in 2020 due to the ``politically motivated prosecutions of opposition 
        leaders'' and electoral law changes that ``reduced the competitiveness 
        of the opposition'';
Whereas Reporters Without Borders warned of an increasingly threatening press 
        environment in advance of the 2022 legislative elections and the 
        government arrested and jailed journalists under a new 2021 law for 
        allegedly disseminating ``fake news'' to ``discredit public 
        institutions'' or ``prejudice public decency'';
Whereas state security forces in Senegal responded with excessive force and took 
        steps to restrict freedom of assembly in 2021, 2022, and 2023 in 
        response to public protests;
Whereas three people were killed and as many as 200 arrested, including 
        opposition party leaders, during protests in advance of the 2022 
        legislative elections after the government disqualified several 
        opposition party candidates;
Whereas the Government of Senegal blocked access to several social media 
        networks for two days and mobile internet for four days in June 2023 
        seemingly in an effort to disrupt opposition party protests;
Whereas, as many as 16 people were killed and hundreds arrested following 
        opposition party protests in 2023; and
Whereas the Government of Senegal continues to impose restrictions on public 
        protests and the exercise of freedom of assembly that are inconsistent 
        with democratic norms: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) reiterates the commitment of the United States to 
        democracy and democratic governance in Senegal and the conduct 
        of free, fair, inclusive, and peaceful elections, and calls 
        on--
                    (A) the Secretary of State to make clear that those 
                who perpetrate or incite violence or otherwise 
                undermine the democratic process and the 2024 elections 
                in Senegal will face consequences, including visa 
                restrictions and other accountability measures; and
                    (B) the Administrator of the United States Agency 
                for International Development to continue to support 
                domestic election observation, electoral dispute 
                resolution mechanisms, participation of women and youth 
                in the electoral process, respect for freedom of 
                assembly, expression, and association, government 
                transparency, conflict resolution, and civil society 
                organizations focused on good governance, anti-
                corruption, and accountability for government 
                institutions;
            (2) applauds the work of Senegalese civil society 
        organizations dedicated to electoral reform, voter education, 
        election observation, accountability for security force abuses, 
        and respect for freedom of assembly, expression, and 
        association;
            (3) encourages all people of Senegal to exercise their 
        right to vote and to refrain from acts of violence, voter 
        malfeasance, inflammatory speech and disinformation, or any 
        other actions that violate democratic norms or otherwise 
        undermine the electoral process in Senegal;
            (4) calls on the Government of Senegal to--
                    (A) release all those arbitrarily arrested or 
                detained for exercising their right to freedom of 
                assembly or freedom of expression;
                    (B) respect the non-partisan nature of the 
                Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA) and its 
                efforts to ensure a transparent and accessible 
                electoral process;
                    (C) lift restrictions on the right to peaceful 
                protest and commit to respect the freedom of 
                expression, including for the press, and freedom of 
                assembly;
                    (D) ensure that Senegalese citizens can vote freely 
                and safely in elections without fear of intimidation or 
                use of excessive force by government security forces; 
                and
                    (E) refrain from using restrictions on access to 
                the internet or social media as a method for disrupting 
                citizens' ability to assemble, exercise their freedom 
                of expression, communicate freely, or obtain 
                information; and
            (5) urges political parties and political leaders in 
        Senegal to--
                    (A) publicly commit to abide by electoral norms and 
                reject violence;
                    (B) refrain from any statements, inflammatory 
                rhetoric, or actions that incite violence or otherwise 
                undermine the electoral process; and
                    (C) commit to channel any and all electoral related 
                disputes through appropriate legal channels.
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