ATLANTA, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- There are concerns about a lack of transparency in the way authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo handle the election process, the Carter Center said.
The Carter Center, which has headquarters in Atlanta, announced it was sending a 70-person team to observe DRC elections scheduled for Monday.
The center, in a statement, said it encouraged the country's National Election Commission to uphold its international obligations in getting election materials distributed before the opening of the polls.
"Given that some election results may be disputed, the center is concerned about the lack of transparency in the Supreme Court's handling of complaints arising from the candidate nominations," the center said. "The publication of these decisions immediately after the complaints period would enhance the confidence of the public and political actors in their judicial system."
Violence was reported between rival political camps in the DRC. The United Nations said it documented nearly 200 violations of human rights laws linked to the electoral process in the county in the past year. Members of the DRC security services were linked to some of the claims.
Roger Meece, the U.N. special envoy to the DRC, last week led a delegation of U.N. diplomats to Kinshasa ahead of the elections. The elections are the second since the country's 1960 independence.
Meece, in a statement, called for "peaceful, credible and free elections as part of the consolidation of … democracy."
