Preamble
The Congolese People,
Conscious of the necessity to preserve the peace and the stability, the unitary form and the secular and indivisible character of the State, the national unity and social cohesion;
Concerned about building a Republic founded on the principles of equality, of fraternity, of sharing and of solidarity on the one hand, and on the other hand of assuring the development [épanouissement] of each and of all within the framework of a Republic respectful of the intangible rights of the human person;
Interpellated by the pressing need to conciliate the universal values of democracy and the political, social and cultural national realities;
Affirm their attachment to the virtues of dialogue as [a] means of peaceful regulation of disagreements within the framework of an appeased Republic;
Solemnly reaffirm, its permanent right of inalienable sovereignty over all the national wealth and the natural resources as fundamental elements of its development;
Declare [as an] integral part of this Constitution, the fundamental principles proclaimed and guaranteed by:
- the United Nations Charter of 24 October 1945;
the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man of 10 December 1948; the African Charter of the Rights of Man and of Peoples of 26 June 1981; the Charter of the National Unity and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of 29 May 1991; all the pertinent national and international texts duly ratified, relative to human rights;
Condemn the coup d’état, the tyrannical exercise of power and the usage of political violence, under all its forms, as means of accession to power or to its conservation.
Ordain and establish for the Congo this Constitution that enunciates the fundamental principles of the Republic, defines the rights and the duties of the citizens and establishes the forms of organization and the rules of functioning of the State.