The European Union (EU) welcomes the final report by the UN Group of Experts mandated by the UN Sanctions Committee on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is deeply troubled by some of its findings and supports its recommendations. The EU also welcomes the extension of the mandate of the UN Group of Experts by the UN Security Council.
The EU is gravely concerned by the worsening security and humanitarian situation, which recently led to an immediate system-wide scale-up by the United Nations of humanitarian operations in Eastern DRC. The EU is outraged by the levels of violence and atrocities that continue to be perpetrated with impunity against civilians, including by M23, FDLR/FOCA, ADF, URDPC/CODECO, and Zaïre/MAPI. It is appalled by reports of sexual violence against women and girls on a massive scale, including the sexual exploitation of displaced women and girls, as well as the recruitment of children. The EU condemns these atrocities and calls on all armed groups to stop its unlawful killings, rape and other alleged war crimes. All those responsible for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law must be brought to justice and full accountability must be ensured. The EU welcomes in this regard the decision of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to examine the acts committed in North Kivu at the request of the DRC authorities.
The EU encourages all parties to engage in an inclusive political dialogue, fully respectful of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries in the region, as the only possible solution to this crisis. Political dialogue should be preferred to military confrontation. Pursuing military options will only prolong the conflict and increase the suffering of the populations. In this regard, the EU commends the resolute efforts undertaken by its African partners under the Luanda and Nairobi processes, and welcomes the progress achieved so far, notably thanks to the deployment of the East African Community (EAC) regional force and the inter-Congolese dialogues, and urges all parties to use the regional, continental and international mechanisms in place to peacefully resolve all conflicts and disputes and to secure peace. It reaffirms its full support to the two processes and stresses that the decisions, commitments and agreements reached under their frame need to be comprehensively implemented by all. It welcomes the outcome of Quadripartite Summit of the East African Community, Economic Community of Central African States, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and Southern African Development Community, under the auspices of the African Union with the participation of the United Nations, held in Luanda on 27 June 2023 and stands ready to support its drive for more coordinated action to secure peace.
The EU strongly condemns the continued support and assistance to armed groups by several State actors, as identified by the UN Group of Experts report. The EU calls upon all armed groups to immediately cease all hostilities and attacks against civilians, lay down their weapons, withdraw from the areas they are occupying, and participate in the relevant disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration processes. M23 in particular must entirely withdraw from all occupied areas in Eastern DRC and prioritise the cantonment process. It is crucial to swiftly prepare the pre-cantonment and cantonment sites for the disarmament of the M23, while underscoring the need to continue implementing the Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration Community Stabilization (DDRC-S) Programme for ex-combatants.
The EU firmly condemns Rwanda's support to M23 and Rwanda's military presence in Eastern DRC, as revealed in the UN Group of Experts reports. The EU reiterates its urgent demand that Rwanda withdraws its troops from Eastern DRC, ceases immediately all support to M23 and uses all the means at its disposal to pressurize the group to comply with the decisions taken under the framework of the Nairobi and Luanda processes. The EU firmly condemns and urges the DRC to cease immediately its support and cooperation with FDLR/FOCA and other local and foreign armed groups and to take all legal and legitimate measures to protect the civilian population on its territory. The EU urges all parties and entities called into question by the UN Group of Experts on the DRC to respond in full and cease any violation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and applicable international law.
The root causes of regional instability, including the unlawful exploitation and smuggling of natural resources, must be addressed. Natural resources should become a driver for sustainable development. All States and stakeholders in the region and beyond must intensify the fight against trafficking of natural resources within and from the DRC as well as money laundering benefitting armed groups and criminal networks. The envisaged strategic partnerships on critical minerals between the EU with States in the region will contribute to this effort.
The EU is committed to accompany, together with other likeminded partners, the DRC and its people on the way to competitive, peaceful, inclusive, and transparent elections in December 2023, for which it has received an invitation to observe. The EU notes the sustained work carried out by the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI). The EU also notes the criticisms and concerns raised by political opposition parties and civil society organisations, which must be urgently addressed. The EU invites the CENI and all stakeholders to work together to make the elections fully inclusive, free, transparent and peaceful, essential for the consolidation of democracy and stability in the DRC. Ensuring the full integrity of the electoral process requires freedom of speech, media, assembly, association, and movement. Any excessive or disproportionate use of force in response to peaceful demonstrations or arbitrary detentions is incompatible with this requirement.
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The EU urges all political actors in the DRC to actively condemn and oppose hate speech and xenophobia at all levels, in particular any such action or posture intended to vilify any ethnic group, minority or religious community, and to hold those who incite or employ violence accountable. The EU condemns all narratives that could increase the risk of triggering interethnic violence. Attempts to divide based on ethnic, religious, language, region or origin grounds will not be tolerated.
In line with its renewed Strategy for the Great Lakes region, the EU will continue to help end armed conflict and promote peace, democracy and sustainable development in the Great Lakes region by contributing to the transformation of the key root causes of insecurity and instability into shared opportunities and unlocking the region's full potential. In this context, the EU will consider taking further appropriate and targeted restrictive measures against persons, entities and bodies responsible for sustaining or exploiting armed conflicts, destabilising the countries in the region, serious human rights violations and abuses, as well as for the obstruction of the electoral process in the DRC.
