MIL-OSI Europe: MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the escalation of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo – B10-0129/2025

B10‑0129/2025

European Parliament resolution on the escalation of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

(2025/2553(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),

– having regard to the UN Report of the Mapping Exercise documenting the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between March 1993 and June 2003, of August 2010,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas (Conflict Minerals Regulation)[1],

– having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the EU and its Member States, of the one part, and the Members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, of the other part (the Samoa Agreement),

– having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which was adopted on 27 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986,

– having regard to the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adopted on 18 February 2006,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

– having regard to the UN Charter,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group captured the towns of Minova on 21 January 2025, Sake on 23 January 2025 and Goma, the capital of the North Kivu region in the DRC, on 27 January 2025; whereas this constitutes a brutal violation of the territorial integrity of the DRC; whereas indiscriminate attacks with explosive weapons have increased in recent weeks in densely populated areas of North Kivu, including displacement camps and other highly populated areas near Goma; whereas unlawful killings, rapes and other apparent war crimes, as well as forced labour, forced recruitment and other abusive practices have reportedly been committed by M23 with the support of the Rwandan military;

B. whereas the UN Group of Experts on the DRC established estimates, pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1533 (2004), that between 3 000 and 4 000 Rwandan army troops are on the ground in the DRC, and considers that the deployment of the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC, and that Rwanda’s de facto control and direction of M23 operations also renders Rwanda liable for the actions of M23;

C. whereas the UN Group of Experts on the DRC concluded that M23 and other armed groups are involved in illegal mineral exploitation and smuggling in the eastern DRC, and that ‘at least 150 tons of coltan’ have been fraudulently exported to Rwanda and mixed with Rwandan production, leading to the largest contamination of mineral supply chains in the Great Lakes region recorded to date;

D. whereas the resurgence of M23 relates to the deterioration of the security situation in the eastern DRC over the past year, with other armed groups, and at times government soldiers, committing widespread violence, unlawful killings and other grave abuses, putting civilians at greater risk;

E. whereas the DRC has one of the highest rates of internal displacement in the world; whereas many women and children live in precarious conditions and are being exposed to the risk of harassment, assault or sexual exploitation; whereas displaced populations often receive no basic life-saving services and are at risk of malnutrition and disease; whereas cities that host internally displaced people in precarious circumstances, such as Bunia, are also targets of attack by different militias, causing great distress to the displaced communities and to the local population; whereas there is a reported high risk of the spread of Mpox in Goma, due to the dire humanitarian situation;

F. whereas the deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force based in Goma has reported on the widespread rape and killing of women inmates in Goma’s Munzenze prison, and the DRC’s Minister for Human Rights Chantal Chambu Mwavit estimates that 163 women were burned alive in the prison; whereas the UN Human Rights Office reported that only between 9 and 13 female inmates, ‘all of whom had also been raped’, survived the blaze;

G. whereas the security situation in the eastern DRC has dramatically deteriorated in recent weeks and humanitarian access is blocked in the territories illegally occupied since January 2025 by M23;

H. whereas the Luanda Process, which was relaunched in July 2024 and is being facilitated by Angola, aims to mediate between the DRC and Rwanda regarding the conflict in the eastern DRC;

I. whereas the UN and the DRC agreed on the withdrawal of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) in mid-2024, leading to a degradation of the security situation and affecting civilians, who were left exposed to human rights abuses by state security forces and armed actors;

J. whereas the M23 and Rwandan forces have obligations to civilians under international humanitarian law, including protecting and facilitating access to humanitarian assistance, and permitting freedom of movement;

K. whereas the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations into the DRC have focused on alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed mainly in the eastern DRC, in the Ituri region and the North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces, since 1 July 2002; whereas the DRC made a second referral to the ICC in May 2023 concerning allegations of crimes committed in North Kivu since 1 January 2022;

L. whereas the coltan extraction zone in Rubaya in the DRC, controlled by M23, accounts for 15 % of the global supply of tantalum and, as a result, Rwanda recorded a 50 % increase in its coltan exports in 2023, becoming the world’s leading exporter – far exceeding its national production capacity;

M. whereas the Commission and the Rwandan Government signed on 19 February 2024 a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on sustainable raw materials value chains, which anticipates the adoption of an implementation roadmap, opening the door to the EU financing of strategic projects;

N. whereas this MoU clearly anticipates the risk of importing conflict minerals from the DRC into the EU market by requiring Rwanda to enforce ‘measures to intercept smuggled minerals entering the country and to repatriate them to the country of origin’;

O. whereas the EU has not made its cooperation with Rwanda on sustainable raw materials value chains conditional on the country joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), while the DRC is a member of the initiative, thereby creating disparities between transparency requirements on minerals from both countries;

P. whereas Parliament, unlike the Council, was not given the opportunity by the Commission to share its political assessment of the decision to negotiate an MoU with Rwanda, or to provide technical feedback on the draft MoU;

Q. whereas on 18 December 2024, the DRC filed criminal complaints against Apple subsidiaries in France and Belgium, accusing the tech firm of using conflict minerals in its supply chain;

R. whereas the DRC Foreign Affairs Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and Nobel Prize laureate Denis Mukwege briefed Parliament on 5 February 2025 on the occupation of the eastern DRC and the dire humanitarian impact on the local population and internally displaced people; whereas women are particularly at risk, in these circumstances, of being victims of sexual abuse and rape; whereas the hospitals in Goma lack sufficient sanitary equipment and hundreds of patients are waiting to undergo life-saving surgery;

S. whereas a joint summit of the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community took place on 8 February 2025 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, calling for the disengagement of Rwanda’s forces from the DRC and for the urgent provision of humanitarian assistance to the eastern DRC; whereas the Foreign Affairs Council of the Council of the EU is expected to exchange views on the situation in the DRC on 24 February 2025;

1. Is concerned by findings in the recent reports of the UN Group of Experts on the DRC established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the DRC, and fully supports their recommendations;

2. Condemns the fact that the RDF has deployed troops to the eastern DRC and has provided direct military support to M23, helping it to expand control in the eastern DRC; condemns the fact that Congolese army units have supported armed groups implicated in serious abuses in the fighting with M23;

3. Calls for a quick resumption of negotiations within the Luanda Process in order to find a lasting, peaceful and political solution, and urges all sides to fully honour their engagements within the Luanda Process, specifically the ceasefire agreed on 30 July 2024, the neutralisation of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda and the M23 rebel groups, as well as the withdrawal of the RDF from the territory of the DRC; calls for the EU to have an active role in the diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the conflict, advocating for an immediate ceasefire and a renewed commitment to dialogue, with the protection of civilians at the core of negotiations, in particular women and children;

4. Deplores the fact that fighting and the shelling of medical infrastructure in and around Goma has severely limited the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need; calls on all neighbouring countries, particularly Rwanda, to facilitate access of humanitarian equipment and personnel to all areas occupied by the rebel groups in the eastern DRC, including through the reopening of Goma airport and of borders; highlights the precarious situation that women and girls face and calls on M23 to lift all restrictions on humanitarian interventions aimed at addressing and preventing gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence;

5. Calls on the UN Human Rights Council to create an independent mandate to investigate abuses by all parties to the current conflict as soon as possible;

6. Commends the Prosecutor of the ICC’s announcement that the ICC will continue to investigate alleged crimes committed by any person, irrespective of affiliation or nationality; is highly concerned about the fragile situation of the ICC, which is already undermining its crucial work in bringing justice to victims of the most serious crimes worldwide; reiterates the EU’s unwavering support for the ICC and calls on the Council and the Commission to fulfil their obligations to ensure the functioning and effectiveness of the ICC;

7. Calls on the Commission to continue supporting anti-corruption efforts and the strengthening of governance in the DRC;

8. Calls on the Commission and the Council to impose targeted sanctions against relevant senior M23 and other armed group commanders, army leaders and senior officials, particularly the individuals identified by the recent reports of the UN Group of Experts on the DRC as responsible for, or complicit in, recent serious human rights abuses by their forces, or those for which they have command responsibility, such as Rwanda’s major generals Eugene Nkubito, Ruki Karusisi and Emmy Ruvusha;

9. Exhorts the Commission and the Member States to take measures to ensure that support through the European Peace Facility for the deployment of Rwandan troops in northern Mozambique remains exclusively dedicated to the fight against terrorism in Mozambique and does not, directly or indirectly, support the abusive military operations in the eastern DRC;

10. Expresses regret that the Commission did not present the draft or seek feedback from Parliament in the preparation process of the MoU with Rwanda on sustainable raw materials value chains; regrets that the Council and Parliament were not treated equally in the drafting process of the MoU; highlights the importance of improving the early engagement of the Commission with Parliament in the drafting process of future MoUs;

11. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to suspend the application of the MoU between the Commission and Rwanda on sustainable raw materials value chains, and freeze any decision to select any project in Rwanda as a strategic project under the Critical Raw Materials Act[2], and to temporarily halt cooperation with Rwanda in the context of the EU’s Global Gateway initiative; calls on the Commission to render the future re-activation of cooperation on sustainable raw materials value chains conditional upon Rwanda joining the EITI, which the DRC is already part of;

12. Calls for the EU, Rwanda’s neighbouring countries and Rwanda’s main trading partners to put in place a trade embargo for all minerals, including processed minerals, exported from Rwanda, until a definitive withdrawal of the RDF and rebel group supported by Rwanda from the territory of the DRC;

13. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to swiftly adopt an export ban of weapons from the EU to Rwanda and for the immediate suspension of any further military and security assistance to Rwanda until the territorial integrity of the DRC is restored;

14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure a strong enforcement of the current Conflict Minerals Regulation, and for the Commission to swiftly propose a revision to the EU rules, with the aim of ensuring that the highest standards of traceability and transparency are met for each and every mineral imported into the EU, in particular from the DRC and Rwanda, to review accordingly the current import thresholds currently anticipated in the Regulation, and to enhance anti-circumvention and enforcement provisions regarding sanctions;

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, and the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and of Rwanda.