UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

37th Special Session

Situation of human rights in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

7 February 2025

EU Statement

Mr. President,

High Commissioner,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.

The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania*, Ukraine and Republic of Moldova align themselves with this statement.

For decades, the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has witnessed instability, as well as human rights violations and abuses. The root causes and drivers are complex, multi-layered and interlinked. Over the past few weeks, the situation has escalated and led to thousands of deaths and wounded and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Congolese civilians. Reports of grave violations and abuses of human rights, including summary executions, demand our immediate attention. In particular, the European Union is abhorred by reports of a dramatic increase in cases of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence such as the apparent mass-rape at Goma prison on 27th of January targeting at least 165 women and the alleged gang-rape of 52 women in South-Kivu. Furthermore, the recent deadly attacks on UN peacekeepers whose aim is to protect the civilian population, are utterly intolerable and may constitute grave violations of international law.

The European Union condemns in the strongest terms the offensive of the M23 supported by the Rwandan Armed Forces (RDF) in eastern DRC that led to the occupation of large parts of Congolese territory in North and South Kivu, including the city of Goma. The EU urges the M23 to stop its advance and withdraw immediately. The EU also strongly condemns Rwanda’s military presence in the DRC as a clear violation of international law, the UN Charter, and the territorial integrity of the DRC. We call upon the Rwandan government to respect the territorial integrity of the DRC by immediately withdrawing all troops from the territory of the DRC and end all forms of support for M23 and other non-state armed groups.

The EU also continues to urge the DRC to cease cooperation with the FDLR and other armed groups and take a decisive stance against hate speech. We call upon all parties to re-engage in negotiations and be open for talks with all parties. We also call upon all parties to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law and to honour their commitments made under the Luanda and Nairobi-process.

Mr. President,

This council cannot stand idle when international human rights law is being disregarded, once again, in eastern DRC. All accusations of violations and abuses need to be thoroughly investigated, victims recognized and supported and all perpetrators need to be held accountable for their crimes. We therefore support the resolution put forward by the DRC requesting the establishment of an independent fact finding mission to investigate and document all violations and abuses of human rights in eastern DRC and identify all those responsible. We further note in this regard the good cooperation between the DRC and the International Criminal Court. The people of the Great Lakes region have suffered for decades and the resumption of conflict-related abuses of human rights and international law must finally end. They deserve peace and justice. The rules-based international order needs to be upheld and we think that the calling of this special session is an invaluable contribution to that.

Thank you.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.