🔗 Share this article

The DRC has characterized the European Union's persistent minerals agreement with Rwanda as showing "evident contradiction" while enforcing significantly wider penalties in response to the Ukrainian crisis.

Government Strong Criticism

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the Congo's international affairs chief, called for the EU to impose much stronger restrictions against Rwanda, which has been accused of fueling the violence in eastern DRC.

"This shows evident double standards – I want to be productive here – that makes us questioning and concerned about understanding why the EU repeatedly finds it difficult so much to enact sanctions," she stated.

Conflict Resolution History

The DRC and Rwanda agreed to a peace agreement in June, facilitated by the United States and Qatar, designed to conclude the protracted hostilities.

However, fatal assaults on non-combatants have endured and a deadline to achieve a final settlement was passed without success in August.

UN Report

Last year, a international assessment team found that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 militant organization and that the Rwandan military was in "effective direction of M23 operations."

Rwanda has consistently denied backing M23 and asserts its forces act in self-defence.

Diplomatic Request

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently called upon his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to cease backing armed groups in the DRC during a Brussels event attended by both leaders.

"This necessitates you to command the M23 troops assisted by your country to end this deterioration, which has already led to numerous fatalities," the president declared.

EU Sanctions

The EU has imposed restrictions against 32 people and two entities – a militant group and a Rwandan precious metals processor handling illegal supplies of the metal – for their role in prolonging the conflict.

Despite these findings of human rights abuses by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the European Commission has rejected demands to cancel a 2024 resource partnership with Kigali.

Resource Concerns

Wagner characterized the partnership with Rwanda as "completely untrustworthy in a situation where it has been confirmed that Rwanda has been diverting DRC minerals" mined under brutal conditions of forced labour, affecting children.

The United States and many others have voiced apprehension about illegal trade in precious metals in Congo's eastern region, mined via forced labour, then smuggled to Rwanda for export to support rebel organizations.

Human Catastrophe

The unrest in DRC's eastern territories remains one of the world's gravest human catastrophes, with more than 7.8 million people forced from homes in affected areas and 28 million confronting nutritional challenges, including 4 million at critical stages, according to UN reports.

Diplomatic Efforts

As the DRC's chief diplomat, Wagner ratified the accord with Rwanda at the US presidential residence in June, which also seeks to give the United States expanded opportunity to DRC minerals.

She stated that the US remains involved in the resolution efforts and dismissed suggestions that main concern was the DRC's extensive resource deposits.

European Partnership

The EU leader, Ursula von der Leyen, commenced a summit by emphasizing that the EU wanted "cooperation based on mutual benefits and honoring independence."

She emphasized the Lobito corridor – rail, road and water transport links – joining the resource-rich areas of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's western shoreline.

Wagner admitted that the EU and DRC had a solid basis in the Lobito project, but "a great deal has been overshadowed by the conflict in eastern DRC."