Brussels, 19/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Union is greatly concerned about the upsurge in violence attributed to armed groups, and about the continued violation of human rights in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On Monday 19 January, the EU reiterated its commitment to promoting the stabilisation and development of the whole region, and particularly to implementing the peace, security and cooperation agreement for the DRC and the region.
With the 2 January deadline having passed for the disarmament of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the time has now come to launch military action in order to disarm the FDLR, in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2147, the EU Foreign Affairs Council states in its conclusions adopted without debate on the sidelines of the EU28 foreign affairs ministers meeting.
The EU thus calls on the Congolese authorities and on the UN mission for stabilising the DRC (MONUSCO) to launch this operation immediately, and it underlines that “the protection of civilians and the neutralisation of all armed groups in the eastern DRC must therefore remain a priority”.
The EU reiterates that the very serious violations of human rights, particularly the rape of women and young girls, the recruitment and use of child soldiers “whether conducted by armed groups or other actors, are absolutely unacceptable and must end”.
The EU also calls on all the parties to the framework agreement to redouble their efforts for this agreement to be able to unite all the actors around a common objective.
“Ending the threat from the FDLR and other armed groups is crucial to realising the ambition of a region at peace with itself. Military action has to be complemented by political action that will also build a long-term basis for stability”, the EU Foreign Affairs Council states, saying that the EU will bring its support both on the political and financial level. (AN)