Strasbourg, 07/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 7 June, the leader of the European Parliament's S&D Group, Gianni Pittella, said in Strasbourg that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is on the cusp of a new genocide, and he asked the European press to inform the public of this imminent risk in Kivu, in eastern Congo.
His call was accompanied by an invitation to High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini to launch an international inquiry.
Pittella was extremely concerned at the rise in tension in the region in this post-election period. “European citizens must be informed. In the DRC we run the risk of facing a new genocide. Thousands of people are leaving their village. Over 120 people have been massacred in Beni. People have been beheaded”, he told press, on the sidelines of the Parliament's plenary session. In the eastern Kivu region, brutal militias massacre unarmed people every day “in order to expel the populations and take full control of the exploitation of natural and mineral resources”. “The ethnic hatred persists between the Hutus and Tutsis”, Pittella stated, and this is at the origin of the daily massacres of unarmed civilians.
Deploring the fact that the international community has thus far remained indifferent, that the Congolese authorities have not launched an immediate inquiry, and that the UN stabilisation mission in the DRC, Monusco, has “been unable to protect civilians”, Pittella underlined that political support was needed and that Europe should participate. “Europe cannot remain silent faced with a possible repeat of the tragedy in Rwanda (…) On behalf of the S&D Group, we call on (…) Federica Mogherini to launch an international inquiry into these massacres, in collaboration with the United Nations and International Criminal Court”, he said. The S&D Group has made Africa its priority.
The S&D Group also urges members of the UN Security Council to take all possible action to stop these crimes. It proposes a draft resolution on this issue for the European Parliament's next plenary session. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)