In response to the deadly crackdown on a demonstration in Goma (North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) on 30 August, which left around fifty people dead and many injured, the EU condemned the “excessive and disproportionate use of force”, as denounced on Friday 1 September by the European External Action Service (EEAS).
“We expect the investigation launched by the Congolese authorities to quickly identify those responsible and to hold them accountable for their actions”, said an EEAS spokeswoman in a statement published on Friday evening.
She added: “The EU reiterates its commitment to freedom of expression and demonstration and to the need for demonstrations to be peaceful”.
The EU also warns against “any statements or actions calling for violence against the international and regional presence on the ground, such as MONUSCO and the East African Community force”.
On Sunday 3 September, the last in the series of flights in the current humanitarian airlift set up in August to help the population (see EUROPE 13235/22) landed in Goma. It has delivered 200 tonnes of essential supplies, according to the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, who also gave assurance that the EU’s humanitarian aid to vulnerable populations in the DRC will continue. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)