🔗 Share this article

The Central African nation has labeled the European Union's continued minerals partnership with Rwanda as exhibiting "obvious double standards" while imposing much broader penalties in response to the war in Ukraine.

Diplomatic Firm Condemnation

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the Congo's top diplomat, demanded the EU to enact much stronger restrictions against Rwanda, which has been accused of fueling the unrest in DRC's eastern territories.

"This demonstrates clear hypocrisy – I strive to be constructive here – that makes us questioning and interested about grasping why the EU continues to hesitate so much to enact sanctions," she declared.

Conflict Resolution History

The DRC and Rwanda ratified a conflict resolution in June, facilitated by the United States and Qatar, designed to resolve the long-standing dispute.

However, fatal assaults on ordinary citizens have endured and a target date to achieve a final settlement was passed without success in August.

UN Report

Last year, a group of UN experts reported 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 assisting M23 and maintains its forces act in self-defence.

Leadership Call

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently called upon his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to stop supporting militants in the DRC during a Brussels event attended by both leaders.

"This necessitates you to command the M23 troops backed by your country to halt this intensification, which has already caused enough fatalities," Tshisekedi stated.

International Restrictions

The EU has placed sanctions on 32 persons and two organizations – a armed faction and a Rwandan gold refiner handling contraband materials of the metal – for their involvement in prolonging the conflict.

Despite these findings of human rights abuses by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the EU executive has resisted calls to cancel a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali.

Mineral Issues

Wagner labeled the partnership with Rwanda as "lacking all legitimacy in a context where it has been confirmed that Rwanda has been diverting African wealth" extracted under harsh circumstances of coerced employment, affecting children.

The United States and various countries have expressed alarm about illicit commerce in precious metals in Congo's eastern region, extracted via compulsory work, then smuggled to Rwanda for shipment to benefit militant factions.

Human Catastrophe

The violence in DRC's eastern territories remains one of the world's gravest human catastrophes, with more than 7.8 million people relocated within country in eastern DRC and 28 million confronting hunger issues, including 4 million at critical stages, according to UN data.

Global Involvement

As the DRC's principal negotiator, Wagner ratified the accord with Rwanda at the US presidential residence in June, which also seeks to give the United States enhanced entry to African wealth.

She asserted that the US remains involved in the resolution efforts and dismissed claims that sole motivation was the DRC's significant natural resources.

European Partnership

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, commenced a conference by emphasizing that the EU wanted "collaboration based on common interests and honoring independence."

She featured the Lobito corridor – multi-modal transport links – connecting the mining regions of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's western shoreline.

Wagner recognized that the EU and DRC had a firm groundwork in the Lobito project, but "a great deal has been overshadowed by the crisis in eastern DRC."