MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
21.10.2008
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Eoin Ryan, Adam Bielan, Ewa Tomaszewska, Ryszard Czarnecki, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski
on behalf of the UEN Group
on placecountry-regionCongo: clashes in the Eastern Border areas of DRC
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B6-0556/2008
B6‑0569/2008
European Parliament resolution on country-region placeCongo: clashes in the Eastern Border areas of DRC
The European Parliament,
- -having regard to its resolution of 17 January 2008 on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and rape as a war crime and to its previous resolutions on human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
- -having regard to the resolution of 22 November 2007 of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in particular in the East and its impact on the region,
- -having regard to its resolution of 15 November 2007 on the EU response to situations of fragility in developing countries,
- -having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled ‘Towards an EU response to situations of fragility – engaging in difficult environments for sustainable development, stability and peace (COM(2007)0643) and the Commission staff working document annexed thereto (SEC(2007)1417),
- -having regard to Resolution 60/1 of the United Nations General Assembly of October 2005 on the 2005 World Summit outcome, and in particular paragraphs 138 to 140 thereof on the responsibility to protect populations,
- -having regard to the Council declaration on the situation in east of DRC of 10 October 2008,
- -having regard to the recent verbal hostilities between the government of DRC and the government of country-regionplaceRwanda,
- -having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the conflict affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed the lives of 5 400 000 people since 1998 and continues to be the cause of 1500 deaths each day,
B. whereas the fighting between the Congolese army, the rebel troops of ousted General Laurent Nkunda and the fighters of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) has been causing tremendous hardship to the civilian populations of the region of Eastern provinces of DRC for many months,
C. whereas since 28 August 2008, fighting has resumed between the Congolese army and the forces of a renegade general, Laurent Nkunda’s National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), as well as other armed groups, breaking a ceasefire that had been in place since the Goma peace agreement, signed on 23 January 2008,
D. whereas an estimated 100,000 civilians were forced to flee in the most recent violence, including many who had been displaced by earlier waves of fighting. According to witnesses,
E. whereas since the Goma peace agreement there have been reports of trapped civilians in combat zones, massacres, rapes, civilians being illegally detained by soldiers of the Congolese army and combatants of other armed groups,
F. whereas aid workers have suffered attacks that have forced them to suspend activities in North Kivu and parts of South Kivu, leaving many displaced persons without assistance, whereas soldiers and combatants from armed groups have looted health centres and hijacked trucks delivering humanitarian assistance, diverting them for military purposes, whereas crowds have stoned aid workers and refused to allow them to pass roadblocks, confusing their role with that of the UN peacekeeping force, MONUC,
G. whereas local food prices have increased dramatically, exacerbating poverty and malnutrition, but the World Food Programme has been obliged to reduce rations in eastern Congo because of food shortages, whereas displaced people and other vulnerable groups have resorted to high-risk strategies to feed their families,
H. whereas despite the risk of abuses by army soldiers or combatants of armed groups, some have no alternative but to return home to cultivate their fields, whereas women and girls are the most affected: many have been raped while attempting to return home or to seek firewood or water,
I. whereas children of displaced families have little or no access to education, either because the family has no money to pay school fees or because there are no schools operating in or near displacement camps, whereas in the struggle to stay alive, children are forced to work,
J. whereas the vast majority of those forced to flee their homes live with host families, many of whom are as poor as those they support, whereas to date, these host families, many of whom have sheltered large numbers of displaced persons for months or years, have received little attention and assistance, whereas, with village populations sometimes doubling in size, scarce local resources are so strained that displaced people are often forced to move again to other locations,
K. whereas it is vital to find a political solution to the conflict in Eastern provinces of the DRC, so as to consolidate peace and democracy and promote stability and development in the region for the well-being of all the peoples of the placeGreat Lakes region,
L. whereas since the end of 2006 the conflict in the DRC has also forced some 400 000 people to flee their homes and whereas there is now a total of 800 000 displaced persons in the PlaceTypeplaceprovincePlaceName of Eastern provinces of the DRC,
M. whereas the EU firmly condemns the recent statements by Laurent Nkunda calling for the overthrow of the elected and legitimate government of the Democratic Republic of Congo,
1. Expresses its deep outrage at the massacres and crimes against humanity which have been continuing for years in Eastern provinces of DRC and calls on all relevant national and international authorities systematically to bring the perpetrators to justice, whoever they may be; calls on the United Nations Security Council as a matter of urgency to take all measures capable of genuinely preventing any further attacks on the civilian populations of Eastern provinces of the DRC;
2. Calls on the CNDP to return immediately and unconditionally to the peace process to which it committed itself to in Goma in January 2008;
3. Calls on the international community to reinforce MONU by providing appropriate materials and staff in order to be able to fulfil their mandate;
4. Welcomes the fact that the President of the DRC and his ministers have publicly expressed their support to MONUC for its contribution to national security;
5. Reaffirms its support for the Congolese authorities in their efforts to find a political solution to the crisis and calls on the all the parties concerned to respect the ceasefire;
6. Reiterates that the Goma Agreement and the Nairobi Communiqué remain the only true, viable framework to bring stability to eastern country-regionplaceCongo;
7. Encourages all governments of the Great Lakes Region to initiate a dialogue with an aim to coordinate their efforts in lowering tensions and stopping the violence in Eastern DRC before this conflict spreads into the region as a whole;
8. Calls on the Council and Commission to implement large-scale medical assistance programmes for the civilian populations in placeEastern DRC with immediate effect, in order to meet immediate needs and in anticipation of the reconstruction which will be required;
9. Calls for the effective establishment of monitoring mechanisms, such as the CityplaceKimberley process for the certification of the origin of natural resources imported into the EU market;
10. Calls on the Council of the European Union and every EU Member Sate to provide special aid to the populations of placeEastern DRC;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the institutions of the African Union, the High Representative for the CFSP, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Untied Nations Security Council, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the President, parliament and government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the President, parliament and government of the Republic of Rwanda, and all governments of the Great Lakes Region.