European Parliament resolution on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Date: 2001-12-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Democratic Republic of the Congo, civil defence, civilian victim, establishment of peace, hunger, military occupation, war damage

C 177 E/320

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

25.7.2002

Thursday 13 December 2001

Expresses its deep regret at the breaking of the cease-fire by the Maoist rebels and condemns the

1.
violence which has since occurred;

2.
Demands a swift end to the violence, so that the population, most of whom have been impoverished
for decades, is no longer deprived of urgently needed sources of revenue, including revenue lost as a result
of the absence of tourists;

3.
Calls on the Nepalese government and parliament to fight against corruption and to introduce lasting
economic and structural reforms leading to sustainable and equitable development for the benefit of the
citizens of Nepal;

4.
Calls on the CPN to desist at once from all acts of violence and to lay down its arms, and calls on the
Government of Nepal and the CPN, once these conditions have been met, to resume the search for a
negotiated settlement leading to a lasting peace;

5.

Recalls its commitment to the multi-party democracy that was established in 1990;

Calls on the EU to make additional financial aid available in the light of progress towards a negoti-

6.
ated peace settlement;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, and the parliament

7.
and government of Nepal.

26. Congo

B5-0773, 0781, 0785, 0795 and 0808/2001

European Parliament resolution on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

The European Parliament,

1 having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),

1 having regard to the resolution adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on the situation

in Central Africa,

1 having regard to the Council statement calling for the withdrawal of foreign armed forces and for the

disarming and demobilisation of the combatants,

A. deeply shocked by the UN 2002 Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the DRC which reveals hor-
rendous figures, since nearly 3 million children, women and men have been killed as a result of fore-
ign occupation, more than 2 million people have been displaced within the borders of their own
country and 16 million people are threatened with death as a result of malnutrition, the absence of
medical care and the abuses of the armed factions who plunder the local populations,

B. whereas, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the situation in Congo-Kinshasa
has contributed to a tragic 22 % increase in malnutrition rates worldwide over the last ten years,

C.

D.

reaffirming the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of the DRC and of all States
in the region,

reaffirming also the sovereignty of the DRC over its natural resources and having regard to UN Secur-
ity Council resolution 1376, adopted on 9 November 2001, which called for all States to withdraw
their forces from the DRC and reiterated condemnation of all illegal exploitation of natural resources
in that country,

E. whereas the illegal exploitation of these resources has already been described as ‘systematic looting’ in

a recent United Nations report,

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 177 E/321

F. whereas the second UN report on the illegal exploitation of the DRC’s natural resources shows that
the underlying reasons for the conflict have proved to be access to, control over and trade in the
resources of the country,

Thursday 13 December 2001

G. whereas some of these products are being brought into Member States,

H. whereas the hostilities are fuelled by this illegal exploitation,

I. whereas the history which the former European powers shared with Africa and the values which the
European Union has vigorously defended since the end of the Second World War transform the duty
of memory into a duty of assistance,

J. welcoming the progress that has been made in some areas of implementation of the Lusaka Cease-fire
Agreement, which constitutes the consensual basis for peace in the DRC, but noting the many prob-
lems still facing the peace process,

K. welcoming in particular the advanced state of deployment of the MONUC in accordance with UNSC
Resolution 1341, but recalling the responsibilities of all parties to cooperate in the full deployment of
the UN force,

L.

concerned however about certain obstructions to foreign troop disengagement and reaffirming that
the primary responsibility for implementing the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement lies with the parties,

M. deploring the fact that the meeting of the inter-Congolese dialogue held on 15 October 2001 in Addis
Ababa could not build on the success of the pre-dialogue held in Gaborone, Botswana, from 20 to
24 August 2001, which had given a new impetus to national reconciliation by reflecting the partici-
pants’ shared desire to put an end to the war, preserve the country’s independence and unity and
establish democracy,

1.
Urges governments, organisations and, in particular, health-related companies to take part in the UN
Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal 2002, launched on 26 November 2001 in New York by the Nobel
Peace Prize Winner, Mr Koffi Annan;

2.
Expresses its grave concern with regard to the humanitarian situation in the DRC and calls on the
international community, and the EU in particular, to increase without delay its support for humanitarian
activities;

Considers that what has turned into an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe should be moni-

3.
tored and investigated at international level;

4.

Calls on the media and the international press to break the silence on this humanitarian tragedy;

5.
Insists on the need to restore the DRC’s local economies, to secure access of the civilian population
to food, medical and health-care centres and urges the international community to provide the necessary
assistance;

6.
Reaffirms its support for the 1999 Lusaka agreement, which provides a consensus on the basis of
which peace can be restored in the DRC and the region as a whole; urges all parties concerned to comply
with UNSC Resolution 1304 to the letter;

Calls on the Spanish Presidency to organise at the beginning of 2002 a meeting between all the

7.
parties to prepare for the implementation of the Lusaka agreement;

8. Welcomes the fact that Namibia has withdrawn its troops from DRC territory and insists that all
foreign forces in the DRC do the same in conformity with UN resolution 1304;

Calls on the Council to consider the recommendations for sanctions against countries which are

9.
pillaging the resources of the DRC;

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Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

25.7.2002

Thursday 13 December 2001

10.

Calls on the World Bank and the IMF to cease to fund the budgets of the offending countries;

11.
Calls on all the parties to refrain from any offensive action during the process of disengagement and
withdrawal of foreign forces, and expresses concern at recent reports of military operations in the Kivus;

12.
Reiterates its condemnation of all illegal exploitation of the natural resources of the DRC, in par-
ticular diamonds and coltan, demands that such exploitation cease and stresses that the natural resources
of the DRC should not be exploited to finance the conflict in that country;

13. Welcomes the positive spirit in which all participants in the inter-Congolese pre-dialogue meeting
approached the discussions in Gaborone and, while deploring the lack of progress in Addis Ababa,
strongly urges all Congolese parties to continue working in the same spirit of compromise and conciliation
at the next meeting of the inter-Congolese dialogue scheduled to resume at the end of January 2002 in
Sun City, South Africa;

14. Welcomes the deployment of UN troops to help monitor the cease-fire and urges the rapid launch
of the next phase of the UN operation, involving the deployment of more troops to begin the programme
of voluntary disarmament;

15.
Calls on the Council and Commission to step up efforts to implement the Lusaka agreement and
continue to support mediation efforts, and urges them to take the necessary political and economic
measures without delay to ensure that the agreement can be properly implemented;

16.
Calls on the Member States to honour their commitments concerning the monitoring of arms
exports and the prevention of illicit sales of arms and of the trafficking activities through which the
necessary funding for the continuation of the war is obtained;

17.

Demands that the international economic community enforce an ethical code of conduct;

18.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the ACP-EU Coun-
cil of Ministers, the United Nations Secretary-General, the African Union, and the governments of Burundi,
DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

27. EC/Islamic Republic of Mauritania fisheries agreement *

A5-0426/2001

Proposal for a Council regulation on the conclusion of the Protocol setting out the fishing oppor-
tunities and the financial contribution provided for in the Agreement on cooperation in the sea
fisheries sector between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for the
period 1 August 2001 to 31 July 2006 (COM(2001) 590 3 C5-0555/2001 3 2001/0246(CNS))

The proposal was amended as follows:

TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 1
Recital 2a (new)

(2a)
It is important to improve the information supplied to
the European Parliament and therefore the Commission
should draw up a yearly report on the state of implemen-
tation of the Agreement.