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The DRC has labeled the European Union's persistent minerals agreement with Rwanda as showing "obvious hypocrisy" while enforcing far more extensive sanctions in response to the Ukraine conflict.

Government Sharp Rebuke

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the Congo's international affairs chief, urged the EU to impose far more severe measures against Rwanda, which has been charged with intensifying the unrest in eastern DRC.

"This demonstrates obvious double standards – I aim to be helpful here – that makes us questioning and inquisitive about understanding why the EU continues to hesitate so much to enact sanctions," she stated.

Peace Agreement Background

The DRC and Rwanda agreed to a ceasefire deal in June, brokered by the America and Qatar, designed to resolve the long-standing hostilities.

However, fatal assaults on civilians have persisted and a target date to reach a lasting resolution was passed without success in August.

International Findings

Last year, a United Nations panel reported that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 rebel group and that the Rwandan military was in "de facto control of M23 operations."

Rwanda has consistently denied assisting M23 and asserts its forces act in self-protection.

Diplomatic Request

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently called upon his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to cease backing armed groups in the DRC during a international conference attended by both leaders.

"This necessitates you to instruct the M23 troops supported by your country to halt this intensification, which has already caused enough fatalities," the president declared.

International Restrictions

The EU has placed sanctions on 32 people and two groups – a rebel organization and a Rwandan mineral treatment facility handling contraband materials of the metal – for their role in intensifying the conflict.

Despite these determinations of human rights abuses by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the EU executive has declined calls to suspend a 2024 resource partnership with Kigali.

Mineral Issues

Wagner described the partnership with Rwanda as "lacking all legitimacy in a context where it has been verified that Rwanda has been siphoning off Congolese resources" extracted under harsh circumstances of forced labour, affecting children.

The United States and many others have raised concerns about illicit commerce in gold and tantalum in eastern Congo, extracted via compulsory work, then smuggled to Rwanda for export to benefit rebel organizations.

Regional Emergency

The violence in eastern DRC remains one of the world's gravest humanitarian crises, with more than 7.8 million people relocated within country in eastern DRC and 28 million facing food insecurity, including 4 million at crisis conditions, according to UN reports.

Diplomatic Efforts

As the DRC's top representative, Wagner approved the deal with Rwanda at the American administration in June, which also aims to give the United States enhanced entry to DRC minerals.

She asserted that the US remains participating in the resolution efforts and rejected suggestions that sole motivation was the DRC's extensive resource deposits.

European Partnership

The Brussels chief, Ursula von der Leyen, inaugurated a conference by stating that the EU wanted "partnerships based on common interests and respect for sovereignty."

She featured the Lobito corridor – transportation infrastructure transport links – joining the mineral heartlands of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's Atlantic coast.

Wagner recognized that the EU and DRC had a solid basis in the Lobito project, but "significant aspects has been diminished by the conflict in the troubled region."