The European Union’s response to the armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has not matched the rapid advance of the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group.
But the March 17 targeted sanctions give hope that Europe is finally waking up to the seriousness of the abuses taking place, Rwanda’s role, and the EU’s own involvement with Rwanda.
The onslaught of suffering in eastern Congo did not start with the M23’s January offensive — civilians have long endured abuses by armed groups and national armies with Rwanda’s support. The resurgence of the M23 in late 2021 has brought with it a trail of violations and a humanitarian disaster.
In areas it occupies, the M23 has carried out forced labor and recruitment, dismantled camps, and threatened, detained, and attacked journalists, critics, and civil society activists.
The EU, in addition to sanctioning several M23 leaders, listed key Rwandan officials and a gold company for their role in supporting abuses in eastern Congo. Kigali’s cutting diplomatic ties to Belgium should not distract from the obvious next steps.
By sanctioning the Gasabo Gold Refinery, identified by United Nations experts as the location where gold fraudulently transported from Congo is refined before export, and the head of the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board, EU ministers clearly pointed to Rwanda’s role in illicit exploitation of natural resources.
In its most recent report, the UN Group of Experts on Congo confirmed that the M23 and the allied Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) controlled the routes from the Congolese mining town of Rubaya to Rwanda, where minerals are mixed with Rwandan production. The UN experts also concluded that “fraudulent extraction, trade and export to Rwanda of Rubaya minerals thus benefited both AFC/M23 and the Rwandan economy.”
Rwanda’s long-time involvement in illegal mining should have been a red flag for the European Commission in its dealing with Kigali.
But instead, the commission signed in February 2024 a much criticized Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains, which drew the ire of the European Parliament. While the deal includes commitments to environmental, social and governance standards, human rights and regional peace and stability, those promises are in stark contrast with the reality on the ground.
The February 2024 deal was a major reputational boost for Rwanda that has become a reputational risk for the commission because of Rwanda’s disregard for the basic pledges made in its deal with Brussels.
The EU commissioner for international partnerships, Jozef Síkela, should acknowledge that conditions for implementation cannot be met as long as Rwanda supports the abusive M23, by furnishing weapons, materiel and fighters.
In June 2023, the EU’s International Partnerships Directorate and Germany’s development agency (GIZ) initiated a multi-million euro project with Rwanda’s mining board, whose head was sanctioned last week. Germany suspended cooperation with Rwanda in view of the conflict — the European Commission should follow suit.
These sanctions raise questions over earlier EU decisions to provide two €20m grants to support the Rwandan military’s deployment in Mozambique under the European Peace Facility (EPF).
Sanctioned Rwandan officials also include three commanders involved in providing support to the M23.
Two of them, Eugene Nkubito and Pascal Muhizi, had recently served in Rwanda’s task force in Mozambique’s embattled Cabo Delgado province in counterinsurgency operations. The current top commander of Rwanda’s forces in Mozambique, major general Emmy Ruvusha, had just recently been transferred from eastern Congo, which should be setting off alarm bells in Brussels.
If the EU is serious about safeguards attached to EPF funding to Rwanda’s deployment in Mozambique, then the deployment of Ruvusha and other commanders there should be seen as a categorical red line.
The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, should pause disbursement of any further EPF funds to Rwanda until safeguards, including genuine vetting of troops deployed, are met, and commanders and troops who served in Congo are excluded from EU-funded operations.
Finally, EU institutions should make clear that measures will only be lifted when Rwanda ends its support to the M23.
The Congolese army’s creation and support for a coalition of abusive armed groups known as the “Wazalendo” has compounded the suffering of civilians further.
But Rwanda’s support to the M23 plays such a critical role in the ongoing crisis that the EU should use all opportunities for leverage to press for it to stop. EU institutions should show consistency with recent sanctions, suspend a mineral deal whose provisions are flouted by Rwanda, and ensure that military and security cooperation does not contribute to violations in Congo.
The EU should also show readiness to curb Rwanda’s benefits from its presence in eastern Congo and radically review its cooperation with a government that violates rights at home and fuels atrocities abroad.
Philippe Dam is EU advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
Philippe Dam is EU advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.