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<\/p>\nAs the European Foreign Affairs Ministers are due to discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the next Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 6 March 2017, the European Network for Central Africa (EurAc) strongly believes that a second round of European Union (EU) targeted sanctions (travel ban and asset freeze) against senior political and security actors, closer to the inner circle of President Joseph Kabila and responsible for human rights abuse as well as for the violent crackdown on dissident voices and for undermining the democratic process, would be useful to increase the pressure on DRC officials to find a solution to the political and security crisis.<\/p>\n
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EurAc firmly denounces the deterioration of the current political and security situation in the DRC that faces once again a perilous stalemate. Indeed the presidential majority, the Government and President Joseph Kabila, as well as to a lesser extent the opposition parties, are showing a manifest reluctance to actually find a way out to the political crisis. This new impasse de facto allows President Kabila to cling to power and we see the organisation of the elections in December 2017 increasingly fading away.<\/p>\n With Tshisekedi\u2019s death, political scheming, tensions and divisions, as well as opportunistic behaviors and chronic blockages have increased, notably around the nomination of the new Prime Minister and the ministers of its new government, the role of the Commission Electorale Nationale Independante (CENI), the nomination of the new President of the Comit\u00e9 National de Suivi de l\u2019Accord (CNSA) and the case of opposition figures such as Mo\u00efse Katumbi.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, repression and abuse continue against activists, opponents, human rights defenders and the medias: many people are still detained, others who have been released still have criminal charges pending against them, demonstrations are forbidden in Kinshasa and Radio France International is still cut in the capital. The arrest of a group of 11 Lutte pour le Changement (Lucha) activists in Kinshasa on 22 February 2017 and finally released on 25 February, is once again, the proof that fundamental rights are constantly violated in DRC.<\/p>\n The excessive violence and serious human rights abuse in the Kasa\u00ef, but also observed in Kinshasa, Kongo Central, Tanganyika and Kivu provinces, are also deeply worrying. What is particularly disturbing is that the growing violence is apparently used by the Congolese authorities, as stressed in a confidential letter sent by the DRC government to the President of the United Nations (UN) Security Council on 27 January 2017, to justify the delay but also the overall possible suspension of their efforts to implement the December political agreement and to organise the elections.<\/p>\n Following the strong reaction of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights<\/a> to the recent summary executions in the Kasa\u00ef denouncing grave human rights violations and an excessive use of force by DRC\u2019s armed forces, the EU reacted<\/a> publicly in similar terms denouncing an excessive use of force from the Congolese army, asking for an independent and transparent inquiry into the human rights violations and mentioning the application of possible consequences in case of further incitation to violence. EurAc believes that the time is now for the EU to take a stronger stand and adopt additional restrictive measures against those responsible for grave human rights violations and excessive use of force to send a strong signal to President Kabila and DRC officials that violating the rights of the Congolese people is costly for those responsible. Additionally, the complete lack of justice for the victims or their families in Kasa\u00ef, Kinshasa, Kongo Central, Tanganyika and the Kivus justifies even more the application of targeted sanctions and the full suspension of the EU financial support to the justice and security programmes.<\/p>\n In its conclusions of December 2016, the EU Council already adopted targeted sanctions against seven DRC senior officials: four security agents responsible of serious human rights violations and three senior figures for trying to obstruct a consensual and peaceful solution to the crisis. According to reliable sources on the ground, these measures have had a positive impact in the sense that they prevented these individuals and as a consequence all those involved in the political dialogue from further incitation to violence and abuse, as well as from any inflammatory speech and blocking positions in the adoption of the December Agreement.<\/p>\n Moreover on 2 February 2017, the European Parliament passed a new resolution <\/a>calling on the EU Council to \u2018consider extending these restrictive measures in the event of further violence, as provided for in the Cotonou Agreement\u2019.<\/p>\n Right before the resuming of the annual session of the DRC National Assembly on 15 March 2017, the upcoming Council meeting provides another perfect and timely opportunity for the EU to demonstrate its firm commitment to supporting democracy and the protection of human rights in the region, values that constitute the true added value of European cooperation compared to the approach of the DRC\u2019s other international partners. It will also be a crucial moment to avoid a new serious and large-scale security and humanitarian crisis in the Great Lakes region. In light of the worsening political and security crisis in the DRC, EurAc calls on European Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the High Representative of the EU Federica Mogherini, to take concrete steps to prevent a further escalation of violence and new abuses in the DRC and in particular to:<\/p>\n 1. Extend EU targeted sanctions (travel ban and asset freeze) to new individuals responsible for human rights violations and\/or for obstructing the democratic process<\/p>\n 2. Call on both the Presidential Majority and the opposition to apply immediately the New Year\u2019s Agreement by continuing to work with the National Bishops\u2019 Conference (CENCO) to adopt without further delay the different arrangements for the application of the aforementioned agreement by:<\/p>\n 1. Express its deep concern about the deteriorating human rights situation and the continuing restriction of the political space in the DRC, and in particular the instrumentalisation of the judicial system and the violence and intimidation faced by human rights defenders, political opponents, pro-democracy activists and journalists;<\/p>\n 2. Call on the DRC government to fully abide by the requirements enshrined in the Cotonou Agreement as well as in the New Year\u2019s Agreement by immediately and unconditionally releasing all political prisoners, abandoning all charges still pending against some of them and lifting the restrictions on media, like Radio France International (RFI);<\/p>\n 3. Fully suspend all its financial support for the DRC\u2019s Justice Sector and for the training of Congolese security forces and army officers [1]<\/sup><\/a>Indeed the EU decided last year to suspend its financial support in 2017 to the reform of the DRC\u2019s justice1 and security setors. However the apparent continuation of parts of these programmes are … Continuer la lecture<\/span><\/span><\/span>
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\n<\/bloc><\/p>\n**On the political and diplomatic level<\/h2>\n
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**On the level of protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms<\/h2>\n