Last updated Feb 22, 2024
In a statement on Wednesday February 21, 2024, Dr. Dénis Mukwege, 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner, criticized the signing, on February 19, of a memorandum of understanding between Rwanda and the European Union aimed at promoting development of “sustainable” and resilient” value chains for raw materials, also called conflict or blood minerals.
For Dr. Mukwege, through this act, the EU, through its executive, stands out in a policy of double standards which undermines the credibility of international institutions.
“With the memorandum of understanding signed on February 19 between the European Union (EU) and Rwanda to promote the development of “sustainable” and “resilient” value chains for raw materials, also called conflict or blood minerals. , the European executive not only reaches the paroxysm of cynicism in terms of geostrategy, but is once again illustrated in a policy of double standards which undermines the credibility of international institutions,” he said.
The conflict which has persisted in the east of the DRC for almost 30 years, which is the deadliest since the Second World War, he stressed, is mainly economic, and the link between exploitation and illegal trade minerals is recognized as a root cause of violence and serious human rights violations, and Rwanda’s involvement in the destabilization of the DRC, the plunder of its natural and mineral resources and the commission of the most serious crimes, including the use of sexual violence as a method of war and as a strategy of terror is widely documented, notably by the United Nations.
“While the security and humanitarian crisis plaguing the Kivus has further seriously worsened since the resurgence of the armed group M23, which operates in concert with the direct support of the Rwandan army in the framework of yet another war of aggression and occupation on Congolese territory, the policy of the European Commission and the strengthening of this strategic partnership with the dictatorial regime of Kigali appears in total contradiction with the principle of coherence and the fundamental values of the EU, in particular the promotion peace and human rights, which should be, in accordance with the European Treaties, fundamental objectives in its external relations,” said D. Mukwege.
Reiterating the call on the need to ensure coherence between economic policies and respect for human rights, the Nobel Peace Prize winner urges European institutions and countries to make the EU regulation on due diligence for mineral supply chains.
“It is in this context that we reiterate our call launched in Strasbourg in 2014 on the occasion of the award of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought to “ensure greater coherence between economic policies and respect of human rights, and to place human dignity at the center of economic and financial concerns”, and urge European institutions and countries to make the EU regulation on due diligence for TV channels effective and binding. “supply of minerals, which entered into force in 2021 and yet largely diverted by opaque cross-border supply chains between the DRC and Rwanda”, he urged.
In the process, Dénis Mukwege believes that otherwise, the so-called green and clean energy transition will remain red with the blood of Congolese women and children.
He therefore invites European citizens “loving” peace and social justice to hear this call and change course during the next elections in June 2024.
2024-02-22 17:41:55
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