Almost 20 Congolese women, mainly living in Belgium, staged a sit-in protest in Brussels' Place du Luxembourg on Friday afternoon. The demonstration was an indictment of a recent minerals agreement between the EU and Rwanda.
Positioned opposite the European Parliament from 13:00, the protestors were determined to relay their message to European leaders: "If the EU does not want to contribute to the suffering of the Congolese people, it must not execute this contract with Rwanda."
"When will sanctions be imposed on Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who tramples on democratic values and human rights?" one protester's sign read.
The EU-Rwanda agreement has been widely criticised in the DRC. According to the country's Foreign Affairs Minister Christophe Lutundula, it risks "encouraging the looting of Congolese natural resources by Rwanda."
"We Congolese women residing in Belgium and other EU countries express our deep dismay at the signing of such a contract," the protestors emphasised. "This agreement pertains to minerals that Rwanda does not have."
Funding 'criminal activities'
According to these women, honouring the deal would merely finance Rwanda. The country could then use the funds to "support its criminal activities in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC]." These activities are the core of the current diplomatic tensions between Rwanda and the DRC.
The latter has accused the Rwandan government of supporting the M23 rebels – a Congolese military group mainly comprising members of the Tutsi community – who have committed unlawful killings, rape, and other apparent war crimes since late 2022.
The demonstrators lament that these crimes have continued amidst the "complicit silence of the international community," despite numerous reports of violence and massacres.
On 19 February, a cooperation agreement was signed between Rwanda and the EU to foster the development of "sustainable" value chains for raw materials. The objective of this European investment plan is primarily to "improve transparency, traceability and investment" for several minerals, including tin, tantalum and tungsten.
