Democratic Republic of the Congo: Council extends current sanctions against 10 people for one more year

The Council decided today to maintain existing restrictive measures against several individuals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) until 12 December 2022. The decision was taken on the basis of an evaluation of the situation in the country and of the individual cases.

Currently 10 people are subject to an asset freeze and a ban on entering the European Union. In addition, persons and entities in the EU are forbidden from making funds available to those listed, either directly or indirectly.

EU autonomous individual restrictive measures in view of the situation in the DRC were adopted by the Council for the first time in 2016 in response, in particular, to human rights violations and the obstruction of the electoral process.

The Council considers that the existing measures remain valid in view of the current political situation, and useful in fighting impunity and preventing new violations of human rights by state and non-state actors.

In this regard, the EU is particularly concerned by United Nations reports highlighting an increase in hate speech and messages in the public space and on social media calling for violence, discrimination and hostility, often directed against ethnic groups or public figures.

The Council will continue to closely monitor the situation in the DRC in the coming months, will further review restrictive measures in light of developments, and may consider additional restrictive measures if need be, including, possibly, by enlarging the current grounds for imposing these measures.