The European Union threatened on Monday that it would work under the jurisdiction of a United Nations (UN) resolution to impose sanctions on any side responsible for violating human rights and promoting violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
"The EU will use all the means at its disposal, including individual restrictive measures against those responsible for serious human rights violations, those who promote violence and those who would try to obstruct a consensual and peaceful solution to the crisis, one that respects the aspiration of the people of the DRC to elect their representatives," the European Council said in its conclusions on the situation in DRC.
"In this context, the EU would draw attention to UN Security Council Resolution 2293, which establishes the UN sanctions regime for individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights violations", the European Council read.
The council said that the government of the DRC must take necessary steps to ensure that no human rights violations take place in the country, and urged it to release all political prisoners and stop prosecution of opposition and civil society leaders.
On September 19, violence erupted between security forces and demonstrators in the DRC leading to many casualties and other reported human rights violations, after citizens went to the streets protesting against the electoral commission's failure to organize elections of a new president to replace Joseph Kabila who is set to step down at December 20, 2016, at the end of his constitutionally mandated two-term limit.
