Condemning all acts of violence, oppression, and abuse against ethnic minorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1025 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1025

 Condemning all acts of violence, oppression, and abuse against ethnic
          minorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 30, 2026

  Mr. Carson (for himself, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Doggett)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 Condemning all acts of violence, oppression, and abuse against ethnic
          minorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Whereas the Democratic Republic of the Congo (referred to in this Resolution as
        the ``DRC'') has been beset for decades by various challenges, including
        natural disasters, political unrest, abuses against civilians from many
        communities, and targeted ethnic-based violence;
Whereas ethnic minorities in the DRC have been the targets of an escalation of
        hate speech and incitement to violence nationwide, including in anti-
        minority rhetoric employed by some politicians and security force
        officials;
Whereas hate speech against certain ethnic minorities in the eastern DRC has
        included rhetoric from politicians and other public figures
        characterizing entire ethnic groups as ``foreigners'' or ``invaders''
        despite many families having resided in the region for generations,
        thereby creating a climate that facilitates atrocities;
Whereas the United States, the United Nations, credible human rights
        organizations, the UN Group of Experts, and civil society have
        documented and published reports or findings that implicate the armed
        forces of the DRC (referred to in this Resolution as ``FARDC'') in
        aiding and collaborating with armed groups and militias, including the
        Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which has been
        designated for United Nations sanctions due to human rights violations;
Whereas the return and expansion of M23, which maintains that it represents
        minority communities facing persecution and operates in response to
        FDLR, has coincided with large-scale displacement, and whereas credible
        reports document that minority communities have faced targeted violence
        and discrimination that M23 cites as justification for its existence;
Whereas the United States strongly urges Rwanda to fully withdraw Rwandan
        Defense Force troops from the DRC and cease all financial and military
        support for M23, in accordance with its commitment in the June 2025
        peace agreement to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of
        the DRC;
Whereas in January and February 2025, M23 forces seized the city of Goma and
        large areas of North and South Kivu, committing extrajudicial killings,
        sexual violence, and abductions, and forcibly closing displaced persons
        camps in February 2025, leaving thousands of civilians exposed to dire
        living conditions, as documented by credible human rights organizations
        including Human Rights Watch;
Whereas violence against ethnic minority communities perpetrated by the FARDC
        and government-backed militias including Rwanda-backed M23 and other DRC
        armed groups may constitute ethnic cleansing or meet one or more of the
        criteria under Article II of the United Nations Convention on the
        Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to which the United
        States and the DRC are parties, particularly in cases where attacks have
        reportedly been accompanied by genocidal rhetoric;
Whereas militias engage in illicit mining activities to finance and sustain
        themselves, often exploiting child labor and engaging in environmental
        degradation practices that undermine the DRC's economic interests and
        international treaty obligations;
Whereas in April 2019, the United States and the DRC established the United
        States-DRC Privileged Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, to which the
        2 countries added the Preservation of the Environment in February 2021,
        which aims to advance democracy, combat corruption and impunity, promote
        human rights, improve security, and encourage sustainable development
        and United States investment in the DRC; and
Whereas the Department of State Integrated Country Strategy for the DRC states
        that ``the success of the DRC's democracy hinges on stability in the
        coun-try's eastern provinces'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns all acts of violence and human rights
        violations perpetrated against ethnic minorities and civilians
        by members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of
        the Congo, M23, and other armed groups operating throughout the
        eastern DRC, including killings, sexual violence, looting,
        forced displacement, and the use of child soldiers, as has been
        documented by credible sources;
            (2) calls for increased security for the millions of people
        forcibly displaced in the DRC;
            (3) reaffirms that the United States holds the Government
        of the DRC responsible for upholding the rights of all
        citizens, regardless of ethnicity, in accordance with the DRC's
        international obligations;
            (4) urges social media companies to curb hate speech and
        incitement to violence on their platforms;
            (5) appeals to neighboring countries to uphold their
        commitment to providing safe harbor for refugees from all
        communities, including ethnic minority communities, until the
        human rights of such refugees can be guaranteed in the DRC;
            (6) recognizes that the United States has an international
        obligation to uphold its commitments to prevent and punish the
        crime of genocide;
            (7) calls for the DRC and Rwanda to uphold their
        commitments stipulated in the June 2025 peace agreement, which
        aims to ensure the de-risking of mineral supply chains and
        facilitate bilateral trade and United States economic
        investment in the region's minerals, and to ensure that these
        commitments are accompanied by additional measures to promote
        justice and accountability for atrocities perpetrated by all
        parties to the conflicts in the DRC while affirming that
        acknowledgment of historical patterns of discrimination,
        poverty, or marginalization may not be used to justify, excuse,
        or legitimize acts of violence against civilian populations;
            (8) calls on all regional actors to cease attacks on
        civilians and displaced persons camps in accordance with
        international humanitarian law;
            (9) urges the Government of the Democratic Republic of the
        Congo to, in accordance with and in addition to its commitments
        made in the June 2025 peace agreement, take meaningful measures
        to--
                    (A) cease support to nonstate armed groups,
                including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of
                Rwanda and militias known as ``Wazelendo,'' and hold
                accountable all state security forces that perpetrate
                atrocities against the civilian population by
                conducting transparent investigations and prosecutions
                and taking all additional necessary measures to prevent
                further atrocities;
                    (B) continue progress toward the disarmament,
                demobilization, reintegration, repatriation, and
                resettlement of armed groups in coordination with the
                United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in
                the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as outlined in
                United Nations Security Council Resolution 2666 (2022);
                    (C) continue coordinating with the joint East
                African Community and Southern African Development
                Community Nairobi/Luanda peace process to encourage
                peace talks and disarmament of armed groups in eastern
                DRC, provided that the initiative has an overall
                positive effect on the security of the populace and all
                parties involved in the process ensure that it is
                transparent and well-managed;
                    (D) allow and facilitate, in accordance with
                relevant provisions of international law and consistent
                with humanitarian principles, the full, safe,
                immediate, and unhindered access to humanitarian
                personnel, equipment and supplies, and the timely
                delivery of humanitarian assistance to populations in
                need, in particular to refugees and internally
                displaced persons throughout the territory of the DRC;
                    (E) uphold its obligations as a state party to the
                United Nations Convention on the Prevention and
                Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the International
                Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
                Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and
                Polit- ical Rights, the United Nations Convention on
                the Rights of the Child, and the Rome Statute of the
                International Criminal Court; and
                    (F) combat all forms of hate speech and hold
                accountable any person or group responsible for
                ethnically charged rhetoric and incitement to violence;
            (10) urges the Secretary of State, in coordination with the
        heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, to--
                    (A) work with other Federal departments and
                agencies to thoroughly investigate atrocities committed
                against ethnic minorities in the DRC and develop a
                strategy to address and deter such atrocities pursuant
                to section 3 of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities
                Prevention Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 2656 note);
                    (B) engage at the highest level with the Government
                of the DRC to mitigate the humanitarian effects of
                ethnic-based violence; and
                    (C) coordinate with like-minded partners and key
                stakeholders to increase and maintain engagement on the
                issue in multilateral fora, including the United
                Nations Security Council; and
            (11) calls on the President to--
                    (A) appoint a Special Envoy to the Great Lakes
                region of Africa, which will be vital to addressing the
                enduring regional security crisis emanating from
                eastern DRC;
                    (B) use all existing authorities to protect ethnic
                minorities who flee ethnic-based violence in the DRC,
                including the authority to designate ethnic minorities
                who are nationals of the DRC for Priority 2 access to
                the United States Refugee Admissions Program; and
                    (C) impose targeted sanctions against known human
                rights abusers in the DRC under existing authorities,
                such as Executive Order 13413, as amended by Executive
                Order 13671, and Executive Order 13818, to deter
                further gross violations of human rights against ethnic
                minorities in the DRC.
                                 <all>