David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move:

Bearing in mind -the death of 5.2 million people over a ten-year period from war-related causes, the largest in any conflict since the Second World War,
the illegal occupation of the city of Goma by the militia known as M23,
the displacement of some 2.2 million people in the DRC,
the forced movement of thousands of people to neighbouring countries,
the 17-fold increase in the number of rapes on civilians between 2004 and 2008,
the on-going recruitment of child soldiers, some as young as 8 years of age,
the increasing humanitarian crisis,
the absence of essential infrastructure like roads, schools and health centres,
the pillage by militias, mercenaries and traders of the country's enormous mineral wealth, and
the collapse of the kind of norms that are required for a functioning society,the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade calls for -an immediate end to the conflict and the disarmament of all militias, most particularly that of the M23 group,
prioritisation of and re-engagement with existing political agreements,
protection of all civilians and the implementation of stabilization mechanisms,
a new political process to address the drivers of the conflict, one that will involve the European Union (EU), the United Nations Security Council UNSC), the African Union (AU), and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR),
neighbouring countries, most notably Rwanda and Uganda, to comply with international law, respect human rights and to disengage from any destabilisation activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
the government of the DRC to end corruption and respect human rights,
a renewed and strengthened mandate for MONUSCO, the UN force in the DRC,
those alleged to have committed war crimes should not be given refuge and should be turned over to the International Criminal Court,
a commitment to the full implementation of the EU Transparency Directive and Accounting Directives,
andcalls upon the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to ensure that -the resolution of the current conflict in the DRC remains a key objective of its six-month presidency of the European Union, and
that on-going violations of human rights within the DRC will be raised by the Minister and his officials at the UN Human Rights Council to which Ireland has just been elected,and given the scale and intensity of the conflict regrets the absence of any significant reporting by Irish and international media of the conflict and calls for greater political and media engagement with the conflict.

I am grateful to the Chairman and the staff for putting this motion on today's agenda. I have been asked to do this and the committee has received presentations, in particular a recent presentation on sexual violence in conflict. At that session, there was a considerable concentration on the tragedy in the Congo. It is almost unnecessary for me to rehearse the situation. We all know of the extraordinary contrast between the mineral and natural resource wealth of that region and the poor conditions in which people in the Congo live. They are classified as the poorest citizens on Earth despite that vast wealth.

In the past few weeks, there has been an illegal occupation of Goma, although forces have since withdrawn from it. Some 2.2 million are displaced and approximately 5 million have died, almost as many as died during the Holocaust in Europe. Just as today when no one from the media was present at our meeting, there is a regrettable lack of media interest in this situation.

There is an increasing humanitarian crisis. The central authorities are unable to look after their citizens in terms of medical welfare, protection from tape and so on. They are also unable to invest in infrastructure, for example, roads and rail networks. Electronic communications are at a minimal level. There is a range of militias and mercenaries and neighbouring countries are greedily fastening onto the wealth.

It is appropriate that we as a committee should call for an immediate end to the conflict, the disarmament of the militias and the prioritisation of and re-engagement with existing political agreements. I do not want to go on ad nauseam, as people can read the resolution. It is lengthy. If I was to speak on every aspect, we would be here for a long time, but that would not advance the cause. People would be rather put off by the monotonous sound of my voice.

Increasingly, we are receiving requests from international agencies and groups outside of Ireland to try to make use of the six-month window of opportunity presented by our Presidency of Europe as well as of the fact that, with the committee's strong support, we have achieved a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

If possible, I ask the committee to pass the motion. I have also placed an almost identical motion on Seanad Éireann's Order Paper. I hope that we will have an opportunity to pass it with little discussion.