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[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>
Submitted in House
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E82)
Submitted in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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