What changed

B100215/2025

B100216/2025

European Parliament resolution on the targeted attacks against Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: defending religious freedom and security

(2025/2612(RSP))

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as the right to manifest one’s religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance,

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which recognises the right of individuals to freedom of religion, including freedom to worship and observe religious practices,

– having regard to the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which guarantees the right to freedom of conscience and the free exercise of religious worship for all citizens,

– having regard to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 November 1981,

– having regard to the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly Article 9 thereof, which guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,

– having regard to reports from the UN and various other human rights organisations, detailing the rise in attacks and indiscriminate killings and ongoing violations of the freedom of belief by armed groups, including Islamist militants, against Christian communities in the eastern DRC region,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), affiliated to the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province, have been linked to an attack on the village of Mukondi, in the eastern DRC, in which, according to local authorities, at least 44 civilians were killed; whereas the group claimed 48 attacks in December 2024 alone, killing over 200 people;

A. whereas the DRC has endured decades of widespread violence and instability in its eastern provinces, exacerbated by armed conflicts that have created fertile ground for the emergence of over 100 extremist groups targeting vulnerable populations, including religious communities;

B. whereas the ADF has a long history of committing terrorist attacks in the eastern DRC; whereas the Congolese Catholic Church claims that the ADF is responsible for the deaths of around 6 000 civilians in Beni between 2013 and 2021 and more than 2 000 in Bunia in 2020 alone; whereas between January and June 2024, 639 Christians were killed in the DRC by jihadists and half of them beheaded; whereas many of these attacks directly target the Christian population of these regions; whereas Christians in particular have been deliberately targeted by various extremist or jihadist groups for many years; whereas the Catholic bishops of the DRC spoke out in an April 2021 statement about the threat of the ‘Islamization of the region [North Kivu] as a sort of deeper strategy for a long-term negative influence on the general political situation of the country’;

B. whereas Christians in the DRC’s eastern provinces are facing an increasing number of targeted attacks, killings and abductions as well as the destruction of their property, perpetrated by armed groups with extremist ideologies;

C. whereas the ADF officially pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group (ISIS) on 7 November 2019; whereas the UN Group of Experts on the DRC warned in May 2024 that the armed group had established strong networks in prisons, particularly in Kinshasa where ADF detainees were active in recruiting and mobilising combatants and collaborators, using not only ideological means, but also coercion, deception, abduction and financial incentives to attract members and collaborators; whereas the ADF’s attacks need to be seen in the wider African context of a rise in the number of Islamist groups, in particular those affiliated to ISIS, in the Sahel region, the Horn of Africa, Mozambique, Nigeria and the DRC; whereas the ADF has been designated a terrorist group by Uganda and the United States;

C. whereas, according to local reports, on 13 February 2025, 70 Christians were abducted in the village of Mayba and later found dead in a church in nearby Kasanga; whereas the attack was reportedly committed by militants of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF);

D. whereas the Armed Forces of the DRC have been conducting a joint military offensive, operation Shujaa, with the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces against the ADF and other insurgent forces in the eastern DRC since November 2021; whereas the conflict between the government and M23 rebels could lead to a decrease in the funds, personnel and equipment being allocated to this counter-terrorism operation;

D. whereas the ADF is one of the most prominent extremist groups with explicitly religious objectives, especially since its leader pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2019;

E. whereas the region has been plagued by decades of cyclical violence, causing a security and humanitarian crisis and leading to the further destabilisation of the country; whereas the conflict between the Government of the DRC, the armed rebel group M23 and other militias has already led to the forceful internal displacement of 4.6 million people in the eastern DRC; whereas the DRC also hosts over 520 000 refugees and asylum seekers from neighbouring countries, while 1.1 million refugees from the DRC are being hosted in neighbouring countries of the region, more than half of them in Uganda;

E. whereas in May 2020, the ADF participated in ISIS’s global ‘Battle of Attrition’, specifically targeting Christian communities in seven neighbourhoods throughout north-eastern DRC; whereas in 2021, a prominent local Muslim leader received death threats from the ADF, and he was later gunned down; whereas in 2023, the ADF bombed services at a Pentecostal church in Kasindi, killing 14 people; whereas in January 2024, the ADF killed eight people in Beni during an attack on a Pentecostal church and, in May 2024, ADF assailants reportedly killed 14 Catholics in North Kivu province for refusing to convert to Islam; whereas the ADF also reportedly executed 11 Christians in the village of Ndimo in Ituri province and kidnapped several others;

F. whereas North Kivu is a resource-rich region, with vast supplies of critical raw materials, including cobalt, gold and tin, which are necessary for the global digital and energy transitions; whereas it is known that the ADF has been relying on, among other sources of financing, the illegal exploitation of these resources to fund their activities; whereas Christians face difficulties and violent attacks from Islamist militants, particularly in the North Kivu province;

F. whereas in addition to the ADF, several armed groups in the eastern DRC have politicised religion, targeting religious infrastructure as part of their insurgency strategies;

G. whereas the DRC is ranked 35th in the World Watch List and has even risen six places in recent years, with 2024 seeing an escalation in attacks against Christians by the ADF;

G. whereas in 2024, 355 people were reportedly killed in the DRC for their faith, compared to 261 in 2023, while an estimated 10 000 people were internally displaced because of their faith, marking a tenfold increase from 2023; whereas houses have been looted and burned down, schools relocated, churches and healthcare facilities closed, and several Christian villages have been abandoned altogether;

H. whereas owing to the absence of specific laws to protect Christians, Christian women and girls are especially vulnerable to domestic violence, forced marriages, abduction, rape, trafficking and sexual slavery;

H. whereas the attacks on Christians are part of a broader trend of escalating violence and religious intolerance, with religious leaders and communities increasingly finding themselves under threat in areas controlled by armed groups;

1. Condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks and targeted massacre of Christians carried out by the ADF in the eastern DRC; expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims and with Christian communities;

I. whereas the recent activities of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group have further exacerbated the vulnerability of religious communities in the region;

2. Strongly condemns the ADF and other rebel groups, such as M23, and their egregious human rights abuses, which amount to crimes against humanity in accordance with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC); is extremely concerned about this terrorist group’s deliberate targeting of Christians; underlines the fact that there must be no impunity for the perpetrators of these acts and that those responsible should be referred to the ICC; encourages the establishment of an international commission of inquiry to examine the human rights violations committed in the DRC, renewed investigations in North Kivu by the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor and the creation of a special tribunal for atrocity crimes in the DRC, including crimes committed against Christian communities; backs the efforts of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo and the Church of Christ in Congo, which launched the ‘Social pact for peace and coexistence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes Region’ with the aim of restoring peace in the country’s eastern provinces;

J. whereas converts to Christianity from Islam and indigenous religions face pressure from their families to revert to their former faiths;

3. Supports the international efforts against the ADF, including the Shujaa counter-terrorism operation carried out jointly by DRC and Ugandan armed forces; encourages the EU Member States to consider ways of contributing to these efforts, including increased efforts to trace and interdict ISIS secret funds held overseas and to trace any raw materials stemming from their illegal exploitation by the ADF; calls for the EU to support the necessary capacity building and expertise to combat ADF ideology and rhetoric, particularly within the Muslim communities of both Uganda and Congo, to prevent recruitment among those communities; requests the application of the EU global human rights sanctions regime to those responsible for planning, ordering or participating in the killing of Christians in the DRC;

K. whereas local and international human rights organisations have documented numerous instances of religious violence in the DRC, highlighting the failure of the state to provide adequate protection; whereas, while the DRC Government has demonstrated a strong intention to address the impacts of armed group violence in the eastern DRC, other recent developments call into question the government’s commitment to safeguarding religious freedom specifically;

4. Reiterates its full support for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) in protecting civilians and stabilising the region; urges the EU to cooperate with all actors on the ground, in particular MONUSCO, to ensure the protection of civilians in the eastern DRC; calls on the UN to work towards a stronger mandate for MONUSCO in order to enable peacemaking; calls on the UN to ensure the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law;

L. whereas the EU has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to the promotion and protection of religious freedom globally, and has taken steps to combat religious persecution and intolerance in various parts of the world; whereas Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world;

5. Confirms its commitment to freedom of thought, conscience and religion as a fundamental human right guaranteed by international legal instruments to which most of the world’s countries have committed, and as a right that is recognised as having universal value and is enshrined in the Congolese constitution;

M. whereas Parliament has consistently called for the strengthening of international efforts to combat religious persecution and to hold accountable those responsible for attacks on religious communities;

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Government and Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the African Union, the secretariats of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community, and other relevant international bodies.

1. Strongly condemns the targeted attacks against Christian communities in the DRC, including killings, abductions and the destruction of religious property, and calls for an immediate halt to such acts of violence;

2. Is deeply concerned about the situation of Christians and Christian converts from Islam and indigenous religions in the region, who are facing a severe and escalating crisis owing to a combination of militant threats, familial pressure and political interference;

3. Expresses its deep concern about the violence committed by the ADF and other extremist groups in the eastern DRC and underlines that the chaos created by the M23 rebel group has further exacerbated the vulnerability of religious communities;

4. Calls for the immediate cessation of all forms of violence and for the commitment of all parties involved in the ongoing conflict in the eastern DRC to respect international humanitarian law;

5. Calls on the DRC Government to counter extremist propaganda and provide armed security at churches and other religious buildings;

6. Calls for the establishment of early warning mechanisms to more effectively prevent and respond to attacks by the ADF and other armed groups against civilians;

7. Stresses the critical importance of supporting the DRC Government in strengthening the rule of law, improving security and ensuring the protection of religious communities at risk, while ensuring that perpetrators of attacks against religious communities are brought to justice;

8. Echoes the calls for international solidarity in defending religious freedom and the protection of religious minorities in conflict zones, particularly in the DRC, while addressing the root causes of violent extremism in the DRC and its neighbourhood;

9. Encourages the establishment of safe zones in the eastern DRC, where religious communities and other civilians who have been targeted can have access to legal services and psychological support;

10. Stresses the need for a comprehensive approach that combines humanitarian aid, peacebuilding initiatives and support for the rule of law so as to ensure lasting protection for all religious communities in the DRC, including Christians; underlines the role of religious communities in the DRC in promoting peace, social cohesion and the well-being of local communities;

11. Urges the EU to uphold its commitment to the promotion of religious freedom and the protection of religious communities, ensuring that the rights of these groups are prioritised in the EU’s external policies;

12. Calls for enhanced cooperation between the EU and the African Union, as well as regional actors, to promote stability and prevent extremist groups from using religion as a tool for violence and division;

13. Notes, with concern, the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in Africa, which is a staunch supporter of the Putin regime and its violent, unlawful war in Ukraine; underlines that, on 29 December 2021, the Russian Orthodox Church officially announced the formation of the Patriarchate Exarchate of Africa, which consists of two dioceses: the South African Diocese, encompassing 24 countries, and the North African Diocese, covering 31 countries;

14. Underlines that this move significantly expands the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church across the African continent, encroaching on the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, which holds the official canonical responsibility for the entire African continent; underlines that this development raises significant questions regarding the broader geopolitical and ideological objectives of the Russian Federation in Africa;

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the African Union, the Joint Council of Ministers and Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the EU, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Government and Parliament of the DRC.