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UN Security Council renews sanctions on DRC

Xinhua, June 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Thursday renewed the sanctions imposed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) until July 1, 2017.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-nation council renewed transport, financial and travel sanction measures and expanded the sanction criteria to apply the measures to those who engage in acts that undermine the security of the country.

While expressing their concerns over the security crisis in eastern DRC due to ongoing military activities of armed groups and the smuggling of Congolese natural resources, in particular gold and ivory, the council members stress the need to cut off financing for armed groups involved in these activities.

The eastern part of DRC has been plagued for two decades by chronic instability caused by local and foreign armed groups who have perpetrated ethnic violence while fighting for mineral resources.

The United Nations has warned that the increasing insecurity has constrained the access of humanitarian assistance to some 1.6 million vulnerable people in North Kivu province, eastern DRC.

According to the resolution, the council has also decided that the sanction measures shall apply to individuals and entities that plan or commit acts that constitute human rights violations against civilians.

On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a DRC official for his role in police violence against civilians. Enditem