Mr President, my Group welcomes the opportunity to discuss the current situation in the DRC, but like others deeply regrets the need to come back to this. In the report on asylum and sustainable solutions that Parliament adopted yesterday, one of the things we agreed was that the European Union's common foreign policy and common security policy needed to focus on conflict resolution and prevention, paying special attention to long-term conflict situations. This is exactly what we have in the DRC where, as has already been pointed out, the desire to control natural resources plays an absolutely key role in the massive displacements of people and in the massive numbers of deaths.

We stress the need for an effective means of arms control and an effective disarmament programme to be put in place. We would also endorse the call made for the UN to deal with those profiteering from the pillage of natural resources, not least through the freezing of bank accounts and actions against companies. We feel perfectly able to do this in the case of what we believe to be terrorist organisations, but seem totally incapable of doing it with those who cause massive numbers of deaths elsewhere in the world.

We also regret the need but welcome the fact that the UN Department of Peace-Keeping Operations has set up a special investigative team to look at the cases of sexual abuse and exploitation perpetrated by some of its own members in the UN organising mission in the DRC, particularly in Bunia. We know, since this Parliament has discussed it on many occasions, that rape is used as a means to demoralise opponents by demonstrating the people cannot even protect their own families.

This Parliament has recognised on many occasions that victims of rape, child victims of sex abuse, are particularly vulnerable. So we consider it despicable that such crimes are also being committed by those sent to protect an already traumatised population. We look for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, as well as those profiteering from the tragedy in the DRC.

Jean Lambert