DRC Institutions Launch Genocide Recognition Petition in Paris

A petition calling for international recognition of the genocides committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been launched in Paris. Following the event, officials from FONAREV and CIA-VAR reportedly traveled to Brussels to conduct a series of high-level briefings with Members of the European Parliament and advisors representing EPP, ECR, and PfE groups.

The Change.org petition, which has now gathered more than 2,000 signatures, served as the focal point of La Traversée – The Forgotten Genocide of the DRC, held on May 29, 2026, at the Pavillon Vendôme. Organized by FONAREV (National Fund for Victim Reparations) and CIA-VAR (Interministerial Commission for Victim Assistance and Reform Support), the event attracted several hundred attendees from political, diplomatic, scientific, cultural, and civil society communities.

The petition urges the international community to formally acknowledge three decades of atrocities committed in the DRC and references the concept of Genocost, a legal term incorporated into Congolese law in December 2022. The term recognizes that these crimes were committed for economic purposes through the illegal exploitation of natural resources. FONAREV and CIA-VAR maintain that international recognition of Genocost is essential for securing reparations, accountability, and sustainable peace.

The evidence supporting the petition is extensive. According to estimates from the International Rescue Committee, approximately 10 million people have died as a result of the conflicts, including 5.4 million deaths between 1998 and 2003 alone. The United Nations Mapping Report published in 2010 documented hundreds of serious incidents occurring between 1993 and 2003, some of which UN investigators concluded could constitute genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Today, around six million people remain internally displaced, while mass graves have been documented across the DRC, including in Kisangani, Kivu, and Ituri.

To date, FONAREV has identified more than 250,000 victims, primarily in the eastern provinces of the country, and has initiated compensation and legal assistance programs on their behalf. The organization argues that the illegal extraction of the DRC’s natural resources is not merely connected to the violence but represents its central driving force and the foundation upon which a genocide designation should be pursued.

A spokesperson for FONAREV described the petition as a collective act of resistance and remembrance.

“With this event, we want to raise awareness and engage as many actors in the international community as possible to take a stand and support the vital work being carried out by FONAREV and CIA-VAR in the DRC for the recognition of the genocidal crimes perpetrated over the past 30 years. To misname things is to add to the world’s misfortunes. ‘To not name them at all is to deny our humanity’. This quote from Albert Camus must resonate within each of us and remain our compass and we must not compound the harm and deny a humanity that the crimes themselves sought to erase.”

The spokesperson added, “That is why we created La Traversée – The Forgotten Genocide of the DRC.”

To sign the petition, click here.