(Kinshasa) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday for a visit that should revolve around the conflict in the east of this country, at the root of tensions with neighboring Rwanda, accused of supporting a rebellion.
Posted at 12:44 p.m.
Politicians and members of civil society await a firm condemnation of the American administration against Rwanda, accused of supporting the rebellion of the “March 23 Movement” (M23) in the troubled east of the DRC.
Mr. Blinken arrived at Ndjili airport and was greeted by Congolese Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula, the Congolese presidency announced.
“A head-to-head with President Félix Tshisekedi” is scheduled for the end of the day at the presidential palace, she added in a brief statement.
President Félix Tshisekedi intends to discuss with the head of American diplomacy the tensions between the DRC and neighboring Rwanda, which denies any support for the M23 rebellion. After his one-day visit to Kinshasa, Mr. Blinken is due to travel to Rwanda, the last leg of his African tour.
In a statement, 19 Congolese and American organizations called for a strong condemnation of Kigali.
“Antony Blinken should make it clear that the United States will impose targeted sanctions on government officials and others who support armed groups who commit abuses” in eastern DRC, the organizations wrote.
“The Inconvenient Truths”
“Secretary of State Blinken should inform Rwandan President Paul Kagame that the United States will not tolerate any support for M23, as President Barack Obama did in 2012,” said Father Rigobert Minani Bihuzo of the Center for Studies for Social Action (CEPAS), one of the signatories.
The head of the American diplomacy should during his visits to Rwanda and the DRC “clearly express the inconvenient truths”, “publicly condemn the attacks of the M23 in the strongest terms” and “warn Rwanda of the consequences of its support for the M23 “, estimated the American NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“As in 2012, the M23 is committing war crimes against civilians” in eastern DRC, underlines this human rights organization, adding that “witnesses have described summary executions of at least less than 29 people”.
The M23 is a former Tutsi-dominated rebellion defeated in 2013, which took up arms again at the end of last year, accusing Kinshasa of not having respected agreements on the demobilization and reintegration of its fighters.
In a 131-page report to the UN Security Council consulted last week by AFP, experts commissioned by this institution declared that Rwandan troops had intervened militarily inside the DRC since November 2021.
Rwanda also “provided troop reinforcements” for specific M23 operations, according to the experts’ report, “particularly when these were aimed at seizing towns and strategic areas”.
Kinshasa and Kigali have had strained relations since the massive influx of Rwandan Hutu accused of massacring Tutsi during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Relations began to thaw after Tshisekedi came to power in 2019, but the resurgence of the M23 rekindled tensions.