The Congolese authorities have always accused Rwanda of supporting the rebellion of the March 23 Movement (M23) which has been raging again for several months in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The report, still confidential, of experts commissioned by the United Nations confirms these accusations and defeats the denials of the Rwandan authorities by detailing, with supporting evidence, the direct involvement of Kigali, “unilaterally or jointly with M23 fighters” in eastern DRC.
The Rwandan army has “launched military interventions against Congolese armed groups and positions of the Congolese Armed Forces” since November 2021, indicates the document consulted on August 4 by AFP. Transmitted to the Security Council, the report specifies that Kigali has “provided troop reinforcements to the M23 for specific operations, in particular when these aimed to seize towns and strategic areas”.
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. The frequency and intensity of fighting has drastically increased since the end of March and the M23 has taken over parts of Rutshuru territory, up to tens of kilometers north of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, in the east of the country.
“Since the M23 took control of several towns and villages in North Kivu in June, it has committed the same type of horrific abuses against civilians that we have documented in the past”, said Thomas Fessy, senior DRC researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The inability of the government (Congolese) to hold M23 commanders accountable for war crimes committed years ago allows them and their new recruits to perpetrate new abuses today”. According to Human Rights Watch, “nearly 200,000 people” were forced to flee their homes because of fighting between Congolese soldiers and M23 rebels.
Rwanda challenged in a statement the “invalid claims” of the UN report and advanced its “right to defend one’s territory”. “Rwanda has the legitimate and sovereign right to defend its territory and its citizens, and not just wait for disaster to occur.”
For the Rwandan authorities, “as long as the problem of the FDLR (the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda is an armed group founded in the Congo by former dignitaries of the Rwandan genocidal regime on the run) who operate in close collaboration with the DRC army, will not be taken seriously and dealt with, security in the Great Lakes region cannot be ensured”. And the press release specifies: “This is happening in full view of Monusco (UN Mission in DRC)which has been present in the DRC for over twenty years, but with no solution in sight”.
Presented as a threat by Kigali, the existence and violence of the FDLR justified past Rwandan interventions in Congolese territory and its support for the rebellions which fought against them.
“We hope that the conclusions will be quickly drawn to put an end to Rwanda’s interference”, said for his part in a tweet Patrick Muyaya, the spokesperson for the Congolese government, who “rejoiced” from “Work of the United Nations Panel of Experts”.
#RDC : The truth always ends up triumphing. We welcome the conclusions of the work of the United Nations group of experts. We hope that conclusions will be quickly drawn to put an end to the interference of the #Rwanda and bring about lasting peace #ChangeNarrative https://t.co/Pl0ElAfzpO
— Patrick Muyaya (@PatrickMuyaya) August 4, 2022
On June 30, during the celebration of Independence Day, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi had deplored “the umpteenth aggression on the part of Rwanda”. “Our country, he saidis facing yet another aggression from Rwanda, which is acting under cover of the M23 terrorist movement, in violation of all international agreements and treaties”.
In early July, a mediation meeting between the presidents of Rwanda and the DRC was held in Luanda, the Angolan capital, under the auspices of Angolan President Joao Lourenço. The DRC presidency then announced that Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame, the Rwandan head of state, had agreed on a “de-escalation process” adding that a “roadmap” had been adopted. In particular, it provided “immediate cessation of hostilities” and “the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the M23 from its positions in the DRC”. “This roadmap does not commit the M23”, then retorted Willy Ngoma, questioned from Goma. “We are Congolese, we have nothing to do with Rwanda”, he insisted.