A United Nations (UN) report has found Rwanda as a consistent and significant supporter of rebel group, AFC/M23.
A fact-finding mission report released on September 5, however indicated that more investigation will be required to ascertain the level of Rwanda’s influence over M23.
“The FFM found evidence that it has provided, at a minimum, consistent and significant military, logistical and material support. The direct involvement of RDF played a pivotal role in M23’s territorial expansion, specifically in the takeover of Goma,” the report read in parts.
Although Rwanda has consistently also denied its involvement with the M23, the new report finds the country complicit in the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UN report has also accused both the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and rebel group, AFC/M23 of having committed war crimes in the North and South Kivu provinces.
The listed crimes include “murder, willful killing, cruel treatment and torture, outrages upon personal dignity, particularly humiliating and degrading treatment, unlawful confinement and the taking of hostages.”
It was also found that DRC’s FARDC soldiers and members of allied groups committed war crimes of violence to life and people.
Despite the resumed negotiations between DRC and M23 in Qatar, violence deepens in the country’s mineral-rich eastern provinces presenting a major setback ahead of a peace agreement.
The report recommends that the parties fully respect of International Human Right laws including ceasing the use of explosive weapons, immediately ending sexual violence and immediately end the recruitment of boy and girls.
