UN high Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk has said that the M23 rebels who are believed to be backed by Rwanda killed at least 319 civilians, including 48 women and 19 children, last month in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, citing “first-hand accounts”.
Turk said in a statement issued on August 6th that the violence in the Rutshuru territory of North Kivu Province produced “one of the largest documented death tolls in such attacks since the M23’s resurgence in 2022,”.
It is reported that with Rwanda’s support, the M23 rebels have seized swaths of the mineral-rich Congolese territory from the Democratic Republic of Congo Army since its resurgence in 2021, which has triggered a spiralling humanitarian crisis in a region already riven by three decades of conflict.
Turk explained that July’s violence came only weeks after the Congolese Government and the M23 rebels signed a declaration of principle on June 19th reaffirming their commitment to a permanent ceasefire, following months of broken truces.
“I am appalled by the attacks on civilians by the M23 and other armed groups in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo amid continued fighting, despite the ceasefire that was recently signed in Doha,” Turk said in a statement.
He added that all attacks against civilians must stop immediately and all those responsible must be held to account saying that his office had documented multiple attacks in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri Provinces, in the conflict-ridden East of the country bordering Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
According to the agreement signed in Doha, the both parties agreed to uphold their commitment to a permanent ceasefire, refraining from “hate propaganda” and “any attempt to seize by force new positions”.
The deal includes a roadmap for restoring state authority in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and an agreement for the two sides to open direct talks towards a comprehensive peace agreement.
This followed a separate agreement signed in Washington by the Congolese government and Rwanda, which has a history of intervention in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo stretching back to the 1990s.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi are due to meet in the coming months to firm up the Washington agreement, whose terms have not yet been implemented and just last week, the two countries agreed to a US State Department-brokered economic framework outline as part of the peace deal.
“I urge the signatories and facilitators of both the Doha and Washington agreements to ensure that they rapidly translate into safety, security and real progress for civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who continue to endure the devastating consequences of these conflicts,” Turk said.
The Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo which is known to be rich in key minerals such as gold and coltan, has been riven by fighting between rival armed groups and interference by foreign powers for more than 30 years and several ceasefires and agreements have been brokered and broken in recent years without providing a lasting end to the conflict.
Additional Reporting from Associated Press.
