U.N. human rights chief accuses Rwanda-backed rebels in east Congo of killing and recruiting children
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DAKAR, Senegal — The U.N. human rights chief accused Rwanda-backed rebels who seized a second major city in eastern Congo of killing children and attacking hospitals and warehouses storing humanitarian aid.
Volker Türk said in a statement Tuesday that his office “confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of Bukavu last week. We are also aware that children were in possession of weapons.”
He provided no details or did not refer to specific events, but U.N. agencies have previously accused both Congolese government forces and the rebels of recruiting children. The United Nations Human Rights Council earlier this month launched a commission that will investigate atrocities, including rapes and killings akin to “summary executions” committed by both sides since the beginning of the year.
The M23 rebels on Sunday captured Bukavu, the city of 1.3 million people, after seizing Goma, 63 miles to the north last month. At least 3,000 were reported killed and thousands displaced in the Goma fighting.
Panic and looting sweep through eastern Congo’s second-largest city as residents flee by the thousands to escape the advance of Rwanda-backed rebels.
M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of eastern Congo’s trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that’s critical for much of the world’s technology. The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts.
Rwanda accuses Congo of enlisting Hutu fighters responsible for the 1994 genocide of minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. M23 says it’s fighting to protect Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination and wants to transform Congo from a failed into a modern state — though critics say it’s a pretext for Rwanda’s involvement.
Unlike in 2012, when the M23 briefly seized Goma and withdrew after international pressure, analysts have said the rebels this time are eyeing political power.
The U.K. Foreign Office summoned the Rwandan ambassador in London and in a statement Tuesday condemned the recent rebel gains, saying “these advances constitute an unacceptable violation of DRC’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“The government of Rwanda must immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defence Force troops from Congolese territory,” the statement said.
Thousands of families have been displaced by violence in eastern Congo, where Rwanda-backed rebels seized the key city of Goma in a blitz offensive.
The decades-long fighting has displaced more than 6 million people in the region, creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
On Tuesday, the rebel-appointed governor of North Kivu province, where Goma is located, announced the reopening of a ferry route between Goma and Bukavu. A statement released by Gov. Buhati Musanga said two ferries left Bukavu for Goma on the northern tip of Lake Kivu early Tuesday. The route is currently the only safe way to travel between the two cities.
“Knowing that the sea route is open again has made me happy, and those who stayed behind are just as happy,” said Faustin Dunia, a passenger on the reopened ferry.
Other passengers expressed relief that they were able to return to Goma and that the capture of Bukavu was relatively peaceful.
Meanwhile, Ugandan troops entered the northeastern Congolese city of Bunia to assist the Congolese army in quelling deadly violence by armed ethnic groups, a Ugandan military spokesman said.
Besides Rwanda, Uganda also has periodically sent troops into Congo but in agreement with the central government in Kinshasa.
Mcmakin writes for the Associated Press.
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