In response to Rwanda’s alleged support of the M23 rebel organisation in eastern Congo, whose revival this year has resulted in horrific conflicts and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, Congo’s Nobel Laureate Denis Mukwege has asked for UN sanctions against Rwanda.
In March, the Tutsi-led militia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) launched their most recent offensive, swiftly capturing control of numerous eastern cities. Fighting has forced at least 390 000 people to flee their homes.
According to a preliminary UN assessment published last week, the rebels’ campaign of homicide, rape, kidnapping, and theft included the execution of at least 131 civilians in Kishishe and Bambo villages as payback.
Congo has charged neighboring Rwanda of supporting the rebels on numerous occasions; Kigali has refuted these claims.
The request for Rwanda to stop providing this support has come from the US, the EU, Belgium, and a group of UN specialists.
“The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is quite comparable to what is happening in Ukraine with Russia,” Mukwege told newsmen in an interview in Paris on Monday.
“We cannot on the one hand accuse or admit that Rwanda has attacked the Democratic Republic of Congo, in violation of international law, in violation of the UN Charter and, on the other hand, continue to financially support Rwanda,” he said.
He added that UN Resolution 2641 provides for sanctions on any state that supports armed groups in the DRC. “We ask that this resolution be applied,” he said.
“We must be able to ask Rwanda to stop supporting the M23 terrorists, because they are terrorists, they kill, they rape, they destroy villages. They are supported by a member state of the UN That this state can still be a supplier of UN troops, it is a totally inconsistent,” he said.
Requests for reaction from the UN did not immediately receive a response. According to the UN, Rwanda is the fourth-largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, mainly in the Central African Republic.
The director of the Panzi hospital in South Kivu and gynecologist Mukwege won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his nearly two-decade campaign against sexual abuse.