Rwanda says accusations over its alleged support for the M23 “distract from the true cause of the conflict” in DRC

Kigali again accuses Kinshasa of border incidents and calls a massacre blamed on rebels an “invention”

Dec. 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Government of Rwanda has denounced that the accusations against Kigali for its alleged support for the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group “are a mistake” that “distracts from the true cause of the ongoing conflict” in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC) and “could impact the security of neighboring states”.

“It is a mistake to equate the measures that Rwanda has implemented to protect its border with support for a particular armed group in the DRC,” said the Rwandan Executive in a statement in which it stated that “it is a exhausted blame game undermining efforts by regional leaders to achieve lasting peace.

Thus, he has stated that Rwanda “is fully committed” to the talks in Nairobi and Luanda and has reiterated that “like all states, Rwanda has the right to territorial integrity and reserves the right to defend its borders and its citizens before cross-border attacks”.

“Rwanda’s territorial integrity has been consistently violated in recent years by the DRC Army and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), including a brutal attack in October 2019 in Kinigi, a tourist area in northern Rwanda, in which fourteen innocent villagers died,” he denounced.

In this sense, he has pointed to “multiple incidents due to rocket fire” from the eastern DRC, “incursions into Rwanda by the Congolese Armed Forces” and “a violation of airspace in November by a combat aircraft Congolese”, an incident recognized by Kinshasa.

“This is in addition to the attacks against Rwandan border areas by the FDLR – a rebel armed group founded and made up mainly of Hutus responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda – who are fighting alongside the Congolese army against other rebel groups. in eastern DRC”, he lamented.

For this reason, the Rwandan government has stressed that “there has been no accountability for the failure of the DRC government to confront more than 130 armed groups on its territory and to address the serious abuses against civilians by the Armed Forces. Armed Forces and their auxiliary armed groups, including the remnants of the genocidal FDLR, which have been preserved for decades in the DRC.”

“DRC authorities have also given permission for virulent hate speech against Tutsis and Kiñaruanda-speakers, public incitement, lynching and violence, as detailed in reports by the United Nations and other regional and international organizations. “, he pointed out.

Along these lines, he recalled that “Rwanda hosts more than 80,000 Congolese refugees, many for more than 20 years” and has asked the international community “to have the decency to address the persecution of a group of Congolese citizens, as well as Refugees from this same group can exercise their right to return safely to their country instead of languishing permanently in refugee camps.”

“Trying to manage complex situations by repeating and amplifying false accusations by the DRC government cannot lead to solutions,” he argued, before calling the Kishishe massacre, blamed on the M23, an “invention”. The UN claimed that more than 130 people had been killed by the M23 in Kishishe and Bambo, something denied by the rebel group.

“It is worth remembering that a UN peacekeeping operation, currently under the United Nations Mission in DRC (MONUSCO), has been present in eastern DRC for more than 22 years, at a cost of one billion dollars. a year, with few tangible results”, he pointed out.

“Blaming Rwanda reflects an unwillingness on the part of the international community to address the underlying causes of the conflict in eastern DRC and to call for true accountability of state and non-state actors responsible for this legacy of failure. “, has riveted.

The statement has been published after the United States and France have demanded that Rwanda end its “support” for the M23. Tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali have risen in recent months due to clashes in the eastern DRC.

The M23 has been accused since November 2021 of carrying out attacks against Army positions in North Kivu, despite the Congolese authorities and the M23 signing a peace agreement in December 2013 after fighting since 2012 with the Army, with the support of United Nations troops. UN experts accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the rebels, although both countries denied this.