A coalition of civil organizations asks the TPI to investigate alleged abuses of the M23
4 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group stormed the town of Nyamilima in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Wednesday, a day after taking control of another village in the North Kivu province.
Sources cited by the Congolese news portal Actualité have indicated that the rebels have arrived in Nyamilima from Binza, in the territory of Rutshuru, taking advantage of the fact that the Army is not deployed in the area.
Thus, these sources have specified that the M23 has used “a secondary route” to reach the town and has said that the rebels have passed through “a post of the DRC Armed Forces abandoned for more than two and a half years that was recently occupied by self-defense forces”.
The advance of the M23 comes a day after local sources cited by the Radio Okapi station pointed out that the group had taken control of Kisharo, in the midst of contacts for its withdrawal and disarmament, mediated by the East African Community (EAC). , according to its acronym in English).
The M23 had transferred the East African Regional Force (EACRF) that would withdraw before January 5 from the towns of Rumangabo and Kishishe, after doing the same from Kibumba. However, the DRC authorities have been skeptical about these announcements.
For its part, the Network against Terrorism in the DRC (RCT), which brings together nearly 150 civil society organizations, has applauded a recent report that the Rwandan authorities maintain a “direct intervention” in the African country through its support for the M23.
In this sense, he has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation for alleged violations of Human Rights in the east of the country and the imposition of sanctions against Kigali for its support for the rebels, according to Radio Okapi.
The RCT has accused the group of using child soldiers, attacking civilian structures, committing murder, rape, arbitrary detention and torture, which would amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, according to these organizations.
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.
The situation has led to an uptick in tensions between the DRC and Rwanda as Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the rebels. Kigali, for its part, denounces Kinshasa’s support for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), founded and made up mainly of Hutus responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
