UN rights chief Volker Turk says the violence resulted in ‘one of many largest documented dying tolls’ regardless of a truce.
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels killed not less than 319 civilians, together with 48 girls and 19 youngsters, final month in jap Democratic Republic of Congo, Volker Turk, UN excessive commissioner for human rights, stated, citing “first-hand accounts”.
The violence within the Rutshuru territory of North Kivu Province produced “one of many largest documented dying tolls in such assaults for the reason that M23’s resurgence in 2022,” Turk stated in an announcement on Wednesday.
With Rwanda’s help, the M23 has seized swaths of the mineral-rich Congolese east from the DRC’s military since its resurgence in 2021, triggering a spiralling humanitarian disaster in a area already riven by three many years of battle.
July’s violence got here solely weeks after the Congolese authorities and the M23 signed a declaration of principle on June 19 reaffirming their dedication to a everlasting ceasefire, following months of damaged truces.
“I’m appalled by the assaults on civilians by the M23 and different armed teams in jap DRC amid continued combating, regardless of the ceasefire that was just lately signed in Doha,” Turk stated in an announcement.
“All assaults in opposition to civilians should cease instantly, and all these accountable should be held to account,” he added.
Turk’s UN Human Rights Workplace stated it had documented a number of assaults in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces, within the conflict-ridden east of the nation bordering Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
Within the settlement signed in Doha, the fighters agreed to “uphold their dedication to a everlasting ceasefire”, refraining from “hate propaganda” and “any try to seize by drive new positions”.
The deal features a roadmap for restoring state authority in jap DRC, and an settlement for the 2 sides to open direct talks in the direction of a complete peace settlement.
It adopted a separate agreement signed in Washington by the Congolese authorities and Rwanda, which has a historical past of intervention within the jap DRC stretching again to the Nineties.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi are as a result of meet within the coming months to agency up the Washington settlement, whose phrases haven’t but been carried out.
Final week, the 2 international locations agreed to a US State Division-brokered financial framework define as a part of the peace deal.
“I urge the signatories and facilitators of each the Doha and Washington agreements to make sure that they quickly translate into security, safety and actual progress for civilians within the DRC, who proceed to endure the devastating penalties of those conflicts,” stated Turk.
Wealthy in key minerals corresponding to gold and coltan, the Congolese east has been riven by combating between rival armed teams and interference by overseas powers for greater than 30 years.
Dozens of ceasefires and truces have been brokered and damaged lately with out offering an enduring finish to the battle.
