A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has issued an international arrest warrant for the leader of the Congo River Alliance, which includes the M23, for war crimes and treason.
State media reported on Thursday that the warrant was issued on Tuesday against Corneille Nangaa for massacres it claimed he committed in eastern DRC’s North Kivu and, more recently, in South Kivu regions – constituting a crime under Congolese legislation, as well as international law.
The court has ordered Nangaa to be arrested wherever he may be found and brought to Congolese territory.
Violence erupted in Goma, a city of two million people in eastern DRC, two weeks ago when the M23 fighters launched a major offensive against government forces.
On Wednesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that at least 2,800 people died in Goma due to the violence.
Thousands of people have also been displaced, with many fleeing to neighbouring Rwanda, including staff from international organisations such as the UN and the World Bank.
On Monday, the M23 declared a ceasefire after fighting the Congolese army for control of Goma. But on Wednesday, it seized control of Nyabibwe, a mining town in eastern DRC’s South Kivu province, in an apparent violation of the unilateral ceasefire.
Eight people, including local officials, a civil society representative, rebels and an international security source, confirmed that Nyabibwe had fallen to the rebels.
DRC’s communications minister Patrick Muyaya said that the M23 rebels violated the ceasefire at night and were facing resistance from Congolese armed forces around Nyabibwe.
‘Worsening humanitarian situation’
Due to the renewed fighting, on Thursday, UN human rights experts raised alarm about the worsening humanitarian situation in the eastern DRC.
They criticised reports of indiscriminate attacks, targeted killings, conflict-related sexual violence, forced conscription and arbitrary arrests of displaced persons.
“Despite the recent unilateral ceasefire, displaced persons have no safe haven left as the humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC takes a deeply alarming turn,” they said in a statement, emphasising the disproportionate impact on women and girls.
They also highlighted severe shortages of food, shelter, electricity and drinking water, warning of the increased risk of disease outbreaks.
Speaking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York on Thursday, UN chief Antonio Guterres, told reporters that the situation is “deeply concerning”.
“We are at the pivotal moment and it’s time to rally together for peace,” he said.
“Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. We also see the continued threat by other armed groups, either Congolese or foreign. All of this is having an enormous human toll.”
International Criminal Court prosecutors have also said that they were closely monitoring events after reports of possible war crimes in the battle for Goma.
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame said on Wednesday he had discussed the situation in eastern DRC with European Council chief Antonio Costa and they “agreed on the need for effective de-escalation and a resolution to the conflict that … ensures lasting peace”.
He and his DRC counterpart, Tshisekedi, are due to attend a summit of the eight-country East African Community and 16-member Southern African Development Community in the Tanzanian city of Dar-es-Salaam on Saturday.
The United Nations Human Rights Council is also due to convene a special session on the crisis and discuss solutions to stop the violence.