‘Worst may be yet to come’ says UN human rights chief as DR Congo and Rwanda deny responsibility and blame one another.
The United Nations has called for efforts to prevent the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from spreading across the region.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned on Friday that the “worst may be yet to come” as he addressed an emergency meeting of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. However, while he urged all parties to help halt the violence, the DRC and Rwanda continued to deny responsibility, instead blaming one another.
The DRC has been embroiled in a crisis since March 23 Movement (M23) rebels and allied Rwandan troops seized the city of Goma last week. Thousands of people have died and many more have been displaced as they have overtaken swaths of the mineral-rich region in the latest episode of decades-long turmoil in the east of the country.
“If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern DRC, but also beyond the country’s borders,” Turk warned. “All those with influence must act urgently to put an end to this tragic situation.”
Nearly 3,000 people have been killed and 2,880 injured since the M23 entered Goma on January 26, the UN official said, while adding that the real casualty numbers are likely much higher.
The DRC had called for the meeting, asking for an urgent investigation into the widespread human rights violations that it accuses the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels of committing.
“It is urgent to exert international pressure so that Rwanda ceases its support of the armed groups and withdraws from the Congolese territory as soon as possible,” Kinshasa’s Minister of Communication Patrick Muyaya said.
However, the ambassador of Rwanda to the United Nations in Geneva James Ngango refuted that his country is responsible for the conflict.
He warned instead that Rwanda itself is at risk of attack from across the border.
“We categorically oppose the DRC’s attempts to portray Rwanda as being responsible for its instability in the eastern DRC,” he said.
“What is clear, however, is the imminent threat the current situation poses to Rwanda. Following the fall of Goma, new evidence has come to light regarding an imminent, large-scale attack against Rwanda,” he alleged, referring to a stockpile of weapons around the city’s airport.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi are due to attend a summit in Tanzania on Saturday as regional powers try to defuse the crisis.