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 ladies and 19 youngsters, final month in jap Democratic Republic of Congo, Volker Turk, UN excessive commissioner for human rights, mentioned, 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 because the M23’s resurgence in 2022,” Turk mentioned in a press release 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 mentioned in a press release.
“All assaults in opposition to civilians should cease instantly, and all these accountable have to be held to account,” he added.
Turk’s UN Human Rights Workplace mentioned 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 combatants agreed to “uphold their dedication to a everlasting ceasefire”, refraining from “hate propaganda” and “any try and seize by pressure 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 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 on account of meet within the coming months to agency up the Washington settlement, whose phrases haven’t but been carried out.
Final week, the 2 nations 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,” mentioned Turk.
Wealthy in key minerals akin 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 a long-lasting finish to the battle.