UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Recently defeated M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have continued to recruit fighters in neighbouring Rwanda while the Congolese army has been involved in human rights abuses and corruption, according to a confidential UN report.
“The Group has documented that M23 received continued support from Rwandan territory,” the UN Group of Experts said in its final report to the Security Council’s Congo sanctions committee, which was seen by Reuters yesterday.
“The Group has received credible information that sanctioned M23 leaders are moving freely in Uganda and that M23 has continued to recruit in Rwanda,” it said.
The independent expert panel also accused armed groups and the Congolese army of human rights abuses – including use of child soldiers, summary executions and sexual violence – and profiting from illegal mining operations in resource-rich eastern Congo.
The allegations come at a sensitive time for Congo, which is struggling to defeat armed militia in its eastern provinces. Millions of people have died from violence, disease and hunger since the 1990s in eastern Congo where myriad rebel groups have fought over gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt and uranium deposits.
The UN experts have repeatedly accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the rebellion by M23 in eastern Congo, a claim the Rwandan government has fiercely rejected. The UN Security Council has blacklisted M23.
