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20-07-2025
KAMPALA, UGANDA: Rwanda is in “command and control” of M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda has “unilaterally doubled its military presence” in the DRC, and armed groups including those aligned to the Congolese government, are committing rights violations against civilians, according to a group of United Nations experts.
An as-yet unpublished report from UN experts on DRC that was leaked to the media and seen by Al Jazeera describes violations by all parties to the conflict and blames neighboring governments for allegedly exploiting and escalating the current crisis.
The report was submitted to the UN Security Council in May, the Reuters news agency reported. It is expected to be released soon, a UN expert who contributed to the report told media on condition of anonymity, without specifying a date.
While analysts see these reports as an essential tool of accountability, Kigali and Kampala have called the experts biased.
Neither government replied to Al Jazeera’s request for comment about the contents of the report, but both have repeatedly denied the accusations levelled against them.
Meanwhile, the new findings risk putting a damper on the cautious optimism garnered by the signing of a peace deal between Rwanda and the DRC in the US last month, and ongoing Qatar-mediated peace talks between Kinshasa and M23.
Rwanda’s ‘instruction’, control of resources
For years, M23, which the UN says is backed by Rwanda, a charge Kigali denies, has been embroiled in conflict with the Congolese army and its allied militias known as Wazalendo. Early this year, M23 made rapid advances, seizing control of Goma and Bukavu, the capitals of North Kivu and South Kivu, respectively, which it still holds today.
The latest UN experts report, the first since M23’s advance, offers a stark assessment of the conflict, placing blame on Rwanda for facilitating the rapid expansion of the rebel forces.
Rwanda is providing “critical support” to M23, which takes “instructions” from Rwanda’s government and intelligence services, said the report.
In previous reports, the UN experts found there were some 3,000-4,000 Rwandan troops fighting alongside M23 in the DRC.
“One week prior to the [M23] Goma attack, Rwandan officials confidentially informed the Group [of experts] that President Paul Kagame had decided to imminently take control of Goma and Bukavu,” the new report alleged.
Rwanda has repeatedly denied backing M23, while Kigali has sharply criticized the UN experts.
“These reports were written long ago,” President Paul Kagame said at a news conference in Kigali on July 4, after the contents of the report started circulating in international media.
“They come here just to confirm a narrative they already had,” the Rwandan leader said about the UN panel of experts.
Kagame likened the experts to an arsonist who torches a house but also acts as both judge and prosecutor. “The very ones who burned the (house) are the ones in the seat to judge and prosecute.”
The report by UN experts, however, only reasserted its criticism of Kigali.
The Rwandan army’s “de facto direction and effective control” over M23’s operations “render Rwanda liable for the actions” of the group, the report said, arguing that Rwanda’s conduct meets the threshold for international sanctions. (Int’l News Desk)
