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Rwanda asked a UN Security Council sanctions committee on Friday to dismiss a report that says the defeated M23 rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo are still recruiting fighters in Rwanda and Congolese troops are involved in rights abuses. The confidential report by independent experts, seen by Reuters last month, also said it had “credible information that sanctioned M23 leaders are moving freely in Uganda and that M23 continued to recruit in Rwanda”.
The experts monitor UN sanctions on Congo and report on violations to a UN Security Council sanctions committee, which is made up of all 15 council members. The committee was meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss the experts’ report.
“Considering the many flaws indicated in this document, the UN Sanctions Committee should consider dismissing the Group of Experts’ final report,” Rwanda said in a seven-page document submitted to the committee, which was obtained by Reuters.
Rwanda, which just started its second year of a two-year term on the Security Council, said the allegations against it in the report “have no relevance in the current circumstances”, and could undermine regional efforts to bring peace to the volatile, resource-rich eastern Congo.
“The Sanctions Committee should thus consider removing these allegations against Rwanda in the final report,” it said.
The UN experts have repeatedly accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the 20-month rebellion by M23 in eastern Congo, a claim the Rwandan government has fiercely rejected. The UN Security Council has blacklisted M23.
M23 is one of dozens of rebel groups in eastern Congo. – Reuters.
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