Three children were executed by the Rwanda-backed M23 after they donned weapons and uniforms abandoned by the Congolese army in the eastern city of Bukavu, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday, voicing alarm at the incident and other violations since the rebels arrived there.
“Our office has confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of Bukavu last week,” spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a press briefing in Geneva.
She also voiced concern for journalists, human rights defenders and members of civil society organisations who are seeking protection from reprisals by M23.
The M23 fighters moved into the centre of Bukavu on Sunday, marking the Tutsi-led group's most significant advance since seizing east Congo's biggest city, Goma, in late January.
The capture of Bukavu, a commercial hub, and of the strategic airport that services the city in the nearby town of Kavumu dealt a further blow to Kinshasa's authority. On Monday, Congo's government stopped short of saying Bukavu was fully under M23 control.
Congolese and allied Burundian troops withdrew from the city to avoid fighting in densely populated areas, creating a power vacuum that gave rise to looting and a prison break.
Standing before his looted shop, Pascal Zulu said he did not know how he could repay the loan he took out to buy merchandise.
“The thugs arrived, they took everything, and nothing remains. I'm really upset. I don't know how I'm going to repay the money I borrowed,” he said.
In a statement read on local radio on Monday, a rebel alliance that includes M23 said it would help the population of Bukavu who were “abandoned” by the army and allied combatants.
“Our forces have been working to restore the security for the people and their property, much to the satisfaction of the entire population,” it said.
The well-equipped M23 is the latest in a long line of ethnic Tutsi-led rebel movements to emerge in Congo's volatile east. Rwanda rejects allegations from Congo, the UN and Western powers that it supports the group with arms and troops. It says it is defending itself against the threat from a Hutu militia which it says is fighting with the Congolese military. Congo rejects Rwanda's complaints and says Rwanda has used its proxy militias to loot its minerals.
M23 has now captured more territory than all other rebellions since the end of two major wars that ran from 1996 to 2003. These advances have also handed it control of some of the region's vast mineral deposits.
Congo is the world's top producer of tantalum and cobalt, a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and mobile phones. It is also the third-largest global copper producer and home to significant coltan, lithium, tin, tungsten and gold deposits. The east is rich in tin, tantalum and gold.
Three children were executed by M23 in DR Congo's Bukavu, says UN
They had dressed in uniforms and picked up weapons left by Congolese army
Image: Reuters
Three children were executed by the Rwanda-backed M23 after they donned weapons and uniforms abandoned by the Congolese army in the eastern city of Bukavu, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday, voicing alarm at the incident and other violations since the rebels arrived there.
“Our office has confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of Bukavu last week,” spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a press briefing in Geneva.
She also voiced concern for journalists, human rights defenders and members of civil society organisations who are seeking protection from reprisals by M23.
The M23 fighters moved into the centre of Bukavu on Sunday, marking the Tutsi-led group's most significant advance since seizing east Congo's biggest city, Goma, in late January.
The capture of Bukavu, a commercial hub, and of the strategic airport that services the city in the nearby town of Kavumu dealt a further blow to Kinshasa's authority. On Monday, Congo's government stopped short of saying Bukavu was fully under M23 control.
Congolese and allied Burundian troops withdrew from the city to avoid fighting in densely populated areas, creating a power vacuum that gave rise to looting and a prison break.
Standing before his looted shop, Pascal Zulu said he did not know how he could repay the loan he took out to buy merchandise.
“The thugs arrived, they took everything, and nothing remains. I'm really upset. I don't know how I'm going to repay the money I borrowed,” he said.
In a statement read on local radio on Monday, a rebel alliance that includes M23 said it would help the population of Bukavu who were “abandoned” by the army and allied combatants.
“Our forces have been working to restore the security for the people and their property, much to the satisfaction of the entire population,” it said.
The well-equipped M23 is the latest in a long line of ethnic Tutsi-led rebel movements to emerge in Congo's volatile east. Rwanda rejects allegations from Congo, the UN and Western powers that it supports the group with arms and troops. It says it is defending itself against the threat from a Hutu militia which it says is fighting with the Congolese military. Congo rejects Rwanda's complaints and says Rwanda has used its proxy militias to loot its minerals.
M23 has now captured more territory than all other rebellions since the end of two major wars that ran from 1996 to 2003. These advances have also handed it control of some of the region's vast mineral deposits.
Congo is the world's top producer of tantalum and cobalt, a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and mobile phones. It is also the third-largest global copper producer and home to significant coltan, lithium, tin, tungsten and gold deposits. The east is rich in tin, tantalum and gold.
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