The United States and the European Union have decided to hit Paul Kagame’s Rwanda for supporting the M23 rebels, who triggered a war in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, causing thousands of deaths. “More than 7 thousand compatriots” since January, many of which civilians have been killed, the premier of the RDC, Judith Suminwa Tuluka, told Geneva.
“We have not yet managed to identify all these people, and now it is very easy to say that these deaths are only military, when there is a large number of civilians with each other,” he said in a briefing for the press on the sidelines of Human rights Council. “The humanitarian and security situation in the East of the RDC has reached alarming levels”, denounced the high representative in front of the human rights council.
Sanctions
For this, the EU has taken the “political decision” to apply “penalties” against Rwanda, announced the high EU representative, Kaja Kallas, at the end of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. For Kallas, “the situation is very serious and we are on the verge of a regional conflict. Territorial integrity is not negotiable neither in Congo nor in Ukraine”. The high representative explained that “the first consultations on the EU defense with the Rwanda were suspended and that the Memorandum of understanding relating to the critical raw materials will be subjected to review”.
The so -called Memorandum in agreement signed between Brussels and Kigali in February last year is part of the EU efforts to ensure the supply of materials used to produce microchips and electric cars. The pact is part of the Global Gateway, the EU infrastructure partnership plan of 300 billion euros, and a series of similar agreements with countries rich in minerals, including the RDC, aimed at reducing addiction to the geostrategic rival China. Over 900 million euros in the package would be destined for Rwanda.
Last Friday (February 21), the United States instead adopted a package of sanctions against the Rwandan minister for regional integration, James Kabarebe, accused of being the “connection of the Rwandan government” with the M23. The United States have decided to apply sanctioning measures also against the spokesman for the M23 rebels, Lawrence Kanyuka Kingston, always for the violence committed during this conflict, together with two companies connected to him, based in the United Kingdom and France.
Catastrophic situation
The movement of 23 March (M23), supported by several thousand Rwandan soldiers (more than 4 thousand according to the United Nations experts), now controls large areas of the Eastern RDC, a region full of natural resources and devastated for over three decades of conflict . The rapid advance of the M23 and the Rwandan forces forced thousands of people to escape and aggravated an already catastrophic humanitarian situation. In the city of Goma alone, the capital of North Kivu conquered by the armed group, there are more than 3 thousand deaths. The fighters also took control of the capital of South Kivu, Bukavu, and Lake Kivu.
