Ahead of tomorrow’s summit on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Dar es Salaam, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it is time to rally for peace.
Speaking in New York, the world body’s senior officer said the East African Community (EAC)/Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit will address the crisis in the face of the offensive by M23 (Mouvement du 23 Mars), supported by the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF).
Guterres will be in Africa next week for a summit-level meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AU PSC) where the eastern DRC crisis will be “front and centre”.
“In advance of these crucial gatherings, I want to make a special appeal for peace,” he said.
“Thousands of people have been killed – including women and children – and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes in eastern DRC. We also see the continued threat by other armed groups, either Congolese or foreign.
“All of this is having an enormous human toll. We have countless reports of human rights abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence, forced recruitment and the disruption of lifesaving aid.
“The humanitarian situation in and around Goma is perilous.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are on the move, with many of the previous sites hosting displaced people north of the city now looted, destroyed or abandoned.
“Healthcare facilities are overwhelmed. Other basic services – including schools, water, electricity, phone lines and the internet – are severely limited.
“Meanwhile, the conflict continues to rage in South Kivu and risks engulfing the entire region.”
Ahead of the Tanzania summit and with an eye on the AU PSC, Guterres had a message: “Silence the guns. Stop the escalation. Respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of DRC and uphold international human rights law and international humanitarian law”.
“There is no military solution. It is time for all signatories of the Peace, Security and Co-operation Framework for DRC and the region to honour their commitments. It is time for mediation. It is time to end this crisis. It is time for peace. The stakes are too high.”
Also ahead of Saturday’s summit, Amnesty International called on regional leadership to prevent further atrocities and hold those suspected of criminal responsibility accountable.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said: “This special summit on the grave situation in the DRC is well overdue. The catastrophic human rights consequences of the country’s armed conflicts have gone on for far too long. Now hundreds of thousands of women, children and men have once again been forced to flee the fighting, enduring dire conditions and desperately trying to stay alive.
“States and intergovernmental organizations including the East African Community, Southern African Development Community, African Union, United Nations and European Union should intensify their engagement at this watershed moment, expose enablers of the current attacks in Goma and beyond, and make it clear that all those suspected of criminal responsibility for the ongoing atrocities will be held to account in fair trials.
“It is high time to ensure accountability for nearly 30 years of crimes under international law committed in the DRC. Failure to seize this moment will only embolden the perpetrators and increase the likelihood of further atrocities.”
On 18 January, the M23 armed group, backed by Rwandan forces, launched a military operation to expand its territory, violating a ceasefire agreement between Rwanda and the DRC established through the Luanda Peace Process. Since then, the M23 and the Rwandan Defence Force have captured several towns and cities, including the North Kivu capital of Goma.
The battle for Goma killed at least 2,900 people, the United Nations said on Wednesday, a much higher toll than previously announced.
On Wednesday, M23 and Rwandan troops launched a new offensive in neighbouring South Kivu province after breaking a brief ceasefire the M23 had declared on Tuesday. Rebel troops seized the South Kivu mining town of Nyabibwe, about 100 kilometres from the regional capital Bukavu.
Congolese forces were preparing for an assault on the town of Kavumu, which hosts the province’s airport.
