He was conspicuously absent from the photo of the presidents who were invited to the US-Africa summit. While his counterpart Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi stood smiling behind US President Joe Biden, Rwandan Paul Kagame was represented by his prime minister. This is a sign that the mistrust that has reigned between Kigali and Kinshasa, since the resurgence of the March 23 Movement (M23) in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the end of 2021, has echoes beyond the Great Lakes.
At the close of the meeting in Washington, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, called on Rwanda to “use its influence” to convince the M23 rebels to lay down their arms. For the first time, on Monday 19 December, Paris also officially denounced Kigali’s “support” of the armed group, and Germany followed suit on Tuesday afternoon. This position had already been expressed by several European chancelleries, including Belgium.
‘Horrified’ by the killing
Have Mr. Tshisekedi’s numerous appeals to the international community been heard? For several months, Kinshasa has denounced “Rwandan aggression” on its territory and the support Kigali has given to the insurgents. They now occupy a large part of the territory of Rutshuru, in the rich mining province of North Kivu, on the border with Uganda and Rwanda. Guilty of countless acts of violence, a preliminary UN report accused M23 of killing at least 131 civilians, including 17 women and 12 children on November 29 and 30 in the village of Kishishe.
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The exact toll of the killing, which “horrified” Western governments, is still unknown. According to the Congolese government, 272 people died during the period. This figure was allegedly “manipulated for political reasons” according to the M23, which only acknowledges the death of eight residents. For the moment, no independent investigator has been able to visit the scene of the tragedy. The area is still under M23 control.
Only two journalists – one Rwandan and one Belgian – went to the scene in early December. Albert Rudatsimburwa, former director of Contact FM radio, and Marc Hoogsteyns, founder of the Kivu Press Agency, made the trip from Kigali – where they are based – under the supervision of the insurgents. The press trip, organized on Congolese soil without certification, caused a stir in Kinshasa. In a December 12 press release, the ministry of communication immediately condemned “Rwanda’s new campaign of lies to distort the facts” and emphasized the “media collaboration” between Kigali and M23.
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