The worst might be still to come if the crime engulfing the southeast Democratic Republic of Congo extends throughout the region, the United Nations warned Friday.
Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights chief, warned that the world was being harmed by the desperate search for DR Congo’s important minerals. He emphasized the need for immediate global action to end civilian suffering.
He argued that a defense solution to the conflict couldn’t been found.
Turk was speaking at a specific period of the UN Human Rights Council, which will determine on Friday whether to start an worldwide investigation into alleged abuses and violations during the bloody hostilities.
The DRC arranged for the UN’s major human rights body to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the escalating battle between the Rwanda-backed armed party M23 in the provinces of North and South Kivu and a draft decision to launch the inquiry.
Last year, M23 soldiers and Congolese army seized Goma, the municipal capital of North Kivu- a mineral-rich area that has been blighted by conflict for over three centuries.
” The eastern DRC population is suffering terribly, while many of the products we use or consume, such as mobile phones, are made from minerals from the east of the country. We are all implicated”, Turk told the rights council.
” If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern DRC, but also beyond the country’s borders.
The risk of violence escalating throughout the sub-region has never been greater.
He said more than 500, 000 people had been displaced since the beginning of January.
‘ Indiscriminate bombing’
After more than three years of fighting, M23’s lightning offensive against Goma was a significant escalation.
Turk said that since January 26, nearly 3, 000 people have been killed and 2, 880 injured, adding that the real figures were likely to be much higher.
Congolese communications minister Patrick Muyaya told the council that there had been numerous human rights violations and attacks on civilians.
Indiscriminate bombing of internally displaced camps and populated areas has worsened the humanitarian situation. These attacks have deliberately targeted vulnerable people, “he said.
Muyaya urged the council to “hold Rwanda accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity” and asserted that it had the intention to occupy these areas permanently.
Rwanda’s ambassador James Ngango said his country was not responsible for the instability, but claimed evidence had emerged of and” imminent large-scale attack against Rwanda”.
He claimed Kinshasa had stockpiled weapons near Rwanda’s border, including rockets, drones, heavy artillery which were” pointed directly at Rwanda”, which would” not wait for the threat to materialise”.
Ngango claimed Rwanda was committed to finding a political solution to the conflict and that it was a “widely propagated lie that mineral resources are the cause” ( ).
Coltan, a metallic ore that is essential for the manufacture of phones and laptops, is one of the valuable minerals found in Eastern DRC.
” International crimes”
The proposed resolution, which is being discussed on Friday, calls for strict measures to stop the area’s “illegal exploitation of natural resources.”
It” strongly condemns the military and logistical support” the Rwanda defense department “provides to M23 and demands that they” immediately put an end to human rights violations.”
Additionally, it urges fighters to “avoid all hostile actions in and withdraw from the occupied areas” and urges them to grant unhinged humanitarian access.
In Kivu, the draft resolution calls for” an independent fact-finding mission to investigate the grave human rights violations and abuses and human rights violations”.
According to the draft text, the mission should gather evidence of abuses for use in upcoming court cases and try to find the perpetrators.
The European Union urged M23 and Rwandan troops to immediately withdraw, and it condemned reports of widespread and widespread gang rape.
Britain demanded that Rwanda and M23 reopen Goma airport to facilitate unrestricted humanitarian access.
South Africa backed the request for an investigation, saying that it was “deeply concerned” about the exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis “besides” the dire human rights situation.
Ghana demanded” accountability for all atrocities committed against civilians”.
