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Rwanda army officials supporting Congo rebels - HRW
by Jonny Hogg

Reuters Translate This Article
4 June 2012

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Officials within the Rwandan military have provided up to 300 fighters as well as weapons and ammunition to rebels battling government forces in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

Rwanda accused the rights group of 'reckless media showmanship' by linking it to the Congo rebellion, which has for the last two months pitted the army against troops loyal to Bosco Ntaganda, a renegade Congo general wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Kigali has a history of supporting armed groups in Congo's mountainous terrain, initially citing a need to pursue Rwandan rebel fighters linked to the country's 1994 genocide. Rwanda has also faced accusations of contributing to years of violence and pillaging the region's vast mineral wealth.

But the latest uprising comes after three years of relative peace and improved relations between the two countries.

The U.S.-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said Rwandan army officials had recruited as many as 300 fighters in Rwanda and sent them across the border to fight for Ntaganda in recent weeks.

It also has provided assault rifles, anti-aircraft artillery and ammunition to the rebels who are currently holed up on three hills just a few kms from the Rwandan border, the rights group said in a report.

'The role played by some Rwandan military officials in supporting and harbouring an ICC war crimes suspect can't just be swept under the rug,' Anneke Van Woudenberg, HRW's senior Africa researcher, said.

Congolese military officials have estimated that the rebels reached their current position in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu province, with around 300 fighters, meaning that if HRW's claims are correct, Rwandan recruits would have effectively doubled the size of their force.

Ntaganda was spotted talking to a Rwandan military officer by witnesses in the Rwandan town of Kinigi on May 26, according to HRW, which also reported that at least six rebels had been executed after trying to desert.

'Rwanda should immediately stop all support to Ntaganda and assist in his arrest,' Van Woudenberg said.

The report did not go as far as explicitly accusing the Rwandan government of approving support within the military for the rebels, but called on Kigali to make sure it was stopped.

Rwanda's foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo denied the allegations on her feed @LMushikiwabo on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

'Obsession with implicating & vilifying Rwanda blinds @HRW to atrocities taking place in eastern DRC due to security vacuum,' Mushikiwabo said.

'With this latest act of reckless media showmanship, @HRW can only prolong the conflict & cost lives. Will they take responsibility,' she said.

Last week, her ministry accused Human Rights Watch and other non-state actors of trying to destabilise the region and of spreading false rumours over its involvement in the rebellion.

The government of Congo has said it is jointly investigating the claims with Rwanda, which risk seriously damaging relations between the two countries if true.

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