Latest news with #CorneilleNangaa
The Star
18 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
Rwanda-backed rebels in Congo executed civilians, Human Rights Watch says
Members of the M23 rebel group stand guard as people attend a rally addressed by Corneille Nangaa, Congolese rebel leader and coordinator of the AFC-M23 movement, in Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo February 27, 2025. REUTERS/Victoire Mukenge/File Photo (Reuters) -Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo executed at least 21 civilians over two days in February in the eastern city of Goma, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Tuesday. The report covers incidents on February 22-23 in a Goma neighborhood, offering a snapshot of the violence during the latest escalation of the decades-long conflict. 'Commanders and combatants who directly ordered or carried out abuses should be held criminally accountable,' Human Rights Watch said in the report. M23 rebels have seized eastern Congo's two largest cities, Goma and Bukavu, in an offensive that began in January. The unprecedented advance has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee. The 21 slain civilians included six men and one woman shot in the head near Katindo military camp in Goma on February 22. HRW said M23 were responsible, citing a witness. In a separate incident, M23 killed people and dumped their bodies at a construction site less than 100 metres away from the camp. These included a 15-year-old who was taken from his home and later found dead at the site, HRW said, citing a relative and a neighbour. Goma's Kasika neighbourhood was targeted because it had previously housed Congolese army barracks, HRW said. The violence continued in the neighbourhood a day later on February 23 when M23 rounded up around 20 young men at a nearby sportsfield. A witness told HRW the rebels accused the young men of being members of the army. Three that tried to run away were shot. An M23 leader said the group would look into the allegations and publish the findings. 'HRW gives us an opportunity to mirror ourselves. We respect this organization despite its past accusations which proved to be false,' M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa told Reuters. The overall toll in Goma is likely to be higher, HRW said, with medical workers reporting that over 50 bodies were collected from the Kasika area over the two-day period. Other organizations have previously reported grievous crimes committed in eastern Congo since M23 seized swaths of territory. Amnesty International in March said rebels had raided hospitals in Goma for wounded Congolese soldiers and taken 130 people including caregivers. Many were tortured and some are still missing. UNICEF reported a five-fold surge in rape cases treated across 42 health centers in eastern Congo, in February, describing it as the worst sexual violence seen there in years. Almost a third of the victims were children, UNICEF said. In one example, a mother reported that her six daughters, the youngest just 12 years old, were raped by armed men searching for food. The conflict in eastern Congo is rooted in the spillover of Rwanda's 1994 genocide and the struggle over Congo's vast mineral resources. Rwanda denies U.N. allegations that it backs the M23, saying its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo's army and allied militias. (Writing by Jessica Donati; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Reuters
7 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Congo ex-president Kabila visits rebel-held Goma for talks, associates say
May 28 (Reuters) - Congolese former president Joseph Kabila has arrived in the rebel-held eastern city of Goma for talks with locals, three people close to him told Reuters, a month after declaring he wanted to help end the crisis in the war-ravaged region. If confirmed, the visit could complicate a U.S.-backed bid to end a rebellion by the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group in eastern Congo, which contains valuable minerals that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is keen to help mine. Kabila, who has denied accusations by Kinshasa that he supports the M23 insurgency, agreed to step down following protests and external pressure in 2018 after almost two decades in power. He has been out of the country since late 2023, mostly in South Africa. The three people said the former president will begin holding consultations on Wednesday with citizens in Goma, which fell under the control of M23 in January during an advance that has seen the group seize more ground than ever before. The people close to Kabila said he had arrived in Goma on Sunday night. Corneille Nangaa, leader of the rebel alliance that includes M23, has also said on social media that Kabila is in Goma, though Kabila himself has not spoken and no images of him in Goma have been published. The reported visit follows a vote in the Senate in Kinshasa last week overwhelmingly in favour of lifting his immunity from prosecution over his alleged links to M23. Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a briefing aired on state television Tuesday that Kabila was "positioning himself as the rebel leader" along with Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Kabila is wanted in Congo for alleged crimes against humanity for supporting the insurgency in the east, including a role in the massacre of civilians. Congo has also moved to suspend his political party and seize the assets of its leaders. In a speech on Friday evening, Kabila said Congo's justice system was being "openly exploited for political ends" and was "nothing more than an instrument of oppression" for President Felix Tshisekedi's government. Kabila, who came to power in 2001 after his father's assassination, clung to office following Congo's disputed 2018 election for almost two years through an awkward power-sharing deal with Tshisekedi. Tshisekdi cut him out at the end of 2020 by chipping away at his influence and accusing him of blocking reforms. The two men's relationship has since soured to the point that, as M23 marched on east Congo's second-largest city of Bukavu in February, Tshisekedi told the Munich Security Conference that Kabila had sponsored the insurgency. Washington is pushing for a peace agreement to be signed this summer, accompanied by minerals deals aimed at bringing billions of dollars of Western investment to the region, Massad Boulos, Trump's senior adviser for Africa, told Reuters earlier this month. The United Nations and Western governments say Rwanda has provided arms and troops to M23. Rwanda denies backing M23 and says its military has acted in self-defence against Congo's army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.
Al Jazeera
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Renewed fighting in DR Congo as regional powers step up ceasefire efforts
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and pro-government fighters have clashed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo despite pressure from regional mediators to halt the fighting. The rebels battled pro-government fighters known as Wazalendo on Tuesday in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, a day after 24 members of two regional blocs – the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community – held virtual talks aimed at reviving faltering ceasefire initiatives. The M23's swift advance since January has seen it take eastern Congo's two largest cities – Goma and Bukavu – resulting in thousands of deaths and forcing hundreds of thousands more from their homes. On Monday, the conflict flared up again, with rebels reneging on a pledge to withdraw from the strategic town of Walikale in North Kivu province. Muhindo Tafuteni, a local civil society activist, told the news agency Reuters that clashes in North Kivu were taking place on Tuesday near the banks of Lake Edward, which straddles the border between Congo and Uganda. In South Kivu, fighting reportedly took place in several towns north of the provincial capital, Bukavu, which M23 captured in February. Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance of rebel groups that includes the M23, pledged to continue fighting 'like people who got nothing to lose in order to secure the future of our country'. The rebel leader also rejected the outcome of last week's meeting between Congolese and Rwandan leaders in Qatar, saying any moves to achieve peace without his group's involvement would fail. 'Anything regarding us which are done without us, it's against us,' Nangaa told The Associated Press news agency. Leaders from the EAC and the SADC met on Monday to advance a ceasefire plan aimed at ending the conflict, which is rooted in the long fallout from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and competition for control of mineral riches. Congo's mineral resources are estimated to be worth $24 trillion and are critical to much of the world's technology. In a statement afterwards, they said they had appointed five former heads of state to facilitate the peace process. The appointees are Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo, South Africa's Kgalema Motlanthe, Ethiopia's Sahle-Work Zewde, Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta and Central African Republic's Catherine Samba Panza. Congo's presidency said the new panel would name a mediator to replace Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who withdrew from the role on Monday following years of efforts to ease tensions between Rwanda and the DRC. A meeting had previously been scheduled in Angola after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi dropped his longstanding refusal to negotiate with M23, but the rebels withdrew in protest at new European Union sanctions. As fighting continues in DRC, President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, whose troops have fought in support of DRC's army against M23, alleged that Rwanda had a plan to attack Burundi. Burundi says it believes Rwanda is supporting the resurgent Red Tabara rebel group, claiming that it is aimed at destabilising the country in the same way M23 has sown mayhem in the DRC. 'They would say it's an internal problem when it's Rwanda [who is] the problem,' Ndayishimiye said in an interview with the BBC. 'Burundians will not accept to be killed as Congolese are being killed. Burundian people are fighters.' Rwanda's government spokesperson Yolande Makolo expressed surprise at Ndayishimiye's comments, saying that 'Rwandan and Burundian defence and security institutions' had been meeting 'to discuss how to secure our common borders'.
The Hill
24-03-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Congo rebel leader says sanctions, any minerals deal with the US won't stop fighting in the east
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The leader of the rebels who captured two key cities in eastern Congo tells The Associated Press that international sanctions and Congo's proposed minerals deal with the United States in search of peace will not stop the fighting. With a $5 million bounty placed on the rebel leaders by Congo's government, 'we will fight like people who got nothing to lose in order to secure the future of our country,' said Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance that includes the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group. Nangaa dismissed Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi's comments last week that his country — whose mineral resources are estimated to be worth $24 trillion and critical to much of the world's technology — is looking for a minerals partnership with the U.S. The U.S. government has not publicly spoken about any such deal, which local observers say could be similar to the Trump administration's recent offer to Ukraine to help end the war with Russia. 'This problem can be better resolved by the concerned Congolese, not foreigners with different geopolitical agendas,' Nangaa told the AP over the weekend. 'Trying to bribe U.S. with mines can undermine U.S. credibility.' The rebel leader also rejected the outcome of last week's meeting between Congolese and Rwandan leaders in Qatar, saying such a move to achieve peace without his group's involvement would fail. He said the rebels can only have a dialogue with Congo's government if the country acknowledges their grievances and the root causes of the conflict. 'Anything regarding us which are done without us, it's against us,' Nangaa said. Since launching a major escalation of their decadelong fighting with Congolese forces in January, the M23 rebels have captured the cities of Goma and Bukavu and several towns in eastern Congo, prompting fears of regional war involving neighbors whose militaries are also on the ground. Efforts to achieve a ceasefire collapsed last week after the rebels pulled out of talks facilitated by Angola, condemning European Union sanctions on its leaders. Angola on Monday said its president and chairperson of the African Union, Joao Lourenco, was withdrawing as the key mediator to focus on Africa's general peace and security. Another country will take over mediation efforts, it said. Also Monday, the M23 rebels said their planned withdrawal from the strategic town of Walikale, which they captured last week, is delayed because Congolese forces are allegedly still positioned in the area with attack drones. M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said their presence 'compromises' peace initiatives. The AP has reached out to Congo's military. Holding Walikale gives the rebels control of a road linking four provinces in eastern Congo — North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo and Maniema — effectively cutting off Congolese army positions. The M23 is the most potent of about 100 armed factions vying for control in eastern Congo. It is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who failed to integrate into the Congolese army. The group says it is defending ethnic Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination. Although U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 forces from neighboring Rwanda supporting the rebels in Congo, Nangaa asserted that the rebel alliance is independent and seeks to address 'the root cause of more than 30 years of instability in our country.'
Washington Post
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Congo rebel leader says sanctions, any minerals deal with US won't stop fighting in the east
ABUJA, Nigeria — The leader of the rebels who captured two key cities in eastern Congo says international sanctions and the planned minerals deal that the country has offered the U.S. will not stop the fighting between their members and Congolese forces in the hard-hit region. With such sanctions and a bounty placed on the rebel leaders by Congo's government, 'we will fight like people who got nothing to lose in order to secure the future of our country,' Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC) that includes the M23 rebel group, told The Associated Press.
