M23 oprørere henretter, voldtager og rekrutterer børn til soldater. Rwandas hær, der giver millitær støtte til den frygtede milits, kan ifølge Human Right Watch være medskyldig i omfattende krigsforbrydelser.
GOMA, 11. September 2012: M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo are responsible for widespread war crimes, including summary executions, rapes, and forced recruitment.
Thirty-three of those executed were young men and boys who tried to escape the rebels’ ranks.
Rwandan officials may be complicit in war crimes through their continued military assistance to M23 forces, Human Rights Watch said. The Rwandan army has deployed its troops to eastern DR Congo to directly support the M23 rebels in military operations.
Human Rights Watch based its findings on interviews with 190 Congolese and Rwandan victims, family members, witnesses, local authorities, and current or former M23 fighters between May and September.
“The M23 rebels are committing a horrific trail of new atrocities in eastern DR Congo,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“M23 commanders should be held accountable for these crimes, and the Rwandan officials supporting these abusive commanders could face justice for aiding and abetting the crimes.”
The M23 armed group consists of soldiers who participated in a mutiny from the Congolese national army in April and May 2012.
The group’s senior commanders have a well-known history of serious abuses against civilians.
FN: Nogle af de værste overhovedet
In June the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, identified five of the M23’s leaders as “among the worst perpetrators of human rights violations in the DR Congo, or in the world.”
They include General Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted on two arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ituri district, and Col. Sultani Makenga, who is implicated in the recruitment of children and several massacres in eastern DR Congo.
Based on its research, Human Rights Watch documented the forced recruitment of at least 137 young men and boys in Rutshuru territory, eastern DR Congo, by M23 rebels since July.
Most were abducted from their homes, in the market, or while walking to their farms. At least seven were under age 15.
Man kan læse mere på
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/11/dr-congo-m23-rebels-committing-war-crimes
