France has openly condemned Rwanda's support for the M23 rebel movement in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo who are suspected of massacring at least 131 civilians in late November.
In a statement released on Monday, French foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said: "We condemn Rwanda's support for the M23 group and we ask that the Luanda and Nairobi processes be fully implemented."
The March 23 movement is a Tutsi-dominated rebellion founded in 2012 that took up arms again late last year, over-running large swathes of territory north of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu province in the eastern DRC.
According to a UN report released last week, M23 rebels killed at least 131 civilians – including 17 women and 12 children – in November, where people were arbitrarily shot or stabbed to death in two villages in eastern DRC.
The Congolese authorities, UN experts, and US diplomats say the M23 movement is backed by Rwanda, but Rwandan President Paul Kagame has rejected any link to the group's actions.
Speaking last Wednesday, Kagame said: "The problem was not created by Rwanda, and is not Rwanda's problem. It's the Congo's problem."
La #France condamne le soutien que le #Rwanda apporte au groupe #M23 et demande que les processus de Luanda et de Nairobi puissent être intégralement mis en œuvre.
— France en R.D.Congo 🇨🇵 🇪🇺 (@AmbaFranceRDC) December 19, 2022
US calls on Rwanda to 'influence' M23
Following Kagame's comments, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Rwanda to "use its influence" on the M23 rebel movement and said he "fully supports" the Luanda agreement to find a way out of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
"If it is implemented, I think it will provide a tremendous opportunity to end the conflict and hopefully bring lasting stability to the eastern DRC," Blinken told a news conference on Thursday, referring to an Angolan-mediated agreement calling for an end to the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The US Secretary of State also called on "all parties" to use their influence on the FDLR, a Hutu movement formed by some of the perpetrators of the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.
Blinken was speaking after a summit of African leaders in Washington where he met Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who had denounced the fact that his country was the victim of "a disguised aggression via Rwanda".
Blinken did not meet Rwandan President Paul Kagame, but the two leaders had reportedly spoken by phone before the Washington summit.
#DRC #Rwanda #AGLR #EAC:
— MPOZEMBIZI Théophile (@TheoMpoze) December 20, 2022
This White Paper describes War crimes, Crimes against humanity and other gross violations of human rights committed by #PaulKagame's #M23/#RDF in Eastern DRC.⤵️https://t.co/BUtvSjgVUE@Europarl_EN @Elysee @EUinRW @10DowningStreet @UKParliament @jumuiya pic.twitter.com/6HxXG2TZp1
Armed clashes resume in North Kivu
Meanwhile, fighting resumed between M23 rebels and rival armed groups at the weekend, after 10 days of relative calm.
Fighting was reported around Bwiza, some 40 kilometres north of Goma on M23's western front into Masisi territory.
Similar clashes were reported from the area on 6 December when M23 accepted a ceasefire with the Congolese army (FARDC) and announced a readiness to withdraw from areas it had recently captured.
No withdrawal has taken place but the ceasefire had more or less held.
However, the truce does not include other armed groups in the region, some of which are trying to stop M23's advance.
These include the pro-Hutu Nyatura and the Patriotic Alliance for a Free and Independent Congo (APCLS) – mostly made up of fighters from the Hunde ethnic group – in a coalition dedicated to thwarting M23.
M23 rebels resumed fighting in late 2021 after accusing Kinshasa of having failed to honour an agreement to integrate its fighters into the Congolese army.
