UN human rights chief accuses M23 rebels of ‘summary executions’ in DRC

Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, charged Rwanda-backed rebels with killing children and attacking hospitals and warehouses that house humanitarian aid on Tuesday as they took control of a second major city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Turk claimed in a statement on Tuesday that his office had confirmed cases of children being executed for entering Bukavu last week. We are also aware of the weapons-possessed children.

UN agencies have previously accused both Congolese government forces and the rebels of recruiting children, but he did not mention any particular circumstances.

A commission will be looking into atrocities, including rapes and killings comparable to “summary executions” committed by both sides since the start of the year, according to the UN Human Rights Council earlier this month.

Additionally, Turk’s office received reports of “arbitrary arrests and detentions,” mistreatment, and “alleged forced returns of Congolese young men escaping violence in neighboring countries,” according to the statement.

The&nbsp, M23 rebels&nbsp, on Sunday captured Bukavu, the city of 1.3 million people, after&nbsp, seizing Goma, &nbsp, 101 kilometers (63 miles) to the north last month. In the Goma fighting, at least 3, 000 people were reported dead and thousands were internally displaced.

The M23 is one of the more than 100 armed groups fighting for control of eastern DRC’s trillions of dollars worth of mineral wealth, which is essential to the development of the majority of global technology. The rebels are supported by about 4, 000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to UN experts.

Rwanda accuses the DRC of recruiting Hutu fighters who were responsible for the 1994 genocide of moderate Hutus and minority Tutsis. Despite criticisms, M23 claims it is attempting to stop discrimination against Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan descent and that it wants to make Congo a modern state.

Analysts claim that the rebels are seeking political power this time, in contrast to what happened in 2012, when the M23 briefly seized Goma and withdrew after international pressure.