DRC asks the ICC to open an investigation into the Kishishe killings
A view of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, November 23, 2015. © MARTIJN BEEKMAN / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
DRC authorities want the ICC to open an investigation into what happened in Kishishe in the east of the country on Tuesday, November 29.
On Monday, the government put forward a very heavy toll of 272 dead.
The authorities accuse the M23 of attacking the inhabitants.
Kinshasa claims to want to challenge international justice.
Advertising
Read more
Rose Mutombo, the Congolese Minister of Justice, is this Tuesday in The Hague where the 21st Assembly of States Parties is being held.
She spoke this morning at the podium.
"
While we are in this room, part of the east of my country is the scene of crimes
" within the jurisdiction of the ICC, pointed out the minister.
While welcoming the announcement made on Monday by the prosecutor of the Court, Karim Khan, to soon visit certain countries, the DRC, through its president Félix Tshisekedi, asks by the voice of the minister to the prosecutor to begin his visit by the Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This visit will allow him "
to realize the human disaster
" so that he "
does not hesitate
" to seize all the authors and co-authors, accomplices of serious crimes.
An assessment still difficult to establish
Since the reactivation of the M23 rebellion in eastern Congo
in November 2021
, the ICC has not announced any investigation into facts that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
For Kishishe, located less than 100 km north of Goma, the Congolese authorities speak of a "
massacre
".
Ministers Julien Paluku and Patrick Muyaya in Kinshasa
evoke figures
still to be cross-checked, to be consolidated, of a census community by community of the inhabitants who would have been victims of rivalries between armed groups.
The armed group which controls the area makes the verification of this balance sheet complicated.
A
three-day national mourning
ended yesterday Monday.
Minister Paluku speaks of a war above all for access to the region's mineral resources.
Antony Blinken calls on Rwanda to end its support for M23
On Monday, Washington announced that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had urged President Kagame to cease all support, expressing "
deep concern over the impact of the fighting on civilians
".
Monday evening, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vincent Biruta affirmed that Paul Kagame and Anthony Blinken “
had had good exchanges, but that differences remain on the understanding of the problem
”.
"
The erroneous approach [...] of the international community continues to exacerbate the problem
", according to the head of Rwandan diplomacy.
►Also read: In the DRC, convictions multiply after a massacre of civilians in North Kivu
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
ground floor
M23
International justice