Geneva, Jan 28 (EFE).- The United Nations warned of a critical 24 hours in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, amid a rapidly deteriorating situation due to clashes between the army and M23 rebels.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warned that the human rights crisis in Goma “has exposed the civilian population to gross violations and abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law.”
Türk also called for an end to hate speech and “ethnically motivated attacks, including against members of the Tutsi community.”
He also expressed concern that the violence could spread to other areas of North Kivu (the province of which Goma is the capital) and neighboring South Kivu.
The High Commissioner noted that at least two sites hosting displaced persons in Goma have been attacked with projectiles.
In a separate report, the UN also said that bodies were lying in the streets, hospitals were overwhelmed, and there had been an increase in reports of sexual violence, rape, and looting.
The emergency has left hospitals in Goma, a city of some two million people and home to international NGOs and UN agencies, overwhelmed by the influx of wounded.
Electricity and water supplies are compromised and internet services were cut off on Monday.
“Roads are blocked, ports are closed and those crossing Lake Kivu are risking their lives in makeshift boats,” said Shelley Thakral, spokesperson for the UN World Food Program.
WHO and other UN agencies and partners said they were particularly concerned about the increasing risk of violence against women and girls, including rape.
“Sadly, hospitals and health workers are in danger. We are hearing reports of health workers being shot at, and patients, including babies, being caught in the crossfire. WHO reminds everyone that attacks on healthcare violate the rules of war. Health care must be protected at all times,” said the UN health agency.
In addition, an estimated 4,763 prisoners escaped from Goma’s largest prison, Muzenze, on Monday.
The M23, a mainly ethnic Tutsi rebel group close to Rwanda and Uganda, resumed lightning attacks against the Congolese army in North Kivu in November 2021.
In March 2022, the group launched an offensive with repeated seizures and losses of territory.
Since then, it has advanced on several fronts to position itself near Goma, which the group occupied for ten days in 2012.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23. This armed group resumed its offensives in North Kivu in 2021.
Although Rwandan authorities deny alleged collaboration with the rebel group, the UN has confirmed the alliance.
Meanwhile, Rwanda and the M23 accuse the Congolese army of collaborating with the rebel group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), founded in 2000 by leaders of the 1994 genocide and other Rwandans exiled in the DRC to regain political power, a collaboration also confirmed by the UN.
Since 1998, the eastern DRC has been embroiled in a conflict fueled by rebel militias and the army, despite the presence of the United Nations through the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monusco).EFE
abc/mcd
