GENEVA (AP) 鈥 The U.N.'s top human rights body agreed Friday to a text presented by Congo that 鈥渇irmly condemns鈥 support of rebel fighters by neighboring Rwanda in eastern Congo. It also orders the creation of a team of experts to examine rights violations in the region.
The decision by consensus, meaning there was no objection, in the Human Rights Council culminated an urgent session called to respond to spiraling violence in a region where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels recently ome 3,000 people have been killed and nearly as many injured since late January.
The area holds vast deposits of minerals critical to the manufacture of much of the world鈥檚 technology, including mobile phones.
The resolution text, among other things, 鈥渇irmly condemns the military and logistic support of the Rwandan defense force to the March 23 Movement, which continues to cause many civilian casualties, more displacement and significant trauma among the population.鈥
The council also called on the M23 and Rwandan defense forces 鈥渢o immediately halt violations of human rights鈥 in the North and South Kivu regions, and allow access to humanitarian aid deliveries through the airport in Goma.
It also decided to create an independent commission of inquiry made up of three experts in international law to look into rights violations and report back to the council.
U.N. experts say the rebels, the most potent of more than 100 armed groups in the region, are backed by roughly 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda. U.N. Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres has urged the rebels to lay down their weapons and agree to mediation.
Volker T眉rk, the U.N. human rights chief, said an estimated 3,000 people were killed and nearly 2,900 wounded in an increase in violence since Jan. 26. Speaking as the special session began, he cautioned that the real figures are 鈥減robably a lot higher.鈥
鈥淚f nothing is done, then the worst could still be yet to come for the inhabitants of the eastern part of the country, but also in people living beyond the DRC鈥檚 borders," he said, referring to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
T眉rk noted attacks by M23 and their allies, the use of heavy weaponry, and intense fighting with Congo's armed forces and their allies.
鈥淭he Congolese people have been suffering terribly for decades,鈥 he said, calling for international action. "How many more innocent lives must be lost before sufficient political will is galvanized to resolve this crisis?鈥
The rebels sought to reassure residents Thursday, holding a stadium rally and promising safety under their administration as they amid growing international pressure.
Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, Congo's communications minister, called on the council to 鈥渉old Rwanda responsible for its war crimes and crimes against humanity" through allegedly forced displacement and an aim 鈥渢o definitively occupy these territories."
Ambassador James Ngango, Rwanda's permanent representative to U.N. institutions in Geneva, said members of an armed group that participated in the Rwanda genocide in 1994 had fled to Congo, 鈥渨here they now pose an existential threat to our security鈥 and were spreading 鈥渢heir genocidal ideology."
