The Rwandan envoy to the United Nations has urged the global body not to amplify allegations recurrently made by the Congolese government that Rwanda supports the M23 rebels in North Kivu Province.

While addressing the Security Council on Tuesday, February 20, Amb Ernest Rwamucyo reiterated Kigali’s stance that blame games offered no solution to the conflict in eastern DR Congo where a government-led coalition is fighting the M23 rebels.

"Amplifying the false allegation of the [DR Congo] government, while never holding it accountable for allying itself with armed groups, which have committed and continued to commit serious human rights abuses against civilians, cannot lead to solutions,” Rwamucyo said.

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Rwanda accuses the Congolese armed forces, or FARDC, of integrating the FDLR, a militia directly linked to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The US-sanctioned terrorist group has spread hate and violence against Congolese Tutsi communities for over two decades. Rwamucyo said the solutions to the security challenges in DR Congo "cannot be found in blame games or externalising [the country&039;s] internal problems."

Inclusive and constructive dialogue

"The solutions lie in inclusive and constructive dialogue meant to address the root causes of the conflict," he noted.

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"The [Congolese] government support to the Rwandan genocidal force is a matter of state policy and not the choice of individual actors as claimed,” he said, noting that ending the Congolese government support to FDLR and ensuring their demobilisation and repatriation to Rwanda is "a non-negotiable requirement.”

Rwamucyo said Rwanda was concerned about the conflict having spillover effects in the Great Lakes Region, at a time when the Congolese government had abandoned regional peace processes.

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"The regional peace initiatives, including the Nairobi and Luanda processes have been totally rejected by the government of the [DR Congo], which has decided to pursue only a military solution,” said Rwamucyo, adding that the Rwandan government was concerned by situation in North Kivu and the "international community’s indifference” to DR Congo military build-up near the border.

The pursuit of military operations would only add fuel to a "political problem that we believe is easy to resolve by addressing the root causes,” including the demands of the of the Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese communities who are denied their citizenship rights and the right to live on their ancestral land, he said.

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A fresh escalation in hostilities in eastern DR Congo has raised concerns that the conflict may turn into a regional crisis if it is not contained. Different governments and organisations are pushing to revive the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes, which have been in a stalemate for months. Since early February, the M23 rebels have advanced towards Goma, the capital of North Kivu, raising fears that they might take control of the city of an estimated two million people.

The Rwandan government on Sunday said it was concerned by DR Congo’s military build-up in North Kivu province near the two countries’ border. And Rwamucyo reiterated that Rwanda reserved the right to defend itself in case of security threats.

He said: "If Kinshasa continues to support the genocidal FDLR and other anti-Rwanda elements, Rwanda’s defensive and preventive mechanisms will remain in place to guard against the violation of our space and counter any spill-over into Rwanda to ensure total security for our territory.

"Territorial sovereignty for [DR Congo] is also territorial sovereignty for Rwanda. So, both matter; there cannot be one or the other. Rwanda will not allow the FDLR and their backers, directly or indirectly, to cause any harm to our people.”