UNITED NATIONS: A confidential report by UN experts reported that several officers in the Democratic Republic of Congo said North Korea had supplied troops and police with pistols, adding that Pyongyang had also sent 30 instructors to provide training for the presidential guard and special forces.
The report also accused Rwanda of providing training, financing and logistical support through early 2016 for Burundian rebels seeking to oust Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza.
A panel of six independent experts, appointed by the United Nations to monitor Security Council sanctions on Congo, had confidentially reported in February that 18 Burundian combatants in eastern Congo said they had been recruited in a refugee camp in Rwanda in mid-2015 and trained by instructors, who included Rwandan military personnel. Rwanda has repeatedly denied the claims.
In the experts latest report, seen by Reuters on Thursday, they said “similar outside support continued through early 2016.”
“This took the form of training, financing and logistical support for Burundian combatants crossing from Rwanda to DRC,” the group of experts wrote in the report.
“The group met with Rwandan nationals, as well, who said they had been involved in the training of Burundian combatants or had been sent to the DRC to help support the Burundian opposition,” they said.
The findings contradict suggestions from Western officials in recent months who said any Rwandan support for Burundian rebels appeared to have ceased last year. The United States said it had raised concerns with Rwanda over reports it was meddling in Burundi.
Political violence has simmered in Burundi for a year after Nkurunziza pursued and won a third term. The crisis has sparked concerns it could spiral into an ethnic conflict in a region where memories of neighboring Rwanda’s 1994 genocide are fresh.
Burundi has an ethnic Hutu majority and Tutsi minority, the same split as in neighboring Rwanda.
The UN experts said they had presented their findings to the Rwandan government “which denied any involvement, noting it was ‘unaware of recruitment of Burundian refugees in Mahama (refugee) camp.’” Rwanda’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some Security Council members want to deploy UN police to Burundi to help quell the violence and monitor the border between Burundi and Rwanda.
The report also accused Rwanda of providing training, financing and logistical support through early 2016 for Burundian rebels seeking to oust Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza.
A panel of six independent experts, appointed by the United Nations to monitor Security Council sanctions on Congo, had confidentially reported in February that 18 Burundian combatants in eastern Congo said they had been recruited in a refugee camp in Rwanda in mid-2015 and trained by instructors, who included Rwandan military personnel. Rwanda has repeatedly denied the claims.
In the experts latest report, seen by Reuters on Thursday, they said “similar outside support continued through early 2016.”
“This took the form of training, financing and logistical support for Burundian combatants crossing from Rwanda to DRC,” the group of experts wrote in the report.
“The group met with Rwandan nationals, as well, who said they had been involved in the training of Burundian combatants or had been sent to the DRC to help support the Burundian opposition,” they said.
The findings contradict suggestions from Western officials in recent months who said any Rwandan support for Burundian rebels appeared to have ceased last year. The United States said it had raised concerns with Rwanda over reports it was meddling in Burundi.
Political violence has simmered in Burundi for a year after Nkurunziza pursued and won a third term. The crisis has sparked concerns it could spiral into an ethnic conflict in a region where memories of neighboring Rwanda’s 1994 genocide are fresh.
Burundi has an ethnic Hutu majority and Tutsi minority, the same split as in neighboring Rwanda.
The UN experts said they had presented their findings to the Rwandan government “which denied any involvement, noting it was ‘unaware of recruitment of Burundian refugees in Mahama (refugee) camp.’” Rwanda’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some Security Council members want to deploy UN police to Burundi to help quell the violence and monitor the border between Burundi and Rwanda.
