Rwanda warns of imminent 'genocide' in east DR Congo

According to Vincent Biruta, minister of foreign affairs for Rwanda, the nation is worried about an impending "genocide" against Kinyarwanda-speaking people in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Despite numerous reports and "evidence highlighting facts of possible genocide," Mr. Biruta accused the international community of failing to take action in response to the rising violence in eastern DR Congo on Thursday while speaking to the National Consultative Forum of Political Organizations.

"The duty to stop genocide goes hand in hand with acknowledging it. Because there is an obligation to intervene and halt it, some foreign actors are reluctant to acknowledge that a genocide is being planned in the DR Congo, according to Mr. Biruta.

He continued, "They are avoiding that duty, but we keep reminding them.

DR Congo has been accusing Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels throughout the ten-year war in the country's east. Rwanda has consistently refuted the assertion.

The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which include accused perpetrators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide, are supported, according to Kigali, by the DR Congo.

The targeted killings of Tutsi and Kinyarwanda-speaking civilians in the DR Congo, according to allegations of hate speech, could be the first sign of a probable genocide, according to the pro-government New Times website in Rwanda in December of last year.

The article cited Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN Special Adviser on Genocide Prevention, who claimed that the situation in the DR Congo was comparable to that in Rwanda prior to the 1994 genocide.