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Stephen Rapp, US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues
- Rwanda's Paul Kagame warned he may be charged with aiding war crimes
- US tells president he could face prosecution for arming groups that carried out atrocities in Democratic Republic of Congo
Stephen Rapp, the US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues and head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice, told The Guardian that Rwandan authorities could be charged for "aiding and abetting" war crimes, like the former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was convicted to 50 years in prison in may for his support to rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone.
"There is a line that one can cross under international law where you can be held responsible for aiding a group in a way that makes possible their commission of atrocities," Mr. Rapp told The Guardian.
Mr. Rapp, who investigated the war crimes committed by armed groups in Sierra Leone in the late nineties, said comparing the former Liberian president to Rwandan President Paul Kagame that "Charles Taylor never set foot in Sierra Leone, and aided and abetted, and was convicted of aiding and abetting." The warning comes less than a week after the United States announced it was cutting military aid to Rwanda because of the support to the M23 rebels in eastern Congo.
It is a further sign that Rwandan President Paul Kagame might finally be losing the unwavering support he had enjoyed in the past from the United States, despite evidence provided for more than a decade by UN reports, rights groups and the Congolese government that Rwandan authorities have been fueling wars in eastern Congo by providing weapons, men and ammunitions to rebel groups involved in atrocities.
"We have a lot of influence with the Rwandans. We've been very supportive of them. We're prepared to speak frankly to them as we have privately in the past, and now publicly," Mr. Rapp told The Guardian.
"M23 was reinforced by Rwanda, and that has to stop. And that's the message we're delivering."
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DR Congo unrest: Rwanda 'recruiting for M23 rebels'
The M23 denies receiving weapons from Rwanda
DR Congo unrest: Rwanda 'recruiting for M23 rebels'
Four Rwandans have told the BBC the army forcibly recruited them to fight for the M23 rebel group in neighbouring eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The four said they were seeking asylum in Uganda after fleeing the fighting.
The Rwandan army dismissed their claim, saying they must have made up their stories to get asylum.
Last week, the US called on Rwanda to stop backing the M23. UN experts and DR Congo officials say Rwanda has been sending troops to support the rebels.
'Kagame implicated'
Some 800,000 people have been displaced in resource-rich eastern DR Congo since the M23 launched its rebellion in April 2012.
Like Rwanda's leadership, the group mostly comes from the Tutsi community.
But Rwanda denies backing the rebels.
The UN has given residents of the main city in eastern DR Congo, Goma, until 1400 GMT on Thursday to disarm, warning force will be used if they fail to do so.
A new 3,000-strong UN intervention brigade is in the area to tackle various rebels, including the M23.
The four deserters, who included a man who described himself a captain in the Rwandan army, spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity.
He deserted after seeing many innocent people die, the man said.
He described Rwanda's President Paul Kagame as the commander-in-chief of the M23.
"Whatever he says has to be done," he said.
Mr Kagame's spokeswoman Yolande Makolo dismissed the allegations as nonsense.
"We need to stop the cycle of rumours, propaganda and blame and get on with the business of building enduring peace," she said.
Another deserter, who described himself as a medical student, told the BBC he was "kidnapped" by soldiers in the border town of Gisenyi in August 2012, and taken across the border where he treated more than 300 fellow recruits wounded in fighting.
"They took them to the frontline before finishing their training," he said.
Rwandan military spokesman Joseph Nzabamwita said he could only comment if the BBC divulged the names of their sources, adding the men must have manufactured the stories to claim asylum.
New York-based pressure group Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Carina Tarstaskian said HRW had received similar reports to those of the BBC.
M23 deserters told HRW that Rwandan officers provided them with military training in eastern DR Congo, she said.
HRW was also aware of several Rwandan children who were approached by civilians with the promise of jobs in eastern DR Congo, only to be recruited into M23, Ms Tarstaskian said.
BBC News - DR Congo unrest: Rwanda 'recruiting for M23 rebels'
