A new United Nations report that details alleged “serious” human rights violations committed by the defunct M23 group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been met with opposition by the former rebels.

The report by the Joint Office of the UN for Human Rights in the DR Congo (JHRO) was published last week by the UN. However, former M23 members have expressed their fear that its implementation will scale back ongoing efforts by various actors to bring back peace to the vast nation.

The report alleges serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the M23 between April 2012 and November 2013, when the rebels had effective control of parts of North Kivu. It says that, if confirmed, the alleged abuses could constitute international crimes as well as crimes under the Congolese Penal Code.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, more than 116 people were victims of violations of the right to life while 351 suffered violations of the right to physical integrity, including 161 rapes. The group also allegedly committed 296 violations of the right to liberty and security of person, including abduction and forced recruitment. In addition, 50 cases of damage to property were committed by elements of the M23.

READ: UN force in Congo appears poised to strike FDLR rebels

But a former M23 official saw the report as a major setback to the peace process in eastern DRC and said it could distract the world from dealing with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

In an exclusive interview, Uganda-based former M23 spokesperson Amani Kabasha told The EastAfrican they believed President Joseph Kabila’s government was behind the report, which they said was aimed at distracting the country from its socio-economic and political problems.

“The Kinshasa government is facing serious problems, including poverty, corruption and President Kabila’s plans to change the constitution so as to vie for another term in office amid resistance from religious groups and youth,” said Mr Kabasha. “There is also a big problem of insecurity in areas previously occupied by M23, including Goma.

“The situation is getting out of control. The crime rate and murders are on the rise and the government is not doing anything about it.

“We think this report is meant to divert attention from the problems the country is facing.”

A large number of the rebels, who were defeated by the UN Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) in October last year, remain in Uganda while the first group to flee DRC is still in Rwanda despite a peace deal signed in Nairobi at the end of 2013 which should have seen them return home on amnesty.

The rebels, who waged a rebellion again President Kabila’s government in April 2012, are reluctant to return home apparently due to lack of trust between them and Kinshasa. More than 600 ex-rebels under Col Sultani Makenga are in camps in western Uganda while 680 who had broken away from the main group led by Jean Marie Runiga are in a Rwandan camp.

“It is almost a year and the government has done nothing to fulfil the agreement,” Mr Kabasha said. “We suspect this report has comes out to divert world attention on two things.

“First, the issue of FDLR, whose time is running out, and the demise of demobilised former Mai Mai fighters who were taken to a place called Kotakoli with their families and they starved to death.”

Time is running out

On October 1, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that more than 100 demobilised combatants and their spouses and children died from starvation and disease in a remote military camp in the DRC after officials failed to provide adequate food and health care.

Mr Kabasha said the pressure was on the DRC and the UN to act on the clause in the Nairobi peace agreement, which calls for the immediate elimination of the FDLR threat, considering that the six months deadline is running out.

He said the alleged atrocities were not committed by M23 and that a committee including the former rebels should be commissioned to investigate any M23 abuses.

The rebels provided a list of 4,000 people to be considered for amnesty but only 200 have been cleared, he said. The process has dragged on for months,

By Edmund Kagire and Robert Mbaraga