Rwanda Calls Canada’s Export Ban Over Congo War ‘Shameful’

Rwanda on Tuesday condemned Canada’s stance on the conflict in eastern Congo as “shameful,” stating Ottawa’s measures against Kigali would not resolve the crisis.

Late on Monday, Canada announced it had suspended the issuance of permits for the export of controlled goods and technologies to Rwanda, as well as suspended pursuing of new government-to-government business and trade missions with Rwanda, and support to private-sector business development activities.

It also said it would review Canadian government participation at international events hosted by Rwanda in the future.

Canada Joins Western Sanctions

Canada joins the European Union and the United Kingdom which have also announced plans to suspend bilateral aid to Rwanda. The U.S. also announced sanctions against James Kabarebe, a Rwandan state minister for foreign affairs.

The Tutsi-led M23 rebel group entered the city of Goma at the end of January and has since made an unprecedented advance into eastern Congo, capturing territory and getting access to valuable minerals.

Their ongoing onslaught, which started in late December, is already the gravest escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover into Congo of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of Congo’s vast mineral resources.

Congo, U.N. experts and Western powers accuse Rwanda of backing the group.

Rwanda denies this and says it is defending itself against ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis in Congo and threatening Rwanda.

On Monday, Canada’s Foreign Affairs, International Development; and Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development ministers repeated the accusations against Rwanda while announcing the suspensions.

Sanctions Hurt Congo Talks

A proscribed Rwandan minister said last month that international sanctions against Rwanda would discourage Kinshasa from engaging in peace talks with M23 rebels rapidly advancing in eastern Congo this year.

The region is already reeling from a humanitarian crisis, and the latest conflict has fanned fears of a regional war like those that killed millions between 1996 and 2003, most from hunger and disease.

Eastern and Southern African countries are looking into the possibility of deploying African Union (AU) troops to secure areas controlled by M23, alongside a beefed-up U.N. peacekeeping mission.

(With inputs from Reuters)