The commanders of the Wazalendo group reacted on Wednesday to the EU's accusations of their involvement in serious human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Jean Claude Habyarimana, one of the sanctioned commanders, stated that the sanctions are inconsequential to them, accusing the EU of complicity with the M23 rebellion, which is supported by Rwanda and has caused significant casualties in the DRC.
“The instigators of this crisis, which has persisted for over 30 years, are indeed the international community, including the European Union, the United States, and other Western powers. Since we are here to thwart their long-standing plans, it is no surprise that they have sanctioned us. These measures will not deter us; we took up arms to defend our ancestral land, and it is not the EU's sanctions that will stop us. These sanctions are baseless and fabricated to discourage us from continuing our fight, as they have long sought to balkanize Congo,” Habyarimana told Iranpress.
General Dominique Kamanzi Ndarurutse, commander of the Coalition of Movements for Change (CMC), also responded, asserting that the EU sanctions aim to restrict the freedom of young people committed to defending their nation against aggression.
“These sanctions do not concern us because they are fabricated. They know we are an obstacle to their plan to balkanize our country. They want to plunder our minerals and our wealth, but we will not yield,” General Ndarurutse said.
These sanctions come amid escalating clashes in eastern DRC between the Congolese army, supported by local armed groups, and M23 rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda, according to several reports from United Nations experts.
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