Democratic Republic of the Congo: M23 Group

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The noble Lord knows that we stopped that agreement immediately when we came into office. We are absolutely clear that we have ceased all payments in respect to it and will not return to making any of those payments. But we are determined to support those most vulnerable and most in need, and we will continue to do that.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, can the Minister tell us what happened in Kasanga in Kivu on Thursday last, when 70 people were hacked to death with machetes and hammers by an organisation that is said to be linked to ISIS as they took refuge in a church? What are we doing to confirm those reports? Have we raised this with the International Criminal Court and the African Union to ensure that those responsible for this terrible atrocity are brought to justice?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right to draw that to our attention, but the reality is that we are trying to ensure that all crimes committed in the process of this advance are properly investigated so that we can hold people to account. When I met the Foreign Minister of Rwanda this morning in Geneva, he denied all these accusations and refuted the story in the Guardian. I reassured him that we would be absolutely determined not only to ensure that they comply with the communiqué but to hold people to account for crimes against humanity.