"Rwanda stands ready to support the work of this Council in promoting and ensuring that human rights are respected universally, provided that they are respected without double standards," Nduhungirehe declared.
The Minister expressed concern over the resurgence of violent ethnic extremism and genocide ideology in the Great Lakes region.
"Communities continue to be targeted for who they are, how they look or even which language they speak, a grim reminder of the horrors witnessed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda," he said.
He described a disturbing pattern of violence against Tutsi communities in the DRC. "In eastern DRC, hate speech, persecution, lynching, and even acts of cannibalism against Congolese Tutsi have become distressingly commonplace," he warned.
Nduhungirehe detailed government sponsored crimes against humanity, particularly in South Kivu, where Tutsi communities known as the Banyamulenge are under attack.
"In South Kivu, Tutsi communities known as the Banyamulenge are bombed in Minembwe by Government forces and are subject to unprecedented persecutions in different cities such as Uvira," he said.
He further revealed that in Bujumbura, Burundi, Tutsi are "rounded up like in the old days and taken to unknown destinations."
"In Kinshasa, Congolese Tutsi and even Swahili speakers are persecuted and lynched in broad daylight. In Ituri, up north far away from Rwanda's border, the Hema ethnic group is being slaughtered by the CODECO militia allied to the DRC Government and the Islamic State-backed ADF, in total impunity," he stated.
He criticized political figures like Justin Bitakwira, a close ally of President Félix Tshisekedi, who has publicly declared that every Tutsi is a natural born criminal and questioned if the God that created the Tutsi are the same that created Congolese.
He also recalled similar rhetoric from 1998 when former DRC Vice-President Abdoulaye Yerodia dehumanized Tutsi by calling them "vermin and microbes that must be eradicated methodically."
Nduhungirehe condemned recent inflammatory remarks by DRC's Foreign Minister, Thérèse Wagner, who, on January 28, 2025, warned the UN Security Council that without its intervention, "the streets will take care of it."
"Indeed, after her speech, the streets took care of it. The targeting, the killing and the lynching of Tutsi in Eastern DRC, as well as in Kinshasa, intensified,' he explained.
The Minister described the destruction of Nturo village in North Kivu as a shocking example of state-sponsored violence.
"This horror reminds me of the Nturo village in Masisi territory in North Kivu, where 300 homes of Congolese Tutsi were burned down by government militias in October 2023 in broad daylight, while Burundian forces were looking on," he said.
Nduhungirehe cited a United Nations report showing that in the last trimester of 2024, more than 30% of human rights violations in conflict zones were committed by DRC security forces.
"Under the universal declaration of human rights, all rights are equal. Yet a double standard is evident in the treatment of Tutsi communities in Congo. How can this Council remain silent in the face of such injustice?" he asserted.
He urged the council to act decisively. "In light of this worrying situation, Rwanda calls on the Human Rights Council to take immediate and decisive action to halt these persecutions. The suffering of these people cannot be tolerated any longer; ethnic politics has no place in our region.'
Nduhungirehe emphasized the need for an impartial investigation by the recently established fact-finding mission on the DRC.
"We hope that the recently established fact-finding mission on DRC will conduct impartial investigations into these abuses based on facts, which are currently being politicized by the DRC Government with the support of countries and organizations holding vested interests in the region," he said.
He concluded by calling for long-term solutions to the conflict. "Lasting peace in our region requires addressing the root causes of the conflict. It is imperative that all citizens of the DRC receive the full spectrum of human rights and protections to which they are entitled," he said.
IGIHE
