Democratic Republic of Congo failed to meet a UN deadline to remove two generals accused of rights abuses and will now be formally notified that peacekeepers will not support its offensive against Rwandan rebels, a UN official said yesterday.

Under the UN human rights due diligence policy, the world body has to ensure its support to non-UN security forces does not contribute to grave human rights violations.

The UN told Congolese Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda during a meeting in Ethiopia at the end of last month that he had two weeks to remove two generals, General Bruno Mandevu and General Fall Sikabwe, who UN officials accused of being heavily involved in widespread human rights violations.

The UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, “effectively stopped” support to the Congolese army (FARDC) for its planned military campaign against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) on February 6 and will now make that move official.

UN Peacekeepers have been providing food, fuel, water and non-lethal equipment. Once the military offensive starts, MONUSCO could also have supported the FARDC with combat helicopters, surveillance drones and peacekeeping units.

“The next step is the dispatch of formal letters to the relevant Congolese authorities concerning the cessation of support to the FARDC in these anti-FDLR operations,” said the UN official. “This will be completed by the end of the week.”

“In accordance with UN Policy document on Human rights, the DRC authorities will have time from receipt of this formal communication to ensure conformity with the policy,” he said.