Central to their campaign is the assertion that ethnic Tutsis living in DR Congo are being persecuted. Digging into the status of Tutsis in DR Congo - and how exactly this relates to the M23 uprising - is an extremely complex and sensitive matter that goes to the heart of who is considered to be Congolese.

Rwanda’s government described the sanctions against Gen. James Kabarebe, a deputy minister of foreign affairs, as “unjustified and unfounded”

The European Parliament, in a strong resolution last week, slammed the inaction of European Union executives on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group is committing grave violations of the laws of war.