DRC and Rwanda in Tentative Agreement Towards Peace (M23 and FDLR)

DRC and Rwanda in Tentative Agreement Towards Peace (M23 and FDLR)

Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The mediation of Angola in the crisis between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda resulted in a tentative agreement in advancing peace.

AFP reports, “The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have signed a document key to advancing the peace process in the DRC’s troubled east, ceasefire-broker Angola said on Monday.”

Issues remain concerning the Tutsi-led M23 insurgents supported by Rwanda in eastern DRC – and Hutu forces (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda – FDLR) stigmatized by the Rwanda Genocide of 1994.

Persistent denials by Rwanda about not backing the M23 were widely discredited regionally and internationally. However, the role of Hutu forces (FDLR) against the Tutsi in this part of the DRC did validate the mass concerns of Rwanda. Henceforth, Rwanda is determined to counter forces that are deemed a threat to the national security of Rwanda and to protect the Tutsi by stealth.

In the past, the European Union said, “The EU underscores the obligation for all States to stop any support to these armed groups. In particular, the EU condemns Rwanda’s support for M23 and military presence on Congolese territory. It strongly urges Rwanda to immediately withdraw all its military personnel from the DRC as well as to terminate all support to and cooperation with M23. It strongly urges the DRC and all regional players to terminate all support to and cooperation with the FDLR, who have their roots in the genocide against the Tutsi, and any other armed group.”

France 24 reports, “In early August, Angola mediated a fragile truce that stabilized the situation at the front line…But since the end of October, the M23 has been on the march again, and continues to carry out localized offensives.”

Rwanda is adamant that the FDLR be dismantled. If not, the peace process will stall and collapse.

In July, Bintou Keita (head of the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC – MONUSCO) informed the UN Security Council that “We are witnessing in the DRC one of the most severe, complex and neglected humanitarian crises of our times.” 

The Council on Foreign Relations reports, “The abundance of natural resources—especially precious minerals—found in Congolese soil has globalized the conflict in eastern DRC. While U.S. companies once owned vast cobalt mines in the Congo, most were sold to Chinese companies during the Barack Obama and Donald Trump administrations. Chinese companies connected to Beijing now control the majority of foreign-owned cobalt, uranium, and copper mines in DRC, and the Congolese army has been repeatedly deployed to mining sites in eastern DRC to protect Chinese assets.”

The DRC faces countless pressing problems. Accordingly, it is incumbent on the DRC and Rwanda to focus on dialogue and to further a gradual rapprochement.

Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – emanating originally from Uganda – continue to slaughter Christians like sheep in the DRC. On top of this, countless militias are formed on ethnic, political, and other angles fused with exploiting the natural resources of the DRC.

The New York Times reports, “Making sense of the mayhem is not easy. Over 100 armed groups and several national armies are vying for supremacy across a region of lakes, mountains and rainforests slightly bigger than Florida. Meddlesome foreign powers covet its vast reserves of gold, oil and coltan, a mineral used to make cellphones and electric vehicles. Corruption is endemic. Massacres and rape are common.”

It is hoped that Angola will guide the DRC and Rwanda in the right direction. However, the path ahead remains complex.

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