Belgium’s foreign minister Hadja Lahbib has called on the Congolese government to end ties with the FDLR, a UN-sanctioned militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Lahbib also called for a political resolution of the conflict in eastern DR Congo, where the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) are fighting M23 rebels.
ALSO READ: UN confirms FDLR active in DR Congo, warns of genocide
The Congolese army, or FARDC, is pursuing a military campaign, with a coalition comprising militias like FDLR, as well as troops from Burundi and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which started deploying a regional force in December 2023.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on February 12 ordered the deployment of 2,900 soldiers to eastern DR Congo, as part of the SADC deployment, despite objections by his country’ main opposition party.
ALSO READ: South Africa sends 2,900 troops to DR Congo despite censure by main opposition party
"Congolese authorities must put an end ... to any collaboration of FARDC armed groups and the FDLR armed group,” said Lahbib.
"It is also essential that messages of hatred and calls for violence end. The solution to any conflict, whatever it may be, is never military,” she said.
ALSO READ: New footage suggests FDLR fighting alongside DR Congo army
Rwanda has, for years, called on the Congolese government to end the collaboration with the FDLR, which has launched attacks on Rwandan territory over the past two decades.
Among other provocations against Rwanda, FARDC and FDLR collaborated in shelling rockets on Rwandan territory in May 2022.
The FDLR launched attacks on Rwanda in 2019 when fighters of RUD Urunana, one of its factions, killed 14 civilians in Musanze District in Northern Province. Despite denial of the cooperation with the FDLR, the Congolese armed forces in November 2023 ordered its soldiers to end ties with members of the terrorist group. But the genocidal militia’s members continued to be incorporated into the Congolese army.
The M23 rebellion resurfaced in November 2021, after nearly a decade in hibernation. The rebels say they fight for the protection of the civilians in eastern DR Congo who are persecuted by genocidal militias such as the FDLR. The latter terrorist group is accused of spreading violence and genocide ideology targeting Congolese Tutsi communities in the east of the country.
The FDLR was founded in May 2000 with the help of the Congolese political and military authorities, as admitted by one of its founders and former vice president Straton Musoni, who returned to Rwanda.
Fighting in eastern DR Congo between the government-led coalition and the M23 rebels continues, with the M23 rebels getting more closer to Goma, the strategic capital of North Kivu Province, according to reports.
A United States-brokered ceasefire in December 2023 failed to hold. Regional peace initiatives like the East African Community-led Nairobi Process and the African Union-backed Luanda Process have stalled as the fighting enters its third year.
The Belgian minister said regional diplomatic efforts must be relaunched and actors must engage constructively with mediation led by the United States.
ALSO READ: Inside the secret DR Congo-FDLR pact
"The root causes of the conflict will have to be addressed. This is how populations will be able to flourish and prosper. Belgium will continue to work in this direction during its European presidency and after so that the populations of eastern DRC can live in peace and security,” Lahbib said.
UN and US officials have warned that hate speech and violence against the Congolese Tutsi communities in eastern DR Congo could become genocidal if they were not stopped.
Kigali believes that as long as the FDLR remains in eastern DR Congo, the insecurity there will not end.
ALSO READ: Karega on the root cause of conflict between DR Congo and Rwandophones
ALSO READ: Rwandan diplomat Karega reflects on current thorny relations with DR Congo — PART 2
In December 2022, Bernard Maingain, a Belgian lawyer, condemned hate speech in eastern DR Congo and called on the international community to put aside other interests and finance an effective justice system to deal with hate speech in the country.
"The hate ideology has been there for years and it was amplified within the past months but in reality, the issue is that there was never a process to completely eradicate such ideology and we are seeing the consequences,” he said.
A month earlier, the UN special advisor on genocide prevention, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, had said that the violence in eastern DR Congo was "a warning sign” in a region with genocide history.