DR Congo decades-long security problems, which are driven by more than 200 armed groups operating in the country’s east, cannot be blamed on Rwanda, says Rwandan Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Ernest Rwamucyo said this on Tuesday, October 8, as he responded to accusations laid out by Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba during a UN Security Council briefing on peace, security and cooperation framework on DR Congo.
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"DR Congo must stop blaming its problem on others,” Rwamucyo said.
"DRC has had political and security challenges for decades, and many ofthese even proceed the independence of Rwanda. It cannot be Rwanda that is responsible for DRC problems, and time has come for it to take full ownership and systematically, honestly, and genuinely address its own internal problems.”
Kayikwamba told the Security Council that Rwanda had a "lack of respect for the territorial integrity of Congo,” adding that the country supported the M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo.
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Rwamucyo reiterated that Rwanda would not be blamed for the conditions that led to the creation of the rebels.
"Rwanda is not responsible for the existence of CODECO in DRC, ADF, Zaire, Nyatura and its many splinter groups. We are not responsible for the existence of M23. And as documented by DRC ... demobilisation report produced in December last year, which documented 250 local armed groups in DRC and 14 foreign armed groups, Rwanda is not responsible for all that,” Rwamucyo told the Security Council.
He said that much as DR Congo territorial integrity should be respected, the country also had to respect the integrity of its neighbour’s territory.
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Rwamucyo said DR Congo had remained the launch pad of attacks on Rwanda over the past 30 years. The FDLR, a DR Congo-based militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, "is responsible for these attacks,” he said.
"Why is DRC continuing to preserve, support and maintain FDLR?” Rwamucyo asked, noting that the solution should have been "simple.”
"Disengage, dismantle FDLR, which is embedded with your army, and peace will stand in the region,” he said.
The FDLR, a genocidal militia composed of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, is the longest standing foreign armed group in eastern DRC,” Rwamucyo said, adding that the UN-sanctioned militia had led to creation of other armed groups, such as Nyatura and PARECO.
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"Over the last three decades, the FDLR has been consistently committing ethnic cleansing, sexual violence, and large-scale human rights violations in easter DRC,” the diplomat said.
He said FDLR’s neutralisation, and complete disengagement with the Congolese armed forces "is key to finding a sustainable solution to the conflict in DRC.”
He condemned the persecution of Congolese Tutsi communities, which he said was "another fundamental issue hamparing the full realisation” of peace in eastern DR Congo.
"Hate speech, exclusion, discrimination, and violence against this community must be addressed as a central component of any sustainable solution,” Rwamucyo said.