KIGALI - Several lawmakers have doubted DR Congo’s willingness to disarm and repatriate to Rwanda members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).They say Congolese government has previously reneged on a number of agreements it signed with Kigali. “The new pact does not come as a surprise to us because there are many others that were not honoured failed. However we assume that this agreement involves some degree of willingness on the part of (DRC President Joseph) Kabila’s Government,” said Deputy Speaker Denis Polisi. He said that he had not looked at the clauses of the agreement but assumed that it holds ‘some water’ since it was witnessed by international observers. The observers to the agreement included the US government and the European Union, while the UN was the facilitator. And Polisi’s co-Deputy Speaker Yvonne Uwayisenga, expressed optimism on the agreement, but also hinted at Congo’s will to have the genocidaires disarmed and extradited. “It is a good initiative and for a noble cause, but it will solely depend on President Kabila’s willingness to have the agreement implemented,” Uwayisenga said.MP Henriette Sebera also doubted Kabila’s commitment to the new peace deal. “Someone can hardly trust Kabila’s desire for peace but it is time that he starts creating peace in his country,” she said. She observed that genocidaires are killing Congolese civilians.“Rwanda has always expressed the will to have the killers expelled from the Congo jungles and face justice in Rwanda but has been frustrated by DRC’s reluctance,” she added. She said that African countries should contemplate imposing embargo against DRC should it refuse to honour part of the bargain. Deputy Juvenal Nkusi said that the observers of the agreement have the obligation of pressing President Kabila’s government to disarm the rebels and send them to Rwanda. “If the observers put pressure on Congo then we have to be optimistic,” Nkusi said.Kinshasa agreed to “launch military operations, as a matter of urgency, to disband the ex-FAR/Interahamwe as a genocidal military organisation in the DRC.” DRC is also supposed to develop a detailed plan to disarm the militia, while the UN Mission in Congo (Monuc) agreed to ‘provide support to the planning and subsequent implementation consistent with its mandate and capacities.’ The plan will be shared with the Rwandan government by December 1. Majority of FDLR members are suspected to have played a leading role in the 1994 Rwanda Genocide that resulted in the slaughter of at least one million people.Ends
