Regional body wants more action on FDLR

KAMPALA - The Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, has called for increased efforts in dealing with negative forces, saying that what has been done so far “is not enough.” In an interview with The New Times in Kampala, Mulamula said that member states should particularly cooperate in permanently ridding the region of the rag-tag Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) that operates in the DRC. “For as long as we still have negative forces at large, we cannot say that our countries are stable. We can’t rest and say all is well because we still have the FDLR committing atrocities,” she said. She said that the ICGLR is currently working on a new strategic programme which will come up with a mechanism for crisis prevention and conflict resolution. “It will also reinforce the trans-border cooperation in joint security management between the countries of the region,” she said. Eastern Congo has for years been devastated by acts of the FDLR, remnants of the former Rwandan army (ex-Far) and Interahamwe militia who spearheaded the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi which claimed the lives of over one million people. At a regional ministers’ meeting that ended in Kampala last week, ICGLR member states were requested to intensify diplomatic efforts to ensure that the threat of negatives forces is effectively resolved. Part of these efforts include implementing UN Security Council sanctions, seeking legal pursuits against leaders of the negative forces, as well as holding collaborators accountable, in accordance with international law and human rights standards. According to an ICGLR report sent to The New Times yesterday, officials reported that FDLR leaders are now spreading negative propaganda against Rwanda through the international media. Ends

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Regional body wants more action on FDLR