AU backs regional approach on DRC

The African Union Peace and Security Council has welcomed ICGLR’s Joint Verification Mechanism (JVM) with a view of establishing lasting peace, security and stability in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).ICGLR is the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region, a regional initiative that brings together 11 countries.According to a statement, the council stressed the importance of the establishment and speedy deployment of the envisaged Neutral International Force. “The Council stressed the need for sustained efforts to eradicate the presence of negative forces in eastern DRC, to effectively restore state authority, and promote lasting peace, security and stability in the region, including the effective implementation of the Goma Agreement of 23 March 2009 between the Government of the DRC and the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP).”The 2009 agreement is central in the conflict between the Congolese government and a group of soldiers who mutinied in May, and subsequently formed a movement they have since called M23.The officers, who were mostly formerly CNDP fighters, and had been integrated into the ranks and file of the DRC forces, accuse the government of not living to its part of the bargain regarding the implementation of the 2009 agreement. In the recommendations, the council requested the UN to provide necessary support to the efforts of countries of the region, particularly with regard to the operationalisation of the neutral force. “In this context, Council stresses the vital role of the Security Council, bearing in mind its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Council calls upon all other members of the international community, in particular AU’s bilateral and multilateral partners, to extend the necessary support to the efforts of the ICGLR,” the statement reads.Addressing the council, Rwanda’s envoy to Addis Ababa Ambassador Joseph Nsengimana, re-affirmed the country’s position that the current security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is an internal Congolese matter.“We reject all the allegations implicating Rwanda in that situation and Rwanda has already presented a rebuttal to all these allegations” he said.“It is not a recycling of allegations as it has been made here by the ambassador of DRC which will make them true. We are of the view that looking for a scapegoat will never lead to a solution for the current situation in eastern DRC”.The envoy emphasised that any solution to the current situation in DRC ought to be sustainable, have to solve the root causes of the situation.