The current skirmishes between the M23 rebel group and the Congolese army, FARDC, in the eastern part of the country is without doubt a result of some worrisome internal problems than external.

 

But instead of focusing on real and lasting solutions to issues, the DRC government is quick to blame Rwanda and has, on several occasions, tried to drag its neighbour into its domestic security issues.

 

The rebels in question are Congolese nationals with grievances against their own government. Theirs, therefore, is an issue, which should be resolved internally without dragging any neighbouring country into the problem.

 

Former M23 fighters who fled to Rwanda in 2013 were disarmed, and cantoned far away from the DRC border, as agreed by the regional mechanism. Rwanda previously facilitated engagements between these ex-M23 combatants and their government which culminated in a repatriation roadmap but, unfortunately, authorities in Kinshasa were not interested  in implementing the roadmap and this caused problems.

 

For close to 30 years now, some DRC leaders and citizens have blamed the government of Rwanda for their ills.

 

The insecurity in the DRC’s east is instigated by an attitude of escapism on the part of some leaders in the country. After failing to carry out their constitutionally-mandated duty, they resort to finding an excuse – blaming their neighbours. For some Congolese, attributing all their misfortunes to Rwanda seems to be the easiest thing to do.

 

Congolese are well aware and should not endeavor to overlook the fact that even before 1994, well before they welcomed remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, eastern DRC was reasonably insecure.

 

Countless armed rebel groups were already active by the late 1980s, in the Kivus. By the mid-1990s the Mai Mai had already killed dozens of Virunga rangers. The Congolese should not run away from their own internally stirred misfortunes. They need to look within, deep and honestly, and objectively analyse what has afflicted their country for close to a century now.

 

This is perhaps the starting point to finding a sustainable solution to the state of insecurity that has for long blighted eastern DRC.

 

What most Congolese choose to ignore is that the situation worsened when France, in cohorts with former President Mobutu Sese Seko’s Zaire, enabled the creation of an escape route and safe haven in eastern Zaire, during the infamous French Operation Turquoise in 1994, for the Hutu Power Genocide ideologues who organized and perpetrated the genocide. The mass murderers were granted the free reign to regroup in Zaire and continue to massacre the Tutsi in their host country and would often make incursions into Rwanda to kill more.

 

During their attacks, they did not spare the Hutu, in both countries, who did not share their genocidal ambition. On the other hand, the UN system as a whole was complicit and continues to be by failing, and to some extent refusing, to act decisively to uproot the genocidaires from eastern DRC.

 

The consequences of this failure continue to be felt 28 years later. The FDLR/Interahamwe have managed to entrench their genocidal ideology and wrecked the region’s customary social fabric to the extent that the initially peaceful Congolese now find it easy to pick a machete and kill.

 

A case in point is the recent sensitization campaign from one of the Police chiefs in eastern DRC who called for citizens to take up machetes and kill people. Worse still, for nearly three decades, there has been consistent collaboration between the FARDC and the FDLR in eastern DRC.

 

It is deplorable that the FDLR, which harbors a long-term sinister plan to destabilize Rwanda, has been tolerated and preserved by the DRC, Rwanda's Minister of Foreign Affairs told a Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on May 28.

 

Over the years, he said, the Congolese sanitized this genocidal armed group, to the extent that it is currently co-located, and fighting alongside the FARDC.

 

“Rwanda wishes to reiterate that the FDLR and its various splinter groups pose a serious security threat, not only to Rwanda, but to the entire region,” the Rwandan Minister said.

 

“There have been several bilateral and regional initiatives, designed to address the serious threat of the FDLR, but the DRC government has persistently shown reluctance to implement these agreed plans. It is therefore irresponsible and diversionary of the DRC to insist only on combatting M23, while conveniently ignoring the FDLR, which it has hosted for all these years.”

 

Rwanda still believes that cooperation between the two countries is of mutual benefit.

 

Rwanda has always stood ready to contribute objectively and meaningfully work with neighbours to uproot insecurity.

 

However, as a country that values its security just like any other sovereign state, Rwanda can never allow anyone to destabilize its peace, either openly or in clandestinely. There shall always be a line never to cross.

 

In spite of a series of recent FARDC military provocations including shelling on Rwandan territory, Kigali has not reacted in equal measure. But Congolese authorities ought to know that such behaviour will not be tolerated much longer.

 

“While it would have been legitimate for Rwanda to respond, we have instead consistently requested for investigations of these provocations, by the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism of the ICGLR,” Biruta said.

 

In Malabo, the Rwandan Minister reiterated, directly, to “my Congolese brother” that: Rwanda has the right to respond.

 

“Our President, His Excellency Paul Kagame, pointed this out very clearly to his Congolese counterpart. Whether now, or in the future, Rwanda, like any other country in a similar situation, would have a right to respond on such provocations.”

 

For now, however, Rwanda is not interested in engaging in unnecessary conflicts with its neighbours. And it cannot be co-opted to doing so through propaganda and other means currently being used by the FARDC and their FDLR allies.

 

The problems of DRC are internal in their nature and can only be solved through objective diagnosis of their causes, unbiased management and through pragmatic solution finding approach.

 

Biruta said: “Rwanda hence appeals to the DRC to observe good neighborliness, own up to her problems, and avoid apportioning blame where it none exists. There are several initiatives in place to address the existing problems, but without political will, we will remain in a vicious cycle of undesirable and destructive conflicts.”

 

“The Government of Rwanda has been consistently engaged, politically and diplomatically, with the Government of the DRC to jointly handle security threats and promote good relations. We encourage the Government of the DRC to de-escalate its rhetoric and abide by agreed mechanisms, so that we can all continue collaboration to restore security and long-term stability to our region.”