EngRegional
Luanda process: Any hope for dismantling FDLR?
FDLR terrorists found safe haven in eastern DRC.
Intelligence
experts from Rwanda, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are meeting
on August 7 to examine a plan for the “neutralization of the FDLR,” as decided
in the July 30 meeting of foreign ministers of the three countries in Luanda.
The
FDLR is a terrorist group formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994
genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda who fled to the east of the DRC, then
Zaire, after committing genocide.
The
genocidal militia exported its genocide ideology to eastern DRC, targeting the
Congolese Tutsi. The latter are fleeing to neighboring countries mainly Rwanda
and Uganda, while hundreds thousands of their relatives were massacred.
Being
a regional security threat, FDLR remains an important actor in the
ever-escalating conflict in DRC, according to the latest report by UN Group of
Experts on DRC.
Intelligence
experts from the three countries and other entities are meeting in Luanda to
examine the mediator's proposal on the harmonized plan for the neutralization
of the FDLR, as decided by the July 30 meeting.
Congolese
government officials, including President Felix Tshisekedi, have on many
occasions, denied the existence of FDLR, alleging that it is ‘a pretext’ used
by Rwanda to ‘invade’ eastern DRC.
“A
year ago, on behalf of the president and the government, I informed the UN and
the African Union that the DRC was seeking cooperation from all countries
having information on the FDLR to locate them and help us eliminate them. This
is not a deception. However, we have not received a response,” said former
Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula in April.
The
neutralization of FDLR will fail as long as Kinshasa does not recognize the
genocide ideology of FDLR, and the regional security threat it poses.
Kinshasa
accuses Kigali of supporting M23 rebels who resurged in late 2021 after a
decade of dormancy. Rwanda repeatedly denied the baseless allegations, and
accuse the DRC of arming and harboring FDLR.
The
October 2022 Human Rights Watch report noted that Congolese army commanders
supplies arms and ammunitions to the FDLR.
An FDLR fighter told HRW that he witnessed four transfers of ammunition.
“It’s
the government [troops] that would always provide us with ammunition,” he said.
“They also gave us uniforms and boots.”
Kinshasa has to own its problems in order to find a sustainable solution. Externalizing the deteriorating conflict in eastern DRC will only worsen the situation. By arming FDLR, the Congolese government is not only betraying the region, but the Congolese population as well.
