Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe, has said that DR Congo must show political will to dismantle the FDLR militia, as the two governments look to the implementation of a peace agreement signed in late June.
Nduhungirehe, who presented the agreement to Parliament for ratification on Tuesday, July 29, stressed that Rwanda’s defensive measures remain in place until the genocidal militia is neutralised according to the agreement signed in Washington DC.
76 Members of the Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously in favour of the peace agreement signed on June 27, which seeks to restore peace in the Great Lakes Region.
The US-brokered agreement has several components, including a plan for the neutralisation of the FDLR, a militia founded by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and the lifting of Rwanda’s defensive measures as a result. The UN- and US-sanctioned terrorist group has launched attacks on Rwandan territory for more than a quarter century.
“Until now, we have not seen any political will from Congo,” Nduhungirehe told MPs, who had asked about the progress since the time the agreement was signed. “We signed the agreement, they signed it too, but the real test will be its implementation. That’s where the truth will be revealed.”
He emphasised that the Kinshasa-backed FDLR remains a serious concern for Rwanda’s security, even 31 years after the Genocide, which claimed more than one million lives.
“It is unacceptable that FDLR still operates in eastern DR Congo. This is despite repeated international condemnation and over 20 UN Security Council resolutions calling for its dismantling,” he said.
“What’s worse,” he added, “the FDLR has continuously received support from the Congolese government, even with the presence of UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) in the region for the past 26 years. MONUSCO has failed to dismantle the group.”
Much as Rwanda looked to the implementation of the peace agreement, Nduhungirehe said, “We are cautiously optimistic” as previous agreements failed to address the longstanding problem because Congolese leaders did not honour their commitments.
Nduhungirehe reiterated that Rwanda’s current security posture is defensive and justified. “As we clearly stated in the Concept of Operations, Rwanda’s measures are purely defensive. These will not be lifted until the reason they were put in place, the FDLR, is no longer present.”
The Concept of Operations for the neutralisation of FDLR (CONOPS) was agreed upon by Rwandan and Congolese officials in October 2024, in Angola, under what was known as the Luanda Process, an AU-backed initiative then facilitated by Angolan President João Lourenço.
The Washington peace agreement took into consideration the CONOPS, a document that was developed by the two countries’ security and intelligence agencies and was adopted by the foreign ministers in the Angolan capital.
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