Criticizes Kinshasa’s alleged support for the FLDR and stresses that “there is a problem” if their security concerns are not addressed
July 5. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of Rwanda, Pual Kagame, has advocated achieving “peace” with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the face of the rise in tensions in recent weeks due to attacks by the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23), although he has stressed that he is preparing “for the worst” in case the diplomatic route is not successful.
“I wish the best for everyone, DRC and Rwanda, but if the best does not come, I always have to be prepared for the worst. I prepare for the worst, but I hope for the best, and I mean it,” he said in an interview. televised, according to excerpts published by the Rwandan Presidency through its official account on the social network Twitter.
“I hope the best for DRC as I do for my country,” said Kagame, who has insisted that “there is no magic solution, beyond presenting the facts.” “It is up to all the actors involved in this problem, whether they are Congolese, Rwandan or international … to stick to the facts and find the best way out of this problem based on the facts, not on people who believe their own facts or thinks that it can impose its solution on one party or another,” he argued.
Thus, he has emphasized that “everyone” needs “peace” and added that “it is necessary that there be peace in Rwanda and in the DRC”. “It is not acceptable that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – an armed rebel group founded and made up mainly of Hutus responsible for the 1994 genocide in the African country – be supported to cross into our territory or attack our territory. and kill our citizens,” he explained.
Kagame has argued that “the political process is very important” and “comes first”, before arguing that “you don’t keep fighting and hope to find solutions to political crises or governance problems”. “There is an important issue here. If Rwanda’s security concerns are not addressed, there is a problem,” he stressed, according to the Rwandan newspaper ‘The New Times’.
In this sense, he has denounced an attempt to drag the country into the internal problems of the DRC and has stated that Kigali “has resisted, but it is not known for how long if they behave as they are doing.” Thus, he has accused Congolese governments of having a history of “behaving like spoiled children.” “They create a problem and then they complain”, she has reviewed.
“This time, they acted flagrantly and made a big mistake seen by all,” he stressed, while criticizing the fact that the Mission of Nations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has maintained its support for the Congolese Army despite its alleged support to the FLDR to confront the M23. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23, something rejected by the Rwandan authorities.
“They are supporting (MONUSCO troops) the Congolese forces against their own people, because the members of the M23 are Congolese,” he said. “When the government forces have problems with the M23, they attack the Rwandan-speaking Congolese saying that ‘they are the same’. I don’t know how anyone can justify this,” he said.
Along these lines, he stressed that the members of the M23 “are not Rwandans, they only have a Rwandan heritage or culture, but they have Congolese nationality.” “How that happened is something you can’t ask me because I wasn’t there, I’m not responsible. Rwanda is not responsible,” he reiterated, before accusing the Congolese Army of acting against relatives and members of this community in its operations against the group, what he has called “ethnic persecution”.
Lastly, it has shown its support for the peace talks process promoted by the East African Community (EAC), although it has expressed concern about the possibility that the DRC is acting to sabotage the progress made. “There was a ceasefire and a political process in Nairobi,” he recalled, before noting that “terrorists suddenly emerged as excuses for not continuing the political process.”
Kagame has also pointed out that Kigali has no problem with the request of the Congolese president, Félix Tshisekedi, to exclude Rwandan troops from the regional military force that will be deployed in eastern DRC to deal with insecurity. “I am glad that it can be done without our participation. Rwanda has not asked for it and is not complaining about it,” he settled.
Relations between the DRC and Rwanda have gone through moments of crisis since the massive arrival in eastern DRC of Rwandan Hutus accused of having massacred the Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. After a certain stage of diplomatic relaxation, the conflict gained intensity again in May, when the Congolese government summoned the Rwandan ambassador to denounce the country’s alleged support for the M23.
The M23 has been accused since November 2021 of carrying out attacks against Army positions in North Kivu, despite the fact that the Congolese authorities and the M23 signed a peace agreement in December 2013 after the combats registered since 2012 with the Army, which was supported by United Nations troops. UN experts accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the rebels, although both countries denied this.
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