AFRICA/DR CONGO - Peace agreement between the Democratic Party and Rwanda: another mockery

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "The impression created by the people of Bukavu, exhausted by more than four months of occupation, is one of perplexity and the feeling of being deceived again and again, even if they do not give up hope that something will change on the ground. But what? New reports of killings by the M23 are coming from the city and the province," said a Church source in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, occupied by Rwandan troops and the M23 movement since mid-February (see Fides, 17/2/2025), commenting on the peace agreement signed on June 27 in Washington by Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo under the auspices of the Trump administration (see Fides, 27/6/2025).
The agreement provides for the "lifting of Rwandan defense measures" within three months, with the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the neutralization of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), founded by former Hutu leaders, linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and viewed by Kigali as an existential threat.
The agreement also contains an economic aspect, which has not yet been specified, but which is said to provide for the exploitation of Congolese natural resources by American companies.
"Many people were even willing to lose the country's natural resources to regain peace, but this remains in question," the Fides source reports. "Because Rwanda, which occupies and exploits the provinces of North and South Kivu under the guise of the M23, does not seem to be affected by the agreement.
So, at the moment, nothing is moving forward. Precisely where change is most needed." "There is one fundamental change that everyone, except those who have changed their colors, is waiting for: the withdrawal of all Rwandan soldiers, who are to return to their homeland. This is not explicitly stated in the agreement; it only speaks of a cessation of hostilities. Even though it cites UN Resolution 2773, which calls for such a return".
"Upon reading, the text seems to me to be full of pitfalls. Another obvious pitfall is the fact that it mentions six times that the FDLR is to be neutralized. As if this were the real problem. It is a pretext, perhaps to avoid having to say out loud to Rwanda: The king is naked and he attacked an independent country. The FDLR are few in number, are repeatedly repatriated, and are completely unsuitable for an attack on Rwanda. But they are suitable to justify the presence of the Rwandan army in Congo." "And they demand the disarmament of all militias: including this militia, which is of course often disorganized, sometimes infiltrated by bandits, but which, alone or with the few remaining Congolese soldiers, is blocking the advance of the M23. Meanwhile, the occupying forces continue to murder, rape, and humiliate a population that is now starving. You have to experience these things to feel the humiliation of those who ask why they do not know how to feed their children and the helplessness of those who respond: 'I'm sorry, but we have no money to give you because the banks are closed,'" the source said. "Another pitfall is the return of refugees. There are hardly any Congolese refugees in Rwanda. Rather, there are hordes of self-proclaimed Rwandan refugees just waiting to enter Congo to settle there and continue to nurture the dream of a Greater Rwanda. It is true that reference is made to traditional institutions: they will have to say whether the person is truly from a particular place or not. We shall see," the report continues. "And what about economic cooperation with a country that continues to plunder everything it can, crossing the borders of the occupied territories? The prospect, as some say, is that Congo will remain the great mine where people suffer and even die for little money, while Rwanda will be the site of refineries, and the large multinationals and the States that support them will be the big winners. With the blessing of their opportunistic friends, the United States. Is it a coincidence that the word 'justice' is not mentioned in the document? What about the millions of victims, the dead and the traumatized survivors, the children deprived of schooling, the young people robbed of their youth, the adults deprived of the vital minimum that makes a person’s dignity?
None of this would have happened without the pressure from the Congolese authorities, who create the impression that they betrayed their country and their people in order to stay in power," the source emphasizes. "Congolese civil society, especially in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, had prepared several clarifying documents and addressed them to the highest authorities, expressing their concerns. This was ignored. Nobel laureate Mukwege had raised his voice with a speech that was initially humanitarian and then political, tackling the root causes of the problems. Yet it was as if no one had said anything. The overall impression is therefore a mockery. It is bad to oppress a people. It is even worse to make them believe that you are helping them," the source concludes. (Agenzia Fides, 1/7/2025)

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