Leaders of the East African Community (EAC) early this week reached an agreement on the urgent deployment of a joint force to help contain armed groups holed up in DR Congo, with a mandate of disarming and demobilizing its terrorists.
To everyone’s surprise, Kinshasa through the official Twitter account of President Tshisekedi’s office was quick to oppose the agreement, which Tshisekedi himself signed, by blatantly saying that the joint force “should not include within it elements of the Rwandan army.” This is something that contravenes the provisions of the conclave’s communique.
However, Kinshasa’s abrupt reaction speaks volumes, and the reason it doesn’t want Rwanda in the joint force is simple to see: the Congolese army (FARDC) remains committed to fostering its unholy alliance with FDLR – the notorious group born of ex-FAR and Interahamwe genocidaires.
FARDC’s alliance with the genocidal forces has only become more pronounced, especially during the ongoing Congolese civil war that pits the FARDC (and FDLR) against the M23 movement. FARDC recently released FDLR senior terrorists that had been court-martialed for war crimes, rape and extrajudicial killings among other crimes against humanity.
It has also been established that FARDC-FDLR were working hand in hand to perpetrate several provocations including shelling into Rwanda, or abducting two Rwandan soldiers who were patrolling along the border, killing innocent people and destroying property. At the same time, the Tshisekedi regime is perpetrating genocide against Congolese Tutsi populations, together with FDLR.
DRC authorities have always declined to arrest FDLR criminals, so as to have them brought to book for their crimes against humanity. Rather, DRC regimes have opted to give FDLR a semblance of “legitimacy”, notwithstanding the history and the gravity of its crimes.
The world has to see these things very clearly, especially in light of the horrendous crimes FARDC (executing Kinshasa’s plans) of genocide.
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