The Sword of Damocles hangs over Félix Tshisekedi, the embattled Congolese ruler, as the pressure mounts from none other than the United States itself. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. representative to the United Nations, recently made it crystal clear to Tshisekedi’s Foreign Minister, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner: the DRC must fully commit to the Luanda Process and, more importantly, fulfil Rwanda’s decades-long request to disarm the genocidaires from FDLR.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is no stranger to the FDLR’s horrors. She was on the ground in Rwanda in 1994, right at the onset of the genocide against the Tutsi. In a twist of fate, one of these genocidaires mistook her for someone he was supposed to execute. She narrowly escaped death, but hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were not so lucky. Fast forward to today, and these genocidaires continue to wreak havoc, targeting Congolese Tutsi in North and South Kivu.
But why is Tshisekedi dragging his feet? Two reasons: First, instead of disarming these genocidaires, his regime has integrated them into the Congolese army, the FARDC. Second, Tshisekedi refuses to engage in any negotiations with the M23, a Congolese political-military opposition group that’s fighting for the return of refugees displaced for nearly 30 years. To Tshisekedi, the M23 are nothing but a “Rwandan militia” and “terrorists”—words he hides behind to avoid dialogue.
It’s worth noting that the M23 conflict isn’t even part of the Luanda Process. Their struggle dates back to the 2013 Nairobi Accords, agreements that Tshisekedi has blatantly ignored. For him, war and chaos seem preferable to the pursuit of peace. After all, how else can one explain his unholy alliance with the genocidaires of the FDLR?
In short, the real roadblock to peace is Tshisekedi’s unholy alliance with the FDLR. This genocidal militia, responsible for ethnic massacres against Congolese Tutsis, is shielded by Tshisekedi and his cronies. The U.S. finally agrees: peace in the DRC will only come after the FDLR genocidaires are wiped out. So, what’s next for Tshisekedi? His regime is now cornered. Time to choose: war or peace?
ellenkampire