Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations has said that anyone providing support to the eastern DR Congo-based FDLR militia, a genocidal group formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, will be "considered belligerent to Rwanda.”
Ernest Rwamucyo, who addressed the UN Security Council on Wednesday, April 24, during a briefing on the Great Lakes Region, said the UN-sanctioned group linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, continues to poses "a security and existential threat to Rwanda” and spreads an ideology of genocide in the region.
"FDLR is also the master minder of ethnic cleansing of Congolese Tutsi and is responsible for heinous human rights violations in eastern [DR Congo],” Rwamucyo said.
ALSO READ: UN official echoes warning over risk factors for genocide, crimes against humanity in DR Congo
He reiterated that Rwanda was concerned by the collaboration between the Congolese armed forces and the FDLR.
"The fact that the genocidal FDLR and its splinter groups [are] embedded with [Congolese] army, the FARDC, which arms and provides them with military, logistical, financial, and political support is of serious concern to Rwanda as FDLR causes a direct and existential threat to Rwanda’s security and territorial integrity,” Rwamucyo said.
"Surprisingly, some actors that are well versed with this reality tend to ignore it and instead advance a biased narrative targeting the government of Rwanda, in an apparent systematic denial and protection of the genocidaires. We wish to stress that any force that directly or indirectly collaborates and supports the genocidal FDLR is considered belligerent to Rwanda as it poses a direct threat to the country’s security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
He said the Congolese government’s proliferation of weapons and the arming of "unruly Mai Mai militia groups” dubbed Wazalendo posed insecurity in eastern DR Congo and destabilised neighbouring countries with an influx of refugees.
Rwamucyo added that Kinshasa's arming of groups like the FDLR contradicted regional peace initiatives.
"This irresponsible militarization of the conflict has further been heightened” by the deployment of the Burundian troops, troops for the Southern African Development Community, and mercenaries, he said.
According to former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the Congolese government should disarm the genocidal forces who fled into its territory after committing the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, in line with the Sun City Agreement signed between Kigali and Kinshasa in April 2003.
Mbeki said the disarmament of these genocidal forces under the Sun City Agreement can ensure peace and stability is achieved in eastern DR Congo. The agreement was signed in April 2003 in South Africa’s casino resort, Sun City, under the watchful eye of then United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. It was seen as the solution to the problems besetting eastern DR Congo. But, Mbeki said, the agreement was, unfortunately, never implemented.
The United Nations Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, has stressed that the Congolese government has the responsibility to protect the Tutsi and Banyamulenge communities who are targeted for their identity. African leaders including Tanzania’s former president late Julius Nyerere, and South Africa’s former President Thabo Mbeki, have spoken out on the issue of the Congolese Tutsi communities.
ALSO READ: DR Congo: UN force accused of aiding government coalition against M23 rebels
The Rwandan envoy also dismissed allegations that Rwandan troops attacked UN forces in eastern DR Congo, saying the claims were "irresponsible and far-fetched.”
"The allegations that Rwanda attacks MONUSCO and peacekeepers is completely irresponsible and far-fetched. It is completely cooked-up. How can Rwanda attack peacekeepers when we don’t have a presence in [DR Congo]?” he said.
On the contrary, he said the Security Council has "material information and facts that certain MONUSCO forces have withdrawn from their positions because of constant attacks and shelling by FARDC and Wazalendo and SAMIDRC.”
ALSO READ: 73,000 Rwandan troops deployed abroad, says defence minister
"Rwanda makes significant sacrifices through its support to peacekeeping. Our gallant young soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice in far off lands preserving peace and protecting civilians,” Rwamucyo noted.
Rwanda is the third largest troop-contributor to UN peacekeeping missions.
The country has more than 5,900 soldiers and police officers serving in different peacekeeping operations, according to the UN.
"No one should think that our sacrifices to UN peacekeeping is a favour. It is a tremendous sacrifice, and we cannot in any way harm peacekeepers when we have many of our soldiers wearing the UN blue helmets,” Rwamucyo said.
Rwanda supports regional peace efforts, especially the Nairobi and Luanda processes which provide measures to end the conflict in eastern DR Congo.