Reiterating that there can be no military solution to the crisis in eastern DR Congo, the UN Security Council, on Friday, February 21, unanimously adopted a resolution that condemns the Congolese government’s continued support of the FDLR genocidal militia, which poses a direct threat to Rwanda's security. ALSO READ: Envoy reiterates Security Council’s need to take Rwanda’s concerns seriously The DR Congo-based militia was founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Its plan is to return to Rwanda, forcefully, and continue its genocidal agenda. On Friday, Amb. Ernest Rwamucyo, Rwanda's Permanent Representative to the UN, once again, stressed the need for the United Nations Security Council to focus on the root causes of eastern DR Congo’s endless predicament as well as taking Rwanda’s security concerns seriously so as to find a sustainable solution to the conflict. Rwamucyo said: “We believe that any outcome that doesn’t take Rwanda’s security concerns seriously will not offer a sustainable solution to the conflict. “The security challenges posed by FDLR and its splinter groups are of very serious concern for Rwanda.” ALSO READ: M23 are no terrorists, the Congolese army is – say Bukavu residents The envoy reiterated Kigali’s stance that the Congolese government must be held accountable for “its continued preservation of FDLR,” embedding it in its army, equipping it with sophisticated weapons and using it as an ally and fighting force. The UN resolution condemns support provided by Congolese military forces to specific armed groups, “in particular the FDLR, and calls for the cessation of such support and for the urgent implementation of commitments to neutralize the group.” But it makes no mention of the fundamental issues including the fact that a genocidal ideology, and agenda, remains central to the crisis. ALSO READ: Why genocide ideology doesn’t dissolve three decades after dispersion of genocidaires When the Rwanda Patriotic Army defeated the genocidal regime and stopped the Genocide against the Tutsi, in July 1994, the ousted regime’s army (ex-FAR), politicians, and Interahamwe militia that had committed Genocide – runaway, en masse, with their weapons, to eastern DR Congo, then known as Zaire. The remnants of the ousted genocidal regime’s army and militia later banded together into what they called the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR). In 2000, soon after the US government listed it as a terrorist organization following its murder of American tourists in Uganda’s Bwindi Forest, they formed FDLR to evade or distance themselves from their horrendous crimes. On May 1, 2000, its initiators gathered in a large hall in Lubumbashi, DR Congo’s second-largest city in the southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia, and formed the militia. The UN Security Council also condemned the ongoing offensive and advance of AFC/M23 rebels and decided that the rebels “shall immediately cease hostilities, withdraw from Goma, Bukavu and all controlled areas, including land and lake routes,” without specifying where, exactly, the rebels will go. The Council resolved that the rebels shall “fully reverse the establishment of illegitimate parallel administrations in the DRC territory, and that this withdrawal shall not be impeded.” But a day, later, on Saturday, more than 2,100 Congolese police officers and 890 soldiers joined the AFC/M23 rebellion in Bukavu, the capital of DR Congo’s South Kivu Province which the rebels seized last week. This came barely five days after the rebel group integrated into its ranks hundreds of government soldiers who surrendered after the capture of Goma, the capital of DR Congo’s North Kivu Province, in late January. ALSO READ: Over 2,100 police officers, 890 Congolese soldiers join M23 in Bukavu Since January, the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) have suffered major losses in the war against AFC/M23 rebels. The FARDC coalition includes includes hundreds of European mercenaries, FDLR, Congolese ethnic militias called Wazalendo, Burundian armed forces, South African-led SADC forces, as well as UN peacekeepers. Following the heavy fighting triggered by constant violations of an earlier set ceasefire by the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) in coalition, on January 27, the rebels captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province, and quickly moved to secure and stabilise the situation and restore orderthere. ALSO READ: Forgotten context: Why blaming Rwanda won't solve DR Congo's crisis As the security situation in South Kivu deteriorated amid reports of violence, looting, and abuses propagated by the Congolese army coalition, the rebels moved again and, first captured the strategic airport of Kavumu, before moving south to capture the regional capital, Bukavu, on February 15. Before that, people were appealing to the rebels to quickly move in, and secure the city.
