The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Olivier Nduhungirehe said Rwanda cannot always be blamed for DR Congo's security problems. ALSO READ: Rwanda warns of 'partiality' in US mediation of DR Congo conflict “Rwanda must not be held as a scapegoat for what is happening in Congo forever,” Nduhungirehe told AFP in Moscow on Wednesday, October 28, on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit. He said this as progress to implement the Washington Accords between Rwanda and DR Congo remains minimal, with Kigali accusing Kinshasa of lacking political will to neutralise the FDLR, a genocidal militia formed by remnants perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. ALSO READ: Makolo: DR Congo must disarm FDLR, repatriate its members Under the Washington Accords, DR Congo committed to disarming the FDLR, while Rwanda was to lift its defensive measures against the militia. However, cooperation between the Congolese armed forces and the FDLR has continued. ALSO READ: FDLR continues killings, forced disappearances in eastern DR Congo, UN says A United Nations report on September 21 indicated that the FDLR continued to operate in eastern DR Congo, with reports of killings and forced disappearances of civilians, mainly in Rutshuru territory, but also in Masisi, Nyiragongo and Walikale. Other reports have highlighted continued arming and support for the militia by the Congolese government, as well as cooperation between the two in the war against the AFC/M23, which has since joined forces with former Congolese president Joseph Kabila to form the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN). ALSO READ: Rwanda demands accountability for DR Congo failure to neutralise FDLR Rwanda has previously asked that the US to exercise partiality in its mediation under the Washington process. Nduhungirehe also dismissed Kinshasa’s allegations that former DR Congo President Joseph Kabila was a Rwandan “proxy” after he was announced as the leader of the FRN. “The situation in the DRC, the political situation, the security situation, is mainly a Congolese issue,” Nduhungirehe said. “It is a political issue that must be settled politically between the Congolese.”
