Press release: We shall not support the current conclusions of the peace between DRCongo and Rwanda concluded in Angola

Press statement on the ongoing peace negotiations in Luanda –Angola between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda to end the current war in North Kivu –DRC: Our position on the issue of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda known as FDLR who are at the center of the negotiations.

Three actions have been considered against FDLR: Identification, Repatriation and use of force against those which will not cooperate.

The protection and the security of Congolese people and the safeguarding of the integrity of DRC should not depend on good will of Rwanda but on the capacity of DRC Government to defend its sovereignty. We are therefore concerned that efforts are not deployed in order to build a strong security service which will protect the country but efforts are put in place in order to seek the good will of Rwanda and the International Community for Congolese people to leave in peace. How long can this last?

We are at the same time make clear that the issue of FDLR being discussed at table of negotiations in Angola is entirely a Congolese internal issue related to the management of refugees, asylum seekers and foreigners in the country, and this cannot be subjected to talks. Again on this point, DRC has deployed less efforts in order to streamline issues around refugee management. We regret to observe that issues connected to refugees in DRC are handled either by people who are perceived as Rwandans, people who are viewed as being pro-Rwanda and people who are believed to have been placed by Rwanda.

As the negotiations in Angola concluded on the neutralization of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda known as FDLR focusing on three points mainly: Identification of FDLR, repatriation of FDLR to Rwanda, and the use of force against those who will not cooperate, we are here to make the following:

There is no consensus on who FDLR are exactly each stakeholder has its own definition and this include: Rwandan Refugees, Congolese host communities, local leaders, the Civil Society, the DRC Government, the Media, the United Nations Mission in DRC, UNHCR, Rwanda Government, International Organizations, the African Union, the Diplomatic Missions, and the European Union among others, each has its own definition often different one another. This makes it almost impossible to identify people we are not able to define, especially that such identification is highly complex and may need the cooperation of people at the community levels, and unfortunately this exercise requires a lot of time and may take years therefore cannot be the basis of the end of war between DRC and Rwanda.

Identification of FDLR

We therefore make clear our position basing on what refugees have told us as we mention. Eric is a Rwandan refugee in DRC he told us “For us, FDLR is any Rwandan refugee who took guns in order to fight against the massacre of Rwandan refugees in DRC, especially that DRC Government failed to protect us against Rwanda Army since 1996 up today. We are not fighting against Rwanda, we do not want power in Rwanda, and we are fighting for the protection of refugees in DRC, and just imagine if we were not there, what could have happened to Rwandan refugees now in this country. We do not need to be identified, we do not need to be disarmed, we just need to be protected from any possible attack from Rwanda, and if that is done we shall put our guns down and join our normal life. Just look when Rwandan Army is not in DRC, you will not hear much about FDLR”.

We position ourselves towards the protection of refugees in the Democratic Republic of Rwanda, and that can be done through effective management of refugees especially Rwandan refugees in the Great Kivu who are viewed by Rwanda as the threat. We must ensure that refugees in DRC are not viewed as threating Rwanda’s security and that is possible.

Repatriation of FDLR back to Rwanda

In Goma, DRC at least 7/10 Rwandan refugees and asylum seekers who visit our offices have been repatriated to Rwanda once or twice in their lives since 1996 but in the process they come back. Jacky a refugee woman from Rwanda told us “My God, do you think we need a special repatriation process, we can manage to get money for transport up to Rwanda in case we want to go back. We just want to live here in DRC, those you call FDLR have money in areas they control, why should they need Lorries from the United Nations? Me, I was deceived by UNHCR and went back to Rwanda, but I could not live, I opted to come back, this time they will not convince me”

We have strongly condemned and opposed the repatriation propaganda which is put in place by UNHCR which has not results, apart from consuming millions of dollars from the United States of America and the European Union. The Democratic Republic of Congo has the best opportunities which favor the protection of refugees in the region and therefore efforts should focus on refugee protection in DRC.

The use of force against FDLR who will not cooperate

Actually for the last three months the DRC Army has tried to use force in order to make pressure on people to move towards the repatriation transit camp in Goma, but unfortunately most of people targeted have been Congolese Nationals, the use of force against FDLR is just a wastage of time, this has been done several times in the past and failed because Rwandan refugees are highly mixed up with the Congolese people and do enjoy sympathy from the host communities.

Lastly we remained preoccupied by the deployment of Rwanda Security Services in Goma, in order to join the Ad-Hoc Mechanism of the verification, the previous deployment of Rwanda security services highly affected the protection of refugees some were killed, assassinated, faced forced disappearance, deported secretly while other had to leave this country. Again Rwandan security service are going to find a very fertile environment which will favor their operations in order to target refugees. In Goma, the current urban refugee committee is believed to include Rwandan spies, the Congolese National Commission for Refugees known as CNR is led by officers who are perceived to be close to Rwanda, and others are perceived to be Rwandans, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees known as UNHCR Goma is accused of employing people who are perceived as Rwandans, staffs who are close to Rwanda’s regime and others who while working in DRC they are living in Rwanda and lastly the UN Mission itself is running repatriation programme which is led by people who are perceived as being close to Rwanda.

We therefore make our position clear that we shall not in any way participate in what has been agreed in Angola between DRC and Rwanda, we therefore call upon all people of good to work hard in order to fail this plan.

We propose as said before the effective protection of refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kulihoshi Musikami Pecos

Executive Director