War in eastern Congo : President Tshisekedi calls for new sanctions against Rwanda that his country is dragging before the EAC Court

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi called on Wednesday for new sanctions against Kigali “because of its destabilizing role”. In the meantime, the trial brought by the DRC against Rwanda before the Court of Justice of the East African Community (EAC) opened on Thursday in Arusha, Tanzania. Rwanda believes that Congo should first provide justice to the victims of the FARDC and those of the FDLR.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

President Félix Tshisekedi took advantage of the UN platform on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly to accuse Rwanda, once again.

He declared : “the resurgence of the M23 terrorist group, supported by Rwanda, has caused an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with nearly 7 million internally displaced persons”. Mr. Tshisekedi called on the international community to “impose targeted sanctions against Rwanda because of its destabilizing role”.

The Congolese president blames Rwanda for invading the east of his country and demands “the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Rwandan troops from our territory”.

This speech on Rwanda, which is not new, precedes an important event for the vast central African country : the trial brought against the country of a thousand hills before the EAC Court of Justice, the East African economic bloc that Congo joined on March 29, 2022.

The DRC-Rwanda case began on Thursday in Arusha, Tanzania. The EAC Court of Justice, which was seized by Congolese authorities, will have to rule on this Congolese¹ complaint. Rwanda is accused of “violating the sovereignty of the DRC and its national integrity in the east of the country”.

What does the DRC intend to obtain?

Recently, the Congolese Deputy Minister of Justice and Litigation, Samuel Mbemba, declared that Kinshasa hopes to obtain in this trial “a condemnation of Rwanda for its aggression in the east of the DRC, as well as the looting, rape and massacres perpetrated in this region”. In the long term, Congolese authorities also intend to benefit from the compensation.

Kigali does not want lessons from the DRC

Rwanda and Congo have begun negotiations again, in the greatest secrecy, at the beginning of last September under the aegis of Angola.

“Although recent diplomatic initiatives, such as the talks in Luanda, are encouraging, they should in no way obscure the urgency of this essential action,” announced Félix Tshisekedi on Wednesday.

But for the deputy spokesman of the Rwandan government, Alain Mukularinda, it is rather the Congo that should be blamed.

“With the resumption of negotiations, the party that has no will is coming forward….”, he told the press recently, accusing the Congolese government of wanting to “put an end to a clear plan” that was proposed by the intelligence services and armies of Rwanda, Congo and Angola at the highest level.

An M23 rebel that Rwanda is accused of supporting, during the capture of the city of Bunagana, bordering Uganda, June 2022 (SOS Médias Burundi)

An M23 rebel that Rwanda is accused of supporting, during the capture of the city of Bunagana, bordering Uganda, June 2022 (SOS Médias Burundi)

As for Olivier Nduhungirehe, head of Rwandan diplomacy, the DRC should start by “rendering justice to victims of the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo), and to those of the Hutu genocidaires FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda)” before “giving lessons in justice”. He also denounced “the media and judicial gesticulations against a backdrop of permanent insults by the Congolese Minister of Justice (Constant Mutamba)” against Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

The M23 – which Rwanda is accused of constantly supporting – is a former Tutsi rebellion that took up arms again at the end of 2021, accusing Congolese authorities of not having respected their commitments on the reintegration of its fighters. Since then, its fighters have controlled a major part of the North Kivu province in eastern Congo and had begun to advance towards that of Ituri before observing a ceasefire that both parties accuse each other of violating.

The Congolese head of state announced to the UN that his government is once again committed to “continuing the implementation of the disarmament, demobilization, community recovery and stabilization program to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate fighters by offering them viable and sustainable economic prospects”.

At the end of January 2023, during his very first tour of Africa, Pope Francis deplored that “the international community has resigned to the violence that is devouring Congolese people.” He announced this from Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC.

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Presidents Tshisekedi and Kagame in Luanda, July 6, 2022, DR