Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed a joint undertaking to stick to the mediation of Angola and avoid escalating the tensions over the M23 rebellion in DRC’s east.
A dispatch after delegations led by their Foreign ministers met in Luanda said Kigali and Kinshasa “reiterated their appeal to the parties to the conflict in the east of the DRC to respect the ceasefire of 4 August 2024.”
“Rwanda reiterated its support for the Harmonised Plan, in accordance with the report of 29 and 30 August by the Intelligence Experts and presented during the Ministerial Meeting of 14 September 2024," the communiqué said.
The DRC stressed the need for simultaneity and concomitance in the implementation of the Harmonised Plan, it added.
The Harmonised Plan is a programme that the two States have agreed to for the neutralisation of the FDLR and the disengagement of the forces and lifting of Rwanda's defensive measures.
FDLR are an armed group of remnants of genocide perpetrators in Rwanda in 1994. After they were defeated by the Rwanda Patriotic Front led by Paul Kagame, they fled into the DRC, from where Kigali believes they still harbour plans to destabilise Rwanda.
DRC committed to eliminating the FDLR, and Rwanda committed to remove its troops from DRC.
Kigali and Kinshasa also undertook to send their respective officers to join the Reinforced Ad-hoc Verification Mechanism (MAV-R), a regional committee for verifying adherence to truce and related issues. This new structure will be officially launched in Goma, no later than November 5, 2024, according to the communiqué.
Just a week ago, the United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes, Huang Xia, indicated that there was hope for peace between Rwanda and the DRC for the first time in three years.
On the frontlines, the clashes have dissipated, allowing some displaced people to return home from the camps.
The M23 have always dismissed the talks as "bilateral dialogue between Rwanda and the DRC.” It remains to be seen how the leaders of the M23, who are not involved in the negotiations, will react.
