DRC: OPEN LETTER TO COUNTRY MEMBERS OF SADC AND ICGLR BY RWANDAN OPPOSITION PARTIES
AN OPEN LETTER TO COUNTRY MEMBERS OF SADC AND ICGLR BY
RWANDAN OPPOSITION PARTIES ON RWANDAN REFUGEES AND CHRONIC INSTABILITY IN THE
EASTERN REGIONS OF THE DRC
AN OPEN LETTER TO COUNTRY MEMBERS OF SADC AND ICGLR BY
RWANDAN OPPOSITION PARTIES ON RWANDAN REFUGEES AND CHRONIC INSTABILITY IN THE
EASTERN REGIONS OF THE DRC
To:
-His Excellency the Head of State Member of the SADC (All)
-His Excellency the Head of State Member of the SADC (All)
-His Excellency the Head of State Member of
ICGLR (All)
RE:
1) To seek protection and assistance to Rwandan refugees in the DRC;
1) To seek protection and assistance to Rwandan refugees in the DRC;
2) To call for a structural and lasting response to the root cause of instability involving Rwandan State or non-State
actors, and visible
or non visible hands.
Excellencies,
As You are still examining
the situation in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Rwandan democratic opposition parties would like to express their concerns about that stalemate
and are honored to share with Your leadership our views on what we think is the best way to restore
security, peace and stability
to that part of the country
and by extension
to the Great Lakes region in general.
1. For several weeks now, the Government
of Rwanda led by the former rebel group Rwandese
Patriotic Front (RPF) has been pushing
for immediate military
operations against Rwandan armed groups based in the Eastern
DRC.
2. Much as that position
was not new, we deeply
regret that certain quarters
of the International Community have unquestionably backed this militaristic approach, in spite of the lessons learned
from the immeasurable or whopping
impact and short or long term human and material losses of such a radical approach as conducted in the past, including in Rwanda itself.
3. Moreover
such a response
is morally unfair in as much as it would greatly affect an already hurt population composed of Congolese
and Rwandan refugees who have exceedingly suffered in the last twenty years as a result
of past military
approaches to political differences originating from the lack of ethnic inclusion and political space in Rwanda.
4. In light of the lessons
learned from past mistakes, we salute the approaches of the Government of the United Republic
of Tanzania and of the Government of the Republic of South Africa who have unambiguously expressed support
to voluntary disarmament as the best way of pursuing their efforts in restoring peace and stability in that part of the
DRC. Together with the contingent
of the Republic
of Malawi deployed within the Monusco
as part of its Force Intervention Brigade, we commend
their commitment, professionalism and sacrifice in the work done in that respect.
5. In our opinion,
the existence and continued presence of Rwandan
armed groups in general and FDLR in particular on the territory
of the DRC is a symptom and not the root cause of instability. It is rather the consequence of Rwanda’s
lack of an ethnically inclusive and democratic political system of governance that would accommodate the country’s ethnic diversity and permit peaceful access to and transmission of power,
expression of dissent
as well as that of the will of the Rwandan people through regular, fair and transparent elections
whose results are protected by non-sectarian and non- partisan
judiciary system and security and defense forces.
6. The RPF Government has refused to embrace such an inclusive path domestically and
has rather
repeatedly engaged into bellicose actions abroad, mostly at the expense of the DRC. The two year term accorded
to Rwanda as a non-permanent member of the United
Nations Security Council has mainly been a platform
to push its narrow
and self-centered sectarian and authoritarian interests on the international stage instead of being an opportunity to engage its
armed and non-armed opposition. It has been a wasted
and lost opportunity for Africa
and for all nations
and peoples still suffering from domination and oppression.
7. According
to the DRC National
Commission for Refugees, at least 245,000
registered Rwandan refugees
still live in that country.
Most of those refugees
are survivors of the systematic mass killings committed by the RPF Government armed forces during their direct or proxy military interventions in that country since 1996.
Some of those crimes were documented by the UN Mapping exercise on grave violations of international humanitarian law committed
between 1993 and 2003 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The report compiled and made public on October
1, 2010 stated that some of the documented crimes against humanity would be characterized as crimes of genocide
if presented before a competent
court.
8. More than four years after that report, the International Community has absolutely done nothing to prosecute those crimes and pay reparations to the survivors. More shockingly, the aforementioned survivors have completely been thrown into oblivion and left to their odd fate with absolutely no protection and no assistance by the competent
UN agencies.
9. Similarly, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda did never open trials
for RPF Government officials suspected of crimes within its mandate
as
stated by the 955 UN resolution instituting that jurisdiction. The residual Mechanism of International Criminal Tribunal left in place was not given anything
close to a mandate aimed at correcting that miscarriage of justice.
In those circumstances, it would be ethically
unfair and politically
unacceptable to engage military operations whose consequences would be to add more suffering to an already deeply wounded population in lieu of the much needed and delayed protection
and assistance they deserve
and have been longing for two decades.
10. Considering all the reasons mentioned
above and others
already expressed in various previous correspondences and declarations, we would like to advise
the Heads of State and Governments
of SADC and ICGLR member states to direct their efforts at solving the root cause of Rwandan involvement in destabilizing activities of DRC by engaging with the RPF Government
for a broad based dialogue with the opposition. Military solutions will once again result into exporting those problems to neighboring countries and creating massive displacements of populations, destruction of property and serious negative environmental impact.
We, the signatories, are committed to that peaceful and inclusive approach and would be delighted to be given an opportunity to detail our contribution to that effect to SADC and ICGLR Member States, whether in a bilateral
or multilateral conversation.
Sincerely,
Washington DC, January 16th , 2015
-Parti Rwandais des Modérés /Moderate Rwanda Party,
PRM/MRP-ABASANGIZI
Dr. Anastase Gasana, Chairman
Brussels, January 16th, 2015
-Conseil National pour le Changement Democratique,
CNCD
General Emmanuel Habyarimana, Chairman and President of
CNR-INTWARI
-FDU-National Movement-Inkubiri,
FDU-MN-INKUBIRI
Mr. Eugene Ndahayo, Chairman
-Mouvement Republicain pour la Paix,
MRP
Mr. Bonaventure Uwanyirigira, Chairman
-Ralliement pour l’Unité et la Démocratie,
RUD-URUNANA
Dr. Jean Marie Vianney Higiro, Chairman
Copies:
-
His Excellency the Head of State Member of
the UN Security Council (All);
-
His Excellency
the Head of State Member
of the European Union, EU (All);
-
His Excellency
the Head of State Member
of the African Union, AU (All)
-
His Excellency the Prime Minister of Canada
-
His Excellency
the Secretary General
of the UN
-
Her Excellency Madam Chairperson of the African
Union Commission
-
His Excellency the Executive Secretary of SADC
-
His Excellency the Executive Secretary of ICGLR
-The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in DRC
-The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in DRC
posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 8:27 AM
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