Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday signed a peace settlement with U.S. mediation in Washington to finish decades-long combating that has killed hundreds, with the 2 nations pledging to tug again help for guerrillas, and President Donald Trump boasting of securing mineral wealth.
“Today, the violence and destruction come to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity,” Trump stated as he welcomed the 2 nations’ overseas ministers to the White House. “This is a wonderful day.”
The settlement comes after the M23, an ethnic Tutsi insurgent pressure linked to Rwanda, sprinted throughout the mineral-rich east of the DRC this yr, seizing huge territory together with the important thing metropolis of Goma.
The deal – negotiated by way of Qatar since earlier than Trump took workplace – doesn’t explicitly tackle the beneficial properties of the M23 within the space torn by many years of on-off struggle however requires Rwanda to finish “defensive measures” it has taken.
Rwanda has denied instantly supporting the M23 however has demanded an finish to a different armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis within the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
The settlement requires the “neutralization” of the FDLR, with Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe saying the “irreversible and verifiable end to state support” to the Hutu militants must be the “first order of business.”
The course of could be “accompanied by a lifting of Rwanda’s defensive measures,” Nduhungirehe stated at a signing ceremony on the State Department.
But he added: “We must acknowledge that there is a great deal of uncertainty in our region, and beyond, because many previous agreements have not been implemented.”
His Congolese counterpart, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, highlighted the settlement’s name for respecting state sovereignty.
“It offers a rare chance to turn the page, not just with words but with real change on the ground. Some wounds will heal, but they will never fully disappear,” she stated.
The settlement additionally units up a joint safety coordination physique to watch progress and calls vaguely for a “regional economic integration framework” inside three months.
Trump takes credit score
Trump has trumpeted the diplomacy that led to the deal, and began his White House occasion by mentioning a journalist who stated he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaking to reporters earlier Friday, Trump stated the United States will have the ability to safe “a lot of mineral rights from the Congo.”
The DRC has monumental mineral reserves that embrace lithium and cobalt, very important in electrical autos and different superior applied sciences, with US rival China now a key participant in securing the sources.
Trump stated he had been unfamiliar with the battle as he appeared to allude to the horrors of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, by which tons of of hundreds of individuals, largely Tutsis, had been killed in simply 100 days.
“I’m a little out of my league on that one because I didn’t know too much about it. I knew one thing — they were going at it for many years with machetes,” Trump stated.
The settlement drew broad however not common reward.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres referred to as the deal “a significant step towards de-escalation, peace and stability” within the japanese DRC and the Great Lakes area.
“I urge the parties to honor in full the commitments they have undertaken in the Peace Agreement… including the cessation of hostilities and all other agreed measures,” Guterres stated in a press release.
Germany hailed the “excellent news” and referred to as for implementation.
French President Emmanuel Macron additionally praised the “historic step forward,” including that “peace must hold.”
But Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to finish the DRC’s epidemic of sexual violence in struggle, voiced alarm concerning the settlement, saying it successfully benefited Rwanda and the United States.
The deal “would amount to granting a reward for aggression, legitimizing the plundering of Congolese natural resources, and forcing the victim to alienate their national heritage by sacrificing justice in order to ensure a precarious and fragile peace,” he stated in a press release forward of the signing.
Physicians for Human Rights, which has labored within the DRC, welcomed the de-escalation however stated the settlement had “major omissions,” together with accountability for rights violations.
Source: www.dailysabah.com