Washington, D.C. — Parties to the warfare in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are scheduled to meet for ceasefire talks later this month. But security for Rwanda, feeling threatened by the Interahamwe, who were responsible for genocide in Rwanda in 1994, continues to keep uncertain whether the deep divide between the DRC and Rwanda can be bridged by that time.
"Look at the map," says DRC Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Faida Mitifu. "How can border security justify the presence of Rwandan troops in the Kasai in the center? How can their security concern justify their presence all the way to Kitona, 1,600 miles away from the border?"
The Interahamwe are based deep inside the DRC, responds Rwandan Ambassador Richard Sezibera. "They're in Bujimai. They're in Kasai. They're in Katanga. The argument that countries should protect their forces from their own borders is a good one in an ideal world." Citing U.S. troops in Okinawa, Japan as an example, ambassador Sezibera said similar "strategic depth for Rwanda is extremely important."
Each Ambassador calls on the other's nation to cooperate for peace. But Congo's Ambassador Mitifu says a previous effort doesn't make that a good bet. "The government of Congo organized, back in April 1998, a conference on the Great Lakes region. And actually, the issue at the time was security in that region - how the countries involved could patrol the region to keep these perpetrators of genocide hidden in the forest from making raids on Rwanda. Who are the persons who sabotaged the conference? It was the Presidents of Rwanda and Uganda."
For his part, Rwanda's Sezibera says his government is willing to deal with any DRC administration willing to address his nations's "legitimate" security concerns. "Right now we have had encouraging speeches from Kinshasa. So in terms of talk there is change.... Now we have to see acts - on the ground."
The organization Human Rights Watch characterized the Congo as "a continuing human rights disaster," citing children and adults being forcibly placed into military service by the rebel Rally for Democracy - Goma, hostage-taking of foreign nationals by another rebel group, the Mai Mai, detention of human rights activists in Kinshasa and the occupation and exploitation of parts of Congo by foreign armies. Rwandan forces, the group said, while no longer on the front lines of battle have definitely not left the country. "They may be intending to try to eliminate Rwandan combatants now known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. Redeployment may also be meant to permit more intensive exploitation activities in certain mining zones."
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Rwanda is fighting its civil war on Congolese territory, says Suliman Ali Baldo, Senior Researcher at the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. Testifying last month before the House Committee on International Relations, he said, "This conflict has spawned serious and widespread human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law throughout the entire region. To achieve lasting peace and security in Central Africa, the administration and the international community must make accountability for these abuses a fundamental tenet of their policy."
Rwanda is in Congo as an "invading force," he says. "And conducting a Rwandan civil war on Congo soil is not acceptable by any international standard," Baldo told allAfrica.com. Although the 1994 genocide in Rwanda was real, in Baldo's view, "The argument of genocide has for too long now been used to hide another agenda." Many of those fighting on Congo soil now were recruited after the 1994 genocide and though armed some observers consider them as representing a genuine political opposition instead of genocidal intentions. "They have a different agenda," says Baldo.
Further complicating Congo's embattled relations with Rwanda is the existence of Rwandan opposition - a separate group from the Interahamwe operating autonomously in the east - directly controlled by the Kabila government. He has provided arms to these forces. Behind-closed-doors dialogue has already started aimed at pressuring Kabila to rein in the forces he influences and for Rwanda's Kagame to ease up on pursuing Interahamwe in Congo. Part of any deal would have Kagame agreeing to permit the return of some Rwandans with Kabila permitting the settlement in Congo of those who chose not to return.
