RUD and RPR, to jusJfy the ongoing devastaJng intervenJons by its army and the support of armed groups conveniently created by the Rwanda military to cause chaos and humanitarian tragedy in this part of the DRC. That hol-? low argument has also been put forward in the reacJon by Rwandan officials in reacJon to Tan-? zanian President Jakaya Kikwete’ statements, following the celebraJon of the 50th Anniversary of the OAU, urging direct talks with Rwandan armed opposiJon, We affirm that this excuse has no merit whatsoever.
Indeed, Mr. US Secretary of State, in 2008 in Rome, with the mediaJon of Sant Egidio Commu-? nity, SIK Norway, and the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC), the DRC government and the NDC engaged in an iniJaJve aimed at bringing durable peace in the Great Lakes region. The process, known as the Rome-?Kisangani Process, led to the signature, in Kisangani on May 28, 2008, of a Roadmap for Peace by the DRC Government, the European Union, South African Republic, UNHCR, World Bank, MONUC, OCHA, and NDC.
Based on the Rome-?Kisangani Process Roadmap, on July 31, 2008 in Kasiki in Lubero territory, North Kivu province, the NDC leaders iniJated a process of voluntary disarmament and demobi-? lizaJon of combatants. The ceremony to launch the process was conducted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DRC in the presence of leaders of MONUSCO, the African Union, the Euro-? pean Union and the delegaJon of the Rwandan government led by the Head of external intelli-? gence. The weapons were handed to MONUSCO and disarmed combatants and their depend-? ents, 156 in total, were regrouped in the Kasiki camps, awaiJng organized repatriaJon to Rwanda or relocaJon on the Congolese territory for those who did not wish to return to Rwanda.
Tragically, it is when a delegaJon of the refugees had returned from an exploratory visit to Rwanda to get a feel of the condiJons awaiJng them home and when another group of 500 combatants was on their way to join the voluntary disarmament, that the government of Rwanda decided to launch military operaJons against disarmed refugees, including children, women, the elderly, regrouped in the Kasiki camps. These military operaJons did not aim the repatriaJon of these refugees with dignity. These operaJons had, as usual, the objecJve of mas-? sacring or dispersing disarmed combatants and their dependents to prevent organized repatria-? Jon.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete’s recent objec3ve assessment of the root cause of the problem and the proposed direct talks among the protagonists are a cri3cal step needed in the region are perhaps the first concrete step by an African regional leader to bring peace in Eastern DRC and Rwanda.
The PSC Framework for the DRC and the Region, the appointment by the UN Secretary General Special RepresentaJve, and the deployment of UN IntervenJon Brigade and the recent state-? ments by the Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete at the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the African Union in which he urged the Heads of State of Rwanda, Uganda and the DemocraJc Re-? public of the Congo (DRC) to open direct talks with their armed opposiJon as the best way to bring durable peace in the eastern DRC and Rwanda are all the ingredients needed to support the peace building efforts in the region. The peoples in the region are Jred of decades of wars, bloodshed, and uprooJng, and the World has started to view the conflict as a tragedy that could no longer be ignored. Now, the hopes of so many innocent vicJms, children, women, elderly
