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 ICGLR (All)
RE: 1) To seek protection and assistance to Rwandan refugees in theDRC;
2) To call for a structural and lasting response to the root causeof instability involving Rwandan State or non-State actors, andvisible or non visible hands.
Excellencies,
As You are still examining the situation in the eastern provinces of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, Rwandan democratic oppositionparties would like to express their concerns about that stalemate andare honored to share with Your leadership our views on what we think isthe best way to restore security, peace and stability to that part of thecountry and by extension to the Great Lakes region in general.
1. For several weeks now, the Government of Rwanda ledby the former rebel group Rwandese Patriotic Front(RPF) has been pushing for immediate military operationsagainst Rwandan armed groups based in the EasternDRC.
2. Much as that position was not new, we deeply regret thatcertain quarters of the International Community haveunquestionably backed this militaristic approach, in spite ofthe lessons learned from the immeasurable or whopping impactand short or long term human and material losses of such aradical approach as conducted in the past, including inRwanda itself.
3. Moreover such a response is morally unfair in as much as itwould greatly affect an already hurt population composedof Congolese and Rwandan refugees who haveexceedingly suffered in the last twenty years as a result ofpast military approaches to political differences originatingfrom the lack of ethnic inclusion and political space inRwanda.
4. In light of the lessons learned from past mistakes, we salute theapproaches of the Government of the United Republic ofTanzania and of the Government of the Republic of SouthAfrica who have unambiguously expressed support to voluntarydisarmament as the best way of pursuing their efforts inrestoring peace and stability in that part of the
DRC. Together with the contingent of the Republic ofMalawi deployed within the Monusco as part of its ForceIntervention Brigade, we commend their commitment,professionalism and sacrifice in the work done in thatrespect.
5. In our opinion, the existence and continued presence ofRwandan armed groups in general and FDLR in particular onthe territory of the DRC is a symptom and not the root cause ofinstability. It is rather the consequence of Rwanda's lack of anethnically inclusive and democratic political system ofgovernance that would accommodate the country's ethnicdiversity and permit peaceful access to and transmission ofpower, expression of dissent as well as that of the will of theRwandan people through regular, fair and transparentelections whose results are protected by non-sectarian andnon- partisan judiciary system and security and defenseforces.
6. The RPF Government has refused to embrace such an inclusivepath domestically and has rather repeatedly engaged intobellicose actions abroad, mostly at the expense of the DRC.The two year term accorded to Rwanda as a non-permanentmember of the United Nations Security Council has mainlybeen a platform to push its narrow and self-centered sectarianand authoritarian interests on the international stage instead ofbeing an opportunity to engage its armed and non-armedopposition. It has been a wasted and lost opportunity for Africaand for all nations and peoples still suffering from dominationand oppression.
7. According to the DRC National Commission for Refugees, atleast 245,000 registered Rwandan refugees still live in thatcountry. Most of those refugees are survivors of thesystematic mass killings committed by the RPF Governmentarmed forces during their direct or proxy military interventionsin that country since 1996. Some of those crimes weredocumented by the UN Mapping exercise on grave violations ofinternational humanitarian law committed between 1993 and2003 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The reportcompiled and made public on October 1, 2010 stated thatsome of the documented crimes against humanity would becharacterized as crimes of genocide if presented before acompetent court.
8. More than four years after that report, the InternationalCommunity has absolutely done nothing to prosecute thosecrimes and pay reparations to the survivors. More shockingly,the aforementioned survivors have completely been thrown intooblivion and left to their odd fate with absolutely no protectionand no assistance by the competent UN agencies.
9. Similarly, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda didnever open trials for RPF Government officials suspected ofcrimes within its mandate as stated by the 955 UN resolutioninstituting that jurisdiction. The residual Mechanism ofInternational Criminal Tribunal left in place was not givenanything close to a mandate aimed at correcting thatmiscarriage of justice. In those circumstances, it would beethically unfair and politically
unacceptable to engage military operations whoseconsequences would be to add more suffering to an alreadydeeply wounded population in lieu of the much needed anddelayed protection and assistance they deserve and have beenlonging for two decades.
10. Considering all the reasons mentioned above and othersalready expressed in various previous correspondences anddeclarations, we would like to advise the Heads of State andGovernments of SADC and ICGLR member states to directtheir efforts at solving the root cause of Rwandaninvolvement in destabilizing activities of DRC by engagingwith the RPF Government for a broad based dialogue withthe opposition. Military solutions will once again result intoexporting those problems to neighboring countries andcreating massive displacements of populations, destruction ofproperty and serious negative environmental impact.
We, the signatories, are committed to that peaceful and inclusiveapproach and would be delighted to be given an opportunity to detailour 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
###
"Aho kwanga no guhora dutuka Abakotanyi n'Umutware wabo, dukwiriye kubasabira ngo Imana ibavane mu bikohwa by'Ibinyabubasha (ibyo ku isi n'iby'ikuzimu) byabigaruriye bikabagira abacakara babyo", Mwarimu Rewoporidi MUNYAKAZI.
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The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.
The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
When the white man came we had the land and they had the bibles; now they have the land and we have the bibles.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Voice of the Poor, the Weak and Powerless.
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Post message: AfricaRealities@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: AfricaRealities-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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