Blitz Bureau
Democratic Republic Of Congoand Rwanda will sign a peace agreement in Washington on June 27, a joint press release from the nations and the US State Department said, reported africanews.com.
Both countries have agreed to the terms of the deal aimed at ending fighting in eastern Congo. Congo has accused Rwanda of backing M23 rebels in the east of the country. United Nations experts say the rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from the neighboring nation.
Conflict escalation
The decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic Congolese city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu in February. The draft agreement includes “provisions on respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities; disengagement, disarmament, and conditional integration of non-state armed groups,” the joint statement said. The agreement that will be signed also includes a commitment to respecting territorial integrity and the conditional integration of non-state armed groups.
Both countries have in the past held peace talks that have largely stalled, including talks hosted by Qatar. Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups, told The Associated Press in April that international sanctions and Congo’s proposed minerals deal with the United States in search of peace would not stop the fighting.
M23 establishment
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda. The conflict has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and has displaced more than seven million people.
According to Wikipedia, M23 (shortened from March 23 Movement) and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army operates mainly in the province of North Kivu, which borders both Uganda and Rwanda. M23 is a member of the Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups in eastern DRC. M23, says the Wikipedia listing, was established in 2012 by former members of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), a Rwandan-backed rebel group largely composed of Rwandan-Congolese fighters.
CNDP opposition
These combatants had previously integrated into the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) under the terms of a 2009 peace agreement, which also called for the transformation of the CNDP into a political party, reintegration of refugees, and incorporation of CNDP personnel into Government roles. However, local opposition to the CNDP’s leadership – accused of past human rights violations – impeded the full implementation of the agreement. On May 6, 2012, a group of these exCNDP fighters mutinied, forming M23 and citing the Government’s failure to uphold the peace accord.
