Technical groups from the Congo and Rwanda initialed a draft peace settlement that they stated shall be signed on June 27 in Washington. Peace talks between Congo and Rwanda have repeatedly stalled, however took on a brand new urgency this 12 months after M23 rebels—backed by Kigali and with the help of Rwandan troops—made fast territorial advances in January. The U.S.-mediated peace course of has run alongside a push by Washington to safe entry to Congo’s important minerals, with a deal on that entrance anticipated within the close to future. (AP)
Our Take
Whereas there are causes to be optimistic concerning the provisional settlement introduced yesterday, a wholesome dose of warning can also be wanted right here. The newest talks construct off negotiations performed final 12 months underneath Angolan mediation, and twice throughout that course of specialists from Congo and Rwanda reached an settlement solely to see their house governments refuse to endorse it. So whereas each nations stated they are going to signal this newest deal subsequent week, nothing is official till they achieve this.
Nor will the official signing, if it occurs, imply the violence in japanese Congo will come to an finish. The decades-long battle entails a variety of armed teams with numerous competing pursuits, a lot of that are unrelated to the bilateral tensions between Congo and Rwanda. And whereas disarming M23 would go a good distance towards stemming the violence, it’s not clear that Rwanda has sufficient operational command over the group to take action. In the meantime, the Congolese state has relied on the assistance of a number of paramilitary teams, and if the historic precedent from different conflicts is any indication, they might merely evolve into felony armed teams and even insurgencies in their very own proper, reasonably than disarm and reintegrate civil society.
