Following the announcement of sanctions by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom against Rwanda, the African country’s foreign minister said on Wednesday (26) that it does not fear becoming increasingly isolated because of the war in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR).
“Any talk about punitive measures and sanctions against Rwanda cannot prevent us from protecting our borders and our population,” Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told the Association of UN Correspondents (ACANU). “Rwanda does not fear being isolated. We are facing an existential threat from a genocidal force. So, being diplomatically isolated is not a concern for now.”
In recent weeks, the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group has seized two major cities in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, giving them an important foothold in the region since taking up arms again at the end of 2021.
M23 fighters – backed by thousands of Rwandan soldiers, UN experts say – took control of the capital of South Kivu province, Bukavu, just over a week ago, which happened after capturing Goma, the capital of North Kivu and the main city in the eastern portion of the country, at the end of last month.
Alexandre dos Santos, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at PUC-Rio and one of the coordinators of the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Studies and Research on the African Continent and Afro-Diasporas (Lepecad, in Portuguese) assesses that the conflict in the DRC is the culmination of a geopolitical situation going on since the 1990s.
“Soldiers from the Rwandan Armed Forces joined the M23 guerrillas, helping to take the two cities. This shows the direct involvement of the Rwandan government, which obviously has imperialist intentions in that region,” he told Brasil de Fato.
The area under M23 control is rich in minerals, especially coltan, used in electronics manufacturing, which is said to have motivated Rwanda’s support for the rebels to occupy the territory and extract minerals. “Some of this coltan leaves [the DRC] through Rwanda, flowing to this country in exchange for arms and ammunition. There is direct involvement with the Rwandan military, training, and helping in operations like the taking of Goma, and now Bukavu. Therefore, what we’re seeing there is what we could call Rwanda’s imperialist intentions in that region.”
Sanctions
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom announced it would suspend most direct bilateral aid to Rwanda due to its involvement in the conflict. Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s high representative for foreign policy, said on Monday (24) that the situation in the DRC had been discussed in Brussels, and added that sanctions were being prepared against Rwanda.
The moves in Europe follow on from the measures the US adopted last week, which include financial sanctions against Rwanda after accusing Paul Kagame’s government of orchestrating support for the M23 rebel movement and contributing to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mediation attempt
In recent weeks, two African regional blocs – the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – have discussed ways of establishing a ceasefire in the DRC.
They said on Monday (24) that former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo had been appointed “facilitators” of a new peace process.
The EAC and SADC agreed at a summit on February 8 to merge two separate peace processes (based in Luanda and Nairobi) that were in operation before the latest escalation of violence. However, several requests for a ceasefire have gone unheeded so far, as the M23 continues its advance, meeting little resistance from the Congolese army.
Angola, which is taking over the African Union presidency, is trying to force mediation through the Peace and Security Council. The Congolese president, Félix Tshisekedi, has agreed to talk to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, but says it is unacceptable to talk to the M23 since they do not represent any state or any force recognized by the government of Congo.
“This is the biggest obstacle: as much as you have presidents from the region directly involved in mediation attempts to end the conflict, the simple fact that Paul Kagame is saying that he wants the M23 to attend these meetings shows that he is not interested in mediation, contrary to what everyone is trying to do there,” Santos points out.
Weak DRC government
Rwanda’s role in DRC territory, as an ally of the M23, comes at a time when Félix Tshisekedi’s government has been suffering strong internal opposition since August last year.
Under the pretext of modernizing the institutions and the relationship between the powers within the country, Tshisekedi announced a Constitutional Reform but embedded in the text some norms increasing presidential power and establishing an imbalance in favor of the Executive.
Also, the DRC’s president included in the text an attempt to be re-elected two more times, despite having already been re-elected in 2023, which would not allow him to run again under the country’s current legislation. “When the opposition discovered this maneuver, there was a great association between all the opposition parties in all the regions of the DRC, which weakened the president,” Santos points out.
Another factor that wore down the government was the sequence of changes in command of the DRC Armed Forces. “These two situations have made both the Armed Forces and the Presidency of the Republic very fragile and the Rwandan government has taken advantage of this fragility by giving more support to M23. That’s a context that needs to be taken into account.”
With AFP
