EVALUATION OF THE ADDIS ABABA FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT

By

Sylvain Muyali

The Executive Secretary of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) intends to meet with members of the former March 23 Movement (M23), Uganda and Rwanda to prepare their repatriation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to Alphonse Tumba Luaba a list of M23 members has already been sent to the Congolese Government and by the beginning of October there will be a meeting in Kinshasa under the National Monitoring Mechanism, at which the coordinator of M23, René Abandi, will be invited to attend.

The Military of the DR Congo (FARDC), along with Francois Muamba, National Co-Ordinator of the Monitoring Mechanism of the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement recently attended a meeting at the United Nations in New York where Muamba stated strongly that no element of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) should exist within the DR Congo after January 2015. This follows the earlier six month ultimatum effective from July 2014 to disarm, adopted also by other regional bodies such as the ICGLR and Southern African Development Community (SADC), it being stressed there would be no extension to this agreement.

Muamaba went on to say that “Everyone needs to understand the side of the FDLR. It’s the last chance given to them,” and that there will soon be an assessment made following the six month agreement ceasing. He also stated that those who had not laid down their arms after this time would be disarmed by force.

“Regarding FDLR elements that support the theory of a political debate or any opening”, stated Muamba, “this problem is a matter between Rwanda and Rwandans and must be settled outside the Congolese territory”, adding that the Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (who chairs the SADC) had wanted the international community to assume its responsibilities in the face of this situation. “The FDLR elements who would voluntarily return to Rwanda to do so, those who do not want to return home, go elsewhere.”

Sylvain Muyali

Sylvain Muyali is a Journalist, Photographer and Filmmaker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has reported previously for the Associated Press and his words and images can also be found at ‘Vivons Positivement‘