The Heads of States of Rwanda, DR Congo and France on Wednesday, September 2022, held a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly in New York, and reached resolutions that among other things included intensifying cooperation toward “putting an end to the actions of FDLR.”
A few hours later, the Tshisekedi regime rushed to downplay the conclusions drawn from the meeting – just as it did with recommendations made on the pacification process in the Eastern Congo in previous gatherings that include the EAC Heads of State conclave and Luanda summit roadmap among others.
Asked to shed light on how DRC is set to deal with the issue of FDLR, a certain Tina Salama, the deputy spokesperson of President Tshisekedi unashamedly told BBC News Day that the blacklisted genocidal and terrorist group “is nowhere to be seen on the Congolese soil!” This is a blatant lie that her boss, Tshisekedi himself told in his latest interview with France 24.
To add insult to injury, Tshisekedi claimed that “FDLR was fought twice and reduced to nothing.” He lied again that its (FDLR) remnants are only “thieves that pose threat to DRC and not to Rwanda.” The Congolese regime throws such insults around thinking they are being very clever. But they only expose what bad faith actors they are.
Does Tshisekedi believe people are so naïve and gullible as to believe such stories?
However, Kinshasa’s new twist on the FDLR speak volumes. The Congolese army (FARDC) remains in bed with FDLR, something that the international community knows very well, and has never ceased to condemn.
The FARDC-FDLR alliance has only become more prominent, especially during the ongoing Congolese civil war that pits FARDC-FDLR against the M23 movement. FARDC recently released FDLR senior terrorists that had been court-martialed for war crimes, rape and extrajudicial killings among other crimes against humanity.
It has also been established that FARDC-FDLR were working hand in hand to perpetrate several provocations against Rwanda. This included shelling more than three times into Rwanda, or abducting two Rwandan soldiers who were patrolling along the border. At the same time, the Tshisekedi regime is perpetrating genocide against Congolese Tutsi communities, and of course for this they work hand in hand with FDLR.
On its part, Rwanda’s communication with the DRC authorities has always been for them to arrest the FDLR criminals, bring them to book, or deport them to face justice. But DRC always plays deaf on the subject.
Let the world be aware, about all this duplicity by the Tshisekedi regime.
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