The Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN) is hosting an online event on the ongoing Rwanda-Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Crisis. The event “End it : Rwanda-DR Congo Crisis” on August 25, 2022 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET will feature voices from the DRC who will provide updates and analysis. The panelists will also examine the role of the international community in the more than two decades long crisis. The event will also feature Q&A from the audience where audience members may speak and submit their comments on Zoom. This online event is free and open to the public.
End it Now:
Rwanda – Democratic Republic of the Congo Crisis
August 25, 2022
10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET (US and Canada)
Watch the YouTube video below.
Background
On March 29, 2022 a UN helicopter carrying six peacekeepers (on a reconnaissance mission in the Tutsi rebel group – the M23 – stronghold of Chanzudied) went down, allegedly shot down by the M23. Since November 2021 the M23 resurgence has reignited decades-old animosity between Kinshasa and Kigali. The DRC authorities say they are fighting an invasion by neighboring Rwanda and that the recent armed activism by M23 is a pretext. The Rwandan government has denied any involvement and has instead counter-accused the DRC of supporting the FDLR, a Hutu rebel group residing in eastern DRC which Rwanda claims participated in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. However, the United Nations Final Report of the Group of Experts on the DRC, S/2022/479 of June 16, 2022 , (P16-17) contradicts Rwanda’s claim, maintaining that aerial footage and photographic evidence back DRC’s allegation.
The African Union and the East African Community have attempted to mediate without success. In August, the US Secretary of State visited Rwanda and the DRC and called for dialogue, encouraging both sides to stop arming non-state actors. Although he said that the UN assessment of Rwanda’s forces in RDC aligns with the United States’ position, he was criticized for being soft on Rwanda.
The secret to ending this pervasive insecurity in the DRC may not be so secret. But what is it? Our highly qualified panel of experts will unpack this very protracted conflict, showing reasons for the weakened state of the DRC, identifying the true enemies of the Congolese state, and recommending appropriate interventions that foreign partners can use to help provide long overdue security to the Congolese people.
Panel I
Causes and Cures: An Objective Diagnosis of What is really Going on in D.R. Congo
Time: 10: 00 AM -11:00 AM
- Moderator: Jacques Bahati, Policy Analyst, AFJN
- Maitre Omar Kavota, Executive Director, Centre d’Etude pour la Promotion de la Paix la Democratie et les Droits de l’Homme
- Rigobert Minani, Executive Director, Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance Department at the Centre d’Etude Pour l’Action Sociale in the DRC
Panel II
International Community’s Role in the Causes and Solutions to DRC Crisis
Time: 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
- Moderator: Steven Rogers, PhD, Executive Director, AFJN
- Maurice Caney, Executive Director, Friends of the Congo
- Nii Akuetteh, Security Working Group Chair, AdNA and Graduate Faculty, George Washington University
- Claude Gatebuke, Executive Director, African Great Lakes Action Network