Op-ed: After M23, it is time to focus on DR Congo's FDLR rebels
Posted by Timo Mueller on Feb 05, 2014
Editor's Note: This op-ed originally appeared on The Daily Monitor.
In early November, the Congolese army, supported by the United Nations
Force Intervention Brigade, defeated the most powerful rebel group in
eastern Congo - the M23. The brigade has since identified as one of
the new targets, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda,
or FDLR, a rebel group led in part by commanders implicated in the
1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda. The new focus may in part be the
result of political overtures toward Rwanda for ending its support to
M23, but neutralising the FDLR is a worthy effort by itself and
critical for peace in eastern Congo.
The focus on addressing the FDLR comes at a pivotal moment. Over the
last few weeks, elements of as many as 20 rebel groups across eastern
Congo have either surrendered to the Congolese army or offered to lay
down their weapons. Targeting the FDLR now will likely sustain this
momentum, as many of the surrendering groups sprung up in defiance to
the FDLR.
Effectively neutralising the FDLR will require a comprehensive
approach addressing the complexity of the threat and the group's
unique traits. An effective strategy should feature more robust
grassroots partnerships to promote defections together with a mix of
targeted and better informed military operations aimed at the FDLR
hardline leadership. As earlier operations against the FDLR brought
great humanitarian fallout, the brigade must improve civilian
protection.
When conducting military operations against the FDLR in conjunction
with the Congolese army, the UN brigade must ensure the Congolese army
severs linkages that have helped FDLR members secure military gear and
intelligence to relocate troops before military offensives. The UN
must also vet Congolese army units for human rights abuses and provide
human rights training. Armed groups have repeatedly been reintegrated
into the national forces without such measures. With little to no
payment, in an environment rife with insecurity, soldiers often use
their own weapons to make ends meet, exposing local populations to
grave risks.
The UN brigade should break the potential armed alliances of both
their co-collaborators, the Congolese army, and their target, the
FDLR. Most importantly, targeted military operations against the FDLR
must accompany robust efforts to disarm, demobilise, repatriate (DDR),
and reintegrate, and resettle (RR) FDLR combatants. Contrary to
wide-held Congolese perceptions, many FDLR members were born or grew
up in Congo and need a national-level solution such as nationalisation
and relocation. Any DDR/RR programme must offer long-term support,
real security guarantees, and sustainable livelihood alternatives
without inducing others to join rebel groups to reap the DDR/RR
benefits. UN Special Envoy Mary Robinson and US Special Envoy Russ
Feingold should urge Kinshasa to make DDR/RR an immediate priority.
Read the full op-ed at The Daily Monitor.
Photo: FARDC soldiers on patrol in eastern Congo (AP).
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/op-ed-after-m23-it-time-focus-dr-congos-fdlr-rebels&q=m23+Fdlr+congo+rebels+time+focus
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SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
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