Thanks to the mediation of the US presidential administration and Qatar, there is hope that the conflict, which has its roots far back in the past, will be resolved. The plan for a peace treaty between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been agreed, and its official signing is scheduled to take place on June 27. This will be Donald Trump’s first peacemaking victory in his second term as president. In addition, the United States will be able to access valuable resources near Lake Kivu. Because of them, in fact, the war in the DRC has been going on for many years, in which all neighboring countries are more or less involved. Especially Rwanda.
Direct Rwandan-Congolese talks began in Washington on June 14. The agreement, developed by the State Department on the basis of memoranda submitted by Rwanda and the DRC, was discussed.
There were fears that negotiations, as has happened before, would break down due to the intransigence of the parties. The DRC, in particular, insisted on the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from the country and the complete severance of Rwanda’s ties with the March 23 Movement (M23), which positions itself as a defender of the Tutsi ethnic group. Rwanda, in turn, demanded that the DRC authorities fight the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. She settled in the east of the Congo. According to the Rwandan authorities, it includes representatives of the Hutu ethnic group responsible for the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
According to the State Department, the text of the agreement has been agreed upon and is scheduled to be signed at the ministerial level on June 27 in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The parties do not plan to publish the document before this date. Therefore, so far much of what has been agreed remains unclear. The State Department’s statement, in particular, noted that Rwanda and the DRC agreed to cease hostilities, respect each other’s territorial integrity, and disarm and integrate armed groups operating in the Lake Kivu area into their government structures. The Treaty also includes a provision on the creation of a collective security mechanism, which appeared even when negotiations were mediated by Angola. This is perhaps the most mysterious point of the document. From the messages that are available, it is unclear how it will be implemented.
If the treaty is signed and if its provisions do not remain on paper, it will be Trump’s first peacemaking victory in his second term. After all, the promises of the US president to resolve conflicts in the Middle East and Europe have not been fulfilled.
It is difficult to say which event should be considered the starting point of the current war in the east of the DRC, which has claimed many thousands of lives, but, like most African military conflicts, is almost not covered by the world media. Perhaps the year 2022 can be considered the beginning, when the M23 began to strengthen its influence in the mineral-rich and poorly controlled central government area of Lake Kivu. Or maybe we should start with the so–called Congolese wars – the first (1996-1997) and especially the second (1998-2003), which is sometimes referred to as the Great African War due to the large number of countries involved in it.
However, from the point of view of the Rwandan authorities, all these wars are just an echo of the 1994 genocide. Rwandan President Paul Kagame has consistently cited the unwillingness or inability of the official Congolese authorities to disarm and bring to justice all Hutus involved in the massacre that claimed one and a half million lives as the reason for the country’s interference in the affairs of the DRC. Kagame’s numerous opponents, in turn, accuse him of planning, if not to restore the medieval Tutsi empire, located on the modern territory of several East African states, then at least to profit from the fabulous natural resources of the east of the DRC. In the area of Lake Kivu, in the land of volcanoes, there are deposits of gold, diamonds and, most importantly, the richest reserves of rare earth metals. And experts on the region often look for the prerequisites for conflict back in the days of colonialism and say that there can be no simple and linear explanations here. In the east of the DRC, there is a bundle of social, ethnic, political and territorial contradictions that have given rise to many factions seeking to realize their interests.
The March 23 movement is now one of the main participants in the conflict in eastern DRC. It was created by former members of the National Congress for the Defense of the People party, which included Tutsi veterans of the Congolese wars. The party was unable to fit into legal politics, having completely lost the 2011 elections. The attempt by the then President of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, to actually eliminate it led to the rebels taking up arms again. In 2013, the M23 they created was defeated with the participation of external forces, mainly the neighbors of the DRC. Some of the rebels were able to take refuge in Rwanda, and four years ago the group was revived.
Now the M23 occupies part of the territory of the provinces of the DRC – North and South Kivu and enjoys the undisguised support of Rwanda. From the point of view of the official Congolese authorities, there is no group as such.: Allegedly, its name is just a cover for regular Rwandan troops. And international organizations blame all parties to the conflict for human rights violations and note that the rebels are most interested in enriching themselves by selling the region’s resources, as well as collecting taxes from the population living in the territories controlled by the M23.
Deposits of minerals that are critically important for the production of electronics and various equipment are of interest not only to the direct parties to the conflict, but also to external forces. This year, the Trump administration offered its services as a mediator in the negotiations, while not hiding its interest in gaining access to the natural resources of the region. Washington was also concerned about the strengthening economic ties between Rwanda and China, the main exporter of rare earth metals.
Previously, Angola acted as a mediator, but after several attempts to stabilize the situation, it abandoned this role. Qatar also took a back seat in the negotiation process. This means that only Trump can get the laurels of a peacemaker.