Luanda - Angola on Friday called on all negative forces in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including the M23, to fully implement peace commitments aimed at the cessation of all hostilities on the ground.
'The position was expressed by the Military Advisor of the Permanent Mission of Angola to the United Nations in New York, Colonel José Filomeno da Fonseca, who was speaking at the Meeting of the 1533 Sanctions Committee of the Security Council on the Democratic Republic of Congo, on behalf of the permanent representative ambassador Francisco José da Cruz.
On the occasion, the diplomat said that, 'in his capacity as African Union Champion for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa and chairperson of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGRL), the President of Angola, João Lourenço, has made several diplomatic efforts to ease political tension between the DRC and Rwanda.
These initiatives, he said, aim to encourage dialogue at the highest level and re-establish an environment of trust between both parties, to prevent the current political crisis from turning into a regional conflict.
Meanwhile, he deplored the resumption of attacks in December 2023 by the M23 against civilian populations and the violation of human rights, including the occupation of several areas in Congolese territory, which constitutes a clear violation of the Luanda and Nairobi Process, thus undermining diplomatic efforts and initiatives for peace and stability in the DRC.
Throughout his speech, Colonel José Filomeno da Fonseca recalled that the electoral process in the DRC was marked until its conclusion by a great political and diplomatic atmosphere between Kinshasa and Kigali, while intense fighting was taking place in the operational theater.
'This environment undermined all the facilitation and mediation efforts developed by the President of the Republic, causing a setback in the entire process achieved, as well as an increase in the lack of trust between the two interlocutors,' he said.
Despite this setback, he reported that mediation efforts were resumed, following the visits to Luanda by the President of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, and Rwanda, Paul Kagame, in February and March 2024, respectively, in which the Ministerial Meeting of March 21, 2024* was held.
He informed that the second Ministerial Meeting should be held on July 30 of this year, in Luanda, and that it did not take place before, due to the worsening of the situation on the ground, aggravated by the bombing of the Mugunga refugee camp, on May 3, as well as the changes in the portfolios of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the respective countries.
He said that the next Ministerial meeting will particularly consider the assumptions for the establishment of a ceasefire. ART/DOJ
