Great Lakes Region Secretariat expresses 'grave concern' about situation in eastern DRC
Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) on Tuesday expressed grave concern at the resurgence of military tensions in eastern DR Congo (DRC) since the beginning of last week.
In a statement the Bujumbura-based ICGLR said it "strongly condemns" this upsurge in violence attributed to the M23, a Congolese rebel movement whose code (M23) refers to the date of its creation on 23 March 2012.
The statement asked the armed group to participate, "without conditions", in the political process initiated by the regional meeting of heads of state on the DRC in Nairobi on 21 April 2022.
The ICGLR Secretariat, while condemning the existence of various armed groups operating in eastern DRC, said it was awaiting the conclusions of the report of the Enlarged Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM).
This mechanism has deployed a Joint Verification Team (JVT) since 24 May 2022 on the ground, in order to bring the matter before the ICGLR decision-making bodies.
The Secretariat urges the authorities in Kinshasa and the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) to strengthen the protection of internally-displaced sites and to ensure the protection of civilians in eastern DRC.
The 12-member states of the ICGLR are: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Republic of South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
There are new tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, which is accused of supporting the M23, a charge that Kigali denies.
The 1994 Rwandan genocide, which claimed more than 800,000 victims, reinforced the political instability in DRC, following a massive influx of refugees, including the alleged perpetrators of the crime against humanity.
-0- PANA FB/JSG/SOC/MTA/MA 1June2022
