M23 surrender alone won't end Congo war: 7 thoughts from US envoy
Former Sen. Russ Feingold, now State Department envoy to Africa's Great Lakes region, spoke candidly to reporters after Congolese Tutsi rebel group M23 laid down arms this week.
Former Sen. Russ Feingold, now State Department envoy to Africa's Great Lakes region, spoke candidly to reporters after Congolese Tutsi rebel group M23 laid down arms this week.
The surrender of a top M23 rebel commander and 1,700 of his troops raises hope for the end of a brutal, complex, and little-noticed war in East Congo that has displaced 800,000 people.
In the past 10 days, 海角大神's guest blogger Jason Stearns has foreshadowed these developments听here听and听here.听Yet the stand-down of Congolese Tutsi rebel group M23's is only one part of ending the war, according to US special envoy Russ Feingold, who gave reporters a lengthy briefing Wednesday from London.
M23's departure from the field is not yet complete, says Amb. Feingold, who calls for face-to-face meetings between African Great Lakes leaders from Uganda, Congo, and Rwanda, and from the African Union, to end the 20-year fracas. Without the gravity of such unprecedented talks, the effort to end a conflict so riven with rival groups and ethnic tensions, will not 鈥済et at the root causes," he said.
[To skip directly to a selection of Feingold's comments, click here.]听
M23 was formed two years ago by Tutsi ethnic rebel defectors in the Congo military who said that Congolese leaders had failed to honor a peace deal, including amnesty and pay, dating to March 23, 2009. Rwanda officially denies supporting the M23 Congo Tutsis, but most diplomats assume such support exists. US pressure in the past year is believed to have slowed or stopped that support, Feingold stated implicitly.
Two separate negotiations on East Congo are underway. One, the Framework Agreement, is international. The other, initiated in Uganda, is called the Kampala Process. Diplomats from the United Nations, the US, the African Union, and other diplomats from the so-called Great Lakes region of sub-Saharan Africa have gotten involved in both talks due to the worsening humanitarian crisis this summer.
M23 is seen as the stumbling block to progress in both talks because the war cannot end if M23 remains in the field, Feingold says, so their stand-down this week is historic.听
For more information and context, here are choice selections from the Feingold briefing on the East Congo situation, including US views on Rwanda, next steps, and questions about war crimes:听
Feingold's opening comments:听
In response to a question about the significance of the M23 surrender:听
听In response to a question about the next step:听
In response to听a question about the relations between the US and Rwanda, which is believed to support M23:听
In response to听a question about how to treat war crimes and whether an amnesty will be given:
听In response to听a question about whether the main culprits have been identified and how justice might be served:听
In response to听a question about the importance of an overall settlement based on face-to-face negotiations:听