In a briefing to the UN Security Council sitting this week in New York, the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes, Huang Xia, presented a positive picture of the conduct of the M23 Movement and sadly, a not-so-good account on the part of the Kinshasa regime.
While Xia talked of a promising lull on the battlefront thanks to the compliance of the M23 Movement who graciously agreed to cede territories they captured from the Kinshasa regime army, FARDC who have taken FDLR and other terrorist armed groups as allies supported by Western mercenaries.
However, Xia stressed that “serious risks remain” largely because despite the goodwill demonstrated by the M23 Movement, a negotiated political solution, which is being called for by more and more voices remains elusive because of the lack of political will on the part of the Kinshasa regime.
The UN Great Lakes Envoy observed that the risk of renewed fighting remains real, principally because of the negative attitude exhibited by the Kinshasa regime and because the local armed groups and FDLR, all sponsored by the Kinshasa regime, continue to spread terror and fuel instability.
The envoy told the security council how the Kinshasa regime was fuelling a seemingly endless cycle of tensions between communities in the region and the proliferation of hate speech which has resulted in a slow genocide of the Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, specifically the Congolese Tutsi ethnic community.
Concluding his report, the UN Envoy called on the UN Security Council, the region, the international, and all stakeholders to renew their efforts and take advantage of the window of opportunity presented by the withdrawal of the M23 Movement to push (the Kinshasa regime) for the dream of lasting peace in the Great Lakes region to be accomplished.