DRC: Congolese Bishops call for Luanda Agreement to be respected

Stanislas Kambashi, SJ - Vatican City

The Bishops observe that while there is a slight evolution in the direction of ending the trivialization of life in the DRC, they appeal for the solidarity of international partners to adequately support the roadmap towards peace.

A significant step towards

According to a press release from the Angolan presidency, the Luanda ceasefire agreement, signed at the end of the second ministerial meeting between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, was due to take effect this month -August 2024.

The DRC’s North Kivu province has witnessed clashes between the country’s military and the M23 rebels. The unrest has created tremendous suffering for the local people and caused a massive humanitarian crisis.

Congo accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels. It is an accusation confirmed by UN reports that have confirmed the involvement of Rwandan military personnel in the conflict.

However, if adhered to, the recent Luanda ceasefire agreement, will be a significant step towards the peaceful resolution of a conflict that has been raging for some years.

Cenco: One step forward

In their press release, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo, known by its acronym, Cenco, congratulated “all parties on this small step forward.” The Bishops note, however, that this is not the first agreement signed between the governments of Rwanda and DRC. “All previous agreements had been casually violated, and not given rise to any sanctions,” the Bishops said.

Cenco has invited the two signatories, DRC and Rwanda, “to respect this agreement” and calls on international partners to show their solidarity by supporting the effective implementation of this roadmap to end the ordeal of the Congolese people in the eastern part of their country.

End to the trivialization of life in DRC

For Cenco, the various initiatives to resolve the security and humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC, including humanitarian truces and the latest Luanda agreement, show a small but significant advance. It represents a slight evolution in the positions of the parties involved in the current conflict and of the DRC’s international partners “in the direction of putting an end to the trivialization of life in the DRC and to the ordeal suffered by Congolese communities affected by these conflicts for just over three decades.”

The war in the DRC is also a priority

The Congolese Bishops regret that, until now, the war in the east of the DRC has never been considered “a priority in the same way as the war in Ukraine or the situation in the Middle East.” Yet in all these situations, “the same human lives are being cut short, the same human rights violated and the same human dignity trampled underfoot.”

In urging respect for this agreement, the Congolese Bishops believe that various parties must “take into consideration the imperative need to enable all these women, children and men, displaced by the force of recurring insecurity, to live in dignity and peace in their homelands as people created in the image and likeness of God."