Comment: North Kivu's Fragile Peace

The recently ended peace conference to stop the killing in Congo’s North Kivu province finished on a high note with promises on all sides that combatants would lay down their weapons.



Residents hoped it would put an end to the terror that has plagued the country’s northeastern provinces for years.



Within days, however, there was renewed fighting between soldiers loyal to the renegade Congolese Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda and the rival Pareco militia group.



Though both sides insisted they were still committed to peace, the renewed hostilities underlined the fragile nature of the deal reached in the provincial capital Goma.



It also raised questions as to whether such an agreement can truly end the violence and insecurity in North Kivu.



The signing of the peace deal by 20 members of armed groups, the government, and the international community was a big step, and the conference deserves credit for bringing warring parties to the table.



But there have been several similar agreements before, one in Arusha and another in Nairobi, for example. There was also the inter-Kivu dialogue of 2001 and negotiations in February 2006 between the government and Nkunda that led to his National Congress for the Defence of the People, CNDP, troops being unsuccessfully integrated into the national army.



This history of failed agreements shows that signing documents isn’t enough. The will to achieve lasting peace is vital, as the CNDP-Pareco clashes in the village of Bambo, some 180 kilometres north of Goma, have already proven.



The recent conference took place only after a humiliating defeat of the Congolese army at the hands of Nkunda’s forces.

Nkunda, a Congolese Tutsi, claims he is simply protecting his ethnic Tutsis from the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda, FDLR, which contain Hutu militiamen who fled to the DRC after the genocide of 1994.



Historically, Congolese natives and the Rwandan minority have had a tense relationship in this region, which is rich in natural resources. The Rwandan genocide also deeply undermined the fragile nature of their co-existence in Congo.



Under the most recent deal, a commission will be set up to manage the implementation of the Goma accord.



That has now been formed. It is chaired by the government and includes representatives from the international community and the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUC.



One of the commission’s trickiest tasks, however, will be to oversee the demobilisation of the rebel soldiers or their integration into the Congolese army.



Creating a unified army won’t be easy. For old enemies jostling for power in this new force, abandoning military allegiances means losing influence – both political and economic.



It was the failure of previous attempts to integrate Nkunda’s troops that led the resumption of fighting in early 2007, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.



Lessons should be learned from that failed process.



There was a lack of coordination and efficiency between the various agencies running the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, DDR, process. Another problem was competition between the factions, something that still exists today.



Much remains to be done before a proper army is set up in the DRC.



The numerous failures and technical problems of the DDR programme must be addressed by the new commission if the integration of ex-rebels into the regular army is to succeed.



Though the fate of Nkunda was not on the agenda at Goma, it has been a topic of much speculation in Congo. The peace deal outlined an amnesty for the region’s warlords, though not for those suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.



DRC president Joseph Kabila insists that amnesty is not a synonym for impunity. But many Congolese recall that a precedent has already been set for turning a blind eye to crimes committed in the eastern provinces.



Ituri rebel leaders Peter Karim and Cobra Matata are now members of the national army, despite having been accused of war crimes there.



Nkunda does not intend to go into exile and is expecting to be granted an amnesty.



Some agree that he should get his wish in the name of national reconciliation and to avoid further war in the province. Others insist the Nkunda should face the full rigours of the law.



Nkunda is the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by the Congolese government for crimes allegedly committed by his troops in the South Kivu town of Bukavu in 2004.



If he were granted an amnesty all prosecutions against him on a national level would be dropped.



But that doesn’t protect him from prosecution by the International Criminal Court, ICC.



It is unknown if the court’s prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is investigating war crimes in North Kivu, though the court has in the past expressed concern at the reports of mass graves, rapes and massacres in territories under Nkunda’s control.



In the complicated relationship between peace and justice – as in Uganda – will the prosecutor suspend his investigations to give peace a chance or stick to his own agenda?



It is a mistake to make peace with criminals just as it is a mistake to forget the crimes that were committed in the east of the DRC.



Impunity has always been a threat to peace. It should be the responsibility of the Congolese judicial system to investigate and prosecute Nkunda. Failing that, the ICC should to lead such investigations and do its utmost to put Nkunda on trial.



Now the peace deal is signed, we Congolese must also think about national reconciliation.



Though it is no substitute for justice, a truth and reconciliation commission should be set up with some urgency to establish the truth about crimes committed in the Congo.



It needs to be given sufficient means to go about its work, be led by individuals of high moral integrity and be assured of its independence.



It is the whole country that needs peace and reconciliation, not just the eastern provinces. The time has come to make peace a reality in Congo in general, and in the Kivus in particular.



Eugène Bakama Bope is the president of Friends of Law in the Congo.