On a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, former French President François Hollande pleaded on Tuesday, September 27 in Kinshasa for “the end of interference“and a United Nations force”more efficientto bring peace to the torn east of this great Central African country. “The Congo is a sovereign, independent, democratic country, which must regulate by itself the affairs which concern it, including these guerrillas which come to disturb the life of the populations.“, said François Hollande to AFP.
Accompanied by his wife Julie Gayet, the former president had just visited the national museum of the DRC and was then to go to Bukavu, to attend on Wednesday the inauguration of a new department of the hospital of the famous Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege, 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for her action in favor of women victims of sexual violence. Bukavu is the capital of South Kivu, one of the eastern provinces of the DRC plagued for nearly 30 years by violence from armed groups.
“Fostering Peace”
“I am going to the East (…) because it is an area which is still, unfortunately, troubled, with numerous civilian victims and the need – President Macron has also taken the initiative – to promote peace in this part of the country, the end of foreign interference and the predations committed there and, alas, the attacks of which women are the victims“explained François Hollande.
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On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron brought together Congolese Presidents Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan Presidents Paul Kagame last week to try to lower the tension between the two neighbors, at the highest level since the resurgence of a Tutsi rebellion (theM23”) that Kinshasa claims to be supported by Kigali.
“End of interference”
Asked about the message he himself had to convey, François Hollande insisted: “the message that I must convey is the end of interference of all kinds“. Regarding the United Nations force in the DRC (Monusco), whose departure was violently demanded recently by demonstrators who blame it for its inability to bring peace after more than twenty years of presence in the country, François Hollande judged this strength”essential to deter, to protect“.
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To question the presence of this force “would be playing into the hands of groups that terrorize the population or engage in unbearable predation“, he warned. However, in the DRC as in some other countries, he said, “the conditions of engagement, the composition of these forces, their equipment, are not perfect to ensure the mandate entrusted to them“. These forces, according to him, must bemuch more effective, even to get in touch with these groups»armed.
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