Rwanda, DRC warned over border deployment
The East African - 10 hours ago
By Special Correspondent
Posted Wednesday, June 25 2014 at 10:19

Officers from the UN, Rwandan and Congolese Joint Verification Mission
tour a part of the Rwandan border on June 12, 2014 in Kanyesheza,
where fighting is said to have taken place. AFP
IN SUMMARY
Sections within the Congolese army claim four of the dead soldiers
could have been Congolese prisoners of war.
While the cause of the fighting is alleged to be theft of cows by
FARDC from the Rwandan territory, the EJVM says that the cows in
question were not found during the investigations.
The EJVM findings contradict Rwanda's position that RDF was provoked
and responded by returning fire.
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been cautioned
against military deployment along their respective borders to avoid
skirmishes between the armies of the two countries.
This follows assessment by a group of experts from the International
Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGRL) under the Extended Joint
Verification Mechanism (EJVM), which was investigating border clashes
between the two countries a fortnight ago that left five Congolese
soldiers dead.
READ: Rwanda, DR Congo trade blame for heavy border fighting
The EJVM was set up by ICGLR member states in September 2012 at the
height of the M23 conflict in eastern DR Congo to monitor the borders
of the two countries and investigate any territorial violations by the
two sides.
It has the mandate to rebuild confidence between DR Congo and Rwanda
by observing and reporting on any activities, conflict or flow of arms
and related material across borders of eastern DRC.
In its report on the findings from violent altercation on the border
between the two neighbours, the experts fault both armies.
In the 14-page report seen by The EastAfrican, the EJVM found that
there were violations of territory from both sides but notes that
there was "provocation by Rwanda Defence Forces on the Congolese
national army positions at Kanyesheja."
The EJVM findings contradict Rwanda's position, given by the Minister
of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo last week, that RDF was provoked
and responded by returning fire.
READ: Rwanda's Foreign minister speaks out on DR Congo border clash
While the cause of the fighting is alleged to be theft of cows by
FARDC from the Rwandan territory, the EJVM says that the cows in
question were not found during the investigations. The report also
raises fresh questions on the manner in which the five soldiers from
DR Congo were killed.
Sections within the Congolese army claim four of the dead soldiers
could have been Congolese prisoners of war, who were killed and dumped
in the area of fighting while Rwanda says the four were killed in the
second confrontation which saw FARDC men attack RDF positions.
EJVM further says the causes of fighting were partly the "alleged
capture of an FARDC soldier by RDF" and the "location of Kanyesheja II
hill which is contested by the two countries given its positioning
along the presumed borderline."
The 'restricted' report signed by The 'restricted' report signed by 9
of 10 members of the EJVM, Rwanda has not signed the report, also
observes that there is general lack of trust between FARDC and RDF
field commanders. The contested borderline demarcation between the two
countries was also cited as a major cause conflict.
Worryingly close
Members of the EJVM observed that the deployment of the forces of the
two countries is worryingly "close to each other with no proper border
demarcations to identify territorial sovereignty."
They further state that there were no visible traces of empty
cartridges at neither the alleged ambush site nor at the scene of the
morning (first) incidence, but there was glaring evidence of battle
(empty cartridges and fox holes) on both hills of Kanyesheja which are
contested by the two countries.
According to the investigation team, at the time of verification, RDF
forces were physically occupying Kanyesheja II hill, which according
to Google Maps, is inside DR Congo's territory. The hill had since
been abandoned by FARDC.
The site of the cattle kraal where cows were alleged to have been
stolen is in Rwanda territory but no stolen cattle were seen or found
from DRC side.
It is not clear however how the said soldiers died. Kinshasa claims
the soldiers had most probably been in custody of the Rwandans. By the
time the EJVM left the scene, Rwanda Red Cross was present to recover
the five bodies to hand them over to DR Congo Red Cross.
The report also contains gory pictures of the slain soldiers, which
bear bullet wounds and blunt cuts. Part of the recommendations is that
a detailed forensic autopsy be conducted on all the corpses to
determine the time, cause and type of death.
DR Congo officials claim the said soldiers were not killed during the
confrontation. The recommendation by EJVM to carry out a detailed
autopsy on the bodies brings a new twist to the incident which has
seen both Rwanda and DR Congo trade accusations of provocation.
Resolve border conflict
Members of the EJVM called on the International Conference for the
Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) to convene an urgent meeting to resolve
border issues between the two countries but in the meantime called on
RDF and FARDC to avoid deploying forces on the contentious hill.
"The continued deployment of both forces close to each other along the
porous border will still create tension, if urgent measures are not
undertaken by both states and regional stakeholders...suspicions and
mistrust among the two forces contributed to the tension that resulted
in the recent clash and a probability of future fighting will prevail
if urgent measures are not undertaken."
"Until the dispute is resolved amicably, both countries should take
additional measures to effectively ensure that the two forces
deployments are at a reasonable distance away from the borders," the
report states.
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Rwanda--DRC-warned-over-border-deployment/-/2558/2361038/-/yi6khb/-/index.html&source=s&q=Rwanda,+DRC+warned+over+border+deployment+The+East+African&sa=X&ei=-yGrU_mLCcOwyASy74DYBw&ved=0CCMQFjAA
--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
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