Dissidents in a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are trying to undermine the peace process in the strife-torn Central African state, an international rights watchdog charged on Tuesday.
”According to our information some officers of the Congolese Rally for Democracy [RCD] who have split from their movement are trying to undermine the peace process in the DRC from a base in Kisangani,” the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) warned in a statement from the capital Kinshasa.
The RCD is the main rebel group that reached an agreement to settle the long-running conflict and set up a transitional government.
The rights organisation and its DRC branch, Lotus, cited cases of rebellion by senior officers refusing to come to Kinshasa to assume commands assigned to them by presidential decree as part of a new restructured army in the peace and reconciliation process.
The DRC emerged from nearly five years of war in April, when a transitional government, tasked with guiding the country to democratic elections, was set up.
An agreement on the government signed last December in South Africa sees the rebel forces being integrated with government forces, with former rebel commanders receiving posts in various parts of the country.
The FIDH highlighted the case of General Kamwanya Bora Uzima, nominated by the RCD to command the third military district.
He was reported arrested on August 30 at Kisangani during a firefight while preparing to rebel after the reunited general staff refused him for the post.
The rights group also said Jean-Pierre Bilusa, governor of the eastern province based in Kisangani, had suspended all political parties except his own, the RCD, ”on the pretext of preventing anarchy”.
The rights group warned that the step was a danger to the peace process and called for its immediate withdrawal.
The rights bodies also reported the arrival in Kisangani from Goma of two aircraft loaded with arms and ammunition. The claims could not be officially confirmed on Tuesday.
”The heavy tension in the eastern DRC raises fears of military confrontation in Kisangani, whose population was the first victim of repeated wars,” the FIDH warned. — Sapa-AFP