Anneke Van Woudenberg: Distasteful truths that block path to peace

With the troops of General Laurent Nkunda threatening the eastern Congolese city of Goma, national and international leaders must act to avert further war. To do so, diplomats must tackle two uncomfortable truths: Rwandan support – perhaps tacit but important – for Nkunda, and the cosy relationship between the Congolese government army and a Rwandan armed group, the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

Although high-ranking Rwandan officials deny assisting Nkunda and discount any power to influence him, he actively recruits hundreds of his most experienced soldiers within Rwanda, many of them demobilised Rwandan government troops. Although we do not have exact numbers, we have some idea of the scale from the 200 Rwandans who have left Nkunda's ranks to enter a UN-run demobilisation programme for repatriation back to Rwanda. Whether Rwandan officials encourage this recruitment or merely tolerate it matters little to most Congolese. All they see is soldiers from across the border present in the rebel ranks. Given the past history of Rwandan military occupation of eastern Congo, that presence fuels hostility and suspicion towards Rwanda and towards Congolese Tutsi people. Officials anxious to solidify their own power spur that hatred, creating conditions for anti-Tutsi violence. Since August, 40 Tutsi have been arbitrarily detained in Goma, and some tortured.

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The second uncomfortable truth is the resurgence of collaboration between Congolese government soldiers and the Rwandan Hutu FDLR in Congo. The group, which incorporates some combatants who participated in the Rwandan genocide, says it intends to overthrow the government of Rwanda, but these days it just plunders Congolese citizens and enriches itself from Congolese resources.

In the past, the government army has occasionally relied upon the FDLR's support but, according to a November 2007 agreement between Congo and Rwanda, the Congolese government was supposed to disarm the FDLR. In recent battles, however, such as those in the town of Masisi in mid-September, FDLR combatants joined Congolese army soldiers to fight Nkunda's forces.

Until these two problems are resolved, peace efforts will not advance and the civilians of Congo will continue to pay the price.

The author is a senior researcher on the Democratic Republic of Congo for Human Rights Watch