AU endorses SA-led mission in DRC – but Rwanda is pretty annoyed

• On Monday, the African Union (AU) Security Council held a virtual meeting Rwanda was not invited to and discussed the DRC crisis.
• Rwanda wrote to the AU in a last-minute attempt to urge the body not to support the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Rwanda accused SADC of longstanding bias in dealing with the DRC crisis.

Rwanda is not amused by its exclusion from a virtual African Union Political Affairs Peace and Security body (PAPS) meeting that endorsed the SA-led SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC) earlier this week.

During that meeting, the AU endorsed SAMIDRC and also thanked South Africa, Malawi, and Tanzania - the three countries that make up the regional force battling rebels in the eastern DRC.

The AU called for "disarmament of negative forces" – such as the M23 rebels Rwanda denies supporting to almost universal disbelief.

Last month, Rwanda appealed to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) not to consider providing logistical or physical support to SAMIDRC.

However, the UNSC raised issues with Rwanda's continued support for M23 rebels to the extent that UN peacekeepers' "blue helmets" had been attacked by missiles linked to Rwanda, and this affected the creation of humanitarian corridors.

Burundi and South Africa will end their tenure at the AU PAPS on 1 April, while the DRC will be coming on board. Rwanda is not a member of the council.

With the DRC sitting on the council, it's widely expected that its war against rebels will gain considerable support, while Rwanda watches from outside.

Upon learning about the Monday meeting to which it was not invited, Rwanda wrote to AU Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat.

In the letter, Rwanda spoke strongly against the objective of the meeting to "endorse the deployment of SAMIDRC, and assess possible support that the AU and other strategic partners could extend to SAMIDRC".

Rwanda said while it was not part of the meeting, the AU should consider "the threat to Rwanda and the wider region of the SAMIDRC deployment."

One of Rwanda's concerns raised in the letter was that SAMIDRC was fighting alongside the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) since it worked with the DRC national army.

FDLR is a rebel group launching its attacks into Rwanda from North Kivu in DRC. 

Rwanda also claimed that the coalition that SAMIDRC was working with had elements of European mercenaries, the Burundian armed forces, and a private security company with links to Blackwater.

The coalition of armies, Rwanda said would not bring about any lasting solution as such must not be supported.

"SAMIDRC as an offensive force in coalition with these elements cannot substitute for a political process that has been blocked by the government of the DRC. Therefore, the AU is urged not to 'authorise' or fund SAMIDRC," reads the letter written by Rwanda's foreign affairs minister, Vincent Biruta.

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DRC's president, Felix Tshisekedi, said last month said they would only have discussions with Rwanda after M23 rebels were flushed out of the Congo or they willingly withdrew.

Rwanda accused SADC of being biased in the DRC conflict.

Rwanda said in 2013 that SADC forces selectively chose to only fight the M23 rebels instead of also dealing with FDLR and the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

For that Rwanda said: "SAMIDRC currently supports the government of DRC's belligerent posture."

Rwanda signed off by saying it was ready to play a part in supporting a peaceful resolution to the DRC crisis.