04 11 13 Voice of America: Congo Government: M23 Ceasefire Offer Not Enough

M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa has called on his fighters to lay down their arms
and give the peace process, which stalled recently in Kampala, a chance.  

Bisimwa said the Congolese army, known as the FARDC, must stop its advance in
the current offensive and also return to the peace talks.  

He said the rebels cannot disarm without a resolution to the concerns for which
it began fighting.  

But Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende said the M23 must end its
rebellion and present its fighters to the commission created in Kampala to demobilize
them and return them to civilian life.

“It is not a matter of ceasefire.  What we have convened in Kampala, witnessed by the
facilitator, as well as the special envoy of the international community, are
three things: one, the M23 must announce clearly, not a ceasefire, but the end
of the armed rebellion they launched 20 months ago. Secondly, M23 must
immediately put all its fighters at the disposal of the commission that was set
up in Kampala
to demobilize them, to disarm them, and help them to be back to civilian life,”
he said.

Mende said the M23 must also agree to respect what he calls the “human rights
and physical integrity” of our compatriots near Chanzu.

He said the Congolese government does not want another ceasefire from the M23
because it believes its army, the FARDC, could have defeated the rebels in the
next three or four days.

Mende said, instead of humiliating the M23, the Congo government agreed to having
the rebels commit themselves to a complete disarmament.

“We are somehow surprised to see that in their statement they are not talking
about what had been convened on that issue. They should try to do what they
said they were going to do, and we are giving them enough time now,” Mende
said.

He said it is the decision of the international community and the Congolese
government that the M23 must cease to exist as an armed group and transform
itself into a political structure.

Mende said, until the most recent clashes, the M23 was the main threat to peace
in eastern Congo and the
whole Great Lakes region.  He said the
government decided to first wipe out the M23 before going after other rebel
groups.

“We have other Congolese armed groups.  They have to be destroyed, all of
them.  But, we decided to start with the most dangerous, that was M23. As
soon as we finish them, as soon as they accept to disarm, to demobilize, to become
a political group, we shall deal with FDLR, ADF-NALU and others.  That is
the program of the DRC and allies from the international community,” Mende
said.

Bisimwa said his group will disarm after they sign an agreement with the
Congolese government addressing the concerns for which the group began its
rebellion.

“The problem of disarming ourselves will be done after we sign the agreement,
and now we are negotiating that agreement.  We can’t disarm ourselves
without an agreement because we have to know what will happen to the problems
which are the causes of the existence of movement,” he said.

He said the M23 launched its rebellion more than a year ago to, among other
things, provide security for the people of eastern Congo.

“As you know, in the eastern part of Congo, there are many, many foreign
groups who are killing and raping and we can’t continue to accept this.
Secondly, you know we have many refugees outside in Rwanda,
Uganda, Burundi, and in Tanzania.  We want those
Congolese to be accepted as citizens of this country,” he said.

Bisimwa also said the people of eastern Congo have suffered for so long,
and the M23 wants to give them an opportunity find jobs, build hospitals,
roads, and schools.

The M23 had said it wanted its fighters to be granted amnesty.  But, the
Congolese government says it does not give amnesty to people who
indiscriminately kill innocent civilians.

Bisimwa said the M23 is not involved in the killing of innocent people.
 He accused the Congolese government engaging in propaganda against the
M23.

“We agree with the government of Kinshasa
that we cannot give amnesty to people who kill other people.  But, what
about us?  We didn’t kill anybody.  And, you know, the government of Kinshasa used propaganda
to show that the M23 doesn’t have any plan,” Bisimwa said.