AU Summit: DRC, Sudan at the heart of discussions in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - At the start of the 38th annual summit of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, the UN chief on Saturday called for an end to the outbreak of fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan, two conflicts which he said pose an imminent threat to the stability of the entire African continent.
The annual AU meeting, which brought together heads of state and government from the 55 countries of the pan-African organisation for two days in the Ethiopian capital this weekend, opened as fighting in the DRC and Sudan respectively escalates.
In a speech on the first day, during which the reins of the rotating presidency of the AU were handed over to Angolan President Joao Lourenço for a period of one year, the UN Secretary-General did not mince his words about the urgency of the crisis in the DRC.
“The Congolese people are experiencing – once again – a brutal cycle of violence,” Guterres said at the organization’s headquarters.
Since the beginning of the year, the rebels of the M23 Movement, supported by Rwandan forces, have made a breakthrough against the regular army of the Kinshasa government in the Lake Kivu region, in the east of the DRC.
After Goma, the capital of the province of North Kivu, which fell into the hands of the M23 at the end of January, the armed group is now gaining ground in the neighbouring province of South Kivu, towards its capital Bukavu.
"The fighting raging in South Kivu, due to the continued M23 offensive, threatens to plunge the entire region into the abyss," Mr. Guterres worried.
Kigali's involvement raises fears of a regional expansion of the conflict, as does the recent hardening of tone between Rwanda and South Africa, one of the main contributors of troops to the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), which is deployed in the east of the country alongside the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO).
"Regional escalation must be avoided at all costs," the Secretary-General insisted in Addis Ababa.
While calling for respect for the territorial integrity of the DRC, Mr. Guterres considered that only dialogue would make it possible to break the current impasse.
At a press conference following his speech, Mr. Guterres recalled the importance of the conclusions of the joint summit of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held on February 8 in Tanzania.
On this occasion, members of the two regional groups called for an immediate ceasefire in the DRC and the relaunch of regional efforts based on the Luanda process, the main negotiation framework between Kinshasa and Kigali, and the Nairobi process, focused on resolving the conflict within the DRC.
The UN chief also said he had participated in an extraordinary session of the AU Peace and Security Council in the Ethiopian capital on Friday.
"We focused on the crises in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo," he said.
Mr. Guterres also deplored the current violence in Sudan, where, since April 2023, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been at war with the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in de facto power following the October 2021 putsch in the country.
"Sudan is being torn apart before our eyes and is now experiencing the largest displacement and famine crisis in the world," the Secretary-General said in his speech.
Nearly two years of civil war in the northeast African nation have left tens of thousands dead and displaced more than 12 million people, including more than 3.5 million who have fled across borders to neighboring countries.
Sudan has also become the only country in the world to be officially hit by famine.
As the holy month of Ramadan approaches, Mr. Guterres called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
He also called on the international community to unite to end the flow of weapons and the financing of fighting.
Going into detail about the country's ills during his press conference, the UN chief deplored the "horrific" daily reports of civilian killings, human rights violations and sexual violence.
“Hate speech and ethnically motivated attacks are on the rise,” he added. “And the economy is in free fall.”
Mr. Guterres also expressed concern that the increased flow of weapons and fighting was destabilizing the entire region.
“The Sudanese people need a clear path out of this nightmare,” he said. “And the world needs a stable and peaceful Sudan.”
-0- PANA MA 15Feb2024
