Congo’s M23 rebel group ends its insurgency

One of Congo’s most feared rebel groups declared an end to its violent insurgency Tuesday following military defeats at the hands of Congolese army forces backed by a new United Nations combat brigade, bringing a touch of hope in a battle-scarred nation.

But the military end of the 20-month-long rebellion by the M23 movement highlights the numerous challenges that still remain for achieving a sustainable peace in Congo. More than 5 million people have been killed in the Central African nation since 1998, making the conflict the deadliest since World War II.

       More than 40 militias and rebel groups still terrorize communities in Congo, which is roughly the size of Western Europe, and pillage its vast mineral wealth, including gold, tin and copper. Core grievances still fester among Congo’s ethnic Tutsis, who formed the core of the M23 rebels. M23 political leaders have vowed that another ethnic Tutsi rebel group would rise up if they are defeated or if their demands are not met at the negotiating table.

Indeed, a crucial test is whether both the government and rebels, who are mostly disaffected Congolese soldiers, will cease fighting and forge a political resolution, especially on sensitive issues such as amnesty and reintegration of the rebels into the national army. Peace talks in recent months have repeatedly stalled; a 2009 cease-fire that ended a previous Tutsi-led rebellion fell apart and led to the rise of the M23 insurrection in April 2012.

Nevertheless, Tuesday’s announcement was welcomed by Western and African diplomats who have worked for months to seek a resolution between the government and rebels.

“Despite the bumps in the road, this is an important step in the right direction,” Russell Feingold, U.S. special envoy to the Congo and the Great Lakes region, told reporters at a briefing in the South African capital Pretoria, according to the Associated Press. “Everybody has to keep their commitments.”

The decision to lay down arms came hours after the Congolese government declared victory in the conflict, saying that its forces had pushed the rebels out of their last remaining outposts near the Ugandan border. The government offensive, which began nearly two weeks ago, swiftly ousted the rebels from more than a half dozen towns that they had controlled for more than a year near the borders with Rwanda and Uganda.

African leaders at a summit in Pretoria had urged the M23 rebels to publicly declare that they would abandon “rebellion,” a step that would pave the way for a peace accord with the Congolese government.

“The chief of general staff and the commanders of all major units are requested to prepare troops for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration on terms to be agreed with the government of Congo,” M23’s political leader, Bertrand Bisimwa, said in a statement. He said any grievances would be resolved through “political means only.”

Diplomats and analysts said they hope the accord will not become a case of déjà vu. On March 23, 2009, the National Congress for the Defense of the People, a Tutsi-led rebel movement known as the CNDP, signed a peace deal with the Congolese government that called for the rebels to be integrated into the national army. But the pact fell apart, and hundreds of soldiers, mostly former rebels, defected to launch the M23 movement, named after the date of the failed accord.