Rwanda, DRC Officials Set for Geneva Talks on Washington Accords.

The meeting will focus on assessing progress in implementing the security commitments agreed by the two countries under the Washington Accords. Representatives from the United States, Qatar, Togo and the African Union Commission are also expected to participate in the process. 

The parties have not publicly disclosed the detailed agenda for the two-day meeting.

The talks come after the sixth JSCM meeting held in Geneva on August 12–13, where Rwanda and the DRC agreed to advance two initiatives aimed at strengthening monitoring and verification of the implementation of the Washington Accords on the ground. 

The two countries asked the United States to review the proposed initiatives and provide feedback at the next JSCM meeting. They also agreed to hold a trilateral planning conference in October, which is expected to result in a revised operational framework for coordinating their efforts.

During the August meeting, the DRC presented its disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration plan for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which has been identified as one of the central security issues under the peace agreement.

Participants also held a virtual session with representatives of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, to draw on the mission's experience in disarmament and reintegration programmes in the region.

The Washington Accords require the neutralisation of the FDLR and the disengagement of forces and lifting of Rwanda's defensive measures. These commitments have remained among the most difficult aspects of the peace process to implement.

The Geneva meeting comes as fighting and security tensions continue in eastern DRC, putting further pressure on the peace process. Recent reporting has described the upcoming talks as an important test of whether Rwanda and the DRC can make progress on unresolved security commitments. 

Meanwhile, Rwanda has continued receiving former FDLR members and their families who have independently left the armed group and returned to Rwanda, separate

from the DRC government's disarmament plan presented under the Washington Accords. 

On September 8, 50 Rwandans, including former FDLR members and combatants, together with 69 relatives, were brought to Rwanda and taken to the Mutobo Demobilisation and Reintegration Centre in Musanze District. Some were handed over by MONUSCO, while others were transferred by the AFC/M23 coalition. 

Two days later, on September 10, 416 people were discharged from the Mutobo centre after undergoing reintegration and peaceful-coexistence training. The group included 130 members of the FDLR and other armed groups operating in eastern DRC, 79 civilians who had been associated with the FDLR, and 207 family members, including 143 children of school-going age.

The FDLR remains a major security concern in the region and has been at the centre of Rwanda's demands for action under the Washington peace process. The group, which includes individuals accused of involvement in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, has operated in eastern DRC for decades and remains under sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the United States. 

The FDLR militia launched attacks on Rwanda and it’s accused of leading violence targeting Banyamulenge and Tutsi communities in DR Congo.