—U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Chair of its Africa Subcommittee released the following statement on recent violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):

“The recent escalation of violence in the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has led to a humanitarian catastrophe displacing more than a million people, is poised to spiral into an even broader, cross-border war involving multiple actors.    

“DRC President Felix Tshekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame – who is supporting the M23 rebels and indeed reportedly has committed troops in violation of DRC sovereignty – must agree to an immediate ceasefire and work to revive the Luanda Process, seeking peaceful resolution.  In turn, the DRC should cease supporting FDLR rebels based in the country, which provides a pretext for Rwandan intervention. 

“As detailed in the Final Report of the Group of Experts on the DRC, the human rights abuses are heinous, affecting mostly women and children. All perpetrators must be held accountable and impunity must stop.

“Advocates for peace both inside and outside the country grieve the lives lost among the innocent Congolese victims, as well as the UN Peacekeepers and South African Development Community (SADC) troops.

“The U.S. should press upon President Tshisekedi the importance of his responsibility to address the widespread problems of governance in the DRC; to respect his country’s Constitution with its existing term limits; and to heed the peaceful voices of civil society and the Catholic Church, which are working to forge stability and peace in the country.

“And I look forward to working with the new Trump Administration to address the growing threat of the Islamist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which has ISIS affiliations and which is exploiting the conflict to expand its malign influence.”

                                                                                      ###