FORMER EU COMMISSIONER EXPRESSES SATISFACTION ON NEW DRC GOVERNMENT

“I met with President Joseph Kabila in Kinshasa on June 28 during a mission with Hands Off Cain with the purpose of asking for clemency for those sentenced to death for his father’s assassination. We also asked him to re-establish a moratorium on executions as a sign of DRC’s willingness to undertake a fresh start. Our meeting took place just before an agreement on the formation of a transitional government was about to be reached and the President was optimistic.
“I’m happy about the announcement made yesterday by Kabila as his country needs to leave behind the divisions, the conflicts and the horrors that have ravaged the country for so long, and yet which the international community had forgotten. However, I am sorry to say that people continue to talk about Bunia and the ‘ethnic conflicts’ in Ituri, instead of focusing on the constructive events which are and have been happening in Kinshasa, mostly through the efforts of the EU’s special envoy Aldo Ajello, the representative of the Commission Carlo De Filippi and of Kofi Annan’s envoy Moustapha Nyasse.
“It must also be mentioned that the last few weeks have seen international pressure directed only towards young President Kabila, who has given important concessions as he really wants peace. I have hardly seen any concessions given by the Presidents of Ruanda, Paul Kagame, and Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, both of whom bear great responsibility for past events and are still in a position to weigh in on the future of the DRC and on the respect of yesterday’s agreement.”