The United Nations has requested the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM) of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and other regional instruments to investigate alleged acts of aggression that Rwanda and DRC are pronouncing against each other.
The Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, Huang Xia, called on the EJVM and ICGLR to “help ascertain the facts” surrounding Tuesday’s (January 24, 2023) incident of DRC’s violation of Rwanda’s airspace with a fighter jet, a Sukhoi-25.
The Special Envoy called for regional organizations to “address any misunderstanding.”
Xia expressed deep concerns over the Congolese military aircraft that violated Rwanda’s sovereign air space.
Xia urged both sides to exercise maximum restraint and “work towards defusing tensions through dialogue…(and) all actors to remain committed to and abide by the decisions made at the 23 November 2022 Luanda Mini Summit of Heads of States.”
The Special Envoy is in contact with EAC officials to help defuse tensions between Rwanda and the DRC and continued to engage them for a renewed commitment to the full implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region signed on 24 February 2013, almost a decade ago, and emphasized the full support of his Office, and that of the United Nations, to regional peace efforts.
Meanwhile, DRC has violated Rwanda’s airspace three times. Rwanda considers these acts as extreme provocation. DRC has not explained cause of its aggression against Rwanda.
