In a statement sanctioning its 63rd ordinary session from Wednesday 5 to Saturday 8 March in Kinshasa, the ECC executive committee, chaired by Reverend André Gédeon Bokundoa, welcomed, among other things, the release of so-called “political” prisoners by the President of the Republic and encouraged him to do more in the search for national cohesion. “We express our gratitude to the Head of State for the actions taken to ease the political situation, including the release of certain emblematic prisoners. We encourage him to release other civilian and military prisoners who are still in detention under the same conditions. We thank the political and civil society actors for continuing discussions with the ECC and CENCO delegation in order to allow the pastoral and prophetic initiative of the Social Pact to accomplish its mission of finding peaceful solutions to the current crisis,” their statement reads.
Regarding the security situation, which it considers worrying due to the violence displayed by the actors of the conflict, which has caused thousands of deaths and displaced people, the Protestant Church condemns the violation of the territorial integrity of the DRC by Rwanda via its M23/AFC auxiliaries.
“We condemn the presence of foreign forces and uninvited armed groups, including Rwandan forces, on the national territory of the DRC. We call on the AFC/M23 to observe the ceasefire in accordance with Resolution 2773 to enable the success of regional processes and the peace initiative led by the ECC and CENCO. We encourage the government of the Republic to definitively resolve all issues that justify the presence of foreign armed groups on our soil (FDLR, ADF). We demand the opening of humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to the suffering populations in North and South Kivu,” the ECC emphasizes. As for the solutions to this security crisis, the members of the ECC national executive committee say they support the pastoral and diplomatic initiatives of the ECC and CENCO, the Luanda process and the Nairobi process for the search for peace and living together in the DRC and the Great Lakes region.
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