A call to implement Congo’s peace agreement

The peace agreement was signed by the government of the DRC as well as 22 rebel groups operating in the east of the country. it was supposed to result in a ceasefire, but this Human Rights Watch official says the violence has continued and women continue to be raped and there are still over 1 million people displaced. The violence is from the hangover of the Rwandan genocide that racked the country in 1994, and armed groups in eastern Congo continue to vie for resources in the eastern provinces of Congo. Rape remains a common tactic and this official says human rights need to be put front and center or nothing is going to change. Stopping the arms flow won’t be easy; the UN peacekeeping force there isn’t doing much to monitor ports and borders. But the UN Secretary General said his force was overstretched. A US official acknowledges there has been violence but not to the point where it’s jeopardizing the January ceasefire, but he welcomed today’s call for actions and says it’s a good sign.