Partners Note FDLR Protocol and Demand Realistic Neutralisation Plan

Kinshasa, DRC, August 13, 2026 - The International Contact Group for the Great Lakes - the United States, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom - took note on August 13 of Kinshasa’s late-July announcement that an FDLR faction had signed a disarmament, demobilisation and cantonment protocol. The group, chaired by France, demanded a rapid and “realistic” operational plan and calendar for effective FDLR neutralisation, in line with the Washington accords and the 31 October 2024 CONOPS on force disengagement and the lifting of Rwanda’s “defensive measures.” It asked Kinshasa to clarify anti-impunity mechanisms in the text, to work with MONUSCO as a key partner, and warned that any collocation or operational collaboration with FDLR elements is incompatible with Washington commitments. The same statement welcomed the Doha prisoner-exchange step facilitated by the ICRC, urged immediate de-escalation, civilian protection under Security Council resolutions 2773 and 2808, and unimpeded humanitarian access.

The August call sits on a denser late-July record. Regional Integration Minister Floribert Anzuluni said the protocol rested solely on the Washington framework and CONOPS; that FDLR political and military leaders had accepted demilitarisation, demobilisation and cantonment in a first phase if camps were secure and viable and if non-refoulement was guaranteed; and that a second phase foresaw dissolution and voluntary return to Rwanda - or third-country relocation if Rwanda’s security and rights conditions were judged unmet - with an international monitoring mechanism. He argued five of six identified FDLR zones (four in North Kivu, one in South Kivu) were under Rwanda/AFC-M23 control, leaving only Walikale under Congolese authority, and said Rwanda should resume progressive withdrawal so Kinshasa could implement neutralisation. Kigali, through Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe, dismissed the protocol as a “non-event,” saying génocidaires were the object of Washington, not a party to it, and accusing Kinshasa of dilatory manoeuvres against 90-day CONOPS/OPORD duties. Anzuluni replied that Rwanda appeared surprised by methodical Congolese work and that PDDRCS already held a draft operational plan with timeline and budget awaiting officialisation with stakeholders.

Separately, African Union facilitators meeting in Gaborone on 25-26 July adopted a six-month eastern Congo roadmap and operational action plan for July-December 2026 - covering political analysis, military-security tracks, humanitarian access, armed-group dialogue, regional economy and natural resources, and reconciliation including women and youth - under former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, with tighter coordination sought with Washington and Doha and a later harmonisation session planned in Arusha. That AU track remains part of the mediation backdrop against which the August 13 Contact Group pressed Kinshasa for concrete FDLR delivery rather than announcement alone.