For the acting military governor of North Kivu, Major General Peter Chirimwami, this meeting was convened with the goal of raising awareness among our compatriots, the Wazalendo, regarding the principles of international humanitarian law.

As such, it is strictly forbidden for Wazalendo commanders to move around with weapons in the city of Goma and their positions must instead be located on the front lines to sanitize the tourist city with defense and security forces.

"At the end of the meeting and the concepts that were transmitted to us by civil society and MONUSCO, we have made a number of decisions. That is, we should no longer see a VDP commander in the city with a weapon. And the VDP headquarters must go beyond the population, and therefore, in front of the FARDC. At that point, we have the ability to properly sanitize the city with the defense and security forces," explained the number one leader of North Kivu province.

For Jean Claude Bambaze, an actor in the civil society of North Kivu, this session is of paramount importance if all the resolutions taken are implemented flawlessly.

For an actor of the civil society core of the Rutshuru territory, Jean Claude Bambaze this session is of paramount importance, if all the resolutions taken are implemented flawlessly. "We leave with a feeling of satisfaction because at one point, we had noticed that the VDP were starting to behave as they wanted and they were no longer respecting human rights. So, the time that we had for them to be called to order once again, to understand that they are also subject to justice when they commit abuses, in any case for us it's a feeling of satisfaction," he stated.

For his part, the commander of the VDP, Beauer Luanda says they have been equipped regarding international humanitarian law, and they will ensure this in their work practice, while also rejoicing in the holding of these meetings, which included those from Ituri, South Kivu, and Tshopo in this work session.

For the record, these meetings took place following deadly shootings, robberies, lootings, and other abuses that led to at least 10 deaths, within less than 72 hours in the city of Goma.

The police mayor of the city, Principal Senior Commissioner Kapend Kamand Faustin, had announced on Thursday, April 11, the arrest by specialized services of the presumed perpetrators of the robberies that caused at least four deaths on Wednesday evening at the intersection commonly called "Presidential Entrance," in the Himbi neighborhood, on the Goma-Sake road, without however giving any report to the press. Later, the urban authority also requested the justice system to organize a field hearing so that these presumed criminals could be publicly tried.

The mayor expressed the same wish for the alleged perpetrator of the murder by shooting of three young men, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, in a restaurant in the Majengo neighborhood, who is also under arrest.

Gisèle Mbuyi