While talking to the local media houses RadioTV10 and Royal FM, on April 7, in Kigali, Rwandan President Paul Kagame noted that a genocide tends to occur in the region every 30 years.

President Kagame pointed at the pogroms targeting the Tutsi in the 1960s, the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and the persecutions and massacres currently targeting Congolese Tutsi in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Today’s situation in eastern DRC indicates that the world has not learnt anything from the past, especially the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The frequent or recurrent ethnically motivated violence against Congolese Tutsi, does not give hope of 'Never Again'.

In April 1994, Rwanda experienced one of the most tragic genocides in the world; the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which claimed more than one million lives.

As Rwanda commemorates the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, it warns the world not to ignore current situation in eastern DRC where risk factors of genocide such as ethnic violence, mass killings and property destruction - all attacks against civilians along ethnic lines - have manifested, and continue, unabated.

The persecution of the Congolese Tutsi has been promoted by President Félix Tshisekedi’s administration. The Congolese Tutsi have especially suffered from ethnic discrimination, hate speech, lynching, cannibalism, and endless torture, with some being buried alive.

The ethnic cleansing project is publicly fanned by high ranking government and security officials as well as government sponsored militia like the Wazalendo.

“The Genocide was perpetrated 30 years ago. But there are things in the region similar to what happened in Rwanda. When you look at the current situation in eastern DRC, there are still people being killed and more than 100,000 (people) who fled to Rwanda because they are being persecuted because they are Tutsi," President Kagame said.

The genocide against the Tutsi was carried out 30 years ago. But the after-effects are still felt beyond the borders in the sub-region, especially the situation currently prevailing in eastern DRC where there are still people who are persecuted simply because they are Tutsi.

All this happens as the international community watches but it has turned a blind eye. If the world is still experiencing ethnically motivated violence, when will 'Never Again' be a reality?

The world should learn from the past and, act accordingly.   Like Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, has said several times in the recent past, the failure to promptly respond to warning signs allows genocides to happen.

Following her official visit to DRC from November 10-13, 2022, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide was deeply alarmed about the escalation of violence in the Great Lakes Region where a genocide - the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda – happened.

“The current violence is a warning sign of societal fragility and proof of the enduring presence of the conditions that allowed large-scale hatred and violence to erupt into a genocide in the past,” she said.   

Her visit followed a technical-level mission by her Office that established that indicators and triggers contained in the UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes were present in DRC including; dissemination of hate speech and absence of independent mechanisms to address it; politicization of identity; proliferation of local militias and other armed groups across the country; widespread and systematic attacks, including sexual violence, against especially the Banyamulenge on the basis of their ethnicity and perceived allegiance with neighboring countries; and intergroup tensions.

In eastern DRC, the current violence mainly stems from the refugee crisis that resulted as many individuals involved in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda fled to eastern DRC, forming armed groups such as FDLR, a group formed by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, which is still active in eastern DRC, the Special Adviser said.

In response to the presence of this armed group, new armed groups were formed and the failure to bring non-state armed actors to book is the consequence we now see, she added.

The Special Adviser noted that finding a solution to the ongoing conflict in Eastern DRC would require addressing the underlying causes of the violence and learning lessons from the past. 

“The abuses currently occurring in eastern DRC, including the targeting of civilians based on their ethnicity or perceived affiliation to the warring parties must be halted. Our collective commitment not to forget past atrocities constitutes an obligation to prevent re-occurrence,” the Special Adviser stressed.