On February 22, 2021, an Italian Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Luca Attanasio, was killed in an attack in the east of the country.

 

The 43-year-old diplomat was travelling in an unescorted World Food Programme convoy that came under fire in Rutshuru territory, 70 kilometers north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

 

A Congolese UN driver, Mustapha Milambo, and the Ambassador's bodyguard, paramilitary officer Vittorio Iacovacci, 30, were also killed.

 

The governor of North Kivu province at the time, Carly Nzanzu, said that the attackers were fighters of the FDLR, a terrorist group responsible for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The killers stopped the convoy with warning bullets and ordered the passengers to get off the vehicles. According to survivors, the rebels “wanted money from the ambassador."

 

Nzanzu explained that the Ambassador died within minutes after he got hit during a fire exchange between FDLR and the Virunga National Park rangers supported by the Congolese armed force.

 

In a statement, President Félix Tshisekedi described the attack as "terrorism which claimed the life of the Ambassador of a country friendly to the DRC."

 

In a televised message, the then Congolese Foreign Minister, Marie Tumba Nzenza, expressed the government's regret over the incident.

 

Tshisekedi a wolf in sheep’s clothing

 

Though the Congolese government expressed its regret over the Italian Ambassador’s death, Tshisekedi is responsible and should have been held accountable for this murder. The FDLR that actually killed the envoy survives due to Tshisekedi’s support.

 

An October 2022 report by Human Rights Watch stated that between May and August that year, the Congolese army in collaboration with FDLR and other local militias fought against M23 rebels in North Kivu province. Congolese military officers provided to the armed groups with direct support.

 

The FDLR is now the greatest ally of the Congolese army. When the M23 resumed fighting in 2021, the genocidal group’s fighters were quickly sent to frontline to fight on behalf of the government forces. All FDLR operations are prepared and assisted by the Congolese army, with Tshisekedi’s knowledge and approval.

 

Talking about the genocidal militia on France 24, last September, Tshisekedi said: “The remaining FDLR force is just residual and no longer a threat for the security of Rwanda. The FDLR troops cause more problems for us in Congo than for them in Rwanda. The example of this would be the murder of Italian Ambassador to DRC last February. That was Luca Attanasio. He was killed by FDLR troops.”

 

Here, Tshisekedi confirmed that he is well aware of FDLR’s criminal operations.

 

“Congolese army units are again resorting to the discredited and damaging practice of using abusive armed groups as their proxies,” said Thomas Fessy, senior Congo researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Congolese government should end this support, which leads to military complicity in abuses, identify officers responsible, and hold them accountable.”

 

On May 8 and 9, leaders of several Congolese armed groups, met in the remote village of Pinga, in North Kivu province, with several Congolese military officers led by Col. Salomon Tokolonga, who oversees operations and military intelligence at the 3411^th regiment. Two senior FDLR commanders were also present to get instructions.

 

As noted, HRW received credible information that Congolese troops from Tokolonga’s 3411^th regiment provided more than a dozen boxes of ammunition to FDLR fighters in Kazaroho, one of the militia’s strongholds in the Virunga National Park, on July 21, 2022. An FDLR fighter told HRW that he witnessed four transfers of ammunition. “It’s the government troops that would always provide us with ammunition,” he said.

 

“They also gave us uniforms and boots.” There is no way Tshisekedi can distance himself from the Italian Ambassador’s assassination.

 

How can the Congolese President describe the attack on Attanasio as “terrorism” and ironically say that FDLR doesn’t pose a threat to the region?

 

Worse still, instead of fighting the terrorist group that murdered the diplomats, as well as innocent people in his country, Tshisekedi has made all effort to nurture the militia. How does he explain this?

 

Tshisekedi is the indirect boss of FDLR. He is responsible for all of the militia group’s crimes. Tshisekedi has to be held accountable for failing to guarantee the safety of Attanasio.