Opinion
Open letter to President Felix Tshisekedi
Your Excellency,
I hope this letter
finds you well. This is my second letter following the one I wrote to you in
June, regarding my concerns on the traumatizing human rights violations
happening in the eastern part of your country, where killings, hate speech, and
cannibalism all targeting Rwandophone Congolese continue under your watch, and with
impunity.
Videos and photographs
of mutilated dead bodies as well as the torture and dehumanization of
Rwandophone Congolese, by your security forces, continue to circulate in the
media. The world is in shock wondering when this barbaric human rights
violation will end.
Today, I want to focus on the third round of peace talks in the
Kenyan capital, Nairobi. To many observers, it appears that these peace talks
are a comedy act which is likely to yield nothing since innocent civilians
continue to die.
On the day the talks began, you deployed Mai-Mai militia leader
Janvier Karairi in Kitchanga, a locality in Rutchuru, to fight and push back
M23 rebels. The Mai-Mai led the public in chanting a xenophobic song, “Ba Tutsi
barudiye kwabo” (the Tutsi should go back home).This is an indication that
there is no political will, by you and your government, to solve the crisis
through political means.
First of all, you know very well that national, regional and
international attention is focused on the war between your government and M23
rebels deemed to be the main ‘source of instability’ in eastern DRC.
Ironically, instead of bringing this warring group on the table, you preferred
to invite groups that are actually known allies to your national army, FARDC. It
is clear that talking to these groups does not constitute dialogue for peace
but simply a monologue with your supporters which will not solve the grievances
of the M23 rebels.
You tried to create an equivalence of M23 with FDLR; calling the
former a terrorist group and refusing to negotiate with them, just like Rwanda cannot negotiate with the FDLR, a
genocidal terror group. To the contrary, M23 is a rebel group fighting to
prevent a genocide of the Congolese Rwandophone community. In 2012, FDLR was listed on the UN Security
Council consolidated list of terror groups. Nowhere is M23 listed as a terror
group except in your own black book. The population where M23 occupies is calm
and peaceful even though your propaganda machine wants the world to believe
otherwise.
You have set a dangerous precedent, as a Head of State, by
disowning your own nationals – the M23 – who are fighting for their rights as
legitimate citizens of DRC. The fact that they speak Kinyarwanda language and
share the same culture with Rwandans does not make them foreigners. The DRC and
Rwanda are not the only countries where communities share the same language and
culture across borders, yet such communities are not discriminated against as
you are doing.
Allowing the Rwandan genocidal militia, FDLR and its splinters, to
be incorporated in your national army and kill innocent people is a crime
against humanity. The international community must condemn and hold your
government accountable through the International Criminal Court. Human
Rights Watch recently published a report highlighting
how “Congolese army units are again
resorting to the discredited and damaging practice of using abusive armed
groups as their proxies,” an indication that the practice has been going on for
some time. By the way, the HRW report unmasks your lie before the UN Security
Council that FDLR no longer exists.
Your approach
to the crisis in eastern DRC, is taking a dangerous path; preparing the ground
for the genocide against the Rwandophone Tutsi community.
Mr. President,
if you want to be remembered as a human rights defender and a peace loving
leader, courageously stop the denial, hold the bull by its horns and deal with
the root causes of the war between your government and M23 rebels.
Using Rwanda
as a scapegoat for your internal political challenges exposes the weakness of
your governance credentials.
Mr. President,
you should swallow your pride and remember that the primary reason for
this persistent crisis is the failure to implement the various agreements signed
with M23 in past years. Populism, political rhetoric and blaming your neighbor
as the cause of DRC’s problems may help you earn political mileage and support
in the upcoming elections, although it does not give you guarantee of winning
the 2023 presidential elections. All your political opponents are doing the
same – hating on Rwanda – anyway.
At the bottom of your heart, you know that blaming Rwanda, and President
Paul Kagame, for all your failures will not solve the chronic security crisis
in the east of your country. The crisis has been on for decades even before
Kagame became the President of Rwanda.
Let me hope that you will not mislead the facilitators to the
peace process and the international community to help you look for quick fixes
of stopping the war. The approach must be holistic to bring all parties to the
crisis on board for collective ownership of a lasting solution for peace and
security in eastern DRC and the Great Lakes region.
As Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye, who is now
Chairperson of the East African Community, mentioned at the start of the third
round of talks in Nairobi, the solution to the DRC crisis will not come from
outsiders but from Congolese themselves.
Sincerely,
Matia Mulumba
Concerned Great Lakes Region citizen.
CC:
UN Secretary General
Chairperson of the African Union
Chairperson of the East African Community Summit
Secretary General the East African Community
European Union
US Congress