Regional
Political advocacy: Of HRW affixing M23 to Rwanda
For three
decades, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has never been at ease unless it has some
nasty thing to say about Rwanda and its leadership.
Rwandan
legislators, foreign diplomats and observers have all noted that HRW has an
agenda in Rwanda that goes beyond concern for observance of human rights.
There
is a sinister political purpose behind the unrelenting attacks on Rwanda's
leadership.
Their aim is to demonize Rwandan leadership, bring it to the same level as génocidaire
organizations like FDLR and allied groups such as FDU-Inkingi and RNC and
create a kind of moral equivalence. It would then be easy to replace the
government or force it to negotiate with them as equals, as HRW wishes.
Related: HRW
gets new executive director. Will bias against Rwanda fade?
As has
always been the case, on June 13, HRW again published a report that, to no
one’s surprise, affixed Congolese rebels to Rwanda.
Titled
“DR Congo: Killings, Rapes by Rwanda-Backed M23 Rebels,” the report
regurgitated a number of allegations of human rights violations in the east of
the Democratic Republic of Congo allegedly committed by M23 rebels with support
from Rwanda.
“The
United Nations Security Council should add M23 leaders, as well as Rwandan
officials who are assisting this abusive armed group, to the council’s existing
sanctions list,” it reads.
Political
commentators raised questions about the “report”. Instead of highlighting the
escalated violence, hate speech, ethnic based killings as well as anti-Rwanda rhetoric being taught in
Congolese primary schools, HRW put all its efforts in
attaching M23 to Rwanda,
to
diminish the real root cause of evil and human suffering in DRC.
With
its latest machination, HRW is creating chaos in the great lakes region and
ruining all sorts of well intentioned regional efforts meant to halt violence
in eastern DRC and restore good relations between Kigali and Kinshasa.
Political
advocacy
But,
again, this is nothing new. Since July 1994, HRW’s overt activism against Rwanda
has persisted.
Retired
American diplomat Richard Johnson, in his analysis of HRW’s bias against
Rwanda, “The Travesty of Human Rights on Rwanda,” published in March 2013; argued
that what Human Rights Watch does on Rwanda is not human rights advocacy but
political advocacy which has become profoundly unscrupulous in both its means
and its ends.
Related: Of
Human Rights Watch's systematic bias against Rwanda
Richard
who lived in Rwanda from 2008 to-2010 explained how HRW’s decision-making process
is not transparent; the aura of sanctity around its professed mission deters
public scrutiny of its policies and practices, and its degree of accountability
to anyone is quite unclear.
Related: Political
advocacy: Human Rights Watch publishes another outrageous report on Rwanda
“HRW’s
discourse on Rwanda is a threat to that country and to peace and stability in
Central Africa… It perpetuates impunity for important genocide perpetrators. It
pains many Rwandans and particularly the genocide survivors,” he added.
Related: Human
Rights Watch a propaganda tool for genocide ideologues
The June
“report” was no surprise regarding HRW’s agenda on Rwanda. There is no way a
rights group should leave reporting rights violations committed in east DRC by
more than 130 armed groups – including the genocidal FDLR militia – as well as
Congolese security forces documented by the United Nations, and turn to
crafting sham accusations aiming at affixing Congolese rebels to Rwanda.
HRW joking over plight of Congolese
The American
watchdog claimed that Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have committed unlawful killings;
as if there might be other killings deemed lawful?
But
even if the M23 rebels were to be guilty as HRW claimed, are the other more
than 130 armed groups killing Congolese lawfully?
At
least 46 civilians, including 23 children, were killed in an attack on a camp
for displaced people in Ituri province. A dozen others were injured in the
attack by CODECO militia on June 13. Three days before, in neighboring
North-Kivu province, an attack by Islamic State group-affiliated ADF left eight
dead.
Groups
like CODECO, FRPI, FPIC, Mai-Mai Nyatura, APCLS, FDLR, Wazalendo and many
others are at the center of insecurity in DRC. On the other hand, there is the
Congolese national army which is supplying arms to them.
Trying
to fit in HRW’s ways of reporting, the above mentioned killings by CODECO and
ADF are “lawful killings” because those armed groups are in Kinshasa’s alliance to
fight against M23.
Related: Tshisekedi
sounds war drums: who is fooling who?
The
HRW “report” quoted a Congolese raped woman witnessing: “As they [M23] were
raping me, one said: ‘We’ve come from Rwanda to destroy you.’”
Except
utilizing every single maneuver to include Rwanda, would a criminal reveal
their origin and purpose to the victim and leave her alive? Even an insane
robber will never act that way.
The
report further quoted a survivor saying: “[The M23 told us:] ‘Anyone who is
against us will die. We are not coming to fight; we are here to take back our
land”.
With
this alleged quotation, HRW is pushing for Kinshasa’s allegation of
balkanization by Kigali. The group creates lies without even knowing who the M23 really are!
The M23
are Congolese rebels fighting to defend
themselves against an existential threat.
The
M23 is fighting for the rights of its persecuted and disowned community to be
recognized as legitimate citizens with full rights as any other Congolese
nationals. They are protecting the lives of Congolese Tutsi and Rwandophones
who are now targets of the ever rising hate speech and violence orchestrated by
their own state or government.
Thousands
have, so far, been murdered in various parts of eastern DRC.
But HRW
is neither highlighting these massacres nor condemning the hate speech being
overseen by Congolese government officials.
The
UN's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, noted
that the abuses currently taking place in eastern DRC includes the targeting of
civilians because of their ethnicity or presumed affiliation with warring
parties.
Bernard
Maingain, a Belgian lawyer who has, for several years, condemned the anti-Tutsi
hate speeches in eastern DRC, said that among the reasons why the M23 decided
to take up arms includes the fact that the plan to complete the extermination
of the Tutsi was never lost sight of by the Rwandan genocidaires who managed to
stay in DRC and mingle with the local population.
Unfortunately,
HRW is intentionally ignoring all the facts and concerns of the Congolese
Tutsi, but puts more efforts in linking M23 rebels with Rwanda to satisfy its
agenda.