The DR Congo crisis has the UK on notice for “ignorance and confusion”

The degree of ignorance, misunderstanding, and disinformation on the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo that Lord Collins, the UK’s Minister of State for Africa, has displayed is offensive and intolerable.

On Thursday, February 27, the UK Minister of State for Africa publicly expressed his ignorance of the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, emphasized this point.

It all began on Wednesday when UK House of Lords member David Alton brought up the horrific massacre of up to 70 Christians in a church in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo by a militia “group reported to be affiliated to ISIS” in Parliament. Alton called for action to stop the culture of impunity and failure to hold those responsible accountable.

“Certainly, when I met the foreign minister of Rwanda, this morning, in Geneva, he denied all these accusations about things happening and refuted the story that was in The Guardian,” Lord Collins continued, addressing the members of the UK Parliament.

“When I met the Foreign Minister of Rwanda this morning, he denied all those crimes happening?’” Nduhungirehe stated in response to a specific question in the House of Commons concerning 70 Christians killed with machetes and hammers by ADF, a Ugandan terrorist group affiliated with ISIS, in Kasanga, Lubero territory, North Kivu.

“It will be formally answered by the UK government!”

In response to targeted killings and hate speech against Tutsi communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose government is suspected of committing these crimes, Nduhungirehe urged the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday to speak out.

At the 58th Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, he spoke about the suffering of the Banyamulenge people in the South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a government coalition’s soldiers continue to attack and murder civilians while the world looks on.

Targeted attacks against Tutsi populations in Congo and hate speech “have become distressingly commonplace,” according to the ministry.

One sobering reminder of the atrocities committed during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi is the ongoing targeting of communities based on their identity, appearance, or even language.

“Hate speech, persecution, lynching, and even acts of cannibalism against Congolese Tutsi have become distressingly commonplace in eastern DR Congo,” he stated.

In support of his accusations against the Congolese government, he cited instances from South Kivu province, where government soldiers bomb the Banyamulenge and persecute them in various cities, including Uvira.