For months now, reports coming out of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo point to a worsening trend where a section of citizens continue to face systematic and targeted persecution, sanctioned the state and its proxies. The targeted people are Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese nationals, who are mostly persecuted for their perceived links to M23, a rebel group that operates in eastern DR Congo. Latest reports indicate that members of CODECO, one of the militia groups that have formed a coalition with the Congolese government forces FARDC, have in the last few weeks massacred over 80 innocent civilians from the same targeted group. It must be noted that CODECO was founded and is still led by a well-known politician, who happens to be a sitting member of parliament. In all this, the Congolese government is silent. Social media has since last year been awash with images and footage of innocent civilians that a flogged in broad-day light and the common denominator is that all victims are Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese. Similarly, several individuals including politicians and service officers within the military and police forces have been on record, in public gatherings, calling for the hunting down and killing of the same group of their compatriot. Understandably, there is no word of condemnation from Kinshasa, because the executioners and all in cahoots with the very government that should be protecting the victims. However, what is most disappointing is the deafening silence of the international community. While people would feign ignorance of facts to feebly justify the failure to act during the Genocide against the Tutsi which took place in Rwanda 29 years ago, things are different this time because the flogging and hate speech are all recorded and circulated on social media. Instead, the international community seems intent to validate all manner of excuses and blame-game by the Congolese government, instead of holding it accountable for the atrocities and the brewing genocide.
