Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda government spokesperson Yolande Makolo on Saturday, January 25, condemned the choice of words evocative of terminology used by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during the Holocaust, between 1941 and 1945, and in Rwanda, by masterminds of the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, in a statement issued by the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO).
During the Holocaust, or the genocide against European Jews during World War II, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered more than six million Jewish people across German-occupied Europe. In the 1994 Genocide, more than one million Tutsi were systematically murdered in three months. Col Théoneste Bagosora, one of the masterminds of the 1994 genocide who died in a prison in Mali, in 2021, was considered to be the architect of “the Rwandan final solution.”
With AFC/M23 rebels moving closer to Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province, MONUSCO issued a statement, on Friday, saying it continues to support the Congolese army (FARDC) in their efforts “to stop the territorial expansion” of the rebels in the vast province.
The statement says MONUSCO heavy artillery carried out fire missions against M23 rebel positions in Sake, a town less than 30 kilometers from Goma, and repositioned UN forces to strategic locations to reinforce its deployment in and around Goma. Part of the UN mission’s statement reads: “MONUSCO reiterates the Secretary-General’s call to the M23 movement to immediately cease its offensive and withdraw from all occupied areas in accordance with the July 31, 2024, ceasefire agreement. It further exhorts stakeholders to swiftly resume a franc dialogue in order to find a sustainable and final solution to the conflict that has triggered massive displacement, humanitarian needs and human sufferings.”
In a post on X, Makolo said: “This call by MONUSCO for a final solution is shocking and needs to be condemned and retracted. Such incendiary language in a statement by a UN peacekeeping mission, whose primary stated objective is to do no harm, is wrong.”
This call by MONUSCO for a final solution is shocking and needs to be condemned and retracted. Such incendiary language in a statement by a @UN peacekeeping mission, whose primary stated objective is to do no harm, is wrong. Dialogue between the DRC government and the rebels from… pic.twitter.com/iOVhx4dJ8e
— Yolande Makolo (@YolandeMakolo) January 25, 2025
Dialogue between the Congolese government and the AFC/M23 rebels from an aggrieved Congolese community that has been victim of systematic persecution is the only way to resolve this conflict, she said.
In response, foreign affairs minister Amb Olivier Nduhungirehe also noted that when a UN mission, which failed over a quarter of a century to eradicate armed groups in eastern DR Congo: supports a military coalition that includes a UN-sanctioned genocidal force [FDLR] it was supposed to neutralize; and, among others, collaborates with more than 1,600 European mercenaries, mainly from France, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia, deployed in violation of a UN Convention of 1989 against the recruitment and use of mercenaries “this obviously reflects in the choice of its words.”
The Congolese government coalition comprises FDLR, a DR Congo-based militia formed by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, troops from the Southern African Development Community, Burundian soldiers, European mercenaries and a host of local Congolese militia groups. The FDLR is a UN-sanctioned terrorist group..
‘Blind eye to increasing hate speech, killing of the Congolese Tutsi’
One of the more than 200 militia groups wrecking havoc in eastern DR Congo, the genocidal militia has launched attacks on Rwandan territory over the past two decades. It is accused of spreading hate speech, genocide ideology and persecuting the Congolese Tutsi and Banyamulenge communities in DR Congo.
In his reaction on X, Nduhungirehe also highlighted MONUSCO’s other faults in DR Congo. These include the UN mission’s collaboration “with more than 10,000 Burundian troops and criminal militias, such as VDP Wazalendo and the Nyatura, which are perpetrators of the most egregious crimes against civilians, as they are motivated by genocide ideology” and turning “a blind eye to increasing hate speech, persecution and killing of the Congolese Tutsi,” including the burning down of whole villages.
MONUSCO’S statement came a day after the AFC/M23 rebels killed Maj Gen Peter Chirimwami, the military governor of North Kivu Province, when he reportedly travelled to locations near Sake, a town less than 30 kilometers from Goma, where the rebels engaged in battle with the government army coalition. The rebels captured the town on Thursday.
The M23 rebel group, which is part of the larger Congo River Alliance (AFC), has captured swathes of territory in North Kivu Province in a military conflict that has raged since late 2021.
‘Refrain from intervening in war imposed upon us’
The rebels earlier this week said that their appeal to the blue helmets and troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc “to refrain from intervening in the war imposed upon us by the forces of the coalition of the Kinshasa regime has not been respected by the aforementioned parties.”
The rebels reiterated that “any involvement, collaboration, direct or indirect support in the ongoing conflict by these two forces of UN and SADC, will compel” them to exercise their “full rights to legitimate self-defense.”
In a statement on January 24, the rebels said: “The Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC/M23) fully acknowledges the intolerable suffering endured by the people of Goma. We have heard their call for liberation and peace. Consequently, we urge the Congolese population to remain calm and prepare to welcome AFC/M23, which is resolutely committed to bringing peace and stability to the region. We are advancing to liberate our compatriots in Goma and to restore security and dignity to the Congolese people.”
Among others, earlier, on January 22, the rebels had urged SADC mission’s forces and MONUSCO “to disassociate themselves from the coalition of negative forces that threaten peace and stability in the region.”
Tensions between the Congolese army and the M23 began in November 2021, after the rebel group had spent nearly a decade without fighting.
The rebels accuse the Congolese army of cooperating with militias such FDLR, which have persecuted Congolese Tutsi communities and destabilized eastern DR Congo for nearly 30 years.
Various regional peace initiatives have failed to bring an end to the conflict which has affected relations between Rwanda and DR Congo, with Kinshasa accusing Kigali of supporting the rebels. The Rwandan government dismisses the allegations, and warns about the collaboration between the Congolese army and FDLR, which is a threat to Rwanda’s security.
Eastern DR Congo which is home to more than 200 local and foreign armed groups has been volatile for about three decades.
For More News And Analysis About Rwanda Follow Africa-Press
