{"id":103526,"date":"2025-06-15T18:51:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T18:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports"},"modified":"2025-06-15T19:13:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T19:13:03","slug":"researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports","title":{"rendered":"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>The narratives around the conflict in eastern DR Congo have been distorted by biased reporting, downplaying violence against Congolese Tutsi communities, according to conflict discourse researcher and language analyst Bojana Coulibaly.<\/p>\n

Coulibaly, who was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, lived through the 1992 war that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia. As a teenager, she and her family fled through refugee camps in Austria and Italy before settling in France as political refugees. There, she completed her secondary education and went on to earn a PhD in African Studies with a specialisation in stylistic and discourse analysis.<\/p>\n

Originally focused on Anglophone Africa, Coulibaly’s academic research later expanded to include Francophone regions, with a particular interest in how post-colonial African societies reconstruct their identities.<\/p>\n

The 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi has long drawn her scholarly attention, which she described in an exclusive interview with The New Times as \u201ca climax of the contact between colonial Europe and Africa and the consequences of the colonial presence on the continent.\u201d Her interest in the Great Lakes region deepened between 2021 and 2022, when the M23 rebellion resurfaced in eastern DR Congo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was receiving messages of extreme hate speech, talking about the Congolese Tutsi, saying that they\u2019re Rwandans, that they come from outside, that they\u2019re the enemy and traitors,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Coulibaly draws parallels between this hate speech and the \u201cHamitic ideology\u201d that contributed to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. \u201cWe find echoes of the Hamitic myth, which portrays the Tutsi as colonizers and foreigners. I observed similar elements in eastern DR Congo, especially on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite mounting evidence of atrocities, including lynchings and people being burned alive, Coulibaly said, \u201cNothing was reported on it. The UN wasn\u2019t reporting it, nor were civil society groups or human rights organisations. The only one who took some form of action was Alice Nderitu, the former UN Under-Secretary-General for Genocide Prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n

She criticised the UN Group of Experts\u2019 reports for being shallow and biased. \u201cThey always assess violence as coming from one side, but their conclusions don\u2019t match the realities on the ground,\u201d said Coulibaly.<\/p>\n

She added that the M23 rebel group was targeted by various reports despite limited information and a lack of on-the-ground investigations by researchers or institutions from the United States, France and Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you spend 20 years studying texts, it\u2019s easy to spot bias,” she said of her work. “Some scholars considered experts on the region showed clear subjectivity while never explaining why certain crimes were happening. Their reporting lacked perspective and was clearly anti-Rwanda, pro-Kinshasa.\u201d<\/p>\n

She explained that the Congolese government and some scholars chose to accuse M23 of starting the war by taking up arms in November 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when I checked archives and interviewed M23 members, they told me they had spent 14 months in dialogue with the Congolese government before being attacked by the Congolese army. M23 only retaliated in March 2022,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Coulibaly also questioned why M23 was excluded from peace negotiations despite being the only armed group with clearly stated political grievances. \u201cAt the time, there were over 200 armed groups in the DR Congo. Yet the conflict was branded as \u2018the M23 war,\u2019 which unfairly placed all the blame on one group.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cM23 was also the only armed group excluded from the Nairobi peace process, even though others with no political platform were invited. Kinshasa later branded M23 a terrorist group but there\u2019s no evidence of them targeting civilians, unlike the ADF (Ugandan terrorist group), which clearly conducts terrorist attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, she traveled to meet M23 leaders in North Kivu, Congolese refugees in Rwanda and internally displaced people in DR Congo to better understand the full picture.<\/p>\n

In December and January, she interviewed M23 political leader Bertrand Bisimwa, asking about the group\u2019s grievances, alleged ties with ADF reported in a UN Group of Experts midterm report, and the refusal by Kinshasa to enter dialogue.<\/p>\n

She noted that the current discourse mirrors decades of exclusionary ideology. \u201cSpeaking with people in Masisi and Rutshuru, it became clear this isn\u2019t just about recent events. The roots of this conflict go back over 30 years, even before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The ideology that dehumanises Congolese Tutsi is deeply embedded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coulibaly also criticised some French media outlets, saying, \u201cFrench media such as France 24, TV5 Monde, RFI and at some level Jeune Afrique, tend to actually espouse this narrative, either they\u2019re just repeating what the other said without any proper investigation, or they are forced to follow a certain discourse.\u201d<\/p>\n

She emphasised the need for political education and legal action to combat hate speech and divisionism. \u201cThere needs to be a proper education against divisionism, call out hate speech, officially criminalise it. That has to happen everywhere, not just in Rwanda, but also in Burundi and in Congo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to refocus on research ethics, promote truth rather than these narratives that are just fueling conflict,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. The narratives around the conflict in eastern DR Congo have been distorted by biased reporting, downplaying violence against Congolese Tutsi communities, according to conflict discourse researcher and language analyst Bojana Coulibaly. Coulibaly, who was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, lived through the 1992 war that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia. As a teenager, she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":103525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[7061,7397,4036,2540,51,758,332],"class_list":["post-103526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-congolese-tutsi","tag-dr-congo-conflict","tag-genocide-ideology","tag-m23","tag-media","tag-rwanda","tag-un"],"yoast_head":"\nResearcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The narratives around the conflict in eastern DR Congo have been distorted by biased reporting, downplaying violence aga ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The narratives around the conflict in eastern DR Congo have been distorted by biased reporting, downplaying violence aga ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-15T18:51:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-15T19:13:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-15T18:51:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-15T19:13:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports\"},\"wordCount\":842,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Congolese Tutsi\",\"DR congo Conflict\",\"Genocide ideology\",\"M23\",\"media\",\"Rwanda\",\"UN\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports\",\"name\":\"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports - Rwanda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-15T18:51:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-15T19:13:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The narratives around the conflict in eastern DR Congo have been distorted by biased reporting, downplaying violence aga ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":666,\"caption\":\"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/\",\"name\":\"Rwanda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports - Rwanda","description":"The narratives around the conflict in eastern DR Congo have been distorted by biased reporting, downplaying violence aga ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports","og_description":"The narratives around the conflict in eastern DR Congo have been distorted by biased reporting, downplaying violence aga ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports","og_site_name":"Rwanda","article_published_time":"2025-06-15T18:51:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-15T19:13:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":666,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports","datePublished":"2025-06-15T18:51:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-15T19:13:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports"},"wordCount":842,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg","keywords":["Congolese Tutsi","DR congo Conflict","Genocide ideology","M23","media","Rwanda","UN"],"articleSection":["all news","Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports","name":"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports - Rwanda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-15T18:51:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-15T19:13:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The narratives around the conflict in eastern DR Congo have been distorted by biased reporting, downplaying violence aga ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/sm_1750002143.512921.jpg","width":1000,"height":666,"caption":"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/researcher-critiques-un-and-media-on-congo-conflict-reports#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Researcher Critiques UN and Media on Congo Conflict Reports"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/","name":"Rwanda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}