In today's world, the rising demand for natural resources – oil, gas, and especially minerals critical for technology – has emerged as a strategic priority for many nations. For this, human rights violations are tolerated and ignored by the west, to preserve diplomatic and trade relations with resource-rich countries.
This dynamic is particularly evident in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), now the "darling" of global powers despite persistent and severe human rights abuses by the state onto its citizens.
The DR Congo stands out for its vast deposits of minerals essential for modern technology – cobalt, coltan, and tungsten – vital for manufacturing smartphones, computers, and electric vehicle batteries.
However, the country is as rich in resources as it is plagued by violence. Alongside this mineral wealth exists a troubling reality of severe human rights violations.
According to a 2023 survey conducted by the government's disarmament and reintegration program, P-DDRCS, over 250 local armed groups and 14 foreign armed groups remain active in eastern DRC, contributing to a landscape where arbitrary detentions, torture, assassinations, and hate speech are alarmingly common.
Over the past three years, organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented numerous human rights abuses in the DR Congo, particularly in the eastern regions.
From violent suppression of peaceful protests, especially those organized by political opposition and civil society. To the illegal detention of journalists, opposition figures, and activists, often without charges and in degrading conditions.
Politically motivated prosecutions against those who criticize the government, and finally, ethnic targeting, particularly against Tutsi citizens and soldiers.
Yet Western governments – which would typically issue swift condemnations for similar abuses elsewhere – have remained conspicuously silent on this. Is this indifference or complicity?
Members of opposition parties face systematic targeting simply for their political activities. Many endure unfair trials on charges of "crimes against state security" or "attempting to overthrow the government." Notable cases include: Presidential advisor Fortunat Biselele.
Special advisor to presidential candidate Mike Mukebayi. Moïse Katumbi's advisor Salomon Kalonda. Former UDPS leader Jean-Marc Kabund, who announced the formation of his new political party, "Alliance for Change," in July 2022.
He condemned the "lack of a clear vision," "notable incompetence," and "institutionalized mismanagement marked by carelessness, irresponsibility, indulgence, and the predation of power at the highest levels of the state."
This outspoken criticism resulted in a seven-year prison sentence for insulting the head of state. All of this happens under the silent contemplation of Western governments, which, in other contexts, would be quick to take condemning actions. Is this indifference or complicity?
One of the most striking cases is Senator Édouard Mwangachuchu Hizi from North Kivu, who also owned the Rubaya mining company. He was sentenced to death for alleged "participation in the M23 movement" and "treason." The primary evidence?
A COVID test certificate obtained in Kigali in 2021, which prosecutors claimed proved a "close connection" to Rwanda. During the trial, the charges against him were reclassified multiple times, prompting the presiding judge to declare, "Even though all the documents prove that the accused is Congolese, he is Rwandan in his heart!"—substituting subjective interpretation for material evidence.
The violence against civilians extends beyond political persecution: In August 2023, 105 members of the Wazalendo religious group were killed in Goma by elements of the Presidential Guard, according to a confidential UN report.
At Makala prison, over 150 prisoners (possibly hundreds more, according to survivors) were killed during what authorities described as an "escape attempt" in September 2024. Regular massacres, rapes, and looting committed by the FARDC (Congolese armed forces) and their allies.
Widespread sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated by Congolese security forces, even in displaced persons camps they are mandated to protect.
These violations continue to be overlooked by global powers driven by economic interests over care for human rights. Congolese authorities exploit this geopolitical competition, using occasional threats or contract awards to their advantage, fully aware that foreign powers are hesitant to challenge their actions.
Multinational corporations, backed by their home governments, exploit the DRC's resources with impunity, confident that human rights violations and corruption will be overlooked as long as profits continue to flow.
Meanwhile, endemic corruption among Congolese authorities ensures the nation's wealth fails to benefit the majority of its population.
Still, this intentional blindness is only achieved by finding the convenient scapegoat. Congolese authorities have found a convenient scapegoat in Rwanda, attributing all the nation's ills to its influence – from lack of infrastructure to poor governance, educational facilities, hospitals, effective governance, and even the "absence of vision."
Western governments readily comply, imposing sanctions on the "evil looter" while ignoring atrocities committed by the self-proclaimed "victim" against its own people.
Compounding this issue is how Congolese authorities hold the European Union accountable to them for its collaboration with a sovereign country, and even dictate to a sovereign nation who it can or cannot accept as an ambassador, leading to diplomatic tensions between countries.
They have also put the United Nations under pressure to deploy its troops in frontline operations alongside a consortium of negative armed groups, including the genocidal FDLR and other mercenaries.
According to the IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix from November 2024, of nearly 7 million displaced individuals in DR Congo, only about 2 million were displaced due to the M23 crisis in North Kivu. What about the more than 5 million other displaced persons in Ituri and Tanganyika?
They remain forgotten because they cannot be linked to the M23 narrative that allows the government to condemn Rwanda, which indeed remains a painful scar on their conscience since the genocide against the Tutsi.
This is the reason why they always tend to appease their conscience by trying to spotlight Rwanda as just one "criminal" among many others, mirroring the mindset of those who promote the ideology of double genocide. Is this indifference or complicity?
MONUSCO's report from October 2024 presents a tragic toll: 663 civilians killed between June and September 2024. While 71 deaths were attributed to M23 rebels, 467 were attributed to ADF and 61 to CODECO militia in Ituri Province.
Notably, the FARDC and Congolese National Police were themselves responsible for 346 summary executions during the same period – nearly matching the toll of ADF terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State.
A concerted effort at both national and international levels is essential to ensure the protection of human rights and deliver justice for victims of these abuses. However, this becomes difficult when the Head of State himself declares that "our justice is sick" while authorizing the death penalty to cleanse society of "undesirables."
Rather than prioritizing short-term economic interests, Western nations who claim themselves the pioneers of ‘human rights’, ought to focus on promoting the fundamental rights of all Congolese citizens, including all ethnic groups, who are equal before the law.
If there is a message for global powers and the United Nations: rather than echoing the scapegoat narrative by focusing exclusively on Rwanda, engage with Congolese authorities, to demand the release of all political prisoners and facilitate meaningful peace negotiations with the M23.
Anything else merely prolongs the suffering of the Congolese people while privileging geopolitical interests over human rights.