President Félix Tshisekedi has skillfully framed the M23 rebellion as a threat to the Democratic Republic of Congo's territorial integrity, painting a picture that the group is made up of foreign invaders, and therefore not Congolese with genuine grievances.

This narrative has partly resonated with global leaders, but the reality is far more nuanced. The M23 is composed of Congolese citizens fighting for their rights and demanding the implementation of past agreements that the government has failed to honour. Despite Kinshasa's occasional change of its stance toward negotiations, President Tshisekedi has consistently labeled the M23 as foreign aggressors undeserving of dialogue, shifting blame onto Rwanda to cover up his military's shortcomings on the ground.

However, the M23 has been repeatedly acknowledged as a Congolese group by prominent African leaders, including Julius Nyerere, former President of Tanzania; Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, former Presidents of South Africa; Paul Kagame of Rwanda; and William Ruto, President of Kenya among other eminent personalities.

This recognition stands in stark contrast to Tshisekedi's contradictory rhetoric, where he occasionally admits the M23's Congolese identity but refuses to engage in negotiations, instead accusing Rwanda of violating the DR Congo's territorial integrity.

The issue of territorial integrity becomes even more complex when considering the presence of the FDLR a genocidal Rwandan militia sanctioned by the United Nations since 2001. Ironically, President Tshisekedi has chosen to collaborate with the FDLR—a foreign force—to combat the M23, a group he sometimes acknowledges as Congolese.

This alliance raises a critical question: if the M23 are Congolese and the FDLR are foreign militants, who is truly violating the DR Congo's territorial integrity?

For over three decades, the eastern DRC has been a hotspot for more than 200 armed groups, including foreign factions like the FDLR and the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) from Uganda. Despite the persistent violence, the Congolese government has done little to dismantle these groups or seek international support for a lasting solution.

However, when the M23 resumed its offensive in 2021 over unmet promises, the government swiftly integrated various militias into its forces, rebranding them as Wazalendo (patriots), despite their history of atrocities.

The plight of the Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese community, particularly the Tutsi, has been largely ignored by the international community. For decades, they have faced existential threats from armed groups, often with tacit support or alignment from the government. The M23 stands out as a group that has actively resisted this systemic injustice, fighting against the oppression of their communities by Kinshasa and its allies. This resistance has made them the primary enemy of the government, despite the presence of numerous other armed groups in the region.

President Tshisekedi has also adeptly manipulated global media to advance his narrative, portraying the M23 as Rwandan-backed aggressors while omitting any mention of the FDLR's role in the conflict. This media propaganda has successfully shifted the focus away from the DRC government's failure to address internal grievances through direct negotiations with the M23. Instead, Rwanda has been scapegoated as the instigator of regional chaos, despite facing potential consequences from the conflict.

This false narrative, propagated by President Tshisekedi and his government through foreign media and individual propagandists, has pressured Western countries to impose sanctions on Rwanda. The irony is compounded by the inclusion of Rwandan leaders and M23 leaders on the same sanctions lists, implying a connection that lacks credible evidence. This approach not only distorts the truth but also undermines efforts to address the root causes of the conflict.

The media's biased coverage has also overshadowed the struggles of Congolese refugees living in neighboring countries like Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Kenya. The conflict in eastern DRC is often simplistically portrayed as a mineral-based war, ignoring the deeper historical and political complexities. The M23's resistance to systemic injustice has been misrepresented, while the government's collaboration with foreign militias like the FDLR has been conveniently overlooked.

In conclusion, the M23 conflict is not merely a struggle over resources or territorial integrity; it is a fight against systemic oppression and injustice. The Congolese government's alliance with foreign militias and its refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations with the M23 reveal a deeper failure to address the root causes of the conflict.

Until the international community acknowledges these complexities and holds all parties accountable, the cycle of violence in eastern DR Congo is unlikely to end.

The writer is a senior journalist and political commentator based in Kigali