The Banyamulenge community have expressed their frustration with South African television Newzroom Afrika, for giving a platform to RNC founder Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa who claimed that the persecution of the Congolese community had ended in the late 1990s. In a February 5 letter to Newzroom Afrika, representatives of the Banyamulenge community said that Kayumba, a Rwandan fugitive living in South Africa, “denied the genocide committed against the Banyamulenge,” a Tutsi community in South Kivu province in eastern DR Congo, by claiming that their “issue ended in 1998.” ALSO READ: Congolese refugees protest killings of Tutsi, Banyamulenge, Hema communities He added that “people here in South Africa talking about Banyamulenge are mistaken, it's a lie.” The letter was signed by representatives of the community in countries including Canada, Belgium, South Africa, USA, Burundi, the UK, Kenya, France, Denmark, Norway, Uganda, Finland, Sweden, Europe. They also called out Kayumba for the activities of his militia, the RNC, which was part of the P5 coalition, saying that it had contributed to the destabilisation of the Banyamulenge homeland in South Kivu. The Banyamulenge representatives said they were deeply concerned and disturbed by the interview, not only because Kayumba’s claims were false but also because they contributed to ongoing campaigns of denial of the ongoing genocide against Banyamulenge and Congolese Tutsi in general. ALSO READ: Banyamulenge delegation pulls out of DR Congo talks “These campaigns have taken many forms, and we believe Kayumba's remarks are just another attempt to downplay the severity of the atrocities committed against our people,” the representatives said in the letter. “We are writing to express our strong condemnation of these false, biased, and harmful statements about the ongoing suffering of the Banyamulenge. Kayumba acknowledges the historical persecution of our people but attempts to claim that it ended after 1998,” it went on. The community added that for decades, the Banyamulenge have been falsely labelled as foreigners (from Rwanda) despite their centuries-long presence on the territory of what is known today as in DR Congo, “a damaging narrative” that has been repeatedly weaponised by Congolese politicians, particularly during election campaigns, to rally support through xenophobic rhetoric. The letter also pointed to some of the critical moments in history, such as in 1998, when the second Congo war broke out and former President Laurent Désiré Kabila called for the extermination of all Congolese Tutsis, and his foreign minister, Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi, referred to Congolese Tutsis as “vermin” that had to be eradicated. Such incitements to violence were followed by horrific attacks against our people across the country, the letter said. “In 1998 alone, over 20,000 Banyamulenge were expelled from Katanga, with many killed in the process. Yet, those responsible for these crimes were never held accountable, and some even continue to work in government institutions.” “Since then, the persecution of the Banyamulenge, the Congolese Tutsi in North Kivu, and even Hema community members whose physical traits resemble those of Tutsi, has continued. Since the assassination of President Kabila in 2001, a campaign of violence against Congolese Tutsi and those assimilated to them (Banyamulenge and Hema) continued until to date,” the letter said. It recalled that the situation got worse in 2004 when 166 Banyamulenge refugees were killed in the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi, and numerous other atrocities occurred in the years that followed. Despite the presence of UN peacekeepers, these attacks continued unabated, the representatives said. “Since 2017, the violence against Banyamulenge in the highlands of South Kivu has intensified. Entire villages have been destroyed, and thousands of people have been displaced, living in dire conditions in makeshift camps. Hostile local armed groups, including Mai Mai from Fuliiro, Babembe and Banyindu community and Rwandan genocidal forces [FDLR] present in South Kivu and North Kivu,” it read. The statement added that hate speech against Banyamulenge has also proliferated across social media platforms, with many political figures promoting violence against the community. The community also debunked Kayumba's claim that Banyamulenge individuals are holding high-ranking positions in the DR Congo government, saying this is not true, since the people he named have also lost their homes, fled the country, or been killed. Kayumba Nyamwasa was sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison by a Rwanda military court in 2011 for terrorism-related offenses, including orchestrating grenade attacks in Kigali in 2010. He also recruited fighters to launch attacks against Rwanda from eastern DR Congo.
