The continuing violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo has once again exposed the tragic failure of the international community to respond with fairness and consistency. In recent weeks the Allied Democratic Force (ADF), a terrorist organisation has killed scores of civilians in North Kivu and Ituri region. These are not isolated incidents. This week, media was awash with reports where the Wazalendo militia publicly lynched a Kenyan national of Masai tribe and his only crime was resembling the Tutsi. The public, including security officials were watching as the man was killed and his body set ablaze. They are systematic acts of terror that have displaced families and destroyed livelihoods. Yet these atrocities barely register on the radar of the United Nations Security Council. What is striking is the difference in the speed and weight of the response when the name M23 comes up. Time and again there have been speculative reports about the conduct of M23 fighters, including the widely circulated story that they killed farmers allegedly because they did not belong to the Tutsi community. Without waiting for investigations, the story was amplified and shaped into another tool of accusation. Human rights violations must never be ignored and must never be explained away no matter who commits them. But when the Security Council treats rumours as established truth in the case of one group while ignoring actual massacres committed by others, it damages its credibility and undermines its role as a neutral guardian of peace. For years the obsession with M23 has served as a convenient distraction. It has allowed the world to look away from other armed groups including those that operate with the blessing or at least the tolerance of the Kinshasa regime. Many of these groups have killed thousands of civilians with impunity. Women have been subjected to violence on a scale that amounts to war crimes. Villages have been wiped out. Yet there is silence. The same powerful countries that rush to condemn M23 are often unwilling to even name these other actors. This double standard emboldens killers and deepens the despair of ordinary Congolese citizens who feel abandoned. The Security Council cannot continue down this path. If it is serious about peace in Congo it must demonstrate impartiality. It must give the same urgency to the killings carried out by ADF and by militias aligned with Kinshasa as it does to the allegations made against M23. Every victim deserves justice. Every crime deserves scrutiny. Selective outrage does not bring peace. It only fuels division and prolongs suffering. The people of eastern Congo deserve better than silence. They deserve a Council that acts with courage and fairness.
