Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amb. Martin Ngoga, on Tuesday, September 30, told the Security Council that recent UN reporting on eastern DR Congo omits critical facts, such as hate speech and the implication of MONUSCO’s support to the Congolese army despite its documented alliance with the genocidal forces of FDLR. ALSO READ: DR Congo’s support for Genocidal militia still the biggest threat to peace “MONUSCO cooperates with the DR Congo government, knowing FDLR is within DR Congo army,” Ngoga told the council, adding that the UN mission “avoid[s] units and battalions in which FDLR is deployed.” He said those omissions in the Secretary-General’s report undercut the Security Council’s understanding of drivers of violence in the eastern DR Congo, singling out hate speech, identity-based persecution and the use of mercenaries as underreported problems. “Hate speech is something very dangerous... Who has not seen hate speech in social media, in classrooms, in churches, where hate is taught to 10-year-olds?” he said. He urged the Council to treat the issue as more than a passing reference. ALSO READ: UN confirms FDLR active in DR Congo, warns of genocide The Rwandan envoy framed his concerns in the context of the Washington Peace Agreement and related processes, saying Rwanda remains “fully committed” to implementation and that MONUSCO must position itself to play a constructive role as the agreement is operationalized. He argued that if the Council supports the Washington Agreement, it must also “support the process in which the Washington Agreement intends to implement” Resolution 2773, which includes “ the neutralization of FDLR (remnant of the forces that carried out the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi). Ngoga further accused the DR Congo of harboring and supporting genocide perpetrators who fled Rwanda in 1994, saying such forces have been allowed to regroup and hold “strongholds” inside the DR Congo and carry out attacks on Rwanda for decades. “FDLR is the only genocidal group that remained in its military formation, in known locations, with the same intentions, undisturbed for the period of 31 years now,” he said. He added that the group’s ongoing presence just across Rwanda’s border poses a direct security threat.
