In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly dedicated December 9 as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. It is assumed that with the spectacular failure of the global community in Rwanda nearly 30 years ago, such a day would carry much significance to constantly remind us that it is never too late to uphold the Never Again promise. Ironically, the world is marking this day amidst calls for intervention to avert a potential full-scale genocide that is looming in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is targeting a section of Congolese citizens of Rwandan origin. Different politicians – national, provincial and local – and senior security officials have been on record on different platforms making brazen calls for the annihilation of one group of the population. They have all remained scot-free while others have been promoted instead. These have been followed by attacks on the targeted citizens where social media has over the past few weeks been awash with grisly images and footage showing atrocities being committed against Congolese of Rwandan origin. Very few have come up to condemn these declarations and these despicable acts that could any time break into full-blown genocide because all the tale-tell signs point to this. Unfortunately, some who have attempted to speak out, have ended up trying in futility, to draw moral equivalencies, with unsubstantiated talk that there is hate speech on both sides. The most concerning fact is that this genocide has the backing of the same people who committed the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, now calling themselves the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). FDLR, despite being designated a terror groups, continues to enjoy state protection in DR Congo. Interestingly, they are fighting alongside not just the national army, but also UN peacekeepers under MONUSCO in the ongoing war against the M23 rebel group in eastern Congo.
