DR Congo: UN envoy draws attention to 'alarming reports' of ethnic violence

A top UN envoy on genocide prevention has renewed her call to end violence against civilians in DR Congo's eastern regions, citing alarming reports of multiple attacks against civilians along ethnic lines. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the United Nations Special Advisor on Genocide Prevention, who last month made a similar appeal and warned of possible genocidal killings against Rwandophones in DR Congo, this week expressed concerns over ongoing violence in Ituri province. “Whilst the situation in North and South Kivu requires immediate action, so does the situation in Ituri. Civilians are being massacred based on ethnic identity, yet again. The conditions necessary for the commission of atrocity crimes continue to be present in a region where a genocide happened in 1994,” she said in a statement released early this week. Her statement came just before the M23 rebels said they found themselves compelled to intervene and stop the genocide in eastern DR Congo after the international community failed to render assistance to a community under threat of extermination. ALSO READ: DR Congo crisis: UN re-echoes possible genocide in Kivu In a statement issued on Thursday, January 26, the rebels outlined incidents and areas where Congolese Tutsi are targeted and brutally massacred because of their ethnicity. They pointed at killings in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. READ ALSO: Belgian attorney condemns hate speech in Eastern DR Congo “We have warned the world many times that DR Congo Government is preparing a genocide in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, unfortunately, the worst and feared is happening right now under the watchful eyes of the world. Genocide against Congolese Tutsi is underway in Kitchanga, Burungu, Kilolirwe and their surroundings perpetrated by DR Congo Government's coalition including their killing machine FDLR,” read the M23 statement. ALSO READ: UN confirms FDLR active in DR Congo, warns of genocide Consequently, the rebels said, they are compelled to intervene and stop another Genocide in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, since “the world is failing to render assistance to a community under threat of extermination.” ALSO READ: M23 warns of ‘imminent genocide’ in DR Congo ALSO READ: M23 warns of a ‘possible Genocide’ in Masisi On her part, Nderitu said her concerns included mass killings, sexual violence, and attacks against IDP camps. In December 2022, the M23 rebel group had issued another warning, calling on the international community and United Nations Prevention of Genocide, to thoroughly investigate the ongoing Genocide in Masisi. Masisi is a territory in North Kivu Province in eastern DR Congo. ALSO READ: International community has failed DR Congo – Kagame aide The concerns expressed by M23 in december 2022 also followed another statement issued by Nderitu condemning the escalation of violence in eastern DR Congo. ALSO READ: Genocide survivors want UN to probe Tutsi massacres in DR Congo Several organisations of survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and internationally-renowned scholars have also expressed concern over what they termed as a rapidly growing hate speech targeting Kinyarwanda speakers in the DR Congo.

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DR Congo: UN envoy draws attention to 'alarming reports' of ethnic violence