by Peter Küpfer
cc. Singaporean scholar and diplomat Kishore Mahbubani has once again pointed out that Africa’s problems are also Europe’s problems (foreignpolicy.com, 18 February 2025). European colonialism and neo-colonialism are largely responsible for the murder and plundering of Africa – to this day. The fact that millions of sub-Saharan Africans have been fleeing to Europe for years is one of the bitter fruits of European Africa policy. Europe would be well advised to take an interest in the actual conditions in Africa and to support the African states and peoples in solving their problems. This also applies to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to official and media reports, including from the UN, the ICRC and spokespersons for the civilian population, the intervention army, consisting of the terrorist group M23, its affiliated regular Rwandan troops and other associated mercenary formations (ADF-Alliance du Fleuve), is advancing according to plan. As the spokesman for these troops, a senior Congolese politician formerly close to the Joseph Kabila government, has repeatedly stated publicly, the war aims of the well-equipped and systematically advancing alliance is much broader than just Eastern Congo. Its troops are to advance as far as Kinshasa (more than a thousand kilometres to the west) and once again “liberate” the Congo. Acting President Felix Tshisekedi was not pursuing the interests of the Congolese, but those of individual international interest groups. The publicity-loving commander has not revealed which interest groups are financing his own well-equipped mercenary army.
Following the capture of the northern provincial capital of Goma, Bukavu, the provincial capital of South Kivu, has now also fallen into the hands of the aggressors with virtually no resistance. There were apparently fewer casualties among the civilian population, while the attack on Goma, according to the ICRC, left around 800 civilians dead and around 1400 seriously injured. Artillery shells were used in the attack on Goma, hitting schools, hospitals and the army camps of improvised tent bivouacs in the vicinity of the city. In the days before the attack on Goma, tens of thousands of refugees (the ICRC put the number at over 100,000 since the start of the renewed fighting around and in Goma) from the shelled settlements north of the city had hoped in vain for protection. They have once again fled during and after these attacks. Where did they go? In the meantime, the mercenary formations are in control of the situation and the civilian population is defencelessly at their mercy. The regular troops of the Congolese army have retreated, sometimes in panic. Once again, a state of lawlessness prevails for the civilian population, which has been plagued by war for thirty years, now again in South Kivu. Violent attacks against the civilian population, massive looting of stores and mass rapes are reported from both “conquered” towns (see box).
Unspeakable conditions prevail
The shelling targeted the airfields in both cities in particular, which are now no longer usable by any aircraft. As a result, the populations of both Kivus are cut off from all aid supplies. Mass looting of food stores and warehouses is being reported from Bukavu, perpetrated by the occupying forces, but also by their own troops and desperate civilians. According to a recent Western media report from Bukavu, a spokesman says that large sections of the population have been suffering from hunger for some time. Normal life in Eastern Congo has long since collapsed under the permanent siege and food prices have risen massively.
In Goma, volunteers were unable to recover the bodies of civilian victims. There were not enough body bags available, so many civilian victims of the attack on the city were left lying around. In the meantime, the ICRC and UN experts on the ground fear the spread of cholera and other epidemics.
Spokespersons for the civilian population, but also the President of Kenya, who advocated negotiations between the Congolese and Rwandan governments before the latest attacks, and the President of the neighbouring small state of Burundi fear that the war could spread regionally.
Western and European complicity
in the thirty-year drama
As UN reports have testified for more than thirty years, so far without any consequences, one of the main reasons for the suffering of the Eastern Congolese population is the fact that so-called “rare earths” are abundant here. They are considered “strategic” raw materials, i.e. indispensable for high-tech products, especially weapons. The merciless predatory behaviour of certain governments and their lobbies is directed at them. Tantalite, cobalt, lithium, etc. – without these rare raw materials, no cell phone, no car battery, no electronic computer – but also no drone and no remote-controlled weapon. Critical voices are now growing in the European Parliament, pointing to an unresolved conflict in the passive West. While the EU Commission and its President point out at every opportunity that the EU is acting on the basis of the “rules-based order”, a year ago it signed a tantalite supply contract with Rwanda’s head of state Kagame that favours them. As everyone who wants to know now knows, Rwanda does not have a single mine of this kind on its territory. The coveted high conductor has been ripped from the Congolese for thirty years under the above-mentioned conditions. Through its contract with one of the main perpetrators of the suffering in eastern Congo, the EU is actively aiding and abetting massive war crimes and crimes against humanity. As with diamonds, this coveted commodity, its suppliers in Rwanda and the hands of its exploiters in our hypocritical West have the blood of those people who have had and still have the misfortune to live near such deposits. •
pk. According to the East Congolese independent radio station Radio Okapi (which was set up with the help of Swiss development assistance at the beginning of the Congo crisis in the 1990s), Western governments have clearly condemned Rwanda’s actions in recent days and in some cases have also taken corresponding measures.
The British government, for example, has cancelled its regular financial support for Rwanda’s economic development.
Belgium and France have proposed a joint package to the EU member states “with more consequent sanctions than the previous ones” against Rwanda. These include the potential cancelling of the European Critical Raw Materials Act concluded with Rwanda.
The United States has blocked the American assets of two key figures in this war. These include the second man in the Rwandan hierarchy, James Kabarebe, the main strategist and long-time de facto commander of the Rwandan forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lawrence Kanyuka, the civilian spokesman of the Rwandan mercenary formation M23, which is leading the renewed campaign. He is considered to be the brains behind Rwanda’s plundering and commercialisation of valuable raw materials.
At the opening of the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, 24 February 2025, the EU Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, declared the EU had suspended its consultations with Kigali on Rwanda’s “defence concept”.
All these measures are tied to the demand in the Security Council’s final document of 21 February that Rwanda must withdraw its troops and their allies from the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At the opening of the meeting, the Congolese Prime Minister, Judith Suminwa Tuluka, emphasised the intolerable situation of the civilian population, particularly in the two conquered cities of Goma and Bukavu. Goma is without drinking water and electricity. The troops were actually causing bloodbaths. She stated both, the number of new homeless refugees and the number of fatalities were alarmingly higher than those previously mentioned. She also vehemently advocated sanctions. Declarations have not been sufficient for a long time.
However, it is more than questionable whether sanctions can suddenly bring peace in this long-running war (with implication, toleration and even support for Rwanda by all the states mentioned here). The decisive factor is the honest will to enforce international law.
Statement of Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at Human Rights Council Special Session on the topic ‘Human Rights Situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’ on 7 February 2025 in Geneva (excerpts)
“Mr. President, Minister Muyaya, Excellencies,
I have been following the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo closely for many years, and it worries me enormously.
I have been to Goma at least five times, in various capacities. During my visit to the country in April 2024, I met victims of this terrible conflict. Among them were women who had suffered sexual violence.
My office has long been sounding the alarm about this crisis, and I am deeply disturbed to see the violence escalate once again.
Since the beginning of the year, the M23 armed group, supported by the Rwanda Defence Forces, has intensified its offensive in the provinces of North and South Kivu. Tensions are currently rising in South Kivu.
If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern DRC, but also beyond the country’s borders.
There have been attacks by the M23 and their allies, with heavy weapons used in populated areas, and intense fighting against the armed forces of the DRC and their allies. […]
Once again, civilians are trapped in a spiral of violence in this overwhelming conflict.
Since 26 January, nearly 3,000 people have been killed and 2,880 injured. The real figures are likely much higher. In Goma on 27 January, two hospitals were bombed, killing and wounding many patients, including women and children.
I am horrified by the spread of sexual violence, which has been an appalling feature of this conflict for a long time. This is likely to worsen in the current circumstances. According to judicial authorities, during the prison break from Muzenze Prison in Goma on January 27, at least 165 female prisoners were raped. Most of them were subsequently killed in a fire, the circumstances of which remain unclear. My team is also currently verifying multiple allegations of rape, gang rape and sexual slavery, throughout the conflict zones.
Hundreds of human rights defenders, journalists and members of civil society have reported to my Office that they have been threatened or are being pursued by the M23 and Rwandan forces. We have also facilitated the protection of judicial authorities who were in danger.
I am also very concerned about the proliferation of weapons and the high risk of forced recruitment and conscription of children. […]
More than 500,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of January. This is in addition to the more than 6.4 million already displaced. […]
It is also essential to analyse the political economy of this conflict. I have always been struck by the fact that the population in the eastern DRC is suffering terribly, while many of the products we consume or use, such as mobile phones, are created using minerals from the east of the country. We are all implicated. […]
he M23, Rwandan forces and all those supporting them must facilitate access to humanitarian aid. Air, land and lake routes must be reopened to establish humanitarian corridors and guarantee the safety of humanitarian actors.
[…] I also welcome this week’s appeal by the International Criminal Court to all parties concerned to submit information on the situation in the DRC.
I reiterate the United Nations Secretary-General’s call to the Rwanda Defence Forces to cease all support for the M23 and to withdraw from the DRC.
The military path is not the answer to the political, social, and economic challenges which are at the root of this conflict, including the illegal exploitation of natural resources.
In line with the principle of due diligence, States must ensure that any support, financial or otherwise, does not fuel serious human rights violations.
Corruption within state institutions must be tackled; such institutions must be rendered efficient; and social cohesion must be restored in the country. […]
The Congolese people have been suffering terribly for decades. I express my full solidarity with the victims, families, and human rights defenders.
How many more innocent lives must be lost before sufficient political will is galvanized to resolve this crisis?
All those with influence must act urgently to put an end to this tragic situation.”
Source: https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/02/hc-turk-drc-risk-escalation-throughout-sub-region-has-never-been of 7 February 2025
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