Congressman André D. Carson, a stalwart in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2008, has unveiled a bill that shines a light on the ethnic cleansing of Congolese Tutsis in the heart of the North and South Kivu provinces. They are living a nightmare, facing brutal lynchings, stabbings, and outright murder simply because their facial traits showed they were what Colonial conspiracists labeled of “Hamitic” or “Nilotic” origin.
Congolese ruler Félix Tshisekedi has blood on his hands.
To grasp the gravity of this situation, one must delve into the history of hate speech and incitement that has plagued the DRC for decades. Rewind to the infamous parliamentary years of 1990-1995 when the Higher Council of the Republic/Transitional Parliament (HCR/PT), led by the notorious Anzuluni Bemba Isilonyonyi, gave birth to the Vangu Commission. This government commission didn’t shy away from recommending the persecution of Tutsis. Figures like Lwaboshi and Shyekwa issued a chilling 7-day ultimatum after fanning the flames of ethnic hatred that have now engulfed a significant portion of the Congolese population. In this climate, political agendas have been tossed to the wind, as ethnicity takes center stage. A damning example from 1990-1992 saw deputies from North and South Kivu beg Mobutu to “Expel these Congolese Tutsi, and we will support you.”
Secondly, The Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), has lent a helping hand to militias, including the genocidal FDLR, in orchestrating the ethnic cleansing of Congolese Tutsis. These coalitions, with a vendetta against Congolese Tutsis, have wreaked havoc and sown the seeds of insecurity and violence in the East. They were initially fought by the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) until the end of 2008, and later, between 2012 and 2013, by the March 23 Movement (M23), an offshoot of the former. Both these political-military outfits fought to protect Congolese Tutsis, and today, they’re dedicated to halting the ethnic cleansing being perpetrated under Tshisekedi’s orders.
The urgency of the situation cannot be overstated. The U.S. Congress must pass Congressman André D. Carson’s bill to hold accountable Congolese authorities, whether political or military, who are responsible for ethnically motivated killings and incitement to violence against Congolese Tutsis. This action is in line with the warning issued by Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Under-Secretary-General Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, who highlighted the proliferation of hate speech in the DRC. She stated that “the current violence is a wake-up call to the fragility of society and evidence of the continued presence of the conditions that led to genocide in the past,” making a clear reference to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda.
In essence, two truths demand the US Congress’s unwavering attention. firstly, the ongoing ethnic cleansing targeting Congolese Tutsis under Tshisekedi is part of a plot hatched together with the genocidal FDLR. These tropical Nazis, in Congo since 1994 after exterminating over a million Tutsi in 100 days, have never relinquished their ambition of continuing the Tutsi extermination, not only in Rwanda but across the entire Great Lakes region. Secondly, the U.S. Congress bears a solemn responsibility to act swiftly and decisively and put an end to Tshisekedi’s relentless ethnic cleansing campaign against Congolese Tutsis. The festering national crisis within the DRC, obviously ignored and unaddressed by Tshisekedi, is metamorphosing into a genocide against the Tutsi, the second in the Great Lakes region.
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