There are some gaping fallacies in Human Rights Watch ‘s latest travesty of a report, titled “Africa Summit: Address Rights Crises in DR Congo, Sudan: COMESA Should Work to Curb Atrocities, Protect Civilians, Promote Justice.”
First off, let’s get real: Eastern Congo is home to a chaotic cocktail of local and foreign militias.
Yet, HRW overlooks the real menace here: the genocidal FDLR, which has fed on terror for decades. If there ever was true intention (say by the DRC regime) to stabilize eastern DRC, they would prioritize the dismantling of the FDLR. This group is a serious menace, to Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese citizens, to Rwanda itself. Why does HRW fail to mention these things, and assign blame for insecurity where it is: to Tshisekedi who not only backs FDLR, he arms them, and has integrated the terrorist genocidal group in his military?
Why HRW’s glaring omission? They have an agenda, that’s why. It’s an anti-Rwanda agenda that they will pursue, unscrupulously, with lies, smears, and hit pieces.
A close look exposes HRW’s troubling historical amnesia. The human rights abuses, militias, and violence in Eastern DRC trace back to the 1960s – decades before Rwanda’s current government even existed. One would think this context matters, yet HRW prefers a convenient narrative, portraying Rwanda as the “aggressor”, with no regard for the actual roots of the crisis, the true historical context, or the solutions that would address them.
The repeated malicious, anti-Rwandan slant of HRW’s reports raises serious suspicions.
Does HRW function as an agenda-driven machine, weaponized against Rwanda’s reputation on the world stage?
Rwanda has proven its commitment to regional peace time and again, yet HRW insists on sullying Rwanda’s reputation, misleading its reputation, and so on.
It is high time all right-thinking Africans began to question HRW behavior, or the role it’s assigned itself, in Africa’s affairs.
It’s doubly important if we are ever to realize the goal of “African solutions to African problems.”
We don’t need highly jaundiced, foreign busybodies!
ellenkampire