While the world looks away, civilians in eastern DRC continue to be slaughtered. Armed groups operate with utmost impunity. These crimes moreover are taking place under the watch of the United Nations peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, whose core mandate is to protect civilians.
Between Christmas week and January 2, 2026, at least 47 civilians were killed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in Lubero Territory, North Kivu. The killings followed a grim pattern:
21 People were murdered during Christmas week, and 12 more were killed a few days later, 14 civilians were slaughtered overnight between Thursday, January 1, and Friday, January 2.
These attacks occurred in areas where MONUSCO maintains operational bases. Yet, despite the presence of UN forces and the recent extension of MONUSCO’s mandate by the UN Security Council, there has been no meaningful response, no protection, and no accountability.
A Daily Tragedy in Ituri and Beni
There is scarcely a day without reports of civilians being killed in Ituri and Beni. The ADF continues its campaign of terror, leaving families destroyed and communities traumatized. For the people of eastern Congo, violence has become routine, and international indifference has become the norm.
With a multi-billion-dollar budget, MONUSCO was established to protect civilians and disarm illegal armed groups such as ADF, CODECO, FDLR, and various Mai-Mai militias. Instead, these groups continue to expand their influence, massacre civilians, and operate freely.
The UN mission has fallen dramatically short of its primary responsibility. Worse still, many Congolese now believe that MONUSCO has abandoned neutrality.
In the DRC, the UN has increasingly been perceived as aligned with the Kinshasa regime, operating alongside the FARDC and cooperating directly or indirectly with armed coalitions that include groups such as the Wazalendo and FDLR. These alliances have blurred the line between peacekeeping and political support.
When massacres occur in full view of UN forces without any reaction, MONUSCO sends a dangerous message: Congolese lives are expendable.
The repeated silence and inaction of MONUSCO in the face of mass killings is no longer just a failure; it is seen as moral and political complicity. An international mission that watches civilians die without intervening becomes an expensive apparatus serving its own interests, rather than those of the people it claims to protect.
The coalition between the Kinshasa regime and MONUSCO has effectively neutralized the mission’s civilian protection mandate. Each unaddressed massacre deepens public anger and erodes trust in international institutions. The protection of civilians has never truly been at the heart of MONUSCO’s actions.
By supporting a regime accused of collaborating with armed groups, the UN mission has participated un a system violence against civilians to persist.
That’s just the truth.
ellenkampire