SILENCE OF RWANDANS ON CONGO IS A TRAGEDY

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SILENCE OF RWANDANS ON CONGO IS A TRAGEDY
An unsettling silence envelops Rwanda. Kigali is complicit in the mineral war that’s tearing the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo apart. The UN says Kigali has sent up 4,000 troops across the border to assist M23 rebels in their bid to control the region’s most lucrative mines. M23 is guilty of multiple atrocities against the Congolese people. Yet Rwandans - despite their own tragic past - are silent.

Is that simply a reflection of Kigali’s tight grip over the media and public discourse? Or, like their president Paul Kagame, are they simply feigning ignorance about what’s happening in eastern DRC?

Claude Gatebuke, a survivor of the Rwandan Genocide and human-rights advocate, acknowledges that it’s difficult to voice dissent in what’s widely considered Rwanda’s police state. In this clip, he explains why, all the same, the muted response from Rwandans to what their government is doing to its neighbour in pursuit of profit - is a tragedy.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/03/africa/rwanda-kigame-troops-dr-congo-intl/index.html

http://www.hscentre.org/africa/silenced-critics-repression-journalism-rwanda/

https://www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20240712-rwandan-mother-aims-to-prove-that-politics-is-for-all