The recent killing of at least 19 people in the Congo (DRC) city of Beni showed that conflict with Rwandan rebels is not getting any better. So why don’t we read more about it in the western press?
To help try and raise awareness of the alleged attempted genocide by Rwandan rebels in DR Congo, international Congolese Rumba artist Fally Ipupa has launched #peacebeni.
In spite of how important this issue is, a recent post of his I read that said ‘’Once again more tears are shed over the killings in Beni. Stop the war and the killings!! Peace Beni’’ only had 2.6 K likes.
This lack of interest is shocking for various reasons.
There is still compelling evidence that the Rwandan rebels are stealing resources from DRC and smuggling them back into Rwanda. The attack in Beni took place because the town is in the Kivu region which is rich in gold, coltan and tin.
To make it easier to plunder this area, there is evidence DRC women are tortured and raped to stop them having babies. This use of rape as a weapon of war has been reported by Amnesty International and in news outlets such as Al Jazeera.
Another compelling reason why the west should take more interest is that countries outside of the region benefit from importing stolen coltan and other resources.
Finally, there are already signs that this injustice is making the Congolese very angry.
One sign of that was the recent mass protest against the United Nations (UN) in Beni, during which one member of the public was shot by a UN soldier. The UN have been in DRC since 1999 and yet the population feel that they have not been protected at all.
If the west don’t intervene to help the situation, this unrest could get worse.
