On 26 January 2025, we published an article "Goma: The Cry of the Imburi" on the possible attack on Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The forces of the 23 M militia and some three to four thousand regular military of Rwanda were advancing toward Goma. Two days later, on 28 January, Goma fell to the 23 M. There were one million inhabitants in Goma and another million living in nearby camps as refugees. They had fled from violence in the neighboring area. There are a multitude of armed militias, each with its own interests which they advance violently. One grouping of militias, known as the Wazalendo, a term for "patriots" in Swahili is opposed to 23 M but is not part of the regular Democratic Republic military. There has been a great amount of sexual and gender-based violence.
Demonstrators linked to the party in power of President Félix Tshisekedi have demonstrated in the capital Kinshasa some 1600 miles to the east in front of the embassies of France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A. for having done nothing to prevent Goma from being attacked. The European governments have replied, as did the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, that they deplore the violence and are in solidarity with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The United Nations Security Council met in an emergency session and called for a ceasefire but no followup measures were made public. The U.N. already has peacekeepers in the area (Monusco) with the aim of stabilizing the mineral-rich region. However, there is no peace to keep. The U.N. troops are called by the local population "the tourrists". They come only to watch what is going on. In reality the U.N. forces are national military and police "lent" to the U.N. by member governments. The military and police come nearly all from developing countries trained in the British way: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Ghana. They have no desire to be killed in armed conflicts which do not concern their country.
There have been African-led efforts at mediation. In 2022, the African Union asked Angola's President to mediate which led to a short-lived ceasefire in July 2024, but the ceasefire collapsed shortly after. At this stage, the dangerous disintegration of the Democratic Republic of Congo - democratic in name only - is likely to continue as there is not only armed violence but also a constitutional crisis as President Tshisekedi is trying to change the constitution so that he can stay longer in power. The restoration of legitimate authority and effective stabilization may still be in an unknown future.
René Wadlow
#The_UN_Goals #safeforall #apart
