Massacres in the DRC: The international community deeply concerns but never protects Congolese

Massacres in the DRC: The international community deeply concerns but never protects Congolese

20/02/2017

Look They Are Dying’ - Massacre of 

Civilians by Congolese Soldiers

Following the recent Killings in the Democratic Republic of Congo took place in the village of Mwanza Lomba, amid ongoing clashes between government troops and Kamwina Nsapu militia members, the United States says it is "deeply concerned" over a video purporting to show soldiers shooting dead 50 to 100 unarmed civilians  including women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mark Toner, US State Department Acting Spokesman, said in a statement "Such extra-judicial killing, if confirmed, would constitute gross violations of human rights and threatens to incite widespread violence and instability in an already fragile country".

"We call upon the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to launch an immediate and thorough investigation, in collaboration with international organisations responsible for monitoring human rights, to identify those who perpetrated such heinous abuses, and to hold accountable any individual proven to have been involved."

But this is not a matter of individual accountability as after watching the video footage of Congolese military- "Joseph Kabila's militia"- committing such horrible crimes,  ASADHO, a Congolese human rights NGO, is asking the international community and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an international investigation into the chain Commanders that includes the head of regime in congo the and bring the perpetrators before the ICC. 

Lambert Mende, the DR Congo's minister of communications in the Joseph Kabila's overstayed government , has discounted the authenticity of the seven-minute video, calling it a "ridiculous fake... worthy of scenes from a Rambo movie". The Congolese human rights NGO said "Lambert Mende want just to distract the international community".

Noting that more than 70% of the human rights violations documented in 2016 were committed by security officials and Congolese are dying directly and indirectly because of the Joseph Kabila dictatorship, Why the international community never directly condemns Joseph Kabila for his killings in Congo?

By Ishiaba Kasonga
From ORION CONGO STUDIES NETWORK (O.C.S.N)