August 28, 2020
Last massacre dated August 24, 2020 in Katobwe middle plateau a few tens of kilometers from Runigu road Uvira-Bukavu. Six young Banyamulenge on their way to the highlands greeted their parents after 5 months of confinement are spotted, hunted for 2 days and killed like game at the mercy of predators.
Colonel Bigawa of FARDC accuses them of going to help Gumino or Twirwaneho but nothing indicates on them and in their luggage that they are combatants.
No weapon found on them. No telltale signs in any way. But simply because they are Banyamulenge and young. Most are under the age of 18. But they are Banyamulenge and deserve ipsofacto to die since the Congolese government or its representatives on the spot decided so.
The wounded among them, captives, are finished with knives after hours of torture by young Fuliru civilians under the supervision of the criminal colonel. Who promises their mothers with the cry of “let our children live and kill us in their stead, imagine the pain of your mother if you were killed with a machete in front of her eyes”.
The colonel looks down and blurted out, “I’d like to see you all wrapped up in coffins, viper people.” And to give a damn about the pain of women mourning their sons. But African tradition has it that this kind of crying is the source of the curse. Women are the bearers of life within them. They are therefore the lucky and bad luck charm.
As a reminder, this kind of senseless crimes had preceded the great Congolese war of 1996, and its extension of 1998. A so-called African war since it saw the participation of more than 6 states ranged against each other. Consequently, we are talking about 6 million Congolese dead in the space of 6 years.
From 1998 to 2004 with the advent of San City which saw an end to the war. The assassinations and harassment of the Banyamulenge have reached a climax. And for unacknowledged reasons. The young fuliru, bembe and nyindu against whom we are fighting move freely. They come from Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa etc. greet their parents or in support of the Mai Mai.
The Congolese Armed Forces never worried them. The Mai Mai have been killing the Banyamulenge with impunity since 2017 until today. But when the Twirwaneho descend to Kipupu to recover their looted property, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Mukwege cries out for the repeated massacre of the Congolese by Banyamulenge Tutsi.
When the victims question such partiality, the whole earth stands up to defend the one-of-a-kind. Civil society is crying out scandal, citizen movements warn, Protestant (CEPZA) and Catholic (Bishop of Uvira) churches point the finger at those who dare to soil holiness. Ministers, provincial and national deputies say they are taken aback and so on.
A man, a woman can be unfair. Cropped by the rest. But when an institution, when a national army, the police, the intelligence services as well as the top of the state can all unanimously close their eyes to the massive and radical destruction of a community it is called genocide.
However, the Banyamulenge opt for life. They choose to live and refuse fatality.
In what way then? Due to the rejection by the power and the Congolese state, they ask the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo His Excellency Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo to put them back under the protection of the United Nations organization.
Who must find them a host country so that they can live and escape a cleverly designed genocide. During which they are killed one by one by state agents, the national army silently and methodically.
Where have we already seen the elected representatives of the people, the pastors, the bishops, the Nobel Prize winner, the generals, the council of ministers, the presidential candidate all as one man rise up against a minority community without defense and without slightest contradiction of their claim? No one is able to oppose us the opposite of what we say about the crimes that are inflicted on us daily.
Mr. President, you are like us a creature and a man of faith in God. We ask you to spare yourself the blood of a minority and apolitical people who do not fight you in any way. The children of Banyamulenge bear the Kassain name of Tshisekedi since the lifetime of your father Étienne Tschisekedi. A president of the republic is a representative of the Living God. He has the power to punish and to save.
You promised to come to Minembwe where it would have been possible for you to see the people of Banyamulenge, but that was not done.
The whole world is ganging up against us for false reasons, and you agree with them that the Banyamulenge are enemies of the republic. No, Your Excellency Mr. President. They have neither the will nor the power (in any way) to undermine the legally established institutions of the republic.
Give yourself a minute of reflection and verification, the Holy Spirit will tell you the opposite of those that the enemies of peace and your power are telling you slyly to harm the good cohabitation of the people of South Kivu and the proper functioning of your power.
Jean Scohier Muhamiriza
Freelance journalist
