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**World news, outside the US.** Original rationale: unless moderated, internal US news and politics often dominates world news in English, because of its demographic position. This magazine/community is to post news and articles from around the globe, but posts must have a mainly non-US component or focus. Submissions related in some way to the Alan Weisman book *The World Without Us*, which is about what would happen if humans suddenly disappeared from the planet, are also welcome. :)

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Explainer: Democratic Republic of Congo protests: expert explains why Congolese anger against the West is justified – and useful to the government (theconversation.com)

submitted 8 months ago by livus@kbin.social to c/worldwithoutus@kbin.social

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Since early February, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, has been rocked by protests directed against western embassies. Protests took place in front of the British and French embassies, and in front of United Nations buildings. Throughout the city, American and Belgian flags were burned.

The protesters are denouncing what they believed to be western complicity in the war in the east of the DRC. These protests were triggered by the renewed advance of the rebel movement M23.

M23 is led by Congolese Tutsi, and is the latest in a history of Congolese rebel groups supported by Rwanda. It emerged in April 2012, took control of the eastern city of Goma in November 2012, and was defeated in 2013. In late 2021, the group reemerged, fuelled by longstanding geopolitical tensions between the DRC and Rwanda. It has since gained control over large parts of territory.

The movement now controls access to Goma. The city of an estimated 2 million people is symbolically and strategically important as the biggest city of the northern Kivu province, bordering Rwanda.
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The rebel group has now effectively surrounded the city, allowing it to cut off supplies or conquer the city. The possibility of this happening – as it did in 2012 – has led to widespread panic and more displacement.

I have studied the DRC and its geopolitics for close to two decades. In this article, I’ll explain the reasons for, as well as the ambiguity of, the protests.

Via @JuneSim63

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[–] livus@kbin.social 1 points 8 months ago

From the article:

First, it is striking how silent the international community remains towards Rwanda. Multiple recent United Nations reports have extensively documented direct Rwandan military support for the M23 rebellion – support that Kigali itself denies.

A number of countries, such as Belgium and France, have called on Rwanda to end its involvement. Most recently, on 17 February, the United States released a strong statement condemning Rwanda’s support for M23. Yet, not much concrete action has been taken: Rwanda remains a western donor darling.

Second, the current protests are an indictment of the lack of global attention to the Congolese crisis. The comparison with both Ukraine and Israel/Palestine is frequently made in the country: where is the attention to the Congolese crisis?

For Felix Tshisekedi, who recently began a second term as president of the DRC, the protests are convenient. They’re allowing the government to shift the blame to western countries. This is after five years of at best limited progress in resolving the crisis in the eastern part of the country.
Failed policies

The Congolese government has failed to solve the armed crisis in the east. The region continues to be plagued by a range of armed groups, including the M23 rebellion.

Since the Second Congo War (1998-2003), conflict has kept brewing in eastern Congo, driven by interests and grievances at local, national and regional levels. This has spawned a multitude of armed groups, estimated to be over 100 at the moment. Access to natural resources – which are plentiful in eastern Congo – is one, but not necessarily the most important, driver of conflict. At the regional level, neighbouring countries such as Uganda and Rwanda have continued to protect their economic, political and security interests in eastern Congo.

When Tshisekedi first became president in 2019 he took measures to restore stability in the east.

But these had limited results.

First, he allowed some neighbouring countries, such as Uganda and Burundi, to once again operate militarily in the east. This was controversial for many Congolese, given the involvement of Uganda in the looting of Congolese natural resources during the Second Congo War.

This policy, and particularly the presence of Ugandan military on Congolese soil, has been blamed by the Congolese research group Ebuteli for rekindling the M23 rebellion in 2022. The presence of these foreign troops in the DRC was seen to threaten Rwandan interests.

Second, Tshisekedi declared “martial law” in the conflict-ridden provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, in which the military took over civilian authority. But this too was ineffective. Violence escalated. And, as as shown by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the military misused the martial law powers to deepen repression by targeting the opposition in these provinces.

Third was a series of other military interventions. But these too have had limited success....