DRC: situation still tense in Goma after violence against Rwandophones
Audio 01:22
Tension has become palpable between the DRC and Rwanda, after the death of a Congolese soldier at the border with the neighboring country.
Here, residents of Goma passing his body, June 17, 2022. © Guerchom Ndebo / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
Last week's violence is still fresh in people's minds.
On the sidelines of demonstrations denouncing Rwanda's support for the M23 rebellion, churches were vandalized and businesses were looted on Wednesday 15 June.
Since then, Rwandans, but especially Congolese communities suspected of being close to Rwanda, have felt threatened.
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With our special correspondent in Goma,
Coralie Pierret
In a discreet garden, a man is seated out of sight.
He is Banyamulenge, a pastoral community with distant Tutsi origins present in the Congo for several centuries, according to historians.
He claims to have been verbally attacked since last week because of his ethnicity and physical appearance.
“I was afraid of having to leave the house. We first make sure that the city is calm. If the town is not calm, everyone is told not to leave the house. We are really insecure, but the authorities are on the side of the whole population, ”
explains this man who testifies anonymously at the microphone of RFI.
Tensions between the DRC and Rwanda have revived xenophobic discourse against Rwandophone communities living on Congolese territory.
Last weekend, a herdsman "
with a Rwandan morphology
" was
attacked by a crowd before being stoned
in the province of Maniema.
In recent days in Goma, local authorities and civil society have been increasing calls for calm.
“In North Kivu we have not experienced conflicts, ethnic wars.
This is a story that only emerged during the march on the 15th, we are here to ask everyone to calm down,”
said Colonel François Kebeya, mayor of the city of Goma.
“
Those who are going to get caught with xenophobic messages, they are going to respond to these acts.
»
► To read also:
DRC: the president of the civil society of Maniema calls for calm after the violence
Kinshasa hit by anti-Rwandophone fever
In the Congolese capital, young people claiming to be from the movements of the camp in power led patrols, machetes in hand, in search of Rwandophones in a working-class neighborhood.
Tuesday, June 21, the governor of Kinshasa, Gentiny Ngobila, announced that the police had arrested these young people.
“
I asked the security service to redouble their efforts to protect the Tutsi population and their property.
We have gone above and beyond to call for the capture of anyone who has uttered xenophobic speech that is likely to lead to violence.
Almost all of these people have already been arrested, are in the hands of the police
, ”he explains at the microphone of our correspondent in Kinshasa,
Pascal Mulegwa
.
“
We took the decision to prohibit the wearing of military uniforms for civilians.
I asked the police to redouble their vigilance to get their hands on anyone who dares to patrol and search for Tutsi populations who live peacefully here, in the city of Kinshasa.
We continue to sensitize people so that they understand.
Kinshasa is a very hospitable city, so we cannot accept that uncivil people come to undermine this legendary hospitality that characterizes us
, ”he adds.
At the national level, the government continues to accuse
Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group
, while condemning threats and discrimination against Rwandans and Congolese Rwandophones.
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