.jpg)
.jpg)
Open letter from the Rwandan diaspora in Belgium to Belgian political leaders
Open letter from the Rwandan diaspora in Belgium to Belgian political leadersBy: The Rwandan Diaspora in Belgium
We, Belgians of Rwandan origin, are concerned by the relentlessness at all levels of power against Rwanda. Well integrated in our adopted country, we love Belgium and its values of justice and responsibility. But we cannot remain silent to a selective and biased reading of the crisis in the Great Lakes region.
We note with concern the anti-Rwanda lobbying by Belgium at the European level and the succession of resolutions voted on at the Brussels, Walloon, federal – and even municipal – levels, often at the initiative of elected officials of Congolese origin who thus exploit the conflict and repeat word for word the official position of the DRC government, thus ignoring essential truths about the situation in Eastern Congo.
We understand and share the expression of solidarity with the Congolese people and the sincere desire to promote peace. However, this empathy cannot justify political blindness, nor the adoption of a simplistic discourse that completely exonerates Kinshasa from its responsibility.
An unacceptable lack of rigor and nuance
Omitting the role of the Congolese authorities in the instability in eastern DRC is a serious mistake. For years, the central government has lost effective control of vast regions, destabilized by more than 120 militias and armed groups, many of which are responsible for violations and abuses against civilians.
In October 2023 and March 2024, the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office reported that the Congolese army and police were responsible for more than 40% of human rights violations in the DRC. The President of the DRC has repeatedly threatened to overthrow the government in Rwanda and has called on European mercenaries in violation of international conventions. Where is the condemnation of these acts in the resolutions voted in Belgium?
Rather than proposing a balanced approach, Belgian decision-makers have adopted a simplistic and biased narrative, portraying Kigali as responsible for the conflict in the DRC. This position is all the more disappointing since Belgium has long demonstrated lucidity and vigilance on the issue of the Great Lakes, and should understand better than anyone the root causes of the conflict due to its colonial past.
A historic regression for Belgium
In 1997, while France still supported the genocidal regime, a Belgian parliamentary commission investigated Belgium's responsibilities in the Genocide against the Tutsi. Its work led to the historic apologies of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt in 2000.
In 2000, Belgium issued an international arrest warrant against Abdulaye Yerodia Ndombasi, then Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DRC, for incitement to racial hatred, after he called for the “methodical eradication” of the Tutsi. Today, as the persecution of Rwandophones in the DRC reaches alarming levels, where is this Belgian vigilance?
Forgetting a crisis rooted in ethnic hatred
The existence of Rwandophone communities in the DRC does not date back to colonization. Unlike other African countries that have managed these realities without persecuting their minorities, the DRC has systematically marginalized its own.
* In 1981, Mobutu’s government stripped them of their citizenship.
* In 1998, Yerodia Ndombasi’s call to exterminate the Tutsi led to massacres.
* In 2021, Genocide Watch placed the Banyamulenge in stages 9 and 10 of
genocide (extermination and denial).
* In 2022, the UN warned of the resurgence of ethnic hatred and
anti-Rwandophone discourse in the DRC.
This systemic hatred is the root cause of the conflict, much more than the alleged Rwandan covetousness over Congolese mineral wealth.
Since 1994, the persistent presence of anti-Tutsi genocidal forces in the DRC such as the FDLR has been denounced by the United Nations. Having failed to be neutralized, these groups responsible for countless atrocities against civilian populations and whose ethnicist ideology poisons the region, are now openly collaborating with the regular army of the DRC. This is evidenced by the United Nations reports and the recent arrests in Goma of high-ranking FDLR officers involved in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Call for responsibility from Belgian decision-makers
We call on Belgian political leaders to show a surge of lucidity. This is not about denying the suffering of the Congolese people. It is not about exonerating Rwanda from any critical eye. It is about adopting a fair and nuanced analysis, based on facts and commensurate with the real issues.
This is not the time for moralizing speeches, but for taking responsibility. However, the path chosen by Belgian political leaders is not going in the right direction: far from easing tensions, it fuels the conflict without addressing its root causes. A biased approach that also risks stirring up tensions between the Congolese and Rwandan diasporas, thus threatening social cohesion in our territory.
Sanctions will not solve the crisis. Unilateral denunciations will not advance peace. Encouraging Congolese leaders in their headlong rush is irresponsible and undermines ongoing regional initiatives (EAC-SADC) to end the conflict.
Only a balanced, lucid approach based on a true understanding of regional dynamics and on dialogue and negotiation can pave the way for a lasting solution.
Belgium has a tradition of courageous commitment to truth and justice in the Great Lakes. It must refuse to abandon this heritage in favor of a dogmatic and blind stance.
.gif)
Leave A Comment