RDC : polémique après des propos du porte-parole de l’armée visant des femmes tutsies
Statements by the spokesman for the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) implicating Tutsi women sparked a heated controversy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday.
Speaking on public television RTNC, General Sylvain Ekenge warned against an "infiltration strategy" attributed to Rwanda, in the context of the conflict with the armed group M23 in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu.
Eastern DRC, bordering Rwanda and rich in resources, has been plagued by recurring violence for almost thirty years, following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
The situation worsened this year with the capture of Goma in January, then Bukavu in February by the M23, before an offensive in December which led to the capture of Uvira, near the Burundian border.
Since the resurgence in 2021 of the M23, which claims to want to overthrow President Félix Tshisekedi and claims to defend the Tutsi community, several Congolese officers have been arrested and prosecuted for "treason" or "fleeing from the enemy".
According to General Ekenge, some were allegedly "manipulated by Rwanda".
Kigali was developing "other schemes to deliver a fatal blow to our country," he asserted, mentioning infiltrations through family or marital relationships.
"When you marry a Tutsi woman today, you have to be careful," he insisted, believing that these unions would allow members of the extended family to be introduced into homes to influence offspring and spread notions of Tutsi "superiority".
These remarks, made on the national channel, caused an uproar on social media.
"It is unacceptable that this speech is being given by the spokesperson for our armed forces," reacted John Nsana Kanyoni, administrator at the Federation of Enterprises of Congo (FEC), on X.
The citizen movement Lucha denounced "hate speech" and demanded sanctions.
Other voices, such as that of former magistrate Frédéric Bola, have warned against "a dangerous ideology" reminiscent of the one that led to the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, which resulted in approximately 800,000 deaths according to the UN, mainly among members of this community, but also among moderate Hutus.
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