The people of Goma and the dispossessed of eastern Congo are weary of conflict and feel abandoned by their government. They want protection and rule of law and M23 is offering that tantalizing possibility. See the following AlJazeera report.
That is why it is puzzling that US State Department spokesperson,Victoria Nuland, issued a press release condemning the rebels and calling them "an affront to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC and in violation of international law."
Where was the condemnation from Nuland when a team of police and village youth in Masisi found the body of six women and a baby on Friday, November 3? The victims were killed with machetes while in search of food for their families. Nyatura Hutu fighters, allies of remnants of the 1994 genocidaires (FDLR) were singled out in this massacre, Radio Okapi reported.
M23 has been fighting against the FDLR since the days of its incarnation as the CNDP.
Where was the condemnation from Nuland when MONUSCO (UN in Congo) issued a separate press release revealing that 264 civilians, including 83 children, were arbitrarily executed by armed groups in Masisi between April and September 2012?
"Many victims were hacked to death with machetes while others were burnt alive in their homes. The opposing Nyatura group was found to be responsible for other human rights violations, including killings, sometimes carried out in collaboration with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Where was the outrage from Nuland one year ago when seven people were killed on December 19, 2011 in the town of Bukumbirwa in Walikale territory? Village leaders told Radio Okapi the murders were committed by rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in retaliation against the death of Colonel Sadiki, an FDLR officer murdered by a Congolese militia last November.
Where was Nuland when the leaders of Walikale called for help when the FDLR put 49 citizens on an assassination list? The list included cultural leaders, chiefs, local government officials, businessmen and women, and political leaders. Leaders said that when the people of Walikale asked for help from the Kabila government in Kinshasa, "Congolese forces (FARDC) arrive and engage in violent and inhumane treatment of the people of Walikale."
The issue of the FDLR remnants of the 1994 genocide has never been fully addressed by anyone except Rwanda and the M23.
Human Rights Watch and State Department complaints about the welfare of children are weasel words when HRW has also ignored these recent atrocities.
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