Title: State of siege in eastern DRC: the Catholic Church challenges the authorities
Since June 2021, the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri in the DRC have been under a state of siege. This exceptional measure was taken with the aim of combating the armed violence and armed groups that are rampant in this region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But two years later, nothing seems to have changed in terms of security. Faced with this situation, the Catholic Church calls on the authorities and asks for an evaluation of the measure to assess its effectiveness.
This was recalled by the Bishop of the Diocese of Goma, Mgr. Willy Ngumbi, during a press briefing organized on the occasion of the visit of the Pope’s envoy, Luis Antonio Tagle. According to him, “the position of the Catholic Church is to always challenge the authorities to say, when are you going to end the state of siege? Since we see that she does not respond to the mission that was hers. But this question we submit to the authorities of the country and to the central government in Kinshasa to assess the state of siege and see if it really responds to its mission”.
This arrest comes as several attacks have been reported in recent days in the region. During the night from Thursday to Friday, nine civilians were killed, one injured and several were kidnapped in a new attack in Museya, in Beni territory. Additionally, fighting was reported between Wazalendo self-defense groups and M23 in Rutshuru territory. The Congolese army also warns of the reinforcement of the M23 terrorists by Rwandan soldiers who would be in training in Chanzu and in Rwanda to carry out an assault against Goma.
Faced with these recent events, the lifting of the state of siege appears more than ever to be a topical issue. In any case, for the Catholic Church, “we hoped a lot about the state of siege to restore peace and security, but the situation today is really the opposite of our hope, it is for the moment a disappointment “