Theater of Peace

Washington declares calm, M23 digs graves. A ceasefire without rebels is not peace. It’s propaganda.

“Waterfall in the Virunga National Park. The Virunga National Park (formerly Albert National Park) lies from the Virunga Mountains, to the Rwenzori Mountains, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda.” Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

A new Human Rights Watch report asserts that at least 140 civilians were executed in July by the Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 near Virunga National Park. Survivors described villagers being rounded up, marched in groups, and gunned down along riverbanks. Many were buried in shallow graves, denied even the dignity of funeral rites. The victims were overwhelmingly ethnic Hutus. HRW notes that fighters with distinct Rwandan accents were seen directing the killings, reinforcing allegations of Kigali’s quiet sponsorship.

Yet, at the very same time, the U.S. administration was boasting of a “peace deal” it brokered between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The deal required Kinshasa to dismantle the weakened Hutu militia, FDLR, but left M23, which is the actual armed force reshaping the battlefield, entirely out of the negotiations. A ceasefire without the rebels is not a ceasefire.

It is theater.