Thousands of churchgoers protest violence in DR Congo

Tens of 1000's took half within the nationwide peaceable rallies organised by the Catholic Church.

DR Congo protest
For years, many within the Democratic Republic of Congo have accused the West of failing to carry Rwanda to account for its alleged position in stoking insecurity within the DRC's jap areas [Justin Makangara/Reuters]

Tens of 1000's of Christians took to the streets throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday to protest violence in jap areas, as church leaders accused the worldwide neighborhood of hypocrisy over Rwanda’s alleged position within the combating.

After Sunday companies, churchgoers within the capital Kinshasa and different main cities heeded a name from the Convention of Catholic Bishops to display towards the battle with the M23 insurgent group, which Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting.

Rwanda denies this.

“We are saying no to warfare, no to a divided Congo,” mentioned Blaise Emmanuel, vicar at St Elizabeth’s parish, who with different monks led a procession in Montgafula, one of many poorest municipalities in Kinshasa.

The mass protests had been essentially the most vital since an escalation in combating in latest months between state forces and M23. The violence has displaced an estimated 390,000 folks, in keeping with the United Nations Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Demonstrators in Kinshasa sang and carried banners studying: “No to Balkanisation, no to the hypocrisy of the worldwide neighborhood. The DRC shouldn't be on the market.”

Many in Congo have for years accused the West of failing to carry Rwanda to account for its alleged position in stoking insecurity within the east.

The European Parliament in late November known as on Rwanda to not assist the M23 rebels. However final week the European Fee was criticised in Congo for a call to offer 20 million euros ($21m) to assist Rwandan troops serving to battle rebels in Mozambique.

On the finish of the march in Montgafula, protesters sang the nationwide anthem and a priest holding a Congolese flag climbed onto a chair to handle the group.

“It's the small nation that's combating us,” mentioned Father Theophile Landu in reference to Rwanda. “Behind it are america and the European Union. We inform them that they have to cease the hypocrisy.”

In August, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned stories by UN specialists that Rwanda continued to assist the M23 had been “credible”.

Rwanda’s authorities has disputed the findings.

Anti-Western sentiments had been aired in different cities in protests the place high-profile attendees included the top of the Senate, a number of ministers, and lawmakers from the ruling occasion and the opposition.

Congo and Rwanda took half in talks in late November aimed toward discovering options to the battle. Different negotiations led by the seven-member East African Group (EAC) are ongoing.

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