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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
We turn now to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Fighting is continuing in the eastern city of Goma between Congolese forces and Rwandan-backed M23 fighters who have seized at least parts of Goma. The fighting has killed at least 17 people, with over 370 injured. The U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called on Rwandan forces to immediately withdraw from the DRC and end its support for M23, as fears grow of a wider regional war. On Sunday, Congolese foreign minister called the unfolding situation in Congo one of its darkest periods in recent history.
THÉRÈSE KAYIKWAMBA WAGNER: [translated] Since January 6, 2025, these illegal forces have intensified their attacks, taking over strategic localities such as Katale, Masisi, displacing millions of civilians and destroying vital infrastructure and committing massive human rights violations. These acts are not only attacks against the people of the Congo, but also against the fundamental principles that govern peaceful coexistence between the nations.
AMY GOODMAN: Earlier, U.N. officials in Geneva said the humanitarian conditions in Goma are worsening. Jens Laerke is a spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
JENS LAERKE: The humanitarian situation in and around Goma remains extremely worrying. And again this morning, our colleagues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo report heavy small arms fire and mortar fire across the city and the presence of many dead bodies in the streets. We have reports of rapes committed by fighters, looting of property, including of a humanitarian warehouse come, and humanitarian and health facilities being hit. … Hospitals in Goma are reportedly overwhelmed, struggling to manage the influx of wounded people. Electricity and water supplies are compromised. And yesterday internet services were cut off, and Goma is still offline this morning.
AMY GOODMAN: Earlier today, protests broke out in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, outside the embassies of several allies of Rwanda, including France and the United States.
To talk more about the Congo, we’re joined by Maurice Carney, co-founder and executive director of Friends of the Congo.
Maurice, explain what’s happening, to a global audience, in the DRC.
MAURICE CARNEY: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Amy. It’s a pleasure to be with you.
First and foremost, a global audience has to understand that this is a part of a 30-year war of aggression and plunder by U.S. allies: Rwanda, led by Paul Kagame, and Uganda, led by Yoweri Museveni. And this war of aggression and plunder has been able to continue as a result of the support that they have received from major powers, like the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, France. That’s important, why you see in Kinshasa today young people are rising up and protesting at those embassies, at the U.S. Embassy, the Ugandan Embassy, at the French Embassy.
And so, this has been ongoing for some time. And it’s been ongoing as a result of really three factors, Amy. One is rampant impunity. The Rwandan leader Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni have been able to work in eastern Congo, intervene with impunity. Second, there has been a lack of accountability. And third, there’s been a lack of justice.
Now, what we’ve seen over the last few days are flurries of activities on the part of the diplomatic representatives at the U.N. and an emergency session being called. You had France and U.K., United States all making statements. And if you follow their statements, they all say, “Rwanda must leave. Rwandan soldiers are in the Congo. Rwanda has been an aggressor force against the Congolese people.” And they’ve been saying this for years. That’s on one side of the ledger in what — in the words that they’ve articulated as diplomats. But there hasn’t been any actions. There hasn’t been any sanctions. There hasn’t been any military aid being withheld from the Rwandan government.
In fact, Rwanda has been rewarded in the midst of this past three years’ aggression where they’ve surrounded the city of Goma. The European Union has doled out 20 million euros in 2023, again in 2024, to the Rwandan government. In addition to that, the European Union has entered into a critical minerals deal with the Rwandan government to get access to critical minerals. And as the Rwandan forces — the U.N. said there are about 4,000 forces in the Congo — and the M23 capture territory, they’ve captured the largest coltan mine in the Congo, in Rubaya. And, you know, Rwanda is listed as the number one producer of coltan in the world.
So, here it is that it’s clearly evident that minerals are being smuggled out of Congo through Rwanda into the international market, and Rwanda is being rewarded for its aggression against the Congolese people, which, as you laid out in the introduction, the humanitarian outfall is catastrophic for the people. I was in the displacement camps a few months ago, and people are living in bestial condition. What we see unfolding in the Congo is really a scar on the conscience of humanity. And it’s unnecessary, right?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Maurice?
MAURICE CARNEY: It is absolutely necessary. So, there’s a lot the international community can do. Yes.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Maurice Carney, I wanted to ask you: First of all, the significance of the apparent seizure of at least parts or all of Goma, a city of more than 3 million people, bigger than the city of Chicago, suddenly falling under the military forces of Rwanda?
MAURICE CARNEY: It’s important, Juan, to remind your viewing audience that this is not the first time this has happened. In 2012, Rwanda, backing the M23 and having its forces in the Congo, they seized Goma. At that time, what President Obama did, he called Paul Kagame on the phone and told him, basically, “Back off.” But in addition to that, he withheld military aid. That’s what the United States did — not a lot, $200,000. However, what that did is it showed some kind of leadership. And then the European nations followed suit and withheld tens of millions of dollars. In addition to that, the U.N. strengthened its mandate, where it called for a force intervention brigade, where South Africa and Malawi and Tanzania all went in to confront the Rwandan forces and their M23. So, this is — the one point is it’s not the first time this has happened. So, we’ve seen Paul Kagame being a repeat offender.
And with his capturing the city of Goma or attempting to capture the city of Goma, we had a message from one of our partners on the ground this morning. And he basically said that, you know, there are gun — “I hear gunfires. There are bullets coming through my door. I can’t go outside. I have to take cover.” Right? Even before that, the women that we work with in one of the largest displacement camps called Bulengo, they have been displaced from the occupation of their villages by the M23 and Rwandan forces, and then — well, displaced right around Goma, and then they’re being bombed again, so they had to go in the city. So, we really have a catastrophic humanitarian situation unfolding, especially in a tightly knit area as Goma. One high-level official shared with us, you know, that “The only place we have left to go is in the lake.” Right?
So, the people are trapped, trapped in a war that is unnecessary, a war that has been able to continue and be perpetuated because of the lack of action on the part of Western nations, and also because of the rewarding of Paul Kagame in spite of the war crimes, crimes against humanity, mass atrocities that he’s committed. Even a 2010 U.N. report says that if the Rwandan soldiers — this is the U.N. “Mapping Exercise” report that came out in 2010 — said if Rwandan soldiers are brought to book, you know, to justice, a competent court could try them for crimes of genocide in the Congo. So, there’s just this lack of accountability. This rampant impunity, lack of justice has enabled this to continue to this day. And we have an opportunity right now to bring an end to that.
AMY GOODMAN: As we wrap up, Maurice Carney, the U.N. peacekeeping mission has been there, what, since 1999, comprising 10,000 troops. In the last two days, two peacekeepers from South Africa, one from Uruguay were killed, 11 injured. Can you talk about the significance of this and what you want to see happen as the U.N. calls Security Council meetings around the DRC?
MAURICE CARNEY: Yes, U.N. peacekeepers are there with the South African troops, the Congolese troops. In fact, nine South Africans have lost their lives. Three Malawians have lost their lives. What is interesting, Amy, Rwanda is the largest contributor to peacekeepers to the U.N. peacekeeping efforts in Africa, yet in the Congo, they’re firing surface-to-air missiles at the U.N., so that they’re at war against the United Nations.
So, really, what needs to happen is a stronger action on the part of the Western nations. They can do that. Forty percent of Rwanda’s budget comes from the West. Congo is so critical. It’s a vital country to — not only to Africa, but to the world at large. It’s part of the second-largest rainforest in the world, sequesters more carbon than all the tropical rainforests combined. Therefore, it’s vital in combating the climate crisis. And at the same time, it’s indispensable to the green energy transition, producing 70% of the world’s cobalt. Cobalt is a central ingredient that’s necessary for the batteries that power the electric vehicles in the green transition. So, Congo is at the nexus of two major global phenomena: combating the climate crisis, making the green energy transition.
So, it’s of interest to all of us to be engaged, to raise awareness, to hold our leaders accountable. So we should be calling on the U.N. to do more, calling on the European Union to cancel its contracts with Rwanda, calling on France, where France and Emmanuel Macron has been blocking action — calling on Macron to stop blocking actions. So, Congolese are demonstrating in Kinshasa. They’re demonstrating today at the U.N. We’ll be demonstrating at the Rwandan Embassy this coming weekend on Saturday. So, people have to raise their voices, demonstrate, hold their leaders accountable, write letters, do everything that they can to assure that there’s an immediate ceasefire, that Rwanda withdraws its troops from the Congo, the M23 demobilizes, and Congo restores the integrity of its state. Almost right now Rwanda and the M23 occupy in Congo most area, land area, almost the size of Rwanda itself.
AMY GOODMAN: Maurice Carney, we want to thank you for being with us, co-founder and executive director of Friends of the Congo, joining us from Mexico.
