One day of Mourning and Reflection on the massacre of people in Beni North Kivu DRCongo
Requiem and one day of mourning more than 200 people massacred in Beni North Kivu DRCongo by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), held at COJESKI North Kivu Office this Tuesday June 18th 2024
During the mourning and reflexion on the the security situation in Beni
Since the begging of this month of June 2024 more than 200 people have been massacred in Beni with more than 100 being massacred recently in just one night in Beni and Lubero North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of Congo. In order to show compassion with the families of the victims and to reflect on this massacres in Beni which has been there since 2014 up to now, and come up with ideas on how best we can end this we organized this event today, Tuesday June 18th, 2024.
The following organizations were represented: COJESKI, SADI, NDSCI, AJVDC, AHPVO, and SWID.
The activity started with the lighting of the candle as the sign of mourning, one minute of silence was observed by the participants and then people sat down to mourn for 20 minutes of meditation.
The moderator of the activity Mr. Kulihoshi Musikami Pecos, the Provincial Coordinator of COJESKI then asked people to think about these massacres that have taken 10 years now, what do we know about ADF, why are killing innocent people, what can we do to end it.
One thing certain is that we cannot continue seeing people being massacred and we remain silent, we must stand up and get involved to reduce if not to end this.
During the interactions the participants observed that ADF is a Ugandan Armed Group which is operating in DRC, and which has managed to recruit Congolese people especially among Muslims in Eastern DRCongo. Questions remain unanswered about the way this group operates, where it is based and how it moved until to meet people in their houses, how comes people do not resist and fight back.
The discussions pointed out the following:
Observing one minute of silence for those massacred in Beni et Lubero
Political influence in which people in Beni are highly intimidated not to say anything and those who will speak up will be killed or will become a target, that is the first thing which should be looked at,
The participation of some people in the local communities in order to facilitate the rebels to commit the killings and massacres,
The use of massacres in order to make political demands by some political actors in Beni, especially to put pressure on Government to negotiate with key political actors in the region,
The recruitment of young people and sending them to Uganda for military trainings and then deploy them in Beni,
The support from the Diaspora which is struggling to create YIIRA Republic, and the exploitation of minerals in Beni,
Commitments
During the exchange with the participants on the situation in Beni
As Civil society organizations we have committed to encourage the local population to speak up, and advocate to the Government to ensure the security of those who denounce,
We are going to encourage the local population to get organized and come up with information strategy in order to communicate the risks,
People should organize patrols especially at night and strengthen local leaders, religious leaders and the Civil Society to play a positive role in the protection of people,
We are going to come up with a Calendar for various meetings in order to end this and to ensure all those involved are identified and arrested, and lastly provide the necessary information about the hideout of ADF,
Thanks
