Riots have broken out in all major eastern Congo cities, protesting against the ineffective MONUSCO (U.N.) soldiers who have been able to stop the rash of violence against citizens.  The result has been the deaths of many protesters in Beni, Butembo and Goma.

Confronting MONUSCO Beni 2019 Nov

Confronting MONUSCO in Beni

The recent wave of attacks on innocent civilians has resulted in a tipping point anger at the DRC security forces but especially the MONUSCO forces who have been there for years.  The U.N. has long treated peacekeeping missions as an employment program for soldiers from developing world countries with soldiers unwilling to take any risks on behalf of the civilians they are supposed to protect.

Civilians have clearly had enough.  I have been sent the following photograph of an unarmed protester facing off against MONUSCO soldiers.

Beni MONUSCO protester

Ebola remains a serious complication of this turmoil.  Medical workers are evacuating their clinics.

Tension with the U.N. has existed for a long time.  Back in our 2011 Healing Streams seminar, attendees learning to help rape victims were being taught “all or nothing thinking”.  In the context of a woman having been raped, a woman could think that because a man raped me, all men are bad.  The seminar leader, Dawn Penner, had used the example that just because a U.N. soldier does a bad thing, it doesn’t mean that all U.N. soldiers are bad.  The seminar burst out and claimed that yes, all U.N. soldiers are bad!  The video picks up the conversation from there.