Besieged by militiamen of the M23 movement, the city of Goma, in eastern Congo, has to face a very serious humanitarian situation with more than 1 million 600 thousand displaced people camped nearby. Meanwhile, the truth about the murder of Ambassador Attanasio, the Carabiniere Iacovacci and their driver killed in that area three years ago is receding.
The conflict continues to worsen in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the armed movement M23 (supported by Rwanda) occupied several territories in the province of North Kivu, rich in mineral resources, forcing millions of people to leave their homes. After the presidential elections held in December 2023, the conflict has further worsened and the number of displaced people continues to increase: according to the World Organization for Migration (IOM), 1 million 658 thousand are camped near Goma, while the M23 is increasingly approaching this city, where the airport was also hit on Friday 16 October.
«I follow with concern the increase in violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo – said the Pope francesco Sunday at the Angelus -. I join the bishops’ invitation to pray for peace, hoping for the cessation of clashes and the search for sincere and constructive dialogue.”
The Archbishop of Kinshasa, the Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, on the occasion of the Mass for peace celebrated on Saturday 24 February in the church of Notre Dame du Congo, denounced the conditions in which Congolese civilians are forced to live due to the economic interests that continue to fuel the conflict: «Aggressors and multinationals team up to plunder all the riches of the Congo, to the detriment of the dignity of the peaceful Congolese citizens, created in the image and likeness of God. How long will this indifference continue? How long will the trivialization of human life continue? I am convinced that to bring peace back to Congo it is necessary for the violation of the territorial integrity of our country to end and brazen plundering of its natural resources».
The city of Sake, about 27 kilometers from Goma, was also hit on Sunday 25 February, where a large part of the population sought (and is still seeking) refuge. Many of the people fleeing had already been displaced from other cities, and were therefore forced into a second “exodus”, during which they often suffered violence and were exposed to the risk of contracting diseases and epidemics, also given the lack of drinking water and other basic necessities. The situation is also very worrying because the controversial and contested UN mission (MONUSCO) is destined to end at the end of December 2024.
What truth for Luca Attanasio?
In the same days in which the conflict in North Kivu was re-exploding, he came Ambassador Luca Attanasio, killed on 22 February 2021, commemorated right near Goma, together with the carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci and the driver Mustapha Milambo. Even today it is unclear what really happened, although six alleged perpetrators were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, the two WFP leaders, Rocco Leone and Mansour Rwagaza, who survived the attack, will not be tried. And while Rwagaza’s position was removed because it was untraceable, the Gup of the Rome court issued, last February 13, a ruling of no place to proceed against Leone to which the immunity to which UN employees are entitled has been recognized. Disappointment and dismay on the part of the families of Attanasio and Iacovacci, also due to the fact that the Italian State did not appear as a civil party.
Photo: Mutuhimana Godence, 38, and her child Alliance in a camp for internally displaced people in Rusayo, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo. ©UNHCR/Blaise Sanyila