The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has carried out on Tuesday the suspension of Rwandan television channels broadcast in the country through the French channel Canal Plus.
This was announced in a statement by the Higher Council for Communication and Media (CSAC), which accused the Rwandan media of discouraging the DRC’s defense forces in favor of the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23).
«The same channels sacrifice the culture of peace for which the DRC has made its workhorse in the Great Lakes region,» the CSAC explained in its missive, detailing that the measure will be extended for a period of 90 days.
According to the CSAC, the Rwandan channels incite civil disobedience, general insurrection against the public authority of the DRC and the «systematic denigration of national institutions and their leaders».
The Rwandan programs are also allegedly broadcasting hate speech, as reportedly happened last week on the occasion of Pope Francis’ visit to Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC.
A Canal Plus report published by the newspaper ‘Actualite’ points out that Rwanda «unwittingly» interferes with radio and television programs broadcast from the DRC and rebroadcast by the same branch on Rwandan territory. These include some Congolese channels such as RTNC, Télé 50, Digital Congo or Moliere.
The M23 is a rebel group formed mainly by Congolese Tutsis and operating mainly in the province of North Kivu. After a conflict between 2012 and 2013, DRC and the group signed a peace agreement in December. In that fighting, the DRC Army was supported by UN troops. The group launched a new offensive in October 2022, which intensified in November, triggering a diplomatic crisis between the DRC and Rwanda over its role in the conflict.
Rwanda has accused the DRC of supporting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) — an armed rebel group founded and composed mainly of Hutus responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda — and of using the Mai-Mai militias — Congolese nationalist militias formed to defend their tribal territory against the numerous rebel groups active since the 1990s — in the framework of the conflict. He has also denounced discrimination and acts of hatred against the Tutsi minority in the neighboring country.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
