Rwanda shapes conflict in the region by using the Congolese Tutsi to centre its claims of a continued threat of genocide.
Laurent Kabila and his son Joseph were the Democratic Republic of Congo’s third and fourth presidents.
Central to the DRC’s politics is a broken relationship between the seat of government in Kinshasa and underrepresented groups in the eastern region.
The causes of violence in the DRC are complex. Narrowing them down to the single lens of ethnicity can be misleading.
Insecurity, especially in the DRC’s South Kivu, is considered a serious threat by Burundi’s army.
The Banyamulenge have been viewed as strangers in their own country – the violence targeting them revolves around this misconception.
Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo is used to win a place in government, not to overthrow it. And it keeps working.
While history is often deployed as a weapon in eastern DRC, it also shows us stories of friendship and collaboration.