The reports that 17 hostages from the Hema community have been massacred by CODECO have received feeble reception from the international media, although this has not been their first mass massacre. While this is happening daily, the international media has continued to create the impression that the Congo conflict only revolves around ADF and M23!
As CODECO- one of the most viciously murderous armed groups allied to the Kinshasa regime continues to kill the Hema, the international spotlight is permanently focused on the M23 Movement, who ironically have complied with the call by the Nairobi and Luanda peace mechanisms to cease hostilities to pave way for a political process that should guarantee lasting peace.
This situation leads one to bring back the memories of last year in November when the entire international media machinery was turned on eastern DRC, eager to amplify falsehoods propagated by the Kinshasa regime. For quite a significant period, the international media produced and recycled the hyped incident in which the M23 Movement was portrayed as a murderous armed group, worse than FDLR, CODECO, Mai-Mai, and Nyatura combined.
While the Kinshasa regime sought to tarnish the otherwise impeccable reputation of the M23 as a disciplined revolutionary army fighting the government to force them to stop persecuting Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, the international media had other ulterior motives.
This trend brings out the worrying conspiracy by the international media and some members of the international community by ignoring the manifest facts to shape a narrative that fits their interests. That is why the international media (who propagate the agenda of their national interests) make a big fuss when members of the armed groups are killed during an armed encounter but maintain silence when the same murderous armed groups kill hundreds of innocent civilians.
It is therefore factual, to state that the international media is among the root causes of the endless conflict in eastern DRC.