{"id":56733,"date":"2026-01-04T09:56:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T09:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/minister-nduhungirehe-calls-out-monusco-s-mild-condemnation-of-masisi-civilian\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T11:32:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T11:32:39","slug":"minister-nduhungirehe-calls-out-monusco-s-mild-condemnation-of-masisi-civilian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/minister-nduhungirehe-calls-out-monusco-s-mild-condemnation-of-masisi-civilian\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister Nduhungirehe calls out MONUSCO\u2019s \u2018mild\u2019 condemnation of Masisi civilian killings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a message posted on X on January 3, Nduhungirehe questioned MONUSCO\u2019s response to a drone strike carried out by the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) in Masisi Centre, which targeted a civilian area.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo better understand this so-called \u2018condemnation,\u2019 which is remarkably mild, MONUSCO does not even mention its allies, the FARDC, as the perpetrators of this war crime against Congolese civilians in Masisi Centre,\u201d Nduhungirehe wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The drone strike, which took place on January 2, reportedly killed six civilians and injured at least 41 others.<\/p>\n<p>Following the incident, MONUSCO issued a statement expressing regret and condemning attacks against civilians, including those involving drones. However, the statement stopped short of explicitly identifying FARDC as responsible for the attack.<\/p>\n<p>Nduhungirehe argued that this omission raises serious questions, particularly given MONUSCO\u2019s own public disclosures regarding its cooperation with the Congolese army.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet us recall that on November 4, 2025, MONUSCO itself informed the public on X that it had provided training to 120 FARDC soldiers in Ituri, particularly in the use of drones and heavy weapons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The minister\u2019s remarks add to longstanding criticism of MONUSCO\u2019s role and effectiveness in eastern DRC, where the mission has operated for more than two decades. Critics argue that despite its mandate to protect civilians, insecurity persists, with armed groups and state forces repeatedly implicated in abuses.<\/p>\n<p>According to the United Nations, MONUSCO has more than 16,000 uniformed personnel deployed across the DRC. The mission\u2019s budget for the 2024\/2025 financial year stood at approximately $918 million.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this long-standing presence and significant financial investment, violence against civilians, particularly in eastern DRC, continues, prompting renewed scrutiny of MONUSCO\u2019s conduct, partnerships, and accountability.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-100143 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/1738742588002-b4bff-9133f.jpg\" alt=\"Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, has criticised what he described as a \u201cmild\u201d and selective condemnation by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) following the killing of civilians in Masisi.\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, has criticised what he described as a \u201cmild\u201d and selective condemnation by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) following the killing of civilians in Masisi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000100144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-56733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000100144,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/1738742588002-b4bff-9133f.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/1738742588002-b4bff-9133f.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/1738742588002-b4bff-9133f.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/1738742588002-b4bff-9133f.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/1738742588002-b4bff-9133f.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/1738742588002-b4bff-9133f.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000100144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56733"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=56733"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=56733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}