Between Wars March, 2014 | Page 9

Reason To Rebel

By: Kent Berry

The M23 rebellion, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has recently laid down its arms against the National Congress of the Defense of the People (CDNP). The M23 rebel group was formed on April 4th, 2012. They formed because of the unwillingness of the CDNP to implement a March 23, 2009 peace agreement for unknown reasons. The M23 were also complaining of poor conditions in the army. The Presumed leader of the M23, Bosco Ntganda, was warranted for arrest April 11th, seven days after the group was formed. DRC president Kaliba stated that more CDNP troops would be deployed before the March 23rd peace deal would be implemented, which caused many more CDNP troops to defect to M23. (Wikipedia, 2014). Is the M23 fighting for a greater cause? Or are they just terrorizing their country, and neighboring countries as well, killing people, raping women, and burning villages?

The M23 Rebellion is not very well understood. I could very possibly be that they are misrepresented by a few troops and their cause is worth fighting for. The M23 is fighting for a peace deal to be implemented by the CNDP. M23 is composed of ex CNDP troops who would no longer fight when a peace deal was supposed to be enforced. The M23 rebellion is viewed by publicists and Kabila as a brutal and violent rebel force that kill and rape civilians (Human Rights Watch, 2013. On the other side of the story however, there are many reports of CNDP troops forcing child soldiers, forcing civilians to mine, and taxing and holding civilians for ransom. Could the representation of the M23 rebellion be misconstrued by news reports and a few bad troops?