The country where beheadings and jihadi violence are rife – but nobody is talking about it

Congo’s extremism crisis is being ignored, writes human rights advocate Passy Mubalama – who has a startling solution for peace

In February, 70 Christians were beheaded in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Save for a handful of conservative and faith-based outlets, the world has largely turned a blind eye.

Their suspected killers were from an Islamist group called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who left the mutilated bodies inside a church. It is just the latest example of the religious wars that have engulfed my country.

Congo’s northeastern provinces are quickly becoming a jihadi stronghold, a launching pad for extremists determined to enforce their violent ideology. This is despite the fact that Muslims make up 1.5 per cent of the population. So how did this happen?

Well, because extremism thrives in forgotten corners of the world like northeastern Congo, and in parts of Nigeria, Somalia and the Sahel, where the state has retreated and the international community has lost interest: if it ever had any.

To be fair, the UN Security Council recently condemned the military offensive in the Congo and called for an immediate ceasefire. But given that first-world nations are perfectly happy to ignore the UN, few expect violent Islamist militias to listen. Or, indeed, the various African governments involved in the conflict, among them Rwanda.

Indeed, other nations seem far more focused on the Congo’s $24 trillion in untapped mineral riches. They shed no tears as we suffer, so long as our children continue mining cobalt for electric vehicles, lithium for batteries and tungsten for semiconductors.

Ten years after the abduction of the Chibok girls briefly turned the world’s outrage onto Nigeria and Boko Haram, how many people are aware not only that Boko Haram is still carrying out atrocities but at least 82 Chibok girls are still missing? How many other conflicts are raging across Africa and get zero attention?

It is the case across the Global South. But perhaps the most egregious example is Afghanistan, where countless American, European and Afghani lives were lost ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban. Then in 2021 the militia marched back into power in Kabul – which is where it remains.

There, where the military might has clearly failed, civil society has had to fight the battles the international community cannot. And it has been faith groups at the heart of that battle: the Muslim World League, the world’s largest Islamic NGO, hosted the International Conference on Girls' Education in Muslim Communities earlier this year under the leadership of secretary-general Sheikh Mohammad al-Issa. The event brought together an unprecedented coalition of Islamic scholars, political leaders and human rights activists, including Malala Yousafzai, to defend girls’ education from extremist influences.

The historic Islamabad Declaration launched at the summit has created fractures in the Taliban, and sends a message to Muslim groups worldwide that their faith is a force that protects women’s rights. This recent landmark example reminds us of the importance of progressive global faith leadership in combating extremism and has important implications for the Congo.

Here, too, religion can be leveraged as a force for positive change.

Catholic and Protestant leaders in the Congo have successfully brokered peace talks between local rebel groups and helped steer our nation through turbulent times, even mediating the 2018 presidential elections. Now we need the international church to act. We need to hear from church leaders, from pastors right up to Pope Francis.

Studies show that faith-based interventions can pull young men away from extremism, cutting the threat at its roots. We’ve seen this work in Africa’s interfaith councils, which engage at-risk communities and prevent jihadi recruitment. By addressing the underlying grievances that fuel radicalisation, we can offer the best hope for a future free from terror.

But we need the international community too. We need more than mealy-mouthed condemnations from the UN, we need firm commitments. We need sanctions on politicians that are not doing enough. We need to acknowledge the role of influential regional powers – such as Rwanda – in what is going on in the Congo.

We cannot let extremism define Congo’s future. Our faith must be our standard for peace, stability and salvation – and we must wield it with unwavering resolve.

Passy Mubalama is a democracy and human rights advocate in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo). She is the founder and executive director of Aidprofen, an organisation supporting survivors of sexual violence and promoting women’s rights.