Lets talk about the June 2026 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report
@hrw on the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
It demonstrates what I consider to be not only a profound bias and irresponsibility in the investigation and reporting of violence, but also the adoption of ethno-nationalist perspectives that, in my view, reinforce narratives associated with genocide ideology.
HRW has increasingly become a platform through which perspectives aligned with the FDLR's ideological framework are amplified. As a result, it is perceived as rarely acting as an independent or impartial observer of violence in the region.
A few months ago, a friend encouraged me to engage with HRW leadership and discuss human rights issues in the DRC. During these exchanges, I shared several concerns.
1. Methodological shortcomings
I argued that HRW's methodology is seriously flawed and often produce unreliable and ethically problematic findings. In my view, there is often a failure to align research methods with rigorous ethical standards and sound scientific principles. Given the sensitivity of conflict environments, such methodological weaknesses can have significant consequences. HRW's response was that it is not primarily a research institution.
2. The problem of omission
I also raised concerns about what I consider to be a pattern of selective omission. In conflict reporting, the deliberate exclusion of crucial context, motives, or relevant facts can shape public perception in a particular direction. I argued that this tendency is particularly visible in HRW's reporting on the DRC conflict. From this perspective, the struggle over narratives is as important as the struggle over physical territory, and the presentation of information can significantly influence international understanding of the conflict.
3. The issue of "good victims," "bad victims," "good perpetrators," and "bad perpetrators"
HRW's reporting appears to apply different standards to different categories of actors. In my own research on the DRC, I described how agencies such as HRW developed a practice of "good victims," "bad victims," "good perpetrators," and "bad perpetrators."
In this framework, I argued that Congolese Tutsi are often treated as "good victims." - the "unwanted or deserved to be killed". When they are subjected to violence, their identity is frequently omitted and they are described simply as "civilians." Pleased check the April 2026 HRW report on South Kivu. HRW describes a few years old humanitarian blockade as "interfering". Likewise, the perpetrators responsible for attacks against them are often not clearly identified. Instead, the violence is sometimes justified.
By contrast, when HRW is reporting on what I termed "bood victims," they are more willing to identify victims by their communal or ethnic identity and to attribute responsibility directly, often to Rwanda or the M23.
Similarly, I argued that certain actors are consistently viewed as "bad perpetrators" and are explicitly named and condemned, while others—including the FARDC, FDLR, Burundian forces, and Wazalendo groups—are "good perpetrators". HRW describes them in ways that appear more justified.
4. Source verification and witness reliability
HRW often relies on witness testimony without being on the ground and sufficient cross-examination or corroboration. As a researcher working on the DRC, I am aware that conflict environments characterised by corruption, political polarisation, and insecurity require particularly rigorous verification procedures.
Participants in such contexts are not merely passive observers; they are often social and political actors whose perspectives are shaped by racial prejudices or personal grievances. Consequently, witness accounts require multiple layers of scrutiny, triangulation, and independent verification before being presented as factual findings.
5. Report on Rwanda is influenced by HRW contentious positionality
HRW representatives stated that Rwanda does not allow the organisation to operate freely within the country. In response, I argued that this situation should not influence the organisation's objectivity or reporting.
Rwanda is a post-genocide society in which media narratives, academic discourse, and public communication are particularly sensitive issues. The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi demonstrated the devastating role that propaganda, media, and intellectual discourse can play in facilitating mass violence.
For this reason, I believe it is legitimate to examine whether certain forms of reporting, analysis, or framing may unintentionally reinforce hostile narratives or ideological frameworks that contribute to ethnic polarisation in the region.
6. HRW has omitted the Banyamulenge persecution
I also questioned why HRW has devoted relatively no attention to the persecution of the Banyamulenge, which has been ongoing since 2017. In response, HRW representatives referred to their previous reporting on attacks against the Banyamulenge by forces associated with Yakutumba in 2011 and argued that obtaining reliable information from the Minembwe High Plateau has been extremely difficult in recent years.
I found this explanation unconvincing. In my view, despite years of reported violence, repeated military operations, aerial bombardments, and the worsening humanitarian situation in the High Plateau region, HRW appears to have limited awareness of events affecting Banyamulenge communities.
HRW is not merely an external observer but has become a social actor whose reporting influences the political and informational environment surrounding the conflict. Its narratives align more closely with the perspectives advanced by the FARDC, Wazalendo groups, Burundian forces, Imbonerakure elements, and the FDLR than with the experiences and grievances expressed by the tartgeted communities.
Whether one agrees with this assessment or not, these concerns raise broader questions about source selection, representation of victims, balance in conflict reporting, and the responsibility of international human rights organisations operating in highly polarised environments.