On 20 March 2016, a dozen of armed men wearing uniforms of the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo, disrupted a peacemaking retreat in the social center called “My beautiful village” in Vitungwe-Isale, Beni district of the North Kivu region.  These men murdered Father Vincent Machozi, an Assumptionist Catholic priest who led the fight against the extractive industries and in support of human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to reports, onlookers said Vincent’s last words were: “Why are you killing me?”.

Born in 1965 in a family of seven children, orphan from his father aged 15, Vincent decided to study theology and to join the Assumptionist congregation. After studying theology in Angers, France, he became a priest in 1994, and was sent to Kinshasa, DRC, to teach religion. Afterwards, he was the head professor in Butembo, an area where Assumptionists are heavily implanted, and had then left the country to the United States after several death threats. He worked in Boston, Massachusetts, and launched the first French-speaking news portal on Eastern DRC called Beni Lubero (www.benilubero.com), a online platform documenting human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially against Vincent’s Nande people.

At the tenth anniversary of the website’s launch, Vincent was saying that “for the past ten years, we have been the memory and the thermometer of this province”, noting that Beni Lubero informed the population “on 1,155 martyr cases all around the DRC” and denounced “the current manoeuvers of the Rwandan occupation of the Kivu region and the balkanization going on in the country”.

On top of being priest and editor of Beni Lubero, Vincent Machozi was the chairperson of the organization Kyaghanda Yira, named after the main ethnicity in that part of the North Kivu region. This organization fights for the rights and land rights of the people. Since 2010, the Yira/Nande people are allegedly systematically chased and massacred by armed groups to exploit coltan resources. The organization called this massacre a “genocide of the Yira people”.

Over the years, Machozi has been involved in several protests against illegal trade of this mineral ore used in electronic devices. The so-called “war of coltan” in the mineral-rich eastern Congo, has left millions dead and more than a million women raped. Transnational corporations are able to exert extreme pressure on Congo’s weak government and economy. As a result, the country’s natural resources have become an important factor in increasing poverty and violence rather than wealth and development. According to his colleague from Boston University, Timothy Longman, “Vincent was trying to show the world who was killed and who was responsible. He wasn’t on any particular side.”

Vincent Machozi returned to the DRC in 2012, putting aside work on his PhD thesis exploring the role of the Catholic Church in transforming the conflict in his country in favor of human rights work. A few days before Vincent Machozi was killed, the priest posted an article implicating in the violence the DRC’s president from 2001, Joseph Kabila and Rwanda’s president since 2000, Paul Kagamé.

According to Rev. Emmanuel Kahindo, the Rome-based vicar general of the Assumptionist order and a fellow Congolese, Vincent Machozi knew the end was likely at hand, telling him in October 2015: “My days are numbered. I will be murdered, I feel it … but like Christ, for the sake of our people, I will not be silent. I will continue my fight to the end and continue to condemn all those who sow division and hatred between ethnic groups in the region to rule and continue to exploit the riches.”

On 20 March 2016, a dozen armed men wearing uniforms of the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo disrupted a peacemaking retreat in Vitungwe-Isale, Beni district of the North Kivu region and murdered Father Vincent Machozi, an Assumptionist Catholic priest and human rights defender who led the fight against extractive industries in the DRC. According to reports, onlookers said Vincent’s last words were: “Why are you killing?”

A native of Eastern Congo, Vincent decided to study theology in Angers, France, later to be ordained a priest in 1994. Thereafter, he joined the Assumptionist congregation and was sent to Kinshasa, DRC, to teach religion before being relocated to Butembo as head professor.

In 2013, Vincent Machozi fled the DRC to the United States after receiving several death threats. He worked as a Minister in Boston, Massachusetts, and while there launched the first online French-speaking news platform for Eastern DRC called Beni Lubero (www.benilubero.com).

The website documents human rights abuses in the DRC, especially those related to rights violations against the Nande people. Over the years, Machozi has been involved in several protests against the illegal trade of coltan, a mineral ore used in electronic devices. The so-called “war of coltan” in the mineral-rich eastern Congo has left millions dead and many more hundreds of thousands fleeing sexual and gender-based violence.

According to reports, transnational corporations are able to exert extreme pressure on DRC’s weak government and economy. As a result, the country’s natural resources have become an important factor in how poverty and violence rather than wealth and development are on the increase across the North Kivu region. According to Timothy Longman, a former colleague of Vincent‘s from Boston University, ‘Vincent was trying to show the world who was killed and who was responsible. He wasn’t on any particular side‘.

Putting academia and his PhD thesis aside, Vincent Machozi returned to the DRC in 2012 to continue his human rights work. A few days before Vincent Machozi was killed, the human rights defender posted an article online denouncing the involvement of the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in the supposed massacres of innocent civilians over natural resources.

At the tenth anniversary of the website’s launch, Vincent Machozi states that ‘for the past ten years, we have been the memory and the thermometer of this province‘…the media platform Beni Lubero, has informed the population ‘of 1,155 martyr cases all around the DRC‘ and continues to denounce ‘the current manoeuvers of the Rwandan occupation of the Kivu region and the  »balkanization » happening in the country‘.

Alongside being a priest and editor of Beni Lubero, Vincent Machozi was the chairperson of the land rights organisation Kyaghanda Yira, named after the ethnic Yira/Nande people based in the North Kivu region. Since 2010 however, the Yira/Nande people are alleged to have been systematically harassed and massacred by armed groups for the purposes of exploiting coltan resources. The organisation called this a massacre and labelled it on it’s website a ‘genocide of the Yira people‘.

According to the Rome-based vicar general of the Assumptionist order Rev. Emmanuel Kahindo, Vincent Machozi understood death to be an inevitable consequence which is sadly but all too closely associated with many human rights defender‘s. Fr Vincent Machozi told his fellow Congolese in October 2015: ‘My days are numbered. I will be murdered, I feel it … but like Christ, for the sake of our people, I will not be silent. I will continue my fight to the end and continue to condemn all those who sow division and hatred between ethnic groups in the region‘.

Le 20 mars 2016, une douzaine d’hommes armés vêtus de l’uniforme de l’armée de la République démocratique du Congo ont fait irruption dans une formation sur la résolution des conflits dans le centre social appelé « Mon beau village » à Vitungwe-Isale, situé dans le district de Beni de la région du Nord-Kivu, et tué le Père Vincent Machozi, un prêtre catholique assomptionniste qui menait une lutte contre les industries d’extraction minière et en faveur des droits humains en République démocratique du Congo. D’après certains rapports, les témoins ont entendu les derniers mots de Vincent : « Pourquoi me tuez-vous ? ».

Né en 1965 dans une famille de sept enfants, orphelin de son père à l’âge de 15 ans, Vincent avait décidé d’étudier la théologie et de rejoindre la congrégation assomptionniste. Après avoir terminé ses études de théologie à Angers en France, il est devenu prêtre en 1994 et a été envoyé à Kinshasa pour y enseigner la théologie. Il a ensuite été professeur à Butembo, dans une région où les Assomptionnistes sont fortement implantés, et a ensuite quitté le pays pour les Etats-Unis après avoir reçu plusieurs menaces de mort. Il a travaillé à Boston, dans le Massachussetts, et a créé le premier journal francophone sur l’est de la RDC appelé Beni Lubero (www.benilubero.com).

Beni Lubero documente les violations de droits humains dans le pays, en particulier les violations portées contre le peuple de Vincent, les Nandés. Année après année, Vincent a été impliqué dans plusieurs manifestations contre le commerce illégal de coltan, un minerai utilisé dans les appareils électroniques. La «guerre du coltan» à l’est de la RDC, région riche en minerais, a tué des millions de personnes et plus d’un million de femmes ont été victimes de violences sexuelles. Les entreprises multinationales sont capables d’exercer une pression extrême sur le gouvernement et l’économie faibles du pays. Par conséquent, les ressources naturelles du pays sont devenues un facteur important de l’augmentation de la pauvreté et de la violence plutôt qu’un facteur de richesse et de développement. D’après son collègue de l’université de Boston, Timothy Longman, « Vincent essayait de montrer au monde qui était tué et qui était responsable. Il ne soutenait pas une faction en particulier ».

Vincent était retourné en RDC en 2012 en laissant de côté sa thèse sur le rôle de l’Eglise catholique dans la transformation du conflit dans son pays au profit de son travail de défenseur des droits de l’Homme. Quelques jours avant son meurtre, Vincent avait publié en ligne un article impliquant Joseph Kabila, le président de la RDC depuis 2001, et Paul Kagamé, président du Rwanda depuis 2000, dans la violence qui secoue la région.

Au cours du dixième anniversaire de la création du site Internet, Vincent avait dit que: « en l’espace de dix ans, nous avons été la mémoire et le thermomètre de cette province », en remarquant que Beni Lubero avait informé la population « sur 1155 martyrs en RDC » et dénoncé « les manœuvres actuelles de l’occupation rwandaise de la région du Kivu et la balkanisation en cours dans le pays ».

En plus d’être prêtre et rédacteur en chef de Beni Lubero, Vincent Machozi était le président de l’organisation Kyaghanda Yira, nommée ainsi d’après le people majoritaire dans cette partie du Nord-Kivu, qui lutte pour les droits humains et les droits de propriété terrienne. Depuis 2010, le peuple des Yiras/Nandés a été pourchassé et massacré de manière systématique par des groupes armés pour l’exploitation des ressources en coltan. L’organisation parle de ce massacre comme du « genocide du peuple Yira ».

D’après le Révérend Emmanuel Kahindo, le vicaire général de l’ordre des Assomptionnistes basé à Rome et citoyen de RDC également, Vincent Machozi savait que sa fin était proche, en disant en octobre 2015 : « Mes jours sont comptés. Je serai assassiné, je le sens…mais comme le Christ, pour le bien du peuple, je ne serai pas silencieux. Je continuerai mon combat jusqu’à la fin et je continuerai à condamner tous ceux qui sèment la division et la haine entre les groupes ethniques dans la région pour diriger et continuer à exploiter les richesses ».