Analyst: Unprecedented Levels of Hate Speech in the DRC Perpetuating Conflict

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Supreme Court recently summoned national assembly member and former minister, Justin Bitakwira, over comments made in December that led to his sanctioning by the European Union. The comments, considered to be hate speech and ethnically insensitive toward Congolese Tutsis and Rwandophone communities, also included disparaging remarks against Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Kenya’s President William Ruto. For more, VOA’s Esther Githui-Ewart spoke to Bojana Coulibaly, a researcher on language of conflict and atrocity prevention at Harvard University, who says the alarming rise in hate speech in the DRC is perpetuating conflict.