Demokratische Republik Kongo

Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi used a speech to an investment forum in Brussels on Thursday to publicly appeal to his Rwandan counterpart to help end an insurgency by M23 rebels, though Kigali accused him posturing. 

Former Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila was sentenced to death in absentia on Tuesday by a military court in Kinshasa. The court found him guilty of treason, war crimes and organising an armed insurrection over his alleged collaboration with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.

Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) “is still mostly a promise”, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO, told the Security Council on Tuesday. “There are discrepancies between the progress we see on paper and the reality we observe on the ground which continues to be marred with violence,” said Bintou Keita, presenting the Secretary-General’s latest report.

Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda agreed to start implementing security measures under a U.S.-mediated deal next month, the countries said in a joint statement on Wednesday, in what would be a key step toward carrying out the peace agreement amid concerns over lack of progress.

Speaking before world leaders, Tshisekedi made an urgent appeal for international recognition of the crisis and demanded concrete action. “The withdrawal of Rwandan troops, the end of their support to the M23, and the restoration of the authority of the Congolese State over all the occupied areas constitute non-negotiable conditions for a lasting peace,” he declared. 

The capture of Goma and Bukavu early this year by the March 23 Movement (M23)/Alliance Fleuve Congo has drawn sustained national, regional and international attention. It has strained the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) already weak national army, creating a security vacuum that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has exploited to expand its operations.  

Congo's army and Rwandan-backed rebels are reinforcing military positions and blaming each other for flouting peace accords in an escalation that experts say risks reigniting the simmering conflict, which U.S. President Donald Trump claims to have ended. 

Most of the victims were hacked with machetes in the night-time assault by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) on a village in North Kivu province, officials added.  This is the latest in a string of attacks linked to the ADF, raising fears that its insurgency is growing in strength. 

The March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to pursue the peace process under Qatari mediation, despite ongoing differences with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the M23 armed group have resumed negotiations in Qatar as violence deepens in the country’s mineral-rich eastern provinces in spite of a recently signed an agreement to reach a full peace deal.