Democratic Republic of the Congo

Atrocities committed by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have become part of a systematic pattern to disrupt lives, instill fear and create havoc, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday, expressing alarm over the ongoing situation. 

Fighters believed to belong to the ADF militia have killed at least 12 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east, local sources said Sunday. The gruesome attack took place overnight Friday-Saturday after a month of relative calm in the area.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has warned against potential crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following a spike in attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group, in two provinces in the east of the country. 

DR Congo lawmakers on Wednesday approved a motion to force out Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba, handing President Felix Tshisekedi a key victory in his bid to sideline allies of his predecessor.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Bintou Keita of Guinea as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

At least 21 civilians in eastern DR Congo have been massacred by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia blamed for hundreds of killings in the past year, UN sources and local officials said Tuesday. … It is the second mass killing in a week in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s troubled east.

The DRC’s lower house of parliament has voted to remove its speaker in the latest round of a bitter rivalry between President Felix Tshisekedi with his predecessor and coalition partner Joseph Kabila. The vote was a show of strength by Tshisekedi’s allies, who might have enough support to form a new majority in parliament and bring down the government, which is dominated by Kabila loyalists.

DR Congo President Tshisekedi wants to end a two-year power-sharing coalition with ex-President Joseph Kabila's faction, which stalled many of Tshisekedi's much-touted reforms. But he is already facing major headwinds.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has closed nine field offices since the peaceful transfer of power in the 2018 presidential elections, the Organization’s top official in that country told the Security Council today, reporting that a new strategy for the operation’s eventual closure recognizes and is tailored to differing realities on the ground and security needs in each province.

[…] Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative and Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO), warned of heightened political tensions in the country, including fissures within the ruling coalition and a presidential threat to dissolve the national assembly.