Kinshasa — Despite the peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, as well as the agreements reached with the M23 rebel movement, the civilian population in North and South Kivu continues to be abused by the rebels, who have occupied large parts of these two provinces in the east of the country since the beginning of the year.
According to the latest report by the local human rights organization ACMEJ (Association against Evil and for the Integration of Youth), sent to Fides, “unfortunately, compliance with these agreements is currently not verifiable; Congolese citizens continue to suffer violence.” “The territories, cities (Bukavu and Goma), and villages captured by the M23 rebel movement and its Rwandan allies remain occupied.”
“The civilian population continues to be abused by the M23 and its Rwandan allies. Those who do not participate in the so-called ‘salongo’ (forced community activities on Saturday mornings) are brutally beaten,” the report states.
The ACMEJ cites as an example twelve young men from the village of Kamanyola who were arrested on August 2nd under the pretext of not participating in the ‘salongo.’ The young men were reportedly taken to Bukavu, and since then, their families have had no information about their fate.
“The rural civilian population in the Ruzizi Plain is beginning to lose hope that peace and security will soon return to the Democratic Republic of Congo; they are losing hope that the M23 fighters and their Rwandan allies will leave the towns, villages, and areas they occupy and return to Rwanda,” the report concludes.
On June 27, an agreement was signed in Washington between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda (see Fides, 27/6/2025), while an agreement in principle between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 movement was signed on July 19 in Doha, Qatar (see Fides, 21/7/2025). The latter was supposed to lead to a final agreement, but currently there are some obstacles. According to a Qatari official, the ongoing negotiations in Doha are “taking longer than expected.”
This delay calls into question the peace talks scheduled for today, August 8. As part of the agreements reached in Qatar, both sides agreed to develop a package of measures, including a prisoner exchange mechanism, before the start of formal negotiations on August 8, with the aim of signing a comprehensive peace agreement by August 18. Just yesterday, the M23 announced that its delegation had not yet left for Qatar.
