A third round of peace talks for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, DR Congo) has ended today in Nairobi with no reported progress toward settling conflicts in the country’s volatile eastern provinces. The talks, facilitated by the East African Community (EAC), are coming to an end as the Congolese government accuses the “Mouvement du 23 mars” (M23) armed group of killing at least 270 civilians in DR Congo’s North-Kivu province.
The talks, part of the EAC-Led Nairobi Process on restoring peace and security in the (DRC), ended after a week of discussions between the Congolese people and their government on how to bring peace and stability to the country. The only agreement was for continued dialogue between the government and local communities.
The meeting in Nairobi will be followed by a more consultations between the Congolese government, led by President Felix Tshisekedi, and rebel groups across the country. The East African regional bloc said it will check in on Congo’s dialogue early next year, with the next meeting taking place in the eastern Congolese cities of Bunia and Goma.
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organization founded in 1967. The EAC is currently made up of seven partner states: the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
The M23 rebel group, which has engaged with the Congolese forces in fierce fighting in the east of the country since October 2022, was not present in the Nairobi talks because Kinshasa says it will not engage with the group until it gives up occupied territory. The EAC has deployed hundreds of troops from Burundi and Kenya as part of a regional force to quell the violence.
Violent clashes have been going on in recent days and more people are fleeing their homes in North Kivu province despite both sides agreeing to a cease-fire recently. The government of Congo said M23 fighters killed more than 270 civilians in the town of Kishishe, while the M23 has denied the accusation they carried out a massacre of civilians.
The United Nations (UN) confirmed that it received reports of civilian casualties during fighting between M23 and other militias in Kishishe. The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) jointly with the UN Joint Human Rights Office has deployed a human rights team to conduct a preliminary investigation into the violence against civilians in Kishishe. The town is situated in Rutshuru Territory in the DR Congo’s North-Kivu province, and the alleged massacre took place at end of last month.
According to the United Nations, some 400,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, since fighting broke out between the Congolese army and the M23 armed group in Rutshuru Territory in March this year. While over 390,000 men, women and children are now internally displaced, more than 7,000 others have sought refuge in Uganda.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world, and the situation in the country is one of the most neglected displacement crises globally. For decades, the country has endured multiple, overlapping emergencies driven mainly by conflict and forced displacement. With 6.6 million forcibly displaced people, the DR Congo has more displacement than any other country in Africa. Some 5.6 million people are internally displaced within the country, mainly in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, while 1 million refugees and asylum seekers from DRC are hosted in neighboring countries.
Further information
Full text: EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY, COMMUNIQUÉ, THE THIRD INTER - CONGOLESE DIALOGUE UNDER THE EAC- LED NAIROBI PROCESS, released December 6, 2022
https://www.eac.int/communique/2695-the-third-inter-congolese-dialogue-under-the-eac-led-nairobi-process