The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda will meet during a 15 December summit in Luanda, Angola, following both countries signing a four-point peace deal in November via Angola’s mediation. This agreement came about after the DRC filed a lawsuit in September against Rwanda at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) for violating sovereignty, committing atrocities against civilians and breaking international law. The lawsuit was the first ever filed with the EACJ between partner states of the East African Community.
Kigali stands accused of backing the M23 rebel group, which has carried out atrocities against civilians in North Kivu province in eastern DRC.
DRC’s Deputy Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Samuel Mbemba, called the launch of the lawsuit a landmark moment after ‘decades of aggression against [DRC], the pillaging of [Congo’s] minerals, the rape of [Congolese] children and women and the massacres of [Congolese] people.’
A 4 June 2024 UN Security Council report said that in January 2024, at least 1,000 Rwandan troops entered the DRC through various border crossings east of Kibumba, Rutshuru territory, reinforcing M23 positions and helping the group seize territory. The UN experts estimated that Rwanda had sent 3,000 to 4,000 troops in May while the report was in drafts.
A vicious three-decade resource war pitting more than 120 militia groups has k*lled more than 6 million Congolese and resulted in numerous s*xual abuses, with Doctors Without Borders (MSF in French) stating one in ten Congolese women in refugee camps reporting being r*ped between November 2023 and April 2024. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates the DRC holds $24 trillion in untapped minerals, attracting powerful foreign entities keen to extract Congo’s wealth to develop their industries.
Sources:
https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/118/80/pdf/n2411880.pdf
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/4/rwanda-backing-m23-rebels-in-drc-un-experts
https://www.usaid.gov/democratic-republic-congo/fact-sheet/responsible-minerals-trade