Strategic Note for a Just and Lasting Resolution to the Crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

For more than three decades, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been the scene of chronic armed conflict that has claimed the lives of more than six million people. This war, the deadliest since World War II, is fueled by a combination of security, political, and economic factors, including regional and international competition for control of strategic mineral resources.

Since 1996, the repeated aggressions and expansionist ambitions of the country’s eastern neighbors, particularly the Kigali and Kampala regimes, which have used a succession of proxy groups meant to disguise international armed conflicts (AFDL, RCD, MLC, UPC, CNDP, M23, CRP, etc.) as Congolese ones, have profoundly destabilized the eastern region of Congo.

The presence of dozens of Congolese and foreign armed groups in eastern Congo, including the ADF, Red Tabara, CODECO, and FDLR, has caused a humanitarian catastrophe and massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in a climate of near-total impunity.

The primary effect of these repeated wars has been the imposition of “organized chaos”, aimed at appropriating Congo’s vast mineral wealth, resources essential to the digital revolution, the defense industry, and the so-called “green” energy transition, which is reddened with the blood of Congolese women and children.

The political economy of armed violence is inseparable from a neocolonial form of extractivist predation, amplified by economic globalization, which reduces the lives and dignity of Congolese people to an afterthought.

The resurgence of the M23 armed movement in 2021, backed by Rwanda, triggered a major escalation of the conflict, culminating in 2025 with the takeover of the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu. This surge would not have been possible without the decisive military support of Kigali and the powerlessness, if not the outright failure, of the Congolese state, which has fostered the persistence and proliferation of armed groups, seriously endangering the security and protection of civilian populations.

Despite several diplomatic initiatives, the international community has failed to bring the hostilities to an end. The absence of coercive measures and the proliferation of fragmented diplomatic initiatives have allowed the situation to fester and a “fait accompli” strategy to take hold. Lessons must be drawn from these failures.

A lasting and just resolution to the crisis requires a comprehensive approach combining diplomatic pressure, restored security, international justice, improved governance, and the transformation of economic chains linked to critical minerals.

The armed conflict in eastern DRC cannot be reduced to a simple internal crisis. This is a largely internationalised conflict involving several state and non-state actors, both Congolese and foreign.

Following DRC’s accession to the East African Community (EAC), President Tshisekedi forged bilateral military partnerships with Uganda and Burundi and successively committed to deploying regional forces from the EAC and then from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

This regional diplomacy has led to a worrying over-militarization of the region by various foreign armies far more motivated by geostrategic and commercial interests than by any concern for protecting civilians or eliminating the destructive capacity of rebel armed groups.

A range of active foreign armed groups, including the LRA, ADF, FDLR, and Red Tabara, as well as mercenaries from the former French Foreign Legion of Romanian nationality and those associated with Erik Prince, who are very active in Kisangani, along the Kisangani-Walikale corridor, and in Kalemie, have also contributed to the internationalization of the conflict.

The DRC’s policy of security outsourcing has significantly contributed to the alarming over-militarization of the region, the resurgence of the M23, and the latest Rwandan aggression, which continues to this day.

Since 2022, successive reports from the United Nations Group of Experts have documented the direct involvement of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) in supporting the M23 armed group, including through the supply of sophisticated weapons and the deployment of troops on Congolese territory.

The establishment of parallel administrations by the RDF/M23 coalition and their political arm, the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), in the occupied areas of North and South Kivu reflects a strategy aimed at transforming a military victory into lasting political and economic control.

With DRC’s sovereignty seriously threatened, the nation faces an existential danger, and the risk of implosion or balkanization can no longer be dismissed. This war of aggression and occupation of the Kivus by the Kigali regime and its proxies, in grave violation of the UN Charter and DRC’s sovereignty, amounts to a de facto annexation.

The DRC finds itself at the heart of rivalries between major powers for control of strategic minerals, with the main actors being, on one hand, the United States, which has invested, along with the European Union, in the Lobito Corridor, and favors a transactional "minerals for security" approach, notably including the Rubaya mine, and on the other hand, China, which has a firm grip on the Dar es Salaam corridor and controls 75% of Katanga's minerals.

The dynamics of violence are closely linked to the illegal exploitation and illicit trade of strategic minerals, including gold and the “3Ts”: cassiterite (tin), coltan (tantalum), and wolframite (tungsten). These resources are essential to the global digital, military, and energy industries.

The mining zones of North and South Kivu are now integrated into transnational networks of mineral smuggling and laundering, using Rwanda and neighboring countries as export platforms to international markets. This war economy seriously undermines supply chain integrity and sustains armed groups, perpetuating instability for three decades.

The illicit trafficking of wildlife, timber, cocoa, and coffee from DRC also feeds the regional market through armed groups, particularly the ADF, and must not be underestimated.

The humanitarian consequences and their impact on human rights protection are catastrophic:

• Approximately 12 million people live in areas occupied by the aggressor, now cut off from the world, without banking services, without airports, with roads leading into the interior of the country blocked by military fronts
• A quarter of the Congolese population is exposed to food insecurity
• Millions of internally displaced persons are surviving in inhumane conditions

This crisis is exacerbated by the inaction of the international community: according to the Norwegian Refugee Council's 2025 annual ranking, the DRC ranks 2nd among the world's most neglected displacement crises, due to the lack of media attention, insufficient diplomatic engagement, and even weaker donor commitments.

It is in this context that the Congolese nation is facing its 17th Ebola epidemic, which was declared in May 2026. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, but three months after its emergence, the epidemic is not under control, its spread has not been contained, and it is progressing at a speed that Prof. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the eminent Congolese virologist and co-discoverer of the virus in 1976, says he has never observed.

Furthermore, the human rights situation has reached an exceptionally severe level:

• Massacres of civilians and mass summary executions
• Systematic use of sexual violence, with over 220.000 reported cases of sexual and gender-based violence in 2025 according to OCHA
• Forced recruitment and use of child soldiers

These crimes are perpetrated in a context of near-total impunity that has persisted for more than thirty years.

Furthermore, the destruction of basic social infrastructure severely limits access to healthcare, education, clean water, and energy, making the crisis even more devastating.

Despite various peace agreements spanning more than a quarter century, from Sun City to Lusaka, passing through Addis Ababa and Nairobi, and the presence of a major peacekeeping mission deployed for over 25 years, the war has never ceased.

DRC has not been genuinely pacified across its entire territory, and armed violence continues in five provinces. This situation is largely due to the fact that the various attempts at political solutions and peace agreements have systematically sacrificed justice on the altar of peace.

Moving from crisis to crisis, politicians and mediators have yielded to the temptation to trade away justice in exchange for promises of conflict resolution, failing to address the root causes of violence and prioritizing short-term stability over the construction of a just and lasting peace. Ultimately, the rights of the Congolese people to peace and justice have never been fulfilled.

Since 2022, several initiatives have been launched. Various peace processes, Nairobi, Luanda, Washington, and Doha, have unfolded over the past four years, sometimes overlapping, but have not produced concrete results.

To date, all these processes share one thing in common: they have failed. No significant de-escalation has been observed on the ground.

The main weaknesses of these initiatives are:

• Deficit of inclusion, transparency, and justice measures
• Absence of binding mechanisms
• Lack of international coordination
• Absence of credible sanctions against violations of international law
• Absence of a regional and comprehensive approach integrating the economic dimensions of the conflict.

In light of these challenges, we acknowledge the efforts of the African Union panel of facilitators, which, at the high-level meeting held in Gaborone, Botswana last July, adopted a six-month roadmap and an operational action plan aimed at advancing the peace process and strengthening coordination with the Washington and Doha Processes.

There is an urgent need to act and to put an end to the suffering of the Congolese population, which has already gone on for far too long.

To break the deadlock, the time has come to act and rationalize current efforts by mobilizing multilateral coordination, implementing OECD, United States, and European Union rules on the responsible sourcing of strategic minerals, and mounting a robust diplomatic effort.

Following the example of the recent round of sanctions imposed by the United States Department of the Treasury against the Rwandan army, as well as against four officers and the Gasabo gold refinery, based in Rwanda and already sanctioned in 2025 by the European Union, the community of States must exert increasing pressure on the actors of destabilization and use every lever at its disposal to help bring about the diplomatic, political, and economic isolation of Kigali's aggressor regime.

The principle of subsidiarity, or regional conflict resolution, which calls for African solutions to African problems, has reached its limits, all the more so given that the armed conflict and the crimes committed are international in nature, and the stakes surrounding control of DRC’s critical minerals are global.

Any strategy for a just and lasting peace must rest on fundamental principles:

• Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of DRC
• Coordinated regional and international approach
• Accountability of those involved in international crimes
• Transformation of the economic structures that fuel the war
• Inclusive participation of Congolese actors
• Improvement of governance

The immediate priority must be the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2773, which demands:

• An immediate and unconditional ceasefire
• The immediate withdrawal of Rwandan forces from Congolese territory and an end to support for the M23
• The dismantling of parallel administrations in the occupied areas

To ensure its implementation, the Security Council should consider:

• Targeted sanctions against the political and military officials involved
• Strengthened monitoring mechanisms for an effective ceasefire
• The inclusion in the next MONUSCO mandate of support for the establishment and operationalization of a Special Criminal Tribunal for Congo (STC) and mixed specialized chambers

Given the deadlock of current initiatives and the gravity of systematic violations of international law and human rights, the situation prevailing in DRC has for 30 years remained a threat to regional and international peace and security.

In view of the immense suffering of the population and the growing geostrategic rivalries, particularly between the United States and China, an international conference should be organized to bring together all the actors involved, galvanize strong political will to address the root causes of instability, and put an end to recurrent cycles of violence by revitalizing the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement for Peace, Security, and Cooperation.

This conference would bring together:

• The signatory states
• The guarantors, including African regional organizations (African Union, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and Southern African Development Community)
• The United Nations, including the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region
• International partners, including the World Bank, the European Union, and the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes Region
• Civil society, including women’s and youth organizations
• The private sector, to promote a “Business for Peace” approach

Investors and economic actors, including Congolese and international mining companies, must be associated with the negotiations, so that their interests contribute to stabilization and the rule of law in DRC.

The objective of the conference would be to develop a comprehensive roadmap for a lasting and just resolution to the crisis, with clear commitments from all parties, a timeline, and binding follow-up mechanisms at the national, regional, and international levels.

The initiative for this high-level conference should come from a neutral State, not bordering the DRC, in agreement with the Congolese government and with the support of the guarantors of the Framework Agreement.

A national dialogue, whose format, scope, and objectives must be clearly defined, could contribute to strengthening social, political, and institutional cohesion, drawing inspiration from the “Social Pact for Peace and Peaceful Coexistence in DRC and the Great Lakes” initiated by the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) and the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC).

Stabilizing the country also requires internal reforms, including:

• Promotion of peaceful coexistence
• Fight against corruption
• Security sector reform
• Reform of the judicial system
• Improvement of economic governance

We have taken note of the address delivered on 27 August 2026 by President Tshisekedi, announcing a national dialogue for peace, cohesion and the renewal of the State. We regret that this initiative does not come from a neutral actor and that it is not preceded by measures aimed at reducing and easing political tensions within the country. Furthermore, in order to be truly national in scope, this dialogue should take place only after the sovereignty of the State has been restored throughout the entire national territory.

In addition, while the country is in a state of war, while a state of siege has been established in the Eastern Provinces and while the Ebola epidemic, which in less than 100 days has become the deadliest in the history of the DRC, is a public health emergency of international concern, we urge the regime in place not to modify the social contract and to postpone the debate on constitutional revision, in accordance with articles 219 and 220 of the Constitution of the DRC, in order to avoid a new period of institutional instability which could plunge the Nation into a serious political crisis and tensions which will endanger social cohesion.

The culture of impunity represents a major obstacle to peace and largely explains the repetition of conflicts and mass atrocities. There will be no peace without justice for the millions of victims of the past three decades.

Therefore, we call on:

• The community of States to fully cooperate with the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in the provinces of South Kivu and North Kivu, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council on 7 February 2025 through its resolution S-37/1.
• States to apply the principle of universal jurisdiction for the most serious crimes committed in the DRC, following the example of the Roger Lumbala case, convicted by the Paris Assize Court on 15 December 2025.
• The Office of the ICC Prosecutor to continue its investigations in the DRC.
• The Congolese government to adopt and implement a holistic national

Transitional justice mechanisms should include:

• Judicial proceedings, both national and international
• Truth-seeking
• Reparations programs for victims and affected communities
• Institutional reforms to guarantee non-repetition

A Special Tribunal for Congo could constitute an appropriate response to the international dimension of the conflicts and crimes committed, in order to break the vicious cycle of violence and impunity.

There is an urgent need to establish close links between conflict prevention, transitional justice, the establishment of the rule of law, and the consolidation of peace.

Lasting peace cannot be achieved without transforming the economic structures that fuel the war.

It is necessary to establish:

• A strengthened international system for mineral traceability
• Transparency obligations for companies
• Accountability mechanisms for companies involved in illegal exploitation
• Local value-added processing to create wealth locally and generate employment that integrates young people into the labor market rather than pushing them toward armed groups or criminal networks

These measures must aim to sever the links between armed groups, smuggling networks, and global supply chains, the integrity of which is seriously compromised, as highlighted in the recent report by Global Witness.

In addition, it would be important to include structural reforms to correct the economic incentives that fuel illegal exploitation.

This could include:

• Regional harmonization of tax regimes and mining taxes, in order to reduce fiscal arbitrage and smuggling flows between neighboring countries
• Sustainable funding of credible traceability mechanisms, independent of actors directly involved in the conflicts and incorporating the effective participation of local communities and mining cooperatives
• The integration of principles of economic justice and social responsibility into the governance of critical minerals, so that the global energy transition does not reproduce extractivist dynamics that marginalize local populations

The scale and gravity of the crisis in eastern DRC constitutes one of the greatest collective failures of the international community in modern times.

Yet the responsibility for this multidimensional crisis of the past 30 years lies with both external actors and poor governance. Solutions exist : it is time for state authority to be deployed across the entirety of Congolese territory, for the Congolese people to no longer be the adjustment variable of geopolitical rivalries, and for the international community to mobilize every means at its disposal to turn this tragic page in the history of Africa and of humanity.

A coordinated strategy combining diplomatic pressure, international justice, economic reform, good governance, and international engagement could move us toward a just and lasting resolution to the crisis.

Peace in the DRC is not only a necessity for the millions of Congolese people affected by the conflict, but also a major issue for the global economy, the stability of the Great Lakes region and the credibility of the international rules-based order.