The Peace Deals in Qatar and Washington between DRC and Rwanda and DRC and AFR-M23 are too weak and too vulnerable

Reactions to the signed peace deal in Qatar between the Government of DRC and the rebels of AF/M23 backed by Rwanda: The Peace deals are too weak and too vulnerable which put war on hold but not ended.  

On Saturday November 15^th, 2025 the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo reached a peace agreement with the rebels of Alliance Fleuve Congo/M23 which are backed by Rwanda on ending hostilities. This is the second initiative aiming at bringing peace in Eastern DRCongo, after the first peace deal between DRC and Rwanda in Washington USA.

We welcome the initiatives aiming at peace in the region and encourage the leaders to prioritize peaceful approaches for their differences and totally put to the end the strategy and culture of wars.

However we note the following in the peace agreements both in Qatar and Washington:

There is nothing much substantial reached upon different from what has existed before in terms of cooperation, economic development and security between the two countries mainly Rwanda and DRCongo, and this agreement is as the same as the one of the African Union spearheaded by Angola which Rwanda refused to sign in 2024. What have changed and which have led to this agreement is the actors especially the change of leadership in the United States of America which have now republican leaders. Generally when Republicans are in power in the USA, the war ends or it is stopped in eastern DRC, but resumed when Democrats take over power in the USA, in this way the war is only stopped for some few years until 2029 but not ended and the fate of Congolese in North Kivu and South Kivu will be determined by the new leadership in the USA in 20230.

Rwanda has been used to the practice of looting minerals in eastern DRCongo but now the agreement forces it to negotiate for these minerals and sometimes it will not get what it wants, that alone is the issue because the Congolese Communities along Minerals will not cooperate with Rwanda in this culture of looting. As long as both South Kivu and North Kivu will not be fully protected and well secured by the Central Government in terms of Army Capacity then, it is not possible to have peace yet DRC has so far failed to protect its borders for many years now. This war especially has been used as scapegoat from the Authorities in Kinshasa to justify their incapacity to work towards the development of the country and put in place strong measures to ensure the protection of the national territory, the end of the war will threaten this interest of the Congolese Authorities who now have to come up with other alternatives to justify their staying to power.

The other fundamental issues which Rwanda calls the root causes of the conflict and war in DRC since 1996 up to now have not been yet addressed mainly:

The Citizenship of Tutsi people in the Democratic Republic of Congo which requires the amendment of the Constitution, and which DRC has failed to do up to now. Even if the constitution is amended it will be difficult to introduce the citizenship of Tutsi because people still have fresh memories of various atrocities committed by Tutsi on local communities, such reforms may need a lot of time in order to take place and may require Tutsi to disappear completely from the political spheres in DRC for long. Such an issue to be fully debated may need 30 years from now. This also include the question of land for Tutsi and their political participation in the affairs of the country, but also their independence from Rwanda. They may be appointed in some offices and Government positions but they may not compete for electoral positions and that is the issue and a problem which has existed for long. As per now, it may be also a challenge to win elections in DRC if you are viewed as close to Tutsi.

The same Tutsi have clearly positioned towards Rwanda since 1971 up to now, it may be difficult to change that, and also it is the same with other conflicts in the border with Uganda. On top of that, we have the issue of ownership of Land, Tutsi in Rutshuru, Nyiragongo and Masisi Territories in North Kivu and Kalehe, Fizi, Uvira and Mwenga Territories in South Kivu have access to land which actually they acquired by the use of force through guns and grabbed it from other communities but they do not own the land in the above territories. The other tribes who claim the ownership of land are not willing anymore to give it to Tutsi and that may not change as quickly as possible. Even if we have peace agreements, we are likely to have in place wars and internal conflicts as it has been over the years which Rwanda will again use in order to justify military interventions in both South Kivu and North Kivu Provinces.

The problematic of Rwandan refugees in both South Kivu and North Kivu is also a root cause. Let us remind that two categories of Rwandan refugees are present in these two Provinces: Refugees of 1958-1960 and refugees of 1994 up today. The first group of refugees consider the current Rwanda Authorities as their own hopes and credible ally in order to acquire land by force and put their own leadership in areas they control, this justifies wars in both South Kivu and North Kivu over the years. The other category of Rwandan refugees who came in 1994 up to now, are generally opposed against Rwanda and formed the FDLR which wants dialogue in Rwanda in order to return. Generally FDLR operates in areas of both Kivu and this may justify why Rwanda Military Operations in Eastern DRC have been limited in both North Kivu and South Kivu since 2001 and concentrated in Territories which closer to Rwanda and which are believed to be strongholds of FDLR in DRCongo. The issue of FDLR also is not solved, it is a repetition of what has been done since 1996 up to now which did not yield fruits. Nothing has been included in order to solve the two demands of FDLR mainly the protection of Rwandan Hutu Refugees and the inclusive dialogue in Rwanda which may favor their return.

However it may be much easier for the Democratic Republic of Congo to introduce the refugee management system which may solve some of the problems, and on this we have proposed the New Refugee Bill which should explore options for the naturalization of some refugees but also this may not be done quickly. What may be possible is the better management of refugees and the promotion of their local integration in various communities for the next 10 years.

To make both peace deals too weak and too vulnerable various actors and stakeholders such as the Civil Society, Cultural Leaders, Religious Leaders, refugee representatives and community influential actors were not involved in the peace deals yet they are the very ones to implement the same peace deals.

So as per now, there is nothing solved, what we are only going see is the silence of guns and tensions between Rwanda and DRC but we shall have in place ethnic conflicts in North Kivu and in South Kivu over the issue of land.

DRC needs a strong military capacity which can protect the country and put in place a strong local administration in the above mentioned territories.  

Thanks

Kulihoshi Musikami Pecos

Human Rights Defender, and National Team Leader of COJESKI-DRC

Tel: +243853191163