The recently signed peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda fails to address justice for the victims of serious crimes by not including any provisions aimed at holding their perpetrators to account, Amnesty International said.
The agreement, signed on June 27 by the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers in Washington DC, raises hopes of ending the intense fighting in eastern DRC, according to officials.
The deal also calls for a cessation of hostilities between the two neighbouring countries’ armies.
However, in a statement on Tuesday, Amnesty International said that when human rights abusers are not investigated and held to account, it leads to a vicious cycle of abuses in which civilians pay the price — which must stop for security to be sustainable.
"Without addressing impunity for the horrific crimes committed in eastern DRC, the agreement missed an opportunity to decisively tackle a long-standing driver of the conflict," said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general.
Amnesty International said that since the signing of the peace deal, it has received credible reports that M23 rebels active in eastern DRC have continued to clash with pro-government militants (Wazalendo) in North and South Kivu provinces, resulting in the deaths of civilians.
"DRC and Rwanda owe it to the people of eastern Congo – who continue to face untold suffering at the hands of the Wazalendo and M23 – to push the armed groups they support and collaborate with to protect civilians and to respect international humanitarian law," Callamard said.
It added that the M23 continues to abduct young men and take them to unknown locations.
Thousands killed, more displaced
The M23 rebels have previously denied accusations of human rights abuses and abductions, terming them as "deliberate manipulation aimed at tarnishing our movement's image."
Clashes between M23 and government forces in eastern DRC had displaced at least 500,000 and killed more than 3,000 by late February, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
The Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), or Congo River Alliance, a rebel coalition in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that includes the M23, said Monday that the US-brokered peace deal signed between Congo and Rwanda is "a step, albeit limited, but useful."
Kinshasa and others accuse Kigali of backing M23 rebels since their resurgence in November 2021, a charge Rwanda consistently denies.
