The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the M23 armed group have resumed negotiations in Qatar as violence deepens in the country’s mineral-rich eastern provinces in spite of a recently signed an agreement to reach a full peace deal.
The Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said delegations from Kinshasa and the M23 were meeting in Doha to review the implementation of a truce signed in July.
“We’ve received the two parties here in Doha to discuss the earlier agreement,” Ansari said at a news briefing yesterday evening.
The deal, brokered by Qatar, committed both sides to a ceasefire and a path to a final settlement. Under its terms, talks were supposed to begin on 8th August and conclude by 18th August, but the deadlines passed without progress, and the agreement has faltered amid accusations of violations from both sides.
Spokesman Ansari said yhat the current discussions include plans to create a mechanism for monitoring the truce, as well as an exchange of prisoners and detainees and added that the United States and the International Committee of the Red Cross were closely involved in supporting the talks.
The Qatar-led initiative followed a separate ceasefire agreement signed in Washington between Rwanda, who back M23, and Democratic Republic of Congo in June and the M23 rejected that deal, demanding direct negotiations with Kinshasa to address what it called unresolved political grievances.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that he ended the conflict, and several others, describing Democratic Republic of Congo as the “darkest, deepest” part of Africa and asserting that he “saved lots of lives.”
President Trump has since claimed that nine million people were killed with machetes during the decades-long war and insisted that it must be stopped.
Human Rights groups have dismissed President Trump’s claims as misleading saying that it is far from the reality to say that he has ended the war.
Amnesty International official Christian Rumu said that people on the ground continue to experience grave human rights violations and some of these amount to crimes against humanity and called on Washington to accelerate efforts to secure peace.
It is now reported that despite multiple ceasefire attempts, fighting has intensified in North and South Kivu provinces, forcing more than two million people from their homes this year.
Human Rights Watch last week accused the Rwanda backed M23 rebel group of carrying out ethnically targeted mass killings, while United Nations experts have said Rwandan forces played a critical role in supporting the group’s offensive.
The Government of Rwanda has denied involvement, but the M23’s capture of vast areas, including the regional capital Goma and Bukavu earlier this year, has fuelled fears of a wider regional conflict.
The Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is home to some of the world’s richest deposits of gold, cobalt, and coltan, has been devastated by years of armed conflict, with civilians bearing the brunt of atrocities despite repeated international mediation efforts.
Additional Reporting from Associated Press
