The Constitutional Court validated a law allowing the Congolese president to amend the constitution through a constituent assembly followed by a referendum in the event of “major dysfunction” of state institutions, opening the door for President Felix Tshisekedi to pursue a third term in office (Africa News).
However, the court expressed “reservations” about the law’s more controversial articles, including one concerning the head of state’s ability to hold a referendum on any issue considered “fundamental” (Jeune Afrique).
Opposition politicians in the C64 coalition rejected the ruling, and thousands of civilians launched protests in eastern Congolese cities (Reuters).
Government Negotiates Surrender Deal With FDLR
The Congolese government announced that the FDLR accepted a surrender protocol to disarm, demobilize, and move into cantonment, an agreement that aligns with Kinshasa’s commitments under the 2025 Washington Accords; Rwanda has long conditioned future peace deals on the group’s neutralization and uses the group as justification for its interventions in the DRC (Africa News).
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe dismissed the protocol as a delaying tactic, arguing a peace deal requires the FDLR’s neutralization, not just negotiations with the group (Reuters).
UN Expands Sanctions Against Rebels
The United Nations Security Council expanded its sanctions list against leaders of armed groups in eastern Congo by adding six individuals and two entities to the regime, including AFC rebel alliance leader Corneille Nangaa and M23 Chief of Intelligence Gustave Kubwayo (Reuters)
DRC Files Case Against Rwanda
DRC filed a case against Rwanda at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Kigali of breaching conventions on genocide, racial discrimination, women’s rights, and torture through its financing of and participation in violence in eastern Congo since the 1990s (BBC)
Kinshasa demanded the ICJ order Rwanda to end its activities in Congo, declare it responsible for the conflict, and make Kigali pay reparations to the DRC and civilian victims; this marks the DRC’s third attempt to prosecute Rwanda through the ICJ, with the last case dismissed in 2006 for lack of jurisdiction (AP)
DRC, Rwanda, and UNHCR Discuss Refugee Exchanges
Congolese and Rwandan ministers held meetings alongside representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to discuss obstacles to refugee return in the past year, namely ongoing conflict in eastern DRC and challenges to the identification verification of Congolese refugees in Rwanda; Kinshasa and Kigali agreed to a 2026-2027 roadmap on the issue during the talks that includes quarterly cross-border meetings (RFI)
DRC Hosts Burundian President for State Visit
President Felix Tshisekedi welcomed African Union and Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye for a state visit to discuss the ongoing Ebola crisis, cooperation in multilateral forums, security cooperation, and delays in the peace processes; Burundian forces support Congolese troops in their fight against rebel groups in South Kivu (RFI)
Violence Continues to Escalate in the East, Report Shows
The Kivu Security Barometer recorded a 21 percent increase in security incidents in the Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces from April to May; the report largely attributes the spike to the Allied Democratic Forces, which killed 109 civilians in May compared to 53 in April (RFI)
Senate Passes Bill That May Expand Presidential Term Limits
The Congolese Senate adopted a bill enabling a referendum on a new constitution that would allow President Felix Tshisekedi to serve a third term (WaPo)
Eighty-nine Senators voted in favor of adopting the bill, while twenty abstained; the vote took place days after protestors against the bill violently clashed with security forces in Kinshasa (Reuters)
U.S. Sanctions Former DRC Leader
The United States announced sanctions on former Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) leader Joseph Kabila, saying he supported Rwanda-backed rebel groups that are fighting in the country’s east (Treasury)
The DRC’s current government applauded the sanctions (RFI)
Kabila has been sentenced in a Congolese court to death in absentia for war crimes; he mostly lives in South Africa (Reuters)
Talks on DRC Humanitarian Access
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the rebel alliance it has been fighting agreed in Switzerland to facilitate the movement of humanitarian assets and refrain from harming civilians, the U.S. State Department said (Reuters;State)
Cautious Optimism at Switzerland Talks
Signs of initial progress emerged at negotiations in Switzerland between the M23 rebels and the Congolese government, with both parties agreeing to an updated truce-monitoring framework (Swiss Info)
At a UN Security Council meeting, diplomats urged caution as violence continues to impede humanitarian inroads in the Great Lakes region (Africa News)
War Rages as Ninth Negotiations Open
Violence continues in eastern DRC as the ninth round of talks between Rwandan-backed rebels and the Congolese government opened in Switzerland, where delegates reportedly disagreed over the meeting’s agenda and attendees (RFI)
The discussions come as the UN Security Council briefed diplomats on the worsening security crisis in the Great Lakes region (UN)
Soldiers in Limbo as Negotiations Stall
A month after Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 said it would release five thousand Congolese soldiers, the fate of a Red Cross-mediated transfer remains unclear as Kinshasa continues to cite logistical and security concerns linked to the deal (Africa News)
U.S.-Congo Deportation Deal
The Democratic Republic of Congo will start receiving third-country migrants deported from the United States this month, the Congolese communications ministry said; the United States is paying for the program and has reached similar deportation deals with at least seven other African countries (AP)
Rwanda Reintegrates Former Rebels
Rwandan authorities announced that over two hundred former DRC-based rebels would be returned to their home villages after a months-long reintegration period at a demobilization center, where ex-militants engaged in civic education and conflict reduction programming (Africa News)
Nearly Fifty Dead in Rebel Assault
The Allied Democratic Forces, an ISIL-allied group with links to Ugandan rebels, torched homes, abducted civilians, and slaughtered upwards of forty people in an attack on a village in DRC’s eastern Ituri province (Al Jazeera)
Separately, in an interview at an undisclosed location in Goma, where former Congolese President Joseph Kabila currently lives under M23 protection, the ex-leader denied allegations he is in league with Rwandan-backed rebels while alluding to his role in rigging the DRC’s 2018 elections in favor of then-candidate Félix Tshisekedi (NYT)
Rwanda Retaliates Against U.S. Sanctions
In a tit-for-tat with the Trump administration’s recent sanctions against senior government officials over Rwanda’s support for the M23 rebel group, Rwandan leaders threatened to pull their troops from securing an Exxon Mobil gas-export terminal in insurgency-ridden northern Mozambique (WSJ)
Meanwhile, Congolese residents in Uvira, which Rwandan-backed rebels occupied for about a month late last year, described relief punctuated by concerns over future conflict and memories of harassment, assault, and violence (HRW)
Kinshasa Prepares Militia Breakdown
Leadership in the Congolese armed forces said the military would begin to disarm and repatriate Rwandan militants in the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a DRC-based group whose Rwandan members include parties responsible for the country’s 1994 genocide (Reuters)
DRC, China Deepen Mineral Cooperation
Amid ongoing U.S. efforts to court the Congolese government in exchange for preferential mineral access, Kinshasa and Beijing announced a new bilateral deal that will further entrench Chinese mining companies in the DRC’s critical minerals landscape (BI Africa)
Rebels Shift in Eastern DRC
The governor of North Kivu state said Rwandan-backed M23 rebels had withdrawn from a smattering of villages—a move he attributed to the Trump administration-sponsored peace accords signed late last year (Anadolu Agency)
Though M23 rebels often figure prominently in coverage of hostilities in eastern DRC, ACLED reports that local militias like the Congo River Alliance (AFC) and auxiliary groups like the Wazalendo continue to play a critical, overlooked role in perpetuating and creating cycles of violence (ACLED)
Scramble for DRC’s Minerals Deepens Divide
As Washington and Kinshasa continue to brainstorm a proposed minerals-for-security deal, M23 rebels in the DRC’s war-torn east—particularly around the massive Rubaya mine, which holds 15 percent of the world’s coltan—say they have no intention of ceding ground (Independent)
Kinshasa Turns to Turkish Investors
A Turkish infrastructure investor secured a $67 million contract to construct a drone base for the Congolese military in Kisangani, a move that comes as Kinshasa ramps up military efforts in its effort against Rwandan-backed rebel groups (BI Africa)
Reopened Border Illuminates Continued Difficulties
As tens of thousands of Congolese refugees pour back into the country’s east from overcrowded camps in Burundi—some only to find their homes destroyed or looted—conditions remain dire amid continued healthcare, water, and sanitation scarcities (UNHCR)
Starvation, Beatings in M23 Makeshift Prisons
The Rwandan-backed rebel group has held as many as eighty civilians at a time, including multiple journalists, in unventilated shipping containers without light or food—inhumane conditions that sources said have resulted in deaths (AP)
Scarcity, Conflict Drive Perilous Youth Mining
After the Congolese government reported that seventy children died in the latest Rubaya mine collapse, child laborers said poverty and violence in the DRC’s conflict-ridden eastern provinces continue to force the country’s youth into unsafe working conditions (Al Jazeera)