President Joseph Kabila opened a peace conference yesterday to address a year of conflict between government forces and militia groups in the country’s Kasai region, which has killed more than 3,300 people, according to the Catholic Church. Kabila blamed the loss of life on “terrorist militia” (Associated Press)
Dozens of Refugees Shot Dead in DRC
At least thirty-six refugees from Burundi were shot dead by security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a protest over the detention of other refugees. One soldier was also killed and 117 people were injured in the altercation (New York Times)
UN: Congolese Armed Group Likely Killed Two Investigators
A UN probe found that an armed group in central Congo was likely responsible for the deaths of two UN investigators. However, the UN will not rule out the possibility that other groups were involved (Al Jazeera)
Congolese Police Arrest Over One Hundred Anti-Kabila Protesters
More than one hundred protesters demanding that President Joseph Kabila relinquish power by the end of 2017 were arrested by Congolese police, according to Amnesty International (Al Jazeera)
UN Accuses Congolese Army of Digging Mass Graves
A UN report accused elements of the Congolese army of digging mass graves in the central region of Kasai of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Al Jazeera)
U.S. Journalist Abducted in DRC Found Alive
An American journalist has been freed and five park rangers have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 14 in a joint operation by rangers and soldiers, according to the Mambasa Territory administrator (AP)
Thirty-Eight Probable Mass Graves Found in Democratic Republic of Congo
The UN announced that it has found another probable thirty-eight mass graves, bringing the total up to at least eighty (Al Jazeera)
United States Threatens Sanctions Against DRC Officials
The deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said the United States is ready to impose additional sanctions on anyone who further delays a presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and called on the government to announce an election date (ABC News)
DRC Council Says 2017 Election Unlikely
The head of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral council said an election to replace President Joseph Kabila is unlikely to happen in 2017 for logistical reasons (Al Jazeera)
Congo Discovers Ten More Mass Graves in Kasai
Congolese authorities have now discovered a total of fifty-two mass grave in the country’s Kasai region since the start of an uprising by a local militia in August 2016. The Catholic Church says some three thousand people have been killed in the fighting (Voice of America)
South Africa Pledges Support for DRC Government
South Africa’s minister of international relations pledged support to the government of President Joseph Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo as it faces “external pressure” for a political transition. President Jacob Zuma congratulated Kabila for “progress achieved thus far” (eNews Channel Africa)
DRC Army Kills Twelve Rebels
A new rebel coalition launched several attacks in Beni in eastern Congo. The military killed twelve and captured seven rebels. The coalition is composed of several groups, including rebels who escaped in a June 11 prison breakout (ABC News)
Four Arrested in Connection to March Killings of UN Experts in DRC
The justice minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced that the government had arrested four people as part of an investigation into the killings of American and Swedish-Chilean UN experts. He expressed opposition to an EU resolution to create an independent mission to investigate rights violations (Voice of America)
Nine Hundred Inmates Freed During an Attack on a Jail in the North Kivu Province
Militants attacked a jail in North Kivu province, freeing some nine hundred inmates and killing at least eleven people, including guards. Some four thousand inmates were freed in a similar attack in the capital of Kinshasa last month (BBC)
UN Security Council Meets to Discuss Killing of UN Experts in DRC
The UN Security Council met to discuss the killing of two UN experts in the Democratic Republic of Congo in March. The DRC said it opened an investigation into a former government minister one of the experts had accused of possible involvement with militia violence (New York Times)
DRC Shows Video of UN Experts’ Deaths
The Congolese government screened for journalists a video that appears to show the killings of U.S. and Swedish UN investigators. A DRC government spokesman said the screening was meant to disprove allegations that government forces were complicit in the murders (Reuters)
UN Staff Taken By Refugees in DRC Released
Sixteen UN staff members taken hostage by unarmed South Sudanese refugees at a camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo were released unharmed. The refugees were demanding to be moved to another country (Al Jazeera)
DRC Officials Arrest Two Over UN Deaths
Congolese officials arrested two people, one who subsequently escaped custody, in connection with the killings of one U.S. and one Swedish UN staffer, whose bodies were found in March. The bodies of several other staff members who were accompanying them have not been found (New York Times)
UN Finds Thirteen Mass Graves in DRC
The United Nations announced it has found thirteen mass graves in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region since March, bringing the total discovered since August to twenty-three. An estimated four hundred people have been killed in that time due to fighting between rebels and the Congolese military (BBC)
Three Bodies of UN Employees Found in DRC
Two UN researchers from the United States and Sweden, and their interpreter, were found dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s central Kasai region. They, along with three other support staff, were abducted while investigating human rights abuses in the region (BBC)
United States Considers Troop Cap in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The United States may seek a cap of fifteen thousand on the number of troops in the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the body’s largest and most expensive operation of its kind (VOA)
DRC Warns U.S. Against Change to Conflict Mineral Law
The Democratic Republic of the Congo warned that a rollback of a section of the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act that requires companies to disclose purchases of conflict minerals could encourage “escalation in the activities of non-state armed groups” (Bloomberg)
Forty Police Officers Beheaded by Tribal Militia
Members of a tribal militia called Kamuina Nsapu ambushed and executed police officers in central Kasai province (NYT)
UN: More Than One Hundred Killed by DRC Forces
More than one hundred people, including thirty-nine women, were killed when soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo used machine guns against militia fighters largely armed with spears and machetes over five days of clashes, the UN said (Al Jazeera)
Longtime DRC Opposition Leader Dies
Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi reportedly died in Brussels. The eighty-four-year-old politician was set to join a transitional council (Al Jazeera) that would pave the way for President Joseph Kabila to leave his post at the end of his term in 2017