If Felix Tshisekedi even pretends he wants peace in DRC, he must first free the hundreds of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience currently rotting in his regime’s filthy and nasty dungeons. This is non-negotiable.
Without this decisive act, the much-hyped peace talks in Doha are doomed to collapse before they even begin.
The Declaration of Principles hammered out under Qatari mediation makes one thing crystal clear: every Congolese, regardless of ethnicity or language, deserves equal rights and protection. Yet, Tshisekedi’s band of pot-bellied politicians, criminals, and flour-drenched mafiosi cling to power by keeping these innocent Congolese behind bars, exposing the sham behind their “peace” rhetoric.
Benjamin Mbonimpa, negotiator for the Congo River Alliance (AFC/M23), cuts through the charade with honesty: “What will we do in Doha if our prisoners are not yet released?” Peace talks without the liberation of these captives are a farce, a litmus test that Tshisekedi’s gang of Mabumucrates and trough-eaters fails spectacularly.
Nearly 700 innocent Congolese languish in Makala, Kasapa, and Ndolo prisons, under the iron fist of Colonel Flory Manga and the bloodthirsty torturer Christian Ndaywel’s DEMIAP and ANR death cells. These are living symbols of the regime’s brutal “Gestapo” tactics that spread fear, mistrust, and fuel the current crisis in eastern DRC.
In a rare gesture of good faith, M23/AFC freed captured FARDC soldiers back in April, facilitated by the ICRC. But Tshisekedi’s Mafiosi have turned a blind eye, refusing to release a single political detainee. This one-sided repression is a ticking time bomb, guaranteed to reignite violence and derail any hope for peace.
If Tshisekedi doesn’t comply with the Doha Declaration’s demand to free all political prisoners before August’s talks, there will be no meaningful meeting. M23/AFC has warned: the revolution will resume, and Tshisekedi’s usurped presidency will bear the consequences.
True peace in the DRC requires dismantling the machinery of political imprisonment and oppression crafted by Tshisekedi’s criminal cabal. Only by freeing these prisoners can this regime hope to show sincerity and lay a real foundation for ending the current crisis in eastern DRC created by Tshisekedi.