A consortium of humanitarian NGOs in Goma has called on the United States to reassess its cooperation with Kinshasa after the Tshisekedi regime renewed attacks atrocities in the Minembwe region.
The calls come after rising violence in the aftermath of AFC M23 withdrew from Uvira (which it did in support of ongoing peace efforts).
According to the reports, resumption of hostilities especially in Minembwe looks less like security operations and more like a government undermining the very ceasefire it publicly claims to support. And civilians/Banyamulenge, once again, are the ones paying the price.
The NGOs are asking Washington to tie any cooperation with Kinshasa to strict respect for the ceasefire and human rights. In short, no peace commitment, no partnership. Simple logic, yet repeatedly ignored in Congo’s endless crisis cycles.
The civil rights organizations are also calling for targeted sanctions against Kinshasa officials fueling the violence or those accused of abuses, arguing that impunity remains Kinshasa’s favorite shield.
Reports collected from local communities speak of targeted killings, sexual violence, forced displacement, and persecution against civilians accused of siding with M23 and Twirwaneho. Such patterns are blatant crimes against humanity and raise fears of systematic genocide where attacks repeatedly target specific communities.
Meanwhile, large parts of eastern Congo remain under communication blackout. With internet and telecom services shut down, entire communities face violence in near-total silence, cut off from both assistance and scrutiny. Darkness has always been the safest cover for abuse.
For some Congolese, the message from Western capitals now looks deliberate: strategic alliances matter more than Congolese lives. By backing Kinshasa while downplaying reports of abuses, the West appear nothing but complicit in the very suffering it claims to oppose.
Stability cannot be built by overlooking abuses or by treating entire communities as collateral damage in political negotiations.
A durable solution requires impartiality, accountability, and genuine attention to those paying the highest price for this conflict.