Violence in South Kivu surged in early December, as the M23 rebel group and allied Rwandan soldiers launched a new offensive, advancing into several parts of the eastern province. This included the strategically important city of Uvira, which it captured from pro-government forces on 10 December. Heavy weaponry, including artillery and bombs, were reportedly used in the offensive and the fighting is estimated to have killed at least 400 civilians, displaced more than 500,000 others, and overwhelmed hospitals and medical centres in the area. While the M23 announced on 16 December that it was withdrawing from Uvira, its fighters continued to clash with pro-government militias on the outskirts of the city late into the month. According to data from ACLED, a conflict data initiative, the levels of violence in South Kivu in December reached their highest point since M23 resumed its offensive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in November 2021.     

Sources: International Crisis Group, Jeune Afrique (1), United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Jeune Afrique (2), Armed Conflict Location and Event Data

In a press release published on 31 October, Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani announced that he had suspended 12 political parties, accusing them of undermining national security and unity. The statement also said that the minister had initiated legal proceedings to dissolve the opposition parties, which include the Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et la Démocratie (PPRD, People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy) led by former President Joseph Kabila. All 12 parties are reported to be members of Kabila’s ‘Sauvons la RDC’ (Save the DRC) opposition platform launched earlier in October. The platform, whose members include political parties and civil society organisations, was formed to end the political and security crisis in the country, which it blames on President Félix Tshisekedi. The PPRD was previously suspended in April over its ‘ambiguous’ view of the M23 rebel group and, alongside three other parties, was the subject of dissolution proceedings then too. 

Sources: Jeune Afrique (1), Radio France Internationale, Jeune Afrique (2), The Africa Report, International IDEA 

On 30 September, a military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) sentenced the country’s former president Joseph Kabila to death and fined him USD 33 billion, having found him guilty of treason, war crimes and organising an insurrection. The case relates to his alleged support to the M23 rebel group operating in the east of the DRC, and the political-military movement of which it is a part, Alliance Fleuve Congo (Congo River Alliance, AFC). However, Kabila has always denied the charges and many observers perceived the proceedings to be highly politicised, and judged the charges and sentences to be exaggerated, raising due process concerns. Chief among these was the fact that Kabila, who was tried in absentia, was not represented by legal counsel. While the death sentence is unlikely to be carried out (Kabila is living in exile), human rights experts warned that the trial is likely to have a chilling effect on the political opposition in the DRC.     

Sources: Jeune Afrique, British Broadcasting Corporation (1), Human Rights Watch, British Broadcasting Corporation (2), International IDEA    

On 2 September, a court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo convicted former Minister of Justice, Constant Mutamba, of embezzling USD 19.9 million from a public fund set up to compensate victims of war crimes committed by Ugandan troops in 2000. The Court of Cassation (Cour de cassation) found that Mutamba had illegally diverted the money to a company the government had contracted to build a prison and sentenced him to three years of forced labour and barred him from voting or running for election for five years. The victim fund was established in 2022 to receive USD 325 million in compensation that is being paid by Uganda in instalments, in accordance with a ruling from the International Court of Justice. However, according to a September report by the Centre for Research on Public Finance and Local Development, much of this money has been misappropriated, with less than two per cent of the USD 195 million received between 2022 and 2024 having been paid to beneficiaries. 

Sources: Jeune Afrique (1),  Justice Info (1),  Justice Info (2), Jeune Afrique (2)

On 25 July, the trial of former president Joseph Kabila began in a military court where he has been charged with treason, war crimes and organising an insurrection, crimes which could carry the death sentence. The charges relate to his alleged support to the M23 rebel group fighting an armed conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the political-military movement of which it is a part, Alliance Fleuve Congo (Congo River Alliance, AFC). Prosecutors described Kabila as one of the alliance’s ‘initiators’. M23 and the AFC both denied the allegations, and Kabila rejected the charges against him as ‘arbitrary’. In May, the Senate stripped Kabila of the lifetime immunity he enjoyed as a former president and in recent months authorities suspended his party, Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et la Démocratie (People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy, PPRD) and banned media coverage of its activities. Kabila is being tried in absentia.   

Sources: Barrons, Radio France Internationale, Le Monde, Jeune Afrique, International IDEA