A coalition of Congolese civil society leaders and public interest attorneys is expressing strong reservations about the so-called “peace accord” currently being negotiated between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, under the direction of the Trump administration of the United States. In a “Declaration of concerns”, the Coalition warns that the current negotiations pose an existential crisis for the DRC, in which its sovereignty over its borders, territories, resources, economy and military are being undercut by Rwanda and the US.
See the Declaration of Concerns here.
The coalition of 79 Congolese non-governmental organizations and public interest attorneys, called Mobilization for the Safeguarding of Congolese Sovereignty and Autonomy (using the French acronym, MOSSAC), consists primarily of organizations based in the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, currently under occupation by Rwanda and its proxies, M23 and AFC.
Background
The armed extremists of the M23 militia and AFC movement are successors to the militias that have been wreaking havoc in eastern DRC since 2003. During the first quarter of 2025, with financial, logistical and operational assistance from Rwanda, they greatly increased the intensity of killings and displacements in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu. The Rwandan army and its M23 proxies occupied the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu in eastern DRC, killing between 2,900 to 9,500 people in the capture of Goma alone. A series of announced truces and ceasefires have all been violated by the M23 and AFC within days of being declared. The Congo River Alliance (AFC), a political alliance which includes the M23, announced in January that they intend to take over Kinshasa – the nation’s capital, more recently saying (on 18 May) that “The war is not over because we have not yet achieved the objective.”
While presenting a narrative of needing to protect themselves from discrimination against the Tutsi people, the M23 and its Rwandan backers have instead been conquering Congolese mining centers from Rubaya, Masisi and Walikale in the north to Mwenga, Minembwe and others to the south. Citing reports from the UN Security Council Group of Experts on the DRC, a map presented in The Africa Report shows that some 40 mining sites were already under M23 control in 2023, with many more taken since then. Once the M23 takes over a mine, it levies a “tax” on all extracted minerals. The ore from these mines is then illicitly transported to Rwanda, where it is processed and sold on the world market as a Rwandan product. This war of exploitation involves all of us, because many private corporations and national militaries depend on these critical minerals for their technology.
Trump jumps in with “minerals for security deal” for US interests
In early April of this year, US President Donald Trump’s appointee, Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos, met with Rwandan and Congolese officials to propose a “minerals for security deal”, similar to that Trump had offered to Ukraine a few weeks earlier. By late April, a “Statement of Principles” had been signed in Washington DC by Rwanda and the DRC, laying out the objectives for a full agreement to replace the fighting with a business relationship between the three countries. According to Boulos, “Our mission is to promote the interests of the United States and our vision of international partnership”.
A business deal imposed under threat of arms
According to the Declaration of Concerns by the MOSSAC coalition, the current “Statement of Principles” is in fact “a deal of business interests, influence, and exploitation, disguised as diplomacy towards a peace accord. It is an economic, security and geopolitical agreement, carefully worded to the detriment of Congolese sovereignty.” The Declaration goes on to say, “the DRC must not be forced into the position of being held hostage to a choice between continued war and occupation on the one hand, versus a business deal that is not beneficial to the people of the DRC on the other hand.”
The MOSSAC coalition raises five main concerns about the current negotiations, as follows:
- The Negotiated Agreement must provide clear requirements and monitoring mechanisms that will bring about an end to the violence, conflict and occupation. However, these are not clarified in the documents or discussions thus far.
- The Negotiated Agreement must provide clear directives that end impunity and ensure justice. However, the documents and discussions thus far have completely ignored considerations of accountability and justice.
- The Negotiated Agreement must be developed following a legitimate democratic process that prioritizes the sovereignty and interests of the Congolese people. In fact, the agreement is being developed in a top-down fashion, led by a foreign country (the US) to protect its own interests and those of its business and geopolitical partner, Rwanda.
- The Negotiated Agreement must restore the sovereignty and inviolability of the DRC over its territory, its borders, its resources and its economic relations. Yet the taking of Congolese lands and resources is an integral part of the proposed “business deal”.
- The Negotiated Agreement must protect the DRC’s sovereignty over its own military. Instead, it appears that Rwanda will have a role in military oversight of the eastern DRC, and Rwandan proxy militias may be integrated into the Congolese army.
Existential threat to the DRC
The Declaration of Concerns by the MOSSAC coalition concludes that the likely results of this negotiation “will end up diminishing the sovereignty of the DRC over its own lands, resources, governance, economy and military.” Furthermore, they say the likely business deal “will provide a framework to legitimize the current illicit resource and power grabs underway by Rwanda, the M23, the AFC and their other allies, including Western powers that covet the DRC’s minerals and support Rwanda with financial aid.”
According to the MOSSAC coalition, “This is an existential crisis for the DRC, and must be responded to as such.”
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