Congo rebels question US impartiality in U.S.-mediated peace efforts

Summary

Congolese rebel groups questioned whether the United States has remained impartial as a mediator in the conflict in mineral-rich eastern Congo, telling U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a letter seen by The Associated Press. Rebel leader Corneille Nangaa said Washington had fallen short by not pressing Congo’s government over alleged breaches of peace commitments, and by failing to back up the mediation effort with sanctions or warnings that he said were necessary for credibility.

Rebels signed the letter through the Congo River Alliance, a bloc that includes the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group. Nangaa described the U.S. as the “American Facilitator/Mediator” in a U.S.-mediated peace track that Congo and Rwanda agreed to last year, and he said questions about impartiality and neutrality have grown as fighting continues on the ground.

In the letter, Nangaa argued that the U.S. had not imposed sanctions or issued even a warning to leaders in Kinshasa, adding that those leaders’ attitude calls the U.S. mediator’s neutrality into question. He also said the absence of “clearly identifiable corrective measures” left doubts about the mediation effort’s ability to preserve requirements of impartiality and neutrality over time.

The letter also criticized the U.S. sanctions it said targeted “actors critical of the authorities in power” in Kinshasa. It referenced U.S. sanctions imposed last week on former Congolese President Joseph Kabila over his alleged role in funding and supporting the rebels, and it tied that action to the broader argument about whether the U.S. is applying pressure evenly as mediator.

Congo and Rwanda agreed to the U.S.-mediated peace deal last year, with the accord aimed at ending the long-running conflict in eastern Congo. The AP reported that the agreement included terms of an economic partnership involving the three countries and was intended to unlock deals on rare earth minerals—while U.S. President Donald Trump praised the leaders of Congo and Rwanda at the time, as fighting later continued and both sides accused each other of violating the peace terms.

The letter said U.S. mediation has not stopped the escalation of fighting despite efforts to cool tensions regionally. Kristof Titeca, a professor at the University of Antwerp who specializes in governance and conflict in Central Africa, told the AP that U.S. mediation had helped cool regional tension but did not stop the escalating fighting on the ground.

The conflict in eastern Congo has drawn in dozens of armed groups, with the government fighting more than 100, according to the AP. The AP said experts and the United States accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which the United Nations said has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to around 6,500 fighters.

As the peace diplomacy continues, M23 fighters made a major advance early last year, seizing Goma and other key cities as they expanded their presence. The letter to Rubio arrived as the Trump administration seeks to open the region’s critical reserves to the U.S. government and American companies.