Briefing Notes: Democratic Republic Of Congo

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Ravina Shamdasani
Location: Geneva
Date: 24 January 2025
Subject: DRC

We are deeply alarmed at the heightened risk of an attack by the M23 armed group on Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The M23 recently took control of the city of Sake following fighting with the DRC armed forces. Recent hostilities between the M23, the DRC army and other armed groups in the village of Bweremana, about 50 km from Goma, left at least 18 civilians dead.

Some 400,000 people have been displaced in North and South Kivu since the beginning of this year alone.

Any such attack on Goma risks catastrophic impacts on hundreds of thousands of civilians, putting them at heightened exposure to human rights violations and abuses.

The High Commissioner is calling on all parties to the conflict to de-escalate tensions and, consistent with their obligations and responsibilities under international human rights and humanitarian law, to ensure that civilians are unharmed. They must also respect the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality, and ensure those in need have safe and unfettered access to humanitarian aid.

The High Commissioner appeals to all States with influence on the parties to impress on them the urgent need for an immediate cessation of hostilities. Any role played by Rwanda in supporting the M23 – and by any other country supporting armed groups active in the DRC – must end.

The people in the DRC are exhausted by violence, exhausted by conflict, exhausted by the horrors of their daily life. And this must not be allowed to worsen further.

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