Rwanda is in “command and control” of M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda has “unilaterally doubled its military presence” in the DRC, and armed groups – including those aligned to the Congolese government – are committing rights violations against civilians, according to a group of United Nations experts.
An as-yet unpublished report from UN experts on DRC that was leaked to the media and seen by Al Jazeera describes violations by all parties to the conflict and blames neighbouring governments for allegedly exploiting and escalating the current crisis.
The report was submitted to the UN Security Council in May, the Reuters news agency reported. It is expected to be released soon, a UN expert who contributed to the report told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, without specifying a date.
While analysts see these reports as an essential tool of accountability, Kigali and Kampala have called the experts biased.
Neither government replied to Al Jazeera’s request for comment about the contents of the report, but both have repeatedly denied the accusations levelled against them.
Meanwhile, the new findings risk putting a damper on the cautious optimism garnered by the signing of a peace deal between Rwanda and the DRC in the US last month, and ongoing Qatar-mediated peace talks between Kinshasa and M23.
For years, M23, which the UN says is backed by Rwanda – a charge Kigali denies – has been embroiled in conflict with the Congolese army and its allied militias known as Wazalendo. Early this year, M23 made rapid advances, seizing control of Goma and Bukavu, the capitals of North Kivu and South Kivu, respectively, which it still holds today.
The latest UN experts report – the first since M23’s advance – offers a stark assessment of the conflict, placing blame on Rwanda for facilitating the rapid expansion of the rebel forces.
Rwanda is providing “critical support” to M23, which takes “instructions” from Rwanda’s government and intelligence services, said the report.
In previous reports, the UN experts found there were some 3,000-4,000 Rwandan troops fighting alongside M23 in the DRC.
“One week prior to the [M23] Goma attack, Rwandan officials confidentially informed the Group [of experts] that President Paul Kagame had decided to imminently take control of Goma and Bukavu,” the new report alleged.
Rwanda has repeatedly denied backing M23, while Kigali has sharply criticised the UN experts.
“These reports were written long ago,” President Paul Kagame said at a news conference in Kigali on July 4, after the contents of the report started circulating in international media.
“They come here just to confirm a narrative they already had,” the Rwandan leader said about the UN panel of experts.
Kagame likened the experts to an arsonist who torches a house but also acts as both judge and prosecutor. “The very ones who burned the [house] are the ones in the seat to judge and prosecute.”
The report by UN experts, however, only reasserted its criticism of Kigali.
The Rwandan army’s “de facto direction and effective control” over M23’s operations “render Rwanda liable for the actions” of the group, the report said, arguing that Rwanda’s conduct meets the threshold for international sanctions.
Last month’s US-brokered deal between the DRC and Rwanda does not include M23, but it stipulates that all parties should comply with the Qatar peace process. It also highlights that the Congolese government should facilitate the disengagement of the armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by Hutus linked to the killings of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Rwanda should then lift its “defensive measures” inside the DRC, the agreement said.
While Kigali has often argued that its actions in the DRC are aimed at addressing longstanding security threats posed by the FDLR, the UN experts assert that its actions went far beyond legitimate security concerns.
The experts noted that “the final objective of Kigali was to control the territory of the DRC and its natural resources.”
Their report details how minerals, including coltan, were looted from mines in towns seized by M23, then smuggled into Rwanda. “Once in Rwanda, the looted minerals were mixed with local production, effectively laundering them into the downstream supply chain under the guise of Rwandan origin,” the report said.
Part of the minerals smuggled to Rwanda were purchased by Boss Mining Solutions Inc, represented by Eddy Habimana, who has previously been implicated in the illegal trafficking of minerals from the DRC, the report added.
Beyond Rwanda, the report also outlines violations of international law by another neighbour, Uganda.
Amid the Rwanda/M23–DRC fighting, there was a “rapid military build-up” by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, the report said.
Troops significantly increased this year “effectively doubling Uganda’s footprint in the country”, it added.
The Ugandan army, which has conducted joint operations with the Congolese military against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel movement with origins in Uganda, since 2023, “unilaterally” increased its troop presence in eastern DRC, the report added.
“The DRC government confirmed that the new UPDF deployment was executed without its prior approval, and that UPDF was undertaking unilateral initiatives outside the framework of joint operations with the [Congolese army],” the report read.
The deployment, according to the panel of experts, raised questions about Kampala’s motives, particularly given past allegations of UPDF support to M23. While Uganda claimed the troop movements were defensive and aimed at securing its economic interests, the report says their positioning created a de facto buffer zone that shielded M23 from northern counterattacks.
In response, Uganda’s ambassador to the UN, Adonia Ayebare, wrote on X that the report “contains falsehoods” and attempts to undermine the joint military operation with the DRC. He said Uganda will make an official statement after publication of the report.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s army commander also posted on X, saying: “While the UN so called ‘Group of Experts’ writes biased reports against us, we (UPDF) continue to save the lives of human beings in our region.”
The report by the UN experts had called out “repeated incendiary public statements” by Kainerugaba in which they said he emphasised close cooperation between the UPDF and the Rwandan army.
The report also accused Thomas Lubanga, a former ICC convict living in Kampala, of forming a politico-military movement to oppose the Congolese government, “with at least moral and passive endorsement from the Ugandan authorities”.
However, addressing journalists in Kampala on July 16, Lubanga said he is in forced exile because of persecution by Kinshasa, and if his movement had been receiving support from Uganda, it “would find itself on Kinshasa’s doorstep today”.
Kristof Titeca, a professor at the University of Antwerp who recently published a report on Uganda’s operations in DRC, urges readers to view the UN report and the backlash it has provoked in the context of regional dynamics.
Kigali and Kampala share overlapping interests in the DRC – chiefly concerning security, political influence, and economic access – but these interests also place them in a complex relationship of both cooperation and competition, he said.
Titeca argues that the resurgence and rapid expansion of M23 was, in part, triggered by Kigali’s fear that Kampala might encroach on its influence in eastern DRC after Uganda allowed its soldiers to enter DRC in pursuit of the ADF.
As M23 gained ground towards the end of 2024, Uganda reacted with troop deployments, particularly aimed at preventing the rebels – and by extension, Rwanda – from entering areas it sees as its sphere of interest.
Titeca says the military manoeuvres were as much a strategic message to Rwanda as they were about protecting Ugandan interests.
Drawing from movements and postures observed since late 2024, Titeca suggests that Kigali and Kampala may have an implicit understanding of their respective zones of influence.
“Some people think there might be some agreement between Kampala and Kigali on their area of interest,” he said.
In eastern DRC, “they are friends and also enemies at the same time,” he added, referring to Uganda and Rwanda.
For the UN experts, Kinshasa bears some responsibility, too. On the Congolese side, the report paints a picture of a state under siege, struggling to maintain sovereignty over its eastern territories.
The government continued to rely heavily on irregular Wazalendo groups, and on the FDLR, despite the latter being under UN sanctions, as proxies in its fight against M23 and the Rwandan army.
While strategic, the report says, this alliance has worsened the security and human rights situation, contributing to reprisal attacks, child recruitment and sexual violence.
As it called out M23’s actions during the taking of Goma and Bukavu, the report also documented a pattern of grave international humanitarian law and rights violations – including looting, sexual violence, and killings – by retreating Congolese soldiers and Wazalendo fighters at the same time.
“These abuses occurred in a climate of impunity, in the general context of a weakening chain of command,” it said.
Al Jazeera sought a response to these claims from the Congolese government, but received no reply.
In dismissing the report, the Rwandan president accused the panel of perpetuating a biased narrative against Kigali and of ignoring Congolese government complicity with the FDLR, which he says continues to spread anti-Tutsi views that led to the 1994 genocide.
“All the reports, 75 percent of them, blame AFC/M23 and Rwanda,” Kagame said at the July 4 news conference. “You will find they never write anything comprehensive about FDLR or how Congolese institutions spread hate and genocide ideology. How can experts not see that?”
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Rwandan analyst Thierry Gatete echoed Kagame’s criticisms, questioning the credibility of the UN panel and alleging that they rarely conduct field research.
“They sit in New York or Paris and rely on testimonies from Congolese officials or FDLR sympathisers,” he said.
The report notes that Rwanda denied the group of experts access to Kigali. However, Gatete says Rwanda initially cooperated with the panel but later gave up because the reports were consistently biased and, in his view, inconsequential. “Nobody takes what they write seriously,” he said.
While Rwanda and Uganda view the UN reports as biased, others see them as essential tools for accountability.
Stewart Muhindo, a researcher with Congolese civil society group LUCHA, said the panel provides critical evidence that challenges both state and non-state actors.
“The panel tells hard truths,” he noted, pointing out that the report also criticises the DRC government for its continued collaboration with the FDLR, despite promises to end the alliance. “It’s not just about blaming Rwanda.”
Muhindo also agrees with UN experts that the DRC’s reliance on Wazalendo fighters has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. These irregular forces, though not sanctioned like the FDLR, have been implicated in atrocities, including attacks on civilians and the recruitment of child soldiers, he said.
“Despite ongoing peacemaking initiatives, efforts to stabilise the region continue to face significant challenges,” the UN experts said in the report. “Civilians bore the brunt of the conflict, enduring widespread displacement, insecurity, and grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.”
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