The resurgence of conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has further deteriorated an already dire humanitarian situation in regions where North Kivu and Ituri have been under siege since May 2021. Despite multiple peace agreements—including the pact signed in Washington on June 27, 2025, ratified by Rwandan and Congolese leaders on November 4, 2025, and the Doha framework agreement on November 15, 2025, between the DRC and the M23/AFC—atrocities persist. These accords aimed to halt violence particularly in North and South Kivu, yet the conflict has since spread to Uvira, exposing the fragility of ceasefire mechanisms.

According to verified reports, over 10,000 lives have been lost in under a year, millions displaced internally and as refugees, deepening a severe humanitarian crisis. Security forces and armed groups, notably the M23/AFC backed by Rwanda, continue to commit grave human rights violations, including torture and other cruel treatment as defined under Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The deteriorating security climate has severely restricted civic space, with public gatherings banned, press freedom curtailed, and civil society organizations under siege. Human rights defenders, journalists, political opponents, and activists face relentless threats, arbitrary arrests, torture, and intimidation, forcing many into exile. This erosion of civic freedoms has crippled national capacities to document abuses and seek justice for victims.

This joint submission is presented by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in collaboration with members of the SOS-Torture Network in the DRC—Alliance for the Universality of Fundamental Rights (AUDF), Afia Mama, SOS Multidimensional Legal Information (SOS IJM), and Voice of the Voiceless for Human Rights (VSV)—in advance of the upcoming review of the DRC’s periodic report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.