War in Kivu

Since November 2021, war has been raging across the two provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu. It pits the Congolese state and a coalition of armed groups against the March 23 Movement (M23), which is backed by Rwanda and Uganda. African Facts investigates this conflict, its deep-rooted causes stretching back several decades, and its current stakes. Here you will find our main articles on the subject.

Racism, Hate Speech and Persecution

In July 1994, those responsible for the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda fled into what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing their ideology with them. A series of conflicts erupted in the years that followed and continue to this day. Racism, hate speech and the persecution of certain Congolese communities have proven to be among the main roots of the war currently tearing the Kivu region apart. African Facts documents this central dimension of the conflict.

« Nous ne voulons aucun Tutsi dans Uvira » : que se passe-t-il dans la ville tombée aux mains des milices ?

“We don’t want any Tutsis in Uvira”: what is happening in the town that has fallen into the hands of militias?

On 10 September 2025, Wazalendo militiamen gave the Tutsi 10 days to leave Uvira or face death. African Facts looks back at the two weeks of extreme tension and clashes between the militias and the Kinshasa authorities that preceded this ultimatum, and assesses the current situation in South Kivu’s second largest town.

Enfièvrement raciste : les Massaï victimes de rafles et de lynchages dans l’est de la République Démocratique du Congo

Racist fever: Maasai victims of raids and lynching in eastern Democratic republic of Congo

In North Kivu and Ituri, the Congolese intelligence services, army and Wazalendo militias have been carrying out raids on Maasai itinerant vendors. One vendor was burned alive in public on 2 September.

Pogroms : au moins quatre cas d’anthropophagie documentés dans l’est de la RDC ces trois dernières années

Pogroms: at least four cases of anthropophagy documented in eastern DRC over the past three years

For several years, a wave of racist persecutions has affected a part of the Rwandophone minority in the Democratic Republic of Congo. African Facts has investigated several cases of lynching that were followed by acts of anthropophagy.

An Information War

Since the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda and the First Congo War in 1997, certain actors — including belligerents, foreign powers, interest groups and international organisations — have sought to impose misleading and alternative narratives, while spreading false information and dubious figures. The conflict in Kivu has become a media war in which the framing of events plays a decisive role. Within the limits of its resources, African Facts endeavours to verify, cross-check and contextualise, as regularly as possible, the claims made by the various actors.

Le M23 a-t-il commis des crimes de guerre comme l’affirme Amnesty International et cible-t-il les Hutus comme l’affirme Human Right Watch ?

Did the M23 commit war crimes as claimed by Amnesty International, and does it target Hutus as claimed by Human Rights Watch ?

In two reports published in August 2025, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both accused the M23 rebels of committing war crimes. An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was held on Friday. African Facts revisits these accusations and their reliability.

Le M23 a-t-il massacré des « fermiers Hutus » dans le Rutshuru comme l’affirment Reuters et des employés des Nations unies ?

Did the M23 killed scores of “Hutu farmers” in Rutshuru as claimed by Reuters and United Nations employees ?

It is alleged that hundreds of “Hutu farmers” were massacred by rebels from the March 23 Movement (M23) and the regular Rwandan army within twelve days in the Rutshuru territory in the North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Are these reports from the Reuters news agency and United Nations employees accurate? What really happened?

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