Enhanced Interactive Dialogue On The Democratic Republic Of The Congo

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk
60th session of the Human Rights Council
Geneva, 9 September 2025

Delivered in French

Mr. President,

Excellencies,

Distinguished participants,

Few places on Earth face a crisis as severe and urgent as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Independent and impartial monitoring and reporting can help establish exactly what is happening there, for truth, justice and accountability.

In the fog of war, propaganda, disinformation and fear can often distort and obscure the facts.

That is why our fact-finding mission, mandated by this Council in February, is so vital.

The mission reports that all those involved in the latest shocking upsurge of violence in North and South Kivu provinces committed gross violations and abuses of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

The mission found that the M23, supported by the Rwandan Defence Forces, as well as the armed forces of the DRC and allied armed groups, committed war crimes. It also found that the M23 may have committed crimes against humanity.

Rwanda and the DRC have responsibilities under international law for supporting armed groups with known track records of serious abuses.

Excellencies,

The M23, supported by the RDF, committed widespread and systematic abuses and violations in North and South Kivu that were intended to intimidate and coerce people, strengthen its forces, and impose order and security.

The M23 summarily executed civilians – mainly men – suspected of collaborating with government forces; they shot and killed civilians, including children, for no apparent reason.

In July, M23 members, together with alleged soldiers of the RDF and civilians armed with machetes, massacred hundreds of people—mainly Hutus—in four villages in Rutshuru. This is one of the deadliest incidents recorded since the M23’s resurgence in 2022.

During almost daily cordon and search operations, the M23 has systematically abducted and detained thousands of people. It targeted suspected members of the DRC armed forces and affiliated groups, but also their family or people perceived to be linked to them, and members of civil society.

My team confirmed that the M23 committed widespread torture and other mistreatment, including sexual violence, against detainees. Some people were beaten to death or died from injuries, suffocation or from starvation and dehydration. Accounts indicate that some guards were Rwandans.

Thousands of civilians – including children – were then sent to so-called training camps where they were subjected to forced labour, military servitude and other forms of torture and ill-treatment. The fate of hundreds of men, women and children who were forcibly taken remains unknown.

My team also documented that the armed forces of the DRC deliberately killed civilians after clashes with the Wazalendo armed group. They found that the Wazalendo operated at least 13 sites where detainees were subjected to torture and ill-treatment. The team also found that Wazalendo groups recruited children under 18 – and in some cases under 15 - for use as fighters, messengers, escorts, or spies, and were arbitrarily detained in inhumane conditions.

Excellencies,

For decades, sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war in the DRC. Today, that horror continues. Our mission found that most parties to the conflict are committing sexual violence on a massive scale. Women and girls, some as young as 10, were abducted, gang raped, sexually enslaved and humiliated – completely dehumanizing them. Some died from the consequences of rape. My team also recorded cases of sexual violence against men, boys and LGBT people, although we know these crimes remain largely unreported because of stigma and fear.

My team identified a pattern of widespread sexual violence by members of the armed forces of the DRC and the Wazalendo during their retreat from the frontlines.

These crimes have left profound scars on victims: physical and psychological trauma, unwanted pregnancy, and risks of life-long health issues. including infertility, and HIV infection. I met with victims and survivors in the Bulengo IDP camp in 2024 and I saw for myself how sexual violence shreds family and communal ties, often forcing survivors from their homes. Some women do not disclose their rape, fearing stigma. Health services are underfunded and inadequate, which only perpetuates their agony. This issue demands the international community’s immediate attention.

Mr. President,

The M23’s expansion has left a trail of destruction in North Kivu and South Kivu. It has also undermined human rights in other parts of the country. State security forces have been redeployed to fight the M23, and other armed groups – including the Allied Democratic Forces and CODECO – have taken advantage of the security vacuum.

Between 1 June 2024 and 31 May 2025, the UN Joint Office in the DRC documented more than 5,000 human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law across the country. These violations and abuses include summary executions, torture and ill-treatment, sexual violence, abductions, and arbitrary arrests and detentions. The number of victims of these crimes increased by 16% during this period compared to the same period last year.

After the M23, the Allied Democratic Forces is the armed group responsible for most abuses, with attacks concentrated in North Kivu and Ituri. In July alone, the ADF killed more than 100 civilians in Irumu in Ituri province. In August, they killed at least 52 civilians in Lubero and Beni in North Kivu.

During the reporting period, most parties to the conflict stepped up arbitrary arrests and detentions of political opponents, and threats to human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists. The M23 have increased threats against judges. Since January 2025, the Joint Office has registered 568 requests for protection, including from 87 women.

Even in provinces not directly affected by armed conflict, such as Mai-Ndombe and Tshopo, tensions and violence between communities have resulted in killings, ill-treatment, sexual violence and mass displacement.

In Kinshasa and the Kasai provinces, my Office reports that hate speech and ethnically motivated attacks increased against people presumed to be associated with the M23.

Excellencies,

The violations continue as we speak, multiplying the suffering of people traumatized by decades of violence.

Efforts to reach peace over the past months are encouraging, but they must be matched by a changing reality on the ground.

A genuine ceasefire is needed urgently.

All parties to the conflict must ensure full respect for international human rights and humanitarian law.

Rwanda must cease all support to the M23 immediately and withdraw its armed forces from the DRC. It must ensure that allegations of abuses and violations attributable to Rwanda are investigated by competent authorities and perpetrators held accountable.

The DRC must ensure its forces respect international law. It must cease all forms of support to the Wazalendo and other armed groups, and ensure all perpetrators of allegations of abuses and violations in the DRC are brought to justice.

I urge States to exert maximum pressure on Rwanda and the DRC to cease all support to armed groups with known track records of serious abuses; to ensure humanitarian aid reaches all those in need; and to support effective mediation and peace processes.

Peace based on human rights means addressing accountability for the horrific crimes that have been committed.

It means protecting children traumatized by the extreme violence they have witnessed and endured.

It means acknowledging and integrating measures for truth-telling and repairing the harm caused.

And it means a clear commitment to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

Excellencies,

You have the facts before you, and facts must be levers of change. They empower this Council, and the wider international community, to take action to stem the violence, protect victims and ensure justice.

I urge Member States to ensure adequate support for the Commission of Inquiry mandated to take forward this essential work and to lay foundations for justice for the untold victims of conflict in the DRC.

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