ICRC facilitates first recognized switch of detainees between Congolese authorities and M23 rebels in North Kivu.
Printed On 7 Aug 2026
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has launched 15 prisoners and handed them over to rebels from the Congo River Alliance/March 23 motion (AFC/M23) within the east of the nation.
The discharge was introduced by the Worldwide Committee of the Purple Cross (ICRC), which facilitated this primary recognized switch of prisoners beneath final 12 months’s Qatar-mediated deal to finish the combating within the area.
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The handover occurred on Thursday and Friday after months of talks thrashing out the names of detainees to be freed.
An ICRC assertion mentioned the 15 prisoners agreed to be transferred earlier than leaving the government-held japanese Congolese metropolis of Beni in a convoy on Thursday night.
The journey continued via Uganda earlier than the convoy arrived in Rutshuru Territory in DRC’s North Kivu province, the place the prisoners have been handed over to AFC/M23 on Friday, the assertion added.
M23 seized the regional capitals in North and South Kivu from the Congolese authorities’s management in early 2025.
Stephanie Eller, head of ICRC operations within the capital Kinshasa, mentioned she hoped the switch would pave the best way for extra releases.
“We hope that this operation will assist convey aid to households who’ve been separated from their family members for a very long time,” Eller mentioned.
The discharge of detainees was one of many circumstances within the Qatari-mediated settlement signed by the Congolese authorities and AFC/M23 in September.
Qatar welcomed the releases on Friday.
“The discharge of the detained individuals represents an necessary step in the direction of enhancing confidence between the events and creating beneficial circumstances for additional progress in the direction of reaching peaceable and sustainable options,” Qatar’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs mentioned in a press release.
It added that Qatar “expresses its hope that this step will function an impetus for additional measures that improve confidence-building between the events and meet the aspirations of the Congolese folks for peace, growth and prosperity”.
DRC, the United Nations and Western powers have repeatedly accused neighbouring Rwanda of supporting the M23 with its personal troops and weapons because the armed group has superior within the east, a cost Rwanda denies.
