The Democratic Republic of the Congo handed over 15 prisoners to the M23 rebels as part of the peace process
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has released 15 prisoners and handed them over to the rebel Alliance of the Congo River/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) in the eastern part of the country. The handover was announced by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated the operation. According to the organization, this is the first known handover of detainees between the DRC government and the AFC/M23 group under an agreement brokered by Qatar.
The handover took place on Thursday and Friday following several months of negotiations regarding the list of individuals to be released. According to the ICRC, all 15 detainees agreed to the transfer. On Thursday evening, they departed in a convoy from the government-controlled city of Beni in eastern DRC.
The convoy traveled through Uganda and arrived on Friday in the Rutshuru area of North Kivu province. There, the prisoners were handed over to representatives of the AFC/M23. In early 2025, the M23 seized the regional capitals in the provinces of North and South Kivu, which had previously been under the control of the DRC government.
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The release of the detainees was one of the conditions of the agreement signed by the DRC government and the AFC/M23 in September, brokered by Qatar. Stefanie Eller, head of ICRC operations in Kinshasa, expressed hope that the operation would pave the way for further releases and bring relief to families who have been separated from their loved ones for a long time.
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the release an important step toward building trust between the parties and creating favorable conditions for a further peaceful settlement. The DRC, the UN, and Western countries have repeatedly accused neighboring Rwanda of supporting the M23 with troops and weapons. Rwanda denies these accusations.
