A coalition of Congolese civil society leaders has issued a powerful plea to the international community, urging an immediate halt to all financial, political, and logistical support enabling Rwanda’s occupation of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In an open letter signed by 79 lawyers and leaders of public interest organizations, the group accuses Rwanda of orchestrating and sustaining a brutal invasion of Congolese territory through proxy militias such as the M23, with the objective of looting the country’s rich mineral resources.
The coalition, operating under the name MOSSAC (Mobilization for the Safeguarding of Congolese Sovereignty and Autonomy), includes individuals currently living under M23 control in Goma and Bukavu. Their testimonies, shared at great personal risk, describe an unbearable daily reality marked by violence, fear, and deprivation. Activists, opposition figures, and journalists in the occupied zones are often targeted for arbitrary arrests, imprisonment, or assassination.
“Our situation is unbearable,” said Aline (a pseudonym), a lawyer and mother of four. “The children can’t go to school or even play outside. The banks are shut, we aren’t being paid, and we’ve run out of money. We can’t sleep because of constant gunfire.” Her voice broke as she spoke of frequent reports of mass sexual violence: “It’s traumatic for all of us.”
MOSSAC’s open letter denounces what it calls an “untenable” situation in the occupied areas. It documents massacres carried out by Rwandan troops and M23 fighters, including executions, enforced disappearances, systematic sexual violence, and mass killings such as the burning alive of over 100 incarcerated women. These atrocities, the letter states, are widely reported yet continue unchecked.
The Congolese government, in recent statements, has echoed the coalition’s claims, denouncing ongoing human rights abuses, including 52 killings in Goma, 72 rapes, and hundreds of disappearances in the past week alone.
Laurent (another pseudonym), an elder of an indigenous community, described the occupation as both paralyzing and degrading. “We’re trapped in our homes,” he said. “Every morning, we find dead bodies in the street. There’s no medicine for our sick child. We’re starving.” He rejected the legitimacy of public events and so-called community work organized by M23 and the political alliance backing them, the Alliance of the Congo River (AFC). “They claim to liberate us, but in truth, they’re strangling us,” he said.
In the letter, MOSSAC outlines five urgent measures for the international community to adopt: to refute Rwanda’s false narratives about the conflict, to cut all aid and funding that facilitates its military operations and mineral exploitation, to prevent the trade of conflict minerals stolen from Congo, to block Rwanda’s arms imports, and to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 2773, which calls for an immediate end to the offensive and the withdrawal of Rwandan and M23 forces.
“It is inexcusable for the international community to continue enabling this invasion,” said Aaron, a humanitarian worker who used to help feed children in displacement camps around Goma—camps recently bulldozed by M23. “Where are those children now? What happened to their parents? Do these forced returns to unsafe areas respect the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement?” he asked. “Children’s needs are simple: food, shelter, education, and love.”
Jacqueline, a lawyer and human rights advocate, was clear in her call for action: “We are not asking anyone to fight for us. But if the West stopped financing Rwanda’s military aggression, we could defeat M23 and Rwanda with our bare hands.”
The open letter is accompanied by a list of anonymous signatories, detailed descriptions of their civil society roles, and an annex referencing the UN Security Council Resolution 2773 passed in February 2025. The message is as resolute as it is desperate: international silence and complicity must end if peace and sovereignty are ever to be restored in eastern Congo.
Therwandan
