President Donald J. Trump has announced what he called a peace treaty between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Rwanda, declaring it a “Great Day for Africa and the World.”
Trump claimed the deal was brokered with the help of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and would bring an end to what he described as a decades-long war between the two countries.
Delegations from Rwanda and Congo are expected in Washington on Monday for a formal signing ceremony.
However, Trump’s declaration has drawn criticism for being both misleading and fundamentally flawed. The conflict in eastern Congo is not, as Trump described, a conventional war between two governments.
It is a deeply rooted internal crisis involving the Congolese state and its marginalized communities—especially Congolese Tutsi populations such as the Banyamulenge—who have long faced discrimination, exclusion, and violence.
The M23 movement, often blamed for fighting in North Kivu, issued a swift response rejecting Trump’s framing of the conflict.
In a statement, M23 leaders said they “do not recognize” the U.S. President’s announcement and criticized any diplomatic process that excludes the voices and grievances of the very communities caught in the crossfire.
“This is not a war between Rwanda and Congo,” the group said, “it is a struggle of indigenous people against state oppression, injustice, and targeted violence.”
Tragically, while Trump was celebrating the supposed peace breakthrough, fresh atrocities were unfolding in South Kivu.
On the very day of his announcement, armed groups affiliated with the Congolese Mai Mai militia and Burundi’s Red Tabara reportedly attacked several Banyamulenge villages in the Uvira highlands, with multiple casualties and mass displacement.
Local human rights defenders say these attacks were carried out with the tacit support—or at least the tolerance—of state security forces.
The Congolese government has long been accused of arming proxy militias to terrorize its own citizens, especially those perceived as ethnically aligned with Rwanda.
Despite repeated claims of national unity and reconciliation, many communities remain unprotected, persecuted, and excluded from the peace process.
As Trump touts the deal as a diplomatic victory, critics say his announcement reflects a dangerous oversimplification of a complex conflict, and risks ignoring the lived reality of the very people suffering its consequences.
For the millions displaced and endangered by state-backed violence, peace will require more than symbolic agreements—it demands truth, justice, and inclusive solutions rooted in reality, not political spectacle.