By ELISABETH CAESENS and JASON STEARNS There will be flurry of diplomatic activity on the Congo in coming days. Tomorrow (Thursday), the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes Region––a conclave of important donors and diplomats––will meet in The Hague to discuss, among other things, what to do about the

By CHRISTOPH VOGEL On the afternoon of 15 September 2017, the Congolese border town Kamanyola witnessed the deadliest massacre in South Kivu’s Ruzizi Plains since 2014’s Mutarule carnage. At least 36 Burundian refugees and two Congolese (a soldier and a policeman) were killed in what seemed a spontaneous outbreak of violence,

The Congo Research Group (CRG) conducted two years of research into the massacres around Beni, interviewing 245 sources, including many perpetrators and eyewitnesses. The report is 93 pages long (read it here) and worth reading for every sub-clause. For those with limited time, here’s a quick summary, outlining how the Congolese

“We reject any notion of a third dialogue with Kabila!” Was the verdict of Felix Tshisekedi, the leader of the main opposition coalition in the Congo. This is now emerging as the consensus among what is usually a fractious civil society and opposition: no more talking with Kabila. At the

Since 2013, a mysterious string of mass killings has taken place around Beni, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This startling wave of attacks transformed Beni territory from an area of relative calm into one of the country’s most violent theaters of conflict in a decade. These killings—primarily machete attacks—bring

In response to Congo Research Group’s report, published July 19, 2017, All the President’s Wealth: The Kabila Family Business, several individuals and companies have issued statements.  We are including those statements below: Nando’s “Nando’s is not operating in the DRC as we exited our franchise agreement in 2011. Please can

This week, a Board of Inquiry commissioned by the United Nations Secretary-General submitted its final report into the murder of Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalán, two members of the UN Group of Experts who were assassinated in the Kasai region on March 12, 2017. The report, which is confidential but

For the past 20 months, the Congo Research Group has documented the vast and eclectic business portfolio of Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and his family. This report presents our conclusions, based almost entirely on legal documents. They own, either partially or wholly, more than

In the wake of a tragedy, it can be tempting to point fingers, establish blame, and move on. That’s what appears to be happening with the murders of UN investigators Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan. Over the past week, the New York Times has published an article highlighting the “complicity”

Last week, we published our second nationwide public opinion poll with BERCI. In contrast with the first one, where we polled over 7,500 people in person, this poll was our first attempt to conduct a telephone poll. (For the polling nerds out there, we were able to do this reliably because we