African leaders should prioritize rights-driven solutions to the crises in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan at the 23rd Summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) scheduled in Bujumbura, Burundi, on October 31, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today.
Summit participants should discuss steps to end the atrocities in eastern Congo by the armed group M23, the Rwandan military, the Congolese security forces, and allied militias, and advance accountability. They should also support the deployment of a mission across Sudan to protect civilians and address ongoing atrocities.
"The COMESA summit is a critical opportunity for African leaders to address the crises affecting Congo, Sudan, and elsewhere in the region and formulate clear, concrete pathways to protecting civilians," said Carine Kaneza Nantulya, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The participants should also discuss how impunity has fueled abuses, and the need to bring those responsible to justice to quell further atrocities."
The summit marks the 30th anniversary of COMESA, the largest regional economic organization in Africa, with 21 member states, including Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Sudan. At the summit, the president of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, will take over COMESA's chairmanship from President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia. COMESA's objectives are to strengthen economic integration, prevent conflict, and promote development. Its agenda for the summit includes discussions on peace, security, and governance, and the conflicts in eastern Congo, Sudan, and elsewhere in the region.
In Congo, the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has committed numerous abuses including killings of civilians, gang rapes, looting, and destruction of property. In 2024 the Rwandan army and the M23 indiscriminately shelled displacement camps and other densely populated areas near Goma, North Kivu. The Congolese military and allied militias increased the risk to displaced people by deploying heavy artillery near the camps. Congolese soldiers and allied fighters, including a coalition of abusive militia known as "Wazalendo" ("patriots" in Swahili), committed murder, rape, and other sexual violence, and arbitrarily detained displaced people.
The International Criminal Court's (ICC) recent announcement that it would step up its investigative efforts in Congo by focusingon crimes committed in North Kivu province since January 2022 increases the likelihood of justice for the victims, Human Rights Watch said. The renewed investigation could provide an opportunity to address the pervasive lack of accountability that fuels grave abuses in North Kivu, Ituri, and elsewhere in Congo. COMESA leaders should discuss how best to support the ICC investigation.
Leaders at the summit should also examine the role played by other countries in the region, including Uganda and Burundi, which the United Nations Group of Experts on Congo recently named. They should call on the Rwandan and Congolese governments, and neighboring countries to end their military support to abusive armed groups, including the M23 and Wazalendo, and investigate and appropriately prosecute commanders responsible for serious abuses.
In Sudan, Human Rights Watch has documented the ethnic cleansing against the Massalit and other non-Arab populations in West Darfur's El Geneina by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias, summary executions of detainees by both parties, and widespread sexual violence in Khartoum by the RSF. Both warring parties repeatedly use explosive weapons in populated areas, killing and maiming civilians; and over 10 million people have fled their homes, triggering the world's worst internal displacement crisis.
One-fourth of Sudanese face famine, as all parties have disrupted or blocked aid. The urgent need to protect civilians has been raised in various forums, including at the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the UN. But tangible steps have yet to be taken to deploy a civilian protection mechanism or for the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) to investigate the human rights situation in El Fasher and other areas of Darfur following the PSC's request on June 14.
African leaders attending the summit should express public support for the African Union Commission's investigation, in coordination with the ACHPR, and call for urgent development of recommendations to the PSC on practical measures to protect civilian populations.
The summit should press Sudanese authorities, warring parties, and neighboring governments to cooperate with the African Commission's joint fact-finding mission and the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, whose mandate was recently renewed. They should also encourage both Sudanese and Congolese authorities to fully cooperate with the AU Special Envoy for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Mass Atrocities, Human Rights Watch said.
COMESA was created in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Thirty years later, the continent has been the theater of recurrent armed conflicts and deteriorating human rights situations across regions.
At the summit, African leaders should also raise the continuing human rights abuses in other member states like Ethiopia, in which a devastating two-year armed conflict in the country's north resulted in countless atrocities, including crimes against humanity. Government forces carry out abuses with impunity, notably in the Amhara region and other conflict-affected areas. Human Rights Watch has documented widespread violations of the laws of war in Amhara, including mass killings, the government's apparent use of drones against civilians, and assaults on aid workers, health care facilities, and refugees.
At the site of the summit in Burundi, civil society groups and independent media are unable to effectively function. Journalists and human rights defenders work under the threat of arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. As part of its commitment to strengthen civil society and the media, COMESA should reinforce the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly as pillars of any stable democracy.
"COMESA's founding values include the promotion and protection of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and the recognition and observance of the rule of law," Kaneza Nantulya said. "Now more than ever, Africa's leaders need to make these values a reality for all Africans."
