The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, announced the international body would halt its investigations into human rights abuse committed in eastern DRC due to a cash crunch following massive cuts to UN funding by its top donor, the United States.
The eastern DRC has been embroiled in a humanitarian crisis for more than 30 years, due to constant warfare by rebellious factions and criminal groups in the mineral-rich regions of Kivu and Ituri, sometimes with foreign backing from the DRC’s neighbors. War crimes and human rights abuses have been committed by various factions on millions of victims, including systematic war rape, torture, starvation, and forced labor.
In 2024-25, the Rwanda-backed M23 group launched a major escalation of its rebellion against the Congolese central government, seizing major cities like Goma, Rutshuru and Bukavu, before an uneasy ceasefire was concluded in April 2025 between the two parties.
The investigation into human rights abuses committed during this offensive was launched by the UNHRC in February 2025, but the mission could not keep on going, said Volker Turk, as the US’ contributions to the UN body fell from $36 million in 2024 to zero this year, due to the foreign aid cuts decided by the Trump administration.
This development is another shadow cast upon the US-sponsored peace treaty signed between the DRC and Rwanda, touted as a major diplomatic achievement by the Trump administration for ending 30 years of conflict between the two countries – but the fine print of the accords leave the question of M23 territorial gains unresolved.
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The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, announced the international body would halt its investigations into human rights abuse committed in eastern DRC due to a cash crunch following massive cuts to UN funding by its top donor, the United States.
The eastern DRC has been embroiled in a humanitarian crisis for more than 30 years, due to constant warfare by rebellious factions and criminal groups in the mineral-rich regions of Kivu and Ituri, sometimes with foreign backing from the DRC’s neighbors. War crimes and human rights abuses have been committed by various factions on millions of victims, including systematic war rape, torture, starvation, and forced labor.
In 2024-25, the Rwanda-backed M23 group launched a major escalation of its rebellion against the Congolese central government, seizing major cities like Goma, Rutshuru and Bukavu, before an uneasy ceasefire was concluded in April 2025 between the two parties.
The investigation into human rights abuses committed during this offensive was launched by the UNHRC in February 2025, but the mission could not keep on going, said Volker Turk, as the US’ contributions to the UN body fell from $36 million in 2024 to zero this year, due to the foreign aid cuts decided by the Trump administration.
This development is another shadow cast upon the US-sponsored peace treaty signed between the DRC and Rwanda, touted as a major diplomatic achievement by the Trump administration for ending 30 years of conflict between the two countries – but the fine print of the accords leave the question of M23 territorial gains unresolved.