Tshisekedi Puts Rwanda on Trial at Paris Forum

Paris, October 30, 2025. In a historic speech delivered before world leaders, civil society organizations, and regional mediators at the Paris Conference for Peace in the Great Lakes Region, President Félix Tshisekedi delivered a blunt and courageous message: “The humanitarian crisis in Congo is not a coincidence; it is the result of an organized war waged against our sovereignty.”

Standing alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and African Union mediator President Faure Gnassingbé, President Tshisekedi used the international stage to reframe Congo’s crisis as a political and military aggression fueled by Rwanda’s support of the M23 rebel group rather than merely a humanitarian emergency.

A Crisis Manufactured, Not Natural

“For more than thirty years,” Tshisekedi continued, “the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been bleeding from a wound that has never been closed. This is not a passing crisis. It is a prolonged tragedy.”

He painted a vivid picture of the human cost: millions displaced, families shattered, children growing up in trauma, and women enduring unspeakable violence.

President Macron echoed those horrors, citing that in the DRC:

1.5 Billion Euros and a Diplomatic Victory

The Paris Conference successfully mobilized over €1.5 billion in pledges for humanitarian aid across the Great Lakes region. But President Tshisekedi was clear that money alone won’t stop the bloodshed.