The leader of the AFC/M23 rebel movement in eastern DR Congo has criticised the government in Kinshasa for supporting ethnic violence against Tutsi communities.

In his end of year message, Corneille Nangaa, who movement has controlled swathes of territory in North and South Kivu province, said President Tshisekedi's government has adopted a divisive policy, marginalising part of the Congolese populaion.

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"Hate speech has now become a doctrine of the state," Nangaa said on Wednesday, December 31.

"It is no longer marginal or underground: it is assumed, carried, and relayed by the highest political and military officials of the regime. Spots inciting ethnic hatred and discrimination, broadcast on the national public channel, are methodically preparing minds for the irreparable."

The election chief-turned-rebel leader said this less than a week after the spokesperson of the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) made discriminatory remarks against the Tutsi, prompting widespread condemnation. The military official recycled narratives used in the lead-up to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

"The target is clearly identified: they are our compatriots who speak Kinyarwanda and, more particularly, the Tutsi. It has extended to Congolese who speak Swahili," he said.

"These compatriots, labeled enemies from within because of their features, their language, or their ethnicity, have been savagely massacred, sometimes even cannibalized, under the indifferent, or even complicit, gaze of a silent National and International Community."

Ceasefire violation

Nangaa also pointed out that despite agreements signed in 2025 the government failed to honour its commitments.

"To date, not a single prisoner has been released, in flagrant violation of the signed commitments. Moreover, the ceasefire is methodically sabotaged by repeated and systematic violations, gradually transforming a fragile truce into an open, generalized war imposed upon us," he said.

The past year saw key developments in the war between the AFC/M23 rebels and the government coalition.

In January and February, the rebels took control of Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu, respectively.

In April, the two parties held their first direct peace talks, thanks to Qatar mediation. However, the conflict has continued on the ground despite the agrrements and ceasefire violations.