The AFC/M23 has said six out of 15 detainees released by the Congolese government and handed over to the movement recently are not on the list of over 760 names submitted for a prisoner exchange arrangement agreed during peace talks in Doha. ALSO READ: AFC/M23, Kinshasa agree to exchange prisoners at Swiss talks The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the release and handover of the detainees between August 6 and 7. They were granted safe passage from Beni through Uganda before arriving in Bunagana, North Kivu province. “Of the 15 detainees released by the Kinshasa regime, 9 appear on the list of 768 individuals that our Organization had submitted to the mediation,” AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement on Saturday, August 8. “Among the other 6, one is a Ugandan national who has no connection, direct or indirect, with our Organization. The other 5 detainees, arrested notably in Katanga, Ituri, and Kinshasa, do not appear on the list we had provided to the mediation.” ALSO READ: AFC/M23 releases 5,000 FARDC soldiers captured on the battlefield The release was part of a prisoner-exchange arrangement agreed between the AFC/M23 and the Congolese government in September 2025 as one of the confidence-building measures under the Qatar-mediated peace process. The ICRC was entrusted with facilitating the process, which was intended to pave the way for a final peace agreement between the two sides. Although, the AFC/M23 released thousands of government soldiers and prisoners, this was the first transfer of detainees the rebel movement confirmed since taking control of Goma in early 2025. ALSO READ: DR Congo crisis: Bisimwa criticises mediators for ‘babysitting’ Kinshasa In July 2025, the movement submitted a list of 768 detainees held in Kinshasa prisons, including Makala and Ndolo, and the ICRC later identified and confirmed 311 of them. ALSO READ: What next after AFC/M23-Kinshasa talks in Switzerland? The prisoner exchange was last discussed during last round of talks held in Montreux, Switzerland, from April 13 to 17. The parties agreed on April 26 as the deadline for the release of 311 AFC/M23 detainees held by the Congolese government and 166 prisoners held by the movement. The deadline passed without an exchange. The AFC/M23 said it was ready to release the 166 prisoners in its custody, but the process did not move forward, without any explanation from the mediator or other concerned parties. ALSO READ: AFC/M23 leader Corneille Nangaa states four reasons why his movement is fighting Tshisekedi govt ‘Encouraging but remains insignificant’ Qatar described the release as “an important step towards strengthening confidence among the parties”, while US Senior Advisor for African Affairs Massad Boulos described it as “growing momentum toward lasting peace and renewed trust among communities affected by the conflict”. The AFC/M23 welcomed the development but said the numbers did not reflect the commitments made under the prisoner-release protocol. ALSO READ: DR Congo: Deadline elapses for prisoner release “These releases thus confirm that the list of 768 individuals presented by our Movement cannot be considered exhaustive, particularly in light of the ongoing arrests of Congolese citizens unjustly and deliberately accused of maintaining ties with our Organization,” Kanyuka said. “The act carried out today by the Kinshasa regime is encouraging but remains insignificant compared to its commitments made under the protocol on the release of prisoners.” The movement called on Kinshasa to release all Congolese citizens it had identified as being detained because of their alleged links to the AFC/M23 or its members. ALSO READ: Bisimwa condemns ‘indifference’ of mediators amid Kinshasa’s attacks Coulibaly Bojana, a crisis analyst and observer of the Great Lakes Region, described the latest development as evidence of a lack of implementation of the commitments made during peace talks, including the neutralisation of the FDLR militia. “While Kinshasa stages compliance, this illustrates the lack of implementation of Doha and Washington,” Bojana said. “These inflated announcements by Kinshasa mirror its ‘FDLR disarmament’ show, both engineered to signal implementation of Doha/Washington while avoiding a genuine prisoner exchange and FDLR neutralization processes.”
