Something is quietly taking shape in Kinshasa.

Behind closed doors and far from the spotlight of official diplomacy, networks linked to armed groups in eastern Congo and hostile elements including foreign nationals and Rwandan figures in exile, appear to be edging toward a coordinated front against Kigali.

What once looked like scattered actors pursuing separate agendas is, according to investigators, gradually being stitched into a single political and military fabric.

A recent investigative report by the Consortium International pour les Droits de l’Homme au Congo (CIDHC), produced by a coalition of civil society organizations including the Convention pour le Respect des Droits Humains (CRDH), Action pour les Droits Humains (APDH), Diaspora Plurielle Congolaise (DPC), Collectif Gakondo USA and Mutualité Isoko Diaspora, suggests that the process is already unfolding.

The report describes ongoing discussions around high-level meetings in Kinshasa aimed at coordinating armed factions operating in eastern Congo with political opposition networks abroad, with the objective of creating a “transnational alliance” capable of increasing both military and political pressure on Rwanda. 

In the words of the report, the initiative seeks to transform fragmented actors into a unified platform with “a permanent coordination framework, a shared strategic roadmap and a unified leadership capable of speaking on the international stage.” 

CIDHC investigators say the groundwork is already being laid. They point to a preparatory gathering held in Cape Town in October 2025 where participants reportedly discussed recruitment strategies, diaspora fundraising and the crafting of a common political narrative aimed at international audiences.

Jean-Luc Habyarimana, the son of former Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, is said to have joined the meeting remotely, a detail the report interprets as a possible attempt to rally symbolic political support around the initiative. 

The investigation gained urgency following a development that raised eyebrows across the region.

On March 3, 2026, the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) issued a public declaration from Uvira in South Kivu, an area under Congolese government administration, after M23 withdrawal.

In the statement, now public, FDLR  confirmed that its high command was operating from the city and openly praised President Félix Tshisekedi for his support while reaffirming its support for Congolese state institutions.

For CIDHC, the significance of that moment cannot be overstated. “The capacity of a group under international sanctions to publish a political declaration from a government-administered territory constitutes a serious fact that demands careful scrutiny,” the report states. 

Investigators argue that the declaration may be only the visible tip of a much larger iceberg. The report traces a sequence of earlier developments that, taken together, suggest deeper political maneuvering beneath the surface.

Among them are reported visits by Jean-Luc Habyarimana to Kinshasa in 2024 and again in early 2026, where he allegedly met figures close to the Congolese presidency and members of the security establishment.

Each meeting, on its own, might seem ordinary; together, the report suggests, they begin to resemble pieces of a slowly assembling geopolitical puzzle. 

Another episode cited by the investigators dates back to 2024, when discussions reportedly took place about hosting individuals linked to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, who had been residing in Niger.

The proposal was eventually shelved after media revelations, but the report notes that the mere consideration of such a move raised questions about political intentions and compliance with international obligations. 

Field research conducted by CIDHC investigators adds a human dimension to the story.

During interviews with former FDLR combatants at the Mutobo demobilization centre in Rwanda, several described a network that remained deeply embedded across parts of eastern Congo.

Some alleged that senior FDLR figures had moved through Congolese territory with relative ease, while others claimed the group had at times coordinated operations with elements of the Congolese armed forces against rival rebel movements.

CIDHC stresses that these testimonies remain allegations requiring independent verification. 

These accounts echo findings from previous investigations by United Nations experts, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which have repeatedly documented the FDLR’s involvement in attacks on civilians, sexual violence, forced taxation and the exploitation of natural resources.

For the authors of the CIDHC report, the pattern that emerges is difficult to ignore. The Uvira declaration, the alleged political coordination, diaspora mobilization and testimonies from former fighters form what the report calls a “bundle of converging indicators” pointing toward a potentially destabilizing regional dynamic. 

If the patterns outlined in the report prove accurate, the implications could reach far beyond Uvira or Kinshasa.

They would suggest that beneath the surface of official diplomacy, a new regional power struggle is quietly taking form. And in the Great Lakes region, such struggles rarely remain quiet for long.