A Belgian court on March 17 ordered 93-year-old former diplomat Etienne Davignon to stand trial for his role in the 1961 assassination of the first elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba.

Davignon, who was a junior diplomatic intern at the time of the assassination, is the first person to be prosecuted in the case. He is the last living suspect among 10 Belgian diplomats who allegedly assisted in the unlawful abduction and transfer of Lumumba that ultimately led to his death. The Belgian federal prosecutor's office charged Davignon with "participation in war crimes," and has also investigated him for involvement in the murders of two of Lumumba's political allies, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito. A cabinet minister and senator, respectively, Mpolo and Okito were killed alongside Lumumba.

The US Treasury Department on March 2 imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) and four of its top military officials over their support, training, and fighting alongside M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

At least 22 ethnic Teke civilians were killed in late November when militia fighters attacked a village in the western Democratic Republic of Congo, the latest episode of intercommunal violence that has plagued the region since 2022.

President Trump called for "reverse migration" and a "major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations" in a racist late-night online rant Nov. 27. In the bizarre Thanksgiving message, Trump vowed to "permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries" and to revisit immigration decisions made under his predecessor, Joe Biden. He said deportations will target "anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country" or "non-compatible with Western Civilization." Trump's message followed the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington DC, apparently by an Afghan refugee. Hours before the Washington shooting, the White House had already confirmed plans to re-vet refugees already settled in the US.

The UN on Nov. 21 decried a recent attack against civilians perpetrated by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The UN described the incident as "one of the most appalling attacks" ever recorded in the country, and indicated that it may constitute a war crime.

The public prosecutor of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) formally requested the death penalty for former president Joseph Kabila on Aug. 22 during proceedings before the High Military Court in Kinshasa. The military auditor general, Lt. Gen. Lucien René Likulia, argued before the court that the former president should face capital punishment for his role in war crimes, including homicide, rape, deportation and torture. Additionally, prosecutors sought a 20-year sentence for condoning war crimes and 15 years for conspiracy, for his role in enabling armed violence in eastern Congo.

In Donald Trump's perverse ambition to win the Nobel Peace Prize, he is citing his supposed diplomatic victories in ending six conflicts: Armenia-Azerbaijan, Congo-Rwanda, Israel-Iran, India-Pakistan, Thailand-Cambodia and Egypt-Ethiopia. In Episode 292 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines each of these examples, and breaks down how claims to have won "peace" are either extremely overstated or (more often) total Orwellian jive. The implication that Russia-Ukraine will be next, as Putin escalates his aggression, puts a hideous crown on the irony.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Aug. 6 condemned a recent surge in deadly attacks against civilians by M23 fighters and other armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The attacks come in spite of a June 27 Washington-brokered ceasefire agreement between the DRC government and Rwanda, which backs the M23 rebels.