While Pope Leo XIV's castigation of warmongers has so far failed to turn around the hawks in the current US administration, it has won Cameroonians a temporary reprieve from secessionist violence. To mark the pope's visit April 14, anglophone separatist groups said they would pause their fighting and allow the free movement of people. The pontiff may have stopped short of trying to mediate the nearly decade-long conflict in the majority French-speaking country, but he did urge President Paul Biya to root out corruption—and then lashed out at foreign exploitation of the continent. Leo also returned to his spiritual feud with the US administration. "Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth," he told a gathering at Saint Joseph Cathedral in the city of Bamenda. "They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found."

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.

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 Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed concern Oct. 30 over the protests and repression that have swept Cameroon following contested presidential election results. Demonstrators immediately defied a ban on public gatherings to support the opposition after the Oct. 12 election, but the situation escalated after the Constitutional Council announced five days later that long-ruling President Paul Biya had won. The opposition rejected the results and proclaimed their candidate, Issa Tchirola Bakary, as the legitimate winner, urging citizens to demonstrate peacefully. Thousands took to the streets demanding recognition of an opposition victory, to be met with repression; clashes between protesters and security forces led to fatalities and numerous arrests. The protests have shaken the capital, Yaoundé; the economic capital, Douala; and the northern towns of Garoua and Maroua. Local jails are filled with opposition supporters who accuse Biya of rigging the polls. Biya is set to assume his eighth term in office as the world's oldest president at age 92, having ruled Cameroon for 43 years. (Jurist)

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.