SUMMARY

The M23 – M23-R violence was fought in the context of the armed conflict between M23 and the Government of DR. Congo (Zaire). This conflict broke out in 2012 as M23 defected from the army, based on the poor implementation of the 23 March 2009 Peace agreement. M23 vowed to chase the government in Kinshasa from power. Fighting in the Nord Kivu Province followed and after taking Goma, the government agreed to launch negotiations with the group. On 16 January 2013 the parties signed a framework agreement setting the agenda for the future Kampala talks. After this, a split appeared in the M23 rebel group, pitting Makenga supporters against Runiga (and Ntaganda) supporters.

The main military leader of M23 was Sultani Makenga but from the start the group was divided into two branches with one being more close to Bosco Ntaganda. The political spokesman Jean-Marie Runiga was seen as close to Ntaganda. In February the divide between the two leaders deepened after signing the Framework Agreement on 24 February violent clashes broke out. Runiga was dismissed by Makenga. After a month of fighting on 18 March 2013, Bosco Ntaganda handed himself in to the U.S. embassy in Kigali, Rwanda where he requested a transfer to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.

The non-state conflict between M23 and M23-R is first included in UCDP data in 2013. In March of that year clashes between the two groups led to more than 25 battle-related deaths.