{"id":122202,"date":"2026-04-18T14:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T14:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks"},"modified":"2026-04-18T15:18:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:18:32","slug":"afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks","title":{"rendered":"AFC\/M23, Kinshasa agree to exchange prisoners at Swiss talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>AFC\/M23 and the DR Congo government have agreed to exchange prisoners within ten days, emerging as the most immediate outcome of five days of talks held in Montreux, Switzerland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Montreux, Switzerland, in a constructive approach, the two parties have agreed on the crucial importance of ensuring vital humanitarian aid to the population without hindrance. But also in 10 days, 311 AFC\/M23 prisoners and 166 prisoners on the government side will be released,\u201d said Benjamin Mbonimpa, AFC\/M23 permanent secretary and a member of the movement\u2019s delegation.<\/p>\n

The agreement forms part of broader outcomes under the Doha Framework for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in November 2025.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement released on Friday, April 17, the parties said they made \u201csubstantial progress toward conclusion of a protocol on Humanitarian Access and Judicial Protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heads of delegations from AFC\/M23 and the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo sign agreements during talks held in Montreux, Switzerland. Courtesy.<\/p>\n

They stressed \u201cthe critical importance of ensuring life-saving humanitarian assistance for the people of eastern DR Congo,\u201d while committing to compliance with international humanitarian law, human rights law, and refugee law.<\/p>\n

The statement also outlines specific protections for civilians and essential infrastructure, with the parties agreeing \u201cto refrain from any attack, destruction, removal, or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population,\u201d including food supplies, agricultural areas, water installations, and key facilities such as hospitals, schools, telecommunications, and energy services.<\/p>\n

On humanitarian operations, the parties agreed to \u201cfacilitate rapid, unimpeded, safe, and sustained humanitarian access and freedom of movement for humanitarian personnel, goods, and services,\u201d ensuring aid is delivered based on need and without discrimination.<\/p>\n

In addition, both sides agreed to facilitate the passage and freedom of movement of humanitarian convoys and ensure continued access to essential services such as healthcare, food, water, housing, and education, while considering the humanitarian impact of measures affecting these services.<\/p>\n

On the ceasefire mechanism, the parties, together with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), signed a memorandum of understanding to operationalise the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism Plus (EJVM+), enabling the Ceasefire Oversight and Verification Mechanism to begin surveillance, monitoring, and reporting on the implementation of the permanent ceasefire.<\/p>\n

They expressed readiness to begin planning initial verification missions within a week, with support from the United Nations peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO.<\/p>\n

The talks, initially hosted in Doha before being relocated to Switzerland due to the Middle East crisis, focused on humanitarian access, the third of eight agreed protocols under the broader peace process.<\/p>\n

However, on the same day the joint statement was released, AFC\/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka reported fresh attacks in eastern DR Congo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese repeated agreements that the Kinshasa regime signs with blatant cynicism amount to nothing more than a vast deception designed to mislead the national and international community,\u201d Kanyuka said.<\/p>\n

He reported that at around 6:20 a.m. on Friday, the government coalition forces launched attacks against densely populated areas of Chambombo, Kumadepo, and Bulengero in Kalehe territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a deliberate and irresponsible escalation, revealing an assumed strategy of terror. These offensives have sown death, triggered massive displacements of civilian populations, and led to the destruction of numerous properties,\u201d Kanyuka said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. AFC\/M23 and the DR Congo government have agreed to exchange prisoners within ten days, emerging as the most immediate outcome of five days of talks held in Montreux, Switzerland. \u201cIn Montreux, Switzerland, in a constructive approach, the two parties have agreed on the crucial importance of ensuring vital humanitarian aid to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":122201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[2542,2541,5332,9604,758],"class_list":["post-122202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-dr-congo","tag-goma","tag-m23-rebels","tag-peace-talks","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nAFC\/M23, Kinshasa agree to exchange prisoners at Swiss talks - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AFC\/M23 and the DR Congo government have agreed to exchange prisoners within ten days, emerging as the most immediate ou ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AFC\/M23, Kinshasa agree to exchange prisoners at Swiss talks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AFC\/M23 and the DR Congo government have agreed to exchange prisoners within ten days, emerging as the most immediate ou ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-18T14:37:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-18T15:18:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/04\/sm_1776512534.055858.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"AFC\/M23, Kinshasa agree to exchange prisoners at Swiss talks\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-18T14:37:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-18T15:18:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks\"},\"wordCount\":554,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/04\/sm_1776512534.055858.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"DR Congo\",\"Goma\",\"M23 rebels\",\"PEACE TALKS\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-kinshasa-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-at-swiss-talks\",\"name\":\"AFC\/M23, Kinshasa agree to exchange prisoners at Swiss talks - 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