The recently signed peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda fails to address justice for the victims of serious crimes by not including any provisions aimed at holding their perpetrators to account, Amnesty International said Tuesday.

The agreement, signed on June 27 by the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers in Washington DC, raises hopes of ending the intense fighting in eastern Congo, according to officials.

The deal also calls for a cessation of hostilities between the two neighboring countries’ armies.

However, in a statement, Amnesty International said that when human rights abusers are not investigated and held to account, it leads to a vicious cycle of abuses in which civilians pay the price --which must stop for security to be sustainable.

“Without addressing impunity for the horrific crimes committed in eastern DRC, the agreement missed an opportunity to decisively tackle a long-standing driver of the conflict,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general.

Amnesty International said that since the signing of the peace deal, it has received credible reports that M23 rebels active in eastern Congo have continued to clash with pro-government militia (Wazalendo) in North and South Kivu provinces, resulting in the deaths of civilians.

It added that the M23 continues to abduct young men and take them to unknown locations.

“Rwanda and the DRC must urgently press M23 and Wazalendo groups to prioritize civilian protection,” the statement said.

The M23 rebels have previously denied accusations of human rights abuses and abductions, terming them as “deliberate manipulation aimed at tarnishing our movement's image.”

Clashes between M23 and government forces in eastern Congo had displaced at least 500,000 and killed more than 3,000 by late February, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

The Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), or Congo River Alliance, a rebel coalition in eastern Congo that includes the M23, said Monday that the US-brokered peace deal signed between Congo and Rwanda is “a step, albeit limited, but useful.”

Kinshasa and others accuse Kigali of backing M23 rebels since their resurgence in November 2021, a charge Rwanda consistently denies.