DRC: Convicted warlord Lubanga announces new rebel movement in Ituri province

Could the Democratic Republic of Congo be forced to face even more instability soon?

Thomas Lubanga, a war criminal convicted by the International Criminal Court, recently announced the formation of the Convention for the Popular Revolution (CPR) movement in eastern Congo's Ituri province.

The announcement comes as Congolese armed forces have been struggling for months to fight off a rapid advance from another rebel group, the Rwandan-backed M23 movement, into North and South Kivu.

A historical precedent

It is not the first time that Lubanga would be at the helm of a rebel movement. In the early 2000s, he founded the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) movement, a political and military group involved in the Ituri conflict.

In 2012, Lubanga was convicted to 14 years in prison for recruiting child soldiers, but was released in 2020.

He is currently based in neighbouring Uganda.

According to Reuters, Lubanga said that the CPR was both a political and an armed movement and that bringing peace to Ituri province required "an immediate change of government".

He however claimed that the group has for now not launched any military operations.

It is furthermore unclear how many combatants Lubanga might control.