The M23 militia has continued to capture towns and villages across eastern Congo over the past several weeks despite U.S.-backed peace talks.Reuters/Reuters
The Rwanda-backed M23 militia executed at least 21 civilians, and probably many more, in a two-day killing spree that began within weeks of its capture of the Congolese city of Goma in January, a new report says.
The report by Human Rights Watch is the latest in a series of disturbing allegations of mass arrests, killings and torture by M23 in the territories it has seized across a vast swath of the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent months.
By directly supporting the M23 rebels, Rwanda may be complicit in war crimes in the region, Human Rights Watch said in the report Tuesday.
In defiance of U.S.-sponsored peace talks, M23 has continued to capture new towns and villages across eastern Congo in the past several weeks. It shows no signs of ending a prolonged offensive that has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe, causing thousands of deaths and forcing millions of Congolese to abandon their homes and move into makeshift shelters where disease and hunger are rife.
U.S. President Donald Trump said May 21 that his administration has “helped settle a war that’s been raging for years” in eastern Congo. “Believe it or not, I think we’ve done it,” Mr. Trump told reporters during a White House meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
But despite his claim, the two countries have not yet reached a peace agreement, and the violence has persisted, sparking terror across the region.
“The M23’s brutal control over Goma has created a climate of fear among those perceived to be allied to the Congolese government,” Clémentine de Montjoye, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Tuesday.
“The mass killings don’t seem to be actions by rogue fighters, but rather the M23 leadership’s efforts to solidify their control by whatever means necessary.”
Rwanda-backed rebels in Congo are harder to stop this time as much of the world grapples with other conflicts.
Reuters
Less than a month after capturing Goma, dozens of M23 fighters arrived in pickup trucks in a neighbourhood where they suspected the residents were supporting Congo’s national army, Human Rights Watch said.
It said it verified that M23 executed 21 civilians, but it cited medical workers who said more than 50 bodies were collected from the neighbourhood after the executions. Its evidence included photos and videos showing bullet holes and blood on the wall of the execution site.
A separate report last week by Amnesty International said M23 had killed, tortured and forcibly disappeared a number of civilians in detention sites in two captured cities, Goma and Bukavu. The report was based on interviews with 18 former detainees between February and April, including nine who were tortured by the militia.
“M23’s public statements about bringing order to eastern DRC mask their horrific treatment of detainees,” Amnesty regional director Tigere Chagutah said. “They brutally punish those who they believe oppose them and intimidate others, so no one dares to challenge them.”
Congolese media have reported that M23 captured many other towns in the region in recent weeks. This week, M23 officials said the militia will capture the town of Pinga, after mobilizing reinforcements and heavy weapons nearby to bolster the planned assault.
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In the Congolese town of Bambo, more than 11,000 people have sought emergency shelter after fleeing from villages caught up in fighting between M23 and the Congolese army since mid-May, according to humanitarian group Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders).
“Many report fleeing scenes of extreme violence, burned houses, bombed villages, looting, and abuses committed against civilians, including summary executions,” MSF said in a report Tuesday. “Local resources are becoming overwhelmed.”
In a joint statement this week, Canada and 11 other governments said they were deeply worried about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in eastern Congo. They criticized M23 for blocking relief supplies by imposing illegal taxes and customs duties on humanitarian aid, and they noted that M23 is supported by Rwanda’s military.
Trump administration officials have said they hope for a peace agreement between Rwanda and Congo by the end of this month, accompanied by a separate deal on U.S. access to minerals in resource-rich Congo.
But M23 is not a participant in the peace talks, and Rwanda officially denies any links to the rebel militia, despite United Nations reports that have extensively documented Rwanda’s deployment of troops and sophisticated weapons into Congo to help M23.
Even if the two countries sign an agreement, M23 is unlikely to give up control of the huge territory that it has seized. One of the group’s leaders, Willy Ngoma, vowed last month that M23 will keep occupying Goma and Bukavu “until Jesus returns.”
The mineral deal, meanwhile, appears to be a key U.S. priority. Mr. Trump, in his May 21 comments, said his administration is discussing access to Congo’s rare-earth minerals – the same resource it had sought in a Ukraine deal. Several U.S. mining and security companies are already reportedly involved in deals in the region.