KINSHASA, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the M23 rebel group, backed by Rwanda, of massacring civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in what the rights organization described as one of the most serious recent atrocities in the country’s conflict.
According to HRW, armed fighters attacked villages in North Kivu province earlier this month, killing scores of civilians, including women and children. Eyewitnesses cited by HRW reported that the rebels executed people indiscriminately, burned homes, and forced entire families to flee.
The rights group said the attack demonstrates a pattern of abuses by the M23, which has intensified its offensive in the eastern provinces over the past year.
Rwanda has consistently denied supporting the M23, but both the United Nations and Western governments have documented evidence of Kigali’s backing. Congolese authorities have condemned the killings and called for greater international pressure to halt the violence.
This latest massacre comes amid ongoing regional peace efforts, including talks hosted in Qatar, aimed at de-escalating tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Analysts warn that continued atrocities risk undermining any progress toward a negotiated settlement.
HRW has urged both the Congolese government and international partners to ensure accountability and provide protection for civilians trapped in the conflict.
Questions That Cannot Be Ignored
As Congolese, we must ask hard questions.
To those who collaborate with M23 — including elements of Twirwaneho or others — is it truly worth working with foreign interests while your fellow Congolese are massacred?
To M23 leaders and their backers — what excuse in this world justifies the indiscriminate killing of women, children, and entire families?
And to the international community — how much blood must be spilled before M23 is recognized not as a “rebel movement,” but as what it has shown itself to be: a terrorist organization?
These questions are not rhetorical. They are the questions of survivors, of refugees, of parents who bury their children. Until they are answered with justice, there can be no true peace.
