Democratic Republic of the Congo: war crimes of the M23 rebels, supported by the government of Rwanda, including summary executions and rapes

ROME – The members of the rebel group “March 23 Movement” (M23) killed at least twenty men and raped more than sixty women and girls between 21 and 30 November 2022. This was revealed by an investigation by Amnesty International. According to testimonies collected by the organization, the crimes were mainly committed in Kishishe, a small town 100 km north of Goma, capital of the eastern province of North-Kivu. There are many doubts about the truly “rebellious” spirit of the armed group, which engages the regular army of the Congolese Republic – led by Félix Antoine Tshilombo Tshisekedi – so much. For some time now it has in fact been understood that the violence for which they are responsible has to do with the attempt (so far largely successful) to control an area of ​​the country very rich in mineral resources and to do so on behalf of foreign forces: the neighboring Rwanda in the first place.

The Amnesty International investigation. The information collected by Amnesty show that these acts were part of a campaign waged by M23 to punish and humiliate civilians suspected of being supporters of rival armed groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

Summary executions and rapes. Survivors and other witnesses told Amnesty that after taking control of Kishishe, the groups of M23 fighters carried out house-to-house raids, summarily killing the adult males and raping dozens of women, even with gang rapes.

Aline’s testimony. Aline was raped along with six other women by a group of men on November 29, 2022 at her home in Kishishe village. “They broke down the gate of the compound where I lived, rounded up all the men in the courtyard and killed them one by one. Five soldiers then raped me and six other women.”

Eugenie’s voice. Eugenie told Amnesty of being raped by three M23 soldiers on November 30, 2022 outside a church where she had sought refuge with her family. “They shot and killed all the men, including my husband and two children. Three rebels then took me behind the church and raped me. I thought I wouldn’t survive.” Another witness, raped outside the same church, said she counted at least eighty bodies of men killed.

The fear of Immaculée. “They took turns raping me in front of my terrified children. Then they took away all the valuables from the house and my two goats. Now we miss everything. We survive thanks to the goodwill of the people who help us. I faced rape, but I don’t know if my children and I will survive the hunger,” said Immaculée, a 23-year-old woman raped by two soldiers from the M23 group.

Lack of medical care and health care. Most of the survivors interviewed by Amnesty International said they received basic medical care at local health facilities. But no one received psychological support for the torture and trauma suffered. Mupenzi, a 21-year-old girl, was raped on November 21 in the town of Bambo after M23 rebels executed her husband. She said that she was given painkillers, but today she continues to suffer from back and stomach pains but the health facilities have neither specialists nor adequate equipment to help her. “We lack everything from doctors to supplies. The situation is unsustainable,” said a health worker interviewed by the organization.

Justice. The Congolese authorities have condemned the crimes of Kishishe and Bambo and have promised to do everything possible to ensure justice but progress has been minimal after three months, Amnesty reports. The actions of the M23 rebels in the Kishishe area are part of a systematic assault on civilians considered supporters of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which should therefore amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, Amnesty concludes.

The background. The M23 group, which according to UN reports is supported by Rwanda, claims to be fighting for the implementation of political agreements with the Congolese government, which provided for the safe return of Congolese Tutsi refugees who have been in Rwanda for two decades now. It also fights against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan rebel group that established itself in eastern DRC in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The M23 last year took control of a vast territory in North Kivu province, which borders Rwanda and Uganda, prompting half a million people to flee their homes, according to United Nations estimates.