Killings, gang rapes rampant in Congo, rights groups say – DW – 08/20/2025
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels killed at least 140 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in July, while both the rebels and rival militias committed widespread sexual abuses, according to two reports highlighting worsening human rights conditions in the country.
The violence is persisting despite US- and Qatari-brokered peace talks between Congo and the M23 militia.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, based on 25 witness accounts, medical staff, and UN sources, suggested the total deaths in Rutshuru territory in the east may exceed 300, corroborating an earlier UN account.
The report included interviews with civilians HRW said had survived the killings. They described massacres across at least 14 villages near Virunga National Park.
One woman said rebels killed her husband with a machete before forcing her and 70 others to march to a riverbank, where fighters opened fire.
"They told us to sit on the edge of the riverbank, and then they started shooting at us," the woman said, who survived after falling into the water.
Another man recounted to HRW seeing his wife and four children killed by M23 rebels.
The killings occurred weeks after a June 27 US-brokered preliminary truce between Congo and Rwanda, and negotiations between Kinshasa and M23 in Qatar.
M23 has denied involvement and did not respond to requests for comment by Reuters news agency.
Amnesty International's report underscored the rampant use of sexual violence by M23 fighters as well as the Wazalendo, a coalition of armed groups fighting M23 and backed by the Congolese army.
The human rights organization said it talked to 14 survivors of sexual violence.
One of the survivors said she was caught by two M23 men on January 27, the day Goma fell.
"They were discussing between themselves. One said, 'let's kill her.' The other said: 'No, she's petty; we are going to sleep with her. Don't kill her,'" she recounted, adding that she has been psychologically troubled since. "When I see a soldier with a weapon, everything comes back to me."
According to the report, Doctors Without Borders treated nearly 7,400 victims of sexual violence in and around Goma between January and April, and more than 2,400 in nearby Sake.
Amnesty also documented other violations of human rights by M23 in North and South Kivu between February and June 2025.
These abuses include abductions of hospital patients and staff, summary executions, and the unlawful detention and torture of journalists, activists, and human rights defenders.
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Qatar, meanwhile, insisted on Tuesday that both the Congolese government and the M23 group remain committed to the peace process despite missing an Aug. 18 deadline for a final accord.
However, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on Tuesday in Kinshasa that despite peace efforts, "the situation on the ground has not become any better."
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