Latest news with #NorthKivu
Zawya
2 days ago
- General
- Zawya
Democratic Republic (DR) Congo: Rwanda-backed M23 Executed Civilians in Goma
The Rwanda -backed M23 armed group summarily executed at least 21 civilians and most likely many more in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on February 22-23, 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. The M23 has occupied Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, since January 27, 2025. Witnesses said that on the afternoon of February 22, at least three pickup trucks carrying dozens of M23 fighters arrived at various parts of Goma's Kasika neighborhood. They executed seven people west of Katindo military camp, a former Congolese army barracks. The bodies of 11 more people, including a boy, were found at a construction site near the camp. On February 23, the fighters rounded up people, including to forcibly recruit them, and killed three men as they tried to escape. 'The M23's brutal control over Goma has created a climate of fear among those perceived to be allied to the Congolese government,,' said Clémentine de Montjoye, senior Great Lakes researcher at Human Rights Watch. '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.' The absence of reports of fighting between the warring parties and the nature of the wounds indicate that M23 fighters deliberately executed those in their custody, which are war crimes, Human Rights Watch said. Between February and May, Human Rights Watch remotely interviewed 22 people, including witnesses to the killings, victims' relatives, and medical workers, among others. Researchers reviewed media reports, and geolocated and analyzed photographs and videos sent directly by sources or found on social media. On May 23, Human Rights Watch contacted Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for the M23's allied Alliance Fleuve Congo, but received no response. Human Rights Watch received credible information that the M23 was drawn to the Kasika neighborhood because of reports of crime and activity by the Congolese army and the ' Wazalendo,' militia groups aligned with the Congolese government. M23 fighters searched houses and local businesses for young men. 'They started shooting and took around 25 people from the streets,' said a resident of an area close to Katindo camp, whose 25-year-old relative was killed that day. Human Rights Watch confirmed that M23 fighters executed seven people on streets close to Katindo camp and received credible reports of dozens more killings. '[The M23] went into stores and shot people in the head on the Avenue du Commandant Belge,' said a witness. 'The bodies were then piled up in two places: 10 in one place and 15 in another.' Residents described seeing over a dozen bodies on Kasika Avenue. '[The M23] showed me the bodies of people on the ground and said: 'This is what we're going to do with you,'' said a woman whose relative was taken away. 'I saw 18 bodies; others were on other streets.' Eleven bodies were found at a construction site less than 100 meters from the camp, based on witness accounts and geolocated and verified videos and photographs. Human Rights Watch verified the identities of six victims, all civilians and neighborhood residents. The relative of a victim taken from their house said: 'The M23 walked off with him, and the next morning we found his body in the construction site with other bodies.' A relative and a neighbor of a 15-year-old boy said that the M23 took him and executed him, and dumped his body in the construction site with the others. Photographs and videos show several bullet holes and blood on the wall on the execution site, as well as items on the ground that appear to be bullet cases, indicating that some of the victims were shot there. The Independent Forensic Expert Group of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims estimates less than 24 hours had passed since the people were killed and photographed, matching witness accounts. A photograph posted to Facebook at 10:13 p.m. local time on February 22, taken during daylight hours, indicates the victims were killed sometime before nightfall, at 6:40 p.m. on February 22. On February 22, M23 fighters shot three people on a street just west of Kasika. 'When we arrived, my friend and two others were still breathing,' said a friend of a victim. 'The M23 refused to let us approach them and fired into the ground. When [my friend] died, they agreed to let us take him to the morgue.' Human Rights Watch geolocated a video shared by a resident showing one of the bodies being loaded onto a truck on Mulongwe Avenue, west of the neighborhood. The witness said he saw six other bodies on that street. Human Rights Watch also geolocated and verified a video showing men rounded up by M23 fighters on February 23 near a sports field commonly known as 'terrain des scouts.' 'We saw the M23 take around 20 people and make them sit on the ground,' said a witness. 'They started intimidating them – they were youth from the neighborhood, but they accused them of being FARDC [Congolese army]. At least three people tried to run away but were shot dead.' An independent source corroborated that men trying to escape were killed, but could not verify the victims' identities. The video shows an M23 fighter with a red arm band, believed to belong to the military police unit. The detained men were driven away in a truck, according to a witness. A resident and an independent source said they believed the men were being forcibly recruited. Three medical workers said that over 50 bodies were collected from the Kasika area on February 22 and 23, which matches information provided by residents and others. Human Rights Watch verified the identities of 13 victims. Many of those killed had a gunshot wound to the head or chest, based on witness accounts. Commanders and combatants who directly ordered or carried out abuses should be held criminally accountable, Human Rights Watch said. Military commanders and civilian officials can also be held criminally liable for crimes committed by their subordinates if they knew or should have known of crimes being committed and failed to prevent or punish the crimes. The fighting in eastern Congo between the M23 and Rwandan forces against the Congolese military and allied armed groups has exposed civilians to serious crimes by all parties to the conflict, including summary killings, sexual violence, forced displacement, and pillage. In October 2024, the International Criminal Court prosecutor announced that his office would renew investigative efforts in Congo with a focus on crimes in North Kivu since January 2022. The court's investigation should include the executions of civilians in Goma by M23 fighters, Human Rights Watch said. 'The Rwandan government, as the direct supporter of the M23, may be complicit in the armed group's war crimes,' de Montjoye said. 'Concerned governments, including those attempting to broker peace deals between the warring parties, should press Rwanda to end its support and ensure that justice for serious crimes is a priority.' Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Zawya
3 days ago
- General
- Zawya
Democratic Republic of the Congo: National ownership essential to address internal displacement crisis, says United Nations expert
The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo must lead protection of internally displaced persons across the country, where over 7 million people have been driven from their homes by armed conflict, intercommunal violence and forced evictions in the context of conservation and extractive projects, and disasters. 'The Democratic Republic of the Congo faces one of the world's largest and most protracted internal displacement crises, exacerbated by the ongoing occupation of North and South Kivu by Rwandan-backed AFC/M23 rebels,' said Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, in a statement at the end of an official visit to the country. 'This crisis has had devastating impacts on displaced civilians, who have been subjected to murder, summary executions, rampant sexual and gender-based violence, forced labour, forced returns, and used as human shields, among other grave violations of their human rights in the context of multiple conflicts and generalised violence,' the Special Rapporteur said. 'Many are also struggling to meet their basic needs, particularly given the devastating impacts of foreign aid reductions on the ability of humanitarian agencies to respond to this crisis.' Gaviria Betancur welcomed Government efforts to strengthen displacement-related legal and policy frameworks and address root causes of internal displacement through conflict management and land reform. She called for greater State leadership on these issues. 'While the Government has understandably focused much of its efforts on regaining sovereignty over its territory in the East, sovereignty also brings with it responsibility,' she said. 'Particularly given the decline in international assistance, the Government can no longer afford to outsource its responsibilities towards internally displaced persons and must take the lead in ensuring coordinated, accountable responses to internal displacement throughout its territory.' Despite the challenging circumstances confronting internally displaced persons, Gaviria Betancur expressed her admiration for the resilience and tenacity these individuals have demonstrated. 'I was deeply moved by the simplicity and dignity of the demands I heard from internally displaced people, not for handouts but rather to return to their lands in safety, regain self-reliance and rebuild their lives,' she said. 'It is imperative to support these aspirations through Government-led approaches, supported by the international community, that enable durable solutions to their displacement. The world cannot afford to turn its back on the internally displaced people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They have suffered long enough and deserve sustainable peace.' The Special Rapporteur will present a detailed report on her findings to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2026. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘They told me that they'd hunt me down': journalists on how they survive working in war zones
Stephen*, 39, is a journalist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The war between the DRC's army and the military faction known as M23 is one of Africa's longest conflicts [a potential truce was announced last month]. The escalation of violence has meant Stephen now forgoes bylines and a presence on social media. I've covered pretty much all the conflicts in North Kivu [in the eastern part of the country] where I work as a reporter. The worst time was in 2013 [during the DRC's offensive against M23]. The bombardment was intense. I saw so many people – civilians and soldiers – injured and killed. I remember looking at the government soldiers' eyes: they were filled with death. Death was everywhere. I returned home after the fighting and I too had only death in my eyes. I've been embedded alongside the government forces in the main conflict zones and this is why I've been targeted by the M23 rebels. I was at home in Goma [a city in the North Kivu region in eastern DRC] when I received anonymous phone calls from members of M23 who told me that they knew I had been reporting alongside the government forces. They told me that they'd hunt me down. I spent five days without leaving the house. They were passing my house, they were so close, we [my family] were terrified they'd find us. The whole experience left us psychologically traumatised. It got to the point that my wife begged to be evacuated to a safe zone controlled by the government forces. I couldn't leave my family, I'd rather die than be separated from them. But trying to leave came to nothing anyway. In Goma, the media landscape has been decimated. Since the rebels took over the local radio and TV stations, there are no journalists working with them. I know journalists who stay in their homes because they are so terrified for their personal security. The M23 forces also have a digital army that disseminate propaganda and attack anyone who contradicts their view of the world. Journalism has become a clandestine activity. I've had to erase old articles that I published and hide my online presence. We cannot report publicly, post on social media or voice our opinion in public in any way. It's against the nature of a journalist. It's very, very frustrating. Even though this war has severely impacted my life, journalism is a real passion. After university it's the only work I've ever done; I don't know how to do anything else. It's a vocation for me. I really hope for peace and the return of the rule of law and that we journalists can write about things other than told to Elizia Volkmann Daniel* has been a journalist for more than a decade in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa – home to an ongoing and bloody drug war. The state is the heartland of one of the world's most powerful drug trafficking organisations, the Sinaloa cartel. Mexico is already one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists, but it has got particularly awful in the last six months. Seven or eight people are being 'disappeared' a day here, including women and children. I do my best to tell the honest story of the hundreds of people each year who are displaced, tortured or disappeared in the cartel wars. I have asked myself why I keep doing what I do despite the risk, but it's complicated. I am still not entirely sure. It's not some pride thing. I don't think danger is cool. I actually find it really, really difficult and am still processing several incidents that have happened to me. On one occasion, I was in Culiacán reporting on the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, the son of the Sinaloa cartel drug lord El Chapo in January 2023. Armed men stopped me in my car, threatened me and confiscated everything I had. Knowing I was a journalist, they took photos and videos of me while pointing a gun to my head. I never saw my laptop and car again. I suppose they burned them. After that last incident, I sought refuge in a hotel under the watch of the cartel until eventually a kind man helped me leave in the back of his truck. After a week at home, I decided to leave the state for the Yucatán peninsula under the advice of the national unit for the protection of journalists. They told me to lie low for a while. I had to hug my wife and children – now three and six years old – and walk out the door in tears not knowing when I could go back. I spent three months away from them. It was brutal. It is really painful being told you have to leave your life behind because someone doesn't like what you are doing. My family and friends pleaded with me to do something safer and more economically stable and I reflected on it a lot while I was away. In recent years I have moved away from covering narcos to their victims instead, as it's safer. The incident in Culiacán accelerated this change, but really the catalyst was the birth of my first child six years ago. I want to be around to spend time with my children, wife and parents and for us all to be together for my kids' birthdays and to have BBQs and eat seafood together. At the same time I think it's very important to keep telling the truth. I believe in the power of memory and although it doesn't happen quickly, journalism helps bring about told to Luke Taylor Ammar Awad has been working as a fixer and reporter for international media outlets in Sudan since fighting broke out between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary in April 2023. I was visiting a camp for displaced people in Port Sudan [a city in eastern Sudan by the Red Sea] recently when a little girl clung to my leg and called me by my family name, Uncle Ammar. She brought me to her mother, who was a neighbour and a family friend from Omdurman, the city where I used to live. The camp was in a dreadful condition. She and her family had no housing or tent to protect them from the sun's heat. I remembered their condition before the war; they were not rich, but they had enough to make them always smiling and kind. The life of the women and children I meet in the areas where we are allowed to work continues to convince my family, who now live in Egypt, that I should carry on returning to Sudan despite their fears and calls for me not to travel to war zones. If we did not take these risks, no one would hear about this war and the atrocities taking place in it. The free world would not move to save and aid the people of Sudan due to its preoccupation with the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. One of the most terrifying moments for me was when I entered the only hospital in Omdurman, which was crowded with wounded and sick people due to the random shelling carried out by the RSF on the city. I will never forget as long as I live how one of the wounded took his last breath in front of us while he was lying on the ground waiting to enter the operating room. We were trying to understand from his relatives how and where he was injured, but he left, and I don't think I will ever forget this tragic departure. The gradual improvements in the conditions of my neighbour's family in the Port Sudan camp make me feel that what we are doing has a value – especially when that little girl comes up to me to tell me happily they finally have a tent to live in, or got food rations from international organisations. But it pains me that I am unable to answer her constant question, 'When will we return to our home and get our lives back?'By Ammar Awad Rar Ra* is a journalist working in Mayanmar's Kachin state. The country has been engulfed by a brutal civil war since its transition towards democracy was cut short when the military seized power in a coup in 2021. After the coup, the military put our outlet – a TV channel based in Yangon – on a blacklist. Some of my colleagues went straight to the border to escape to other countries, but I returned to my birthplace in Kachin state. I wanted to continue to report the news as much as I could, writing about war crimes committed by the military, airstrikes that kill children and on conditions for displaced people. I am currently living in a military-controlled town. I have to keep a low profile when I'm out and cannot keep a record of any of my notes, deleting everything after I send my reports to my editor, because the military often check our phones and laptops. As I'm known as a journalist, I'm monitored and checked because they suspect me of reporting news against them. So I have to stay alert all the time. I have to always be thinking about how to escape and where to, if necessary. On one occasion recently I only narrowly escaped after the military were going house-to-house in my neighbourhood searching for a journalist. I fled as soon as I could. It is hard to get information about what is going on in Myanmar. There is no safe place, so often it can be hard to get to war-affected areas. For the past year, the military has cut the internet lines, which makes it difficult for us to talk to sources or get information from distant areas. Our job has also been made more difficult recently by the US aid cuts, which have affected media here and forced many of my colleagues to quit being journalists. I continue with this job because of the news all around me. The war crimes being committed will not reach the world if I stop working. I am doing my best through all the challenges of danger and access to raise awareness of the people being killed every told to Kaamil Ahmed
Al Jazeera
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
M23 accused of possible ‘war crimes' in eastern DRC: Rights group
M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have committed serious abuses against civilians, 'including torture, killings and enforced disappearances', in areas under their control, according to Amnesty International. 'These acts violate international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes,' Amnesty said in a statement on Tuesday. The allegations come amid a renewed surge in violence that erupted in January, when the Rwandan-backed M23 group captured the strategic city of Goma in North Kivu province. The rebels went on to seize Bukavu in South Kivu in February, escalating a conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands. Between February and April, Amnesty researchers spoke to 18 people who had been detained by M23 in Goma and Bukavu. Many said they were held on accusations of supporting the Congolese army or government – claims for which no proof was presented. Several were not told why they were being held. According to Amnesty, detainees were crammed into overcrowded, unhygienic cells, lacking adequate food, water, sanitation and medical care. Some of those interviewed said they saw fellow prisoners die due to these conditions or from acts of torture. Witnesses described gruesome scenes, including two detainees being bludgeoned to death with hammers and another shot dead on the spot. All of the former detainees said they were either tortured or saw others being tortured with wooden sticks, electric cables or engine belts, the rights group said. Relatives searching for the missing were often turned away by M23 fighters, who denied the detainees were being held – actions Amnesty says amount to enforced disappearances. 'M23's public statements about bringing order to eastern DRC mask their horrific treatment of detainees. They brutally punish those who they believe oppose them and intimidate others, so no one dares to challenge them,' said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International's regional director for East and Southern Africa. 'Regional and international actors must pressure Rwanda to cease its support for M23,' added Chagutah. The United Nations and DRC's government say Rwanda has supported M23 by providing arms and sending troops – an accusation Kigali denies. The UN estimates that about 4,000 Rwandan soldiers support M23. M23 is among roughly 100 armed groups fighting for control in eastern DRC, a region rich in minerals and bordering Rwanda. The ongoing conflict has driven more than seven million people from their homes, including 100,000 who fled this year alone. Despite recent pledges by the Congolese army and the rebels to seek a truce, clashes have continued. M23 previously threatened to advance as far as the capital, Kinshasa, more than 1,600km (1,000 miles) away. In April, Rwanda and DRC agreed to draft a peace deal by May 2, committing to respect each other's sovereignty and refraining from providing military support to armed groups.
Washington Post
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Rwanda-backed rebels committed possible war crimes in eastern Congo, rights group says
DAKAR, Senegal — Human rights group Amnesty International accused the M23 rebels in eastern Congo of killing, torturing and forcibly disappearing civilian detainees in two rebel-controlled cities on Tuesday. 'These acts violate international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes,' Amnesty said in a statement. The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January, when the Rwanda-backed M23 advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma in North Kivu province, followed by Bukavu in February.
