M23 rebels killed 40 civilians despite peace process, Human Rights Watch says

Human Rights Watch said in a report that the M23 rebels have killed at least 140 people in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in one of the worst atrocities by the armed group since its resurrection in late 2021.

This is despite the peace process, in which the United States and Qatar mediates to end the conflict in the region.

Witnesses told the Dawa Group that the Rwandan -backed rebels were “executed by local measures”, including women and children, to a large extent from the Ethnic Hoto Group in the Rochoro area, near the Veronga National Park.

The rebels have previously denied any role in these killings, describing the charges that “a flagrant distortion of the facts.”

The law group said it did not respond to a request to comment on the report.

It seems that the alleged massacre took place during the M23 campaign against the Hato Armed, FDLR group, which was formed by the 1994 genocide in the neighboring Rwanda.

HRW said that the total killings in July could exceed 300, which confirms similar results by the United Nations earlier this month.

The fighting between government forces and M23 escalated in January, when the rebels seized large parts of the Metal -rich east, including the regional capital, Goma.

Thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands of civilians were forced from their homes in the ongoing conflict, says the United Nations.

In the report, it was released on WednesdayHRW said that M23 used Macitses and Runfire to attack people in at least 14 villages and agricultural areas near the Veronga National Park between 10 and 30 July.

Witnesses said that M23 fighters were surrounded and banned all roads in the area to prevent people from leaving.

“We woke up on July 11 and [the M23] They were there in large numbers … [T]Oh, they were already on the doorstep of our door … [T]A man said, “They killed people with guns and machines,” adding that five members of his family were killed in the Katanga area.

A woman who saw M23 fighters killing her husband with a recorder on July 11 that M23 fighters on that day collected about 70 women and a child.

She quoted the woman as saying: “They told us to sit on the edge of the river, then they started shooting at us,” adding that she survived after falling into the river without shooting at her.

Another man said that he saw while the rebels killed his wife and four children between the ages of nine months to 10 years from afar, according to the report.

Local residents said that M23 fighters asked them to bury the bodies immediately in the fields or leave them not engraved, preventing families from organizing funerals.

The report added: “M23 fighters also threw bodies, including women and children, in the Rochoro River.”

Quoting 25 witnesses in addition to medical workers, military and United Nations, the report said that the Rwandan defense force members (RDF) were supporting the M23.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also stated that RDF had supported the M23 killings of “at least 319 and July 21 in four villages in Rochoro.”

Kigali did not respond to the demand of human resources, but she denied denying the anger of the United Nations accusations, describing them as “unjustified allegations” and “exciting”, saying they are risking undermining the peace process, and claiming that an armed group opposing the M23 carried out killings.

Rwanda denies large -scale continuous allegations that it provides M23 military support, which is largely formed by the ethnic tutsi group targeted by the Hoto militia in the genocide.

But Keghali believes that the eastern Congo represents a security threat, mainly due to the continued presence of the armed Hoto, FDLR, which is fighting alongside the army.

The killings occur in the parked regional and international peace efforts to end the lengthy killer conflict, including an agreement between Rwanda and the density group with provisions for Kinshasa “to neutralize” FDLR.

Separately in Qatar last month, the M23 and Dr Congo government also signed a ceasefire deal, intended as a step towards permanent peace.

But last week, when negotiations were appointed to appeal, the M23 moved away from peace talks, saying that Kinshasa failed to meet the obligations specified in the Declaration of Principles.

The Congolese army also accused M23 of violating the ceasefire.

HRW urged the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, and governments to condemn the serious violations witnessed in the eastern Congo, to impose more sanctions on officials and pressure on arrest and prosecution the appropriate leaders involved in the conflict.