Keystone-SDA
Amnesty International accuses armed groups, including M23, of having committed collective rapes, summary executions and abductions in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Rich in resources, the region has been prey to conflicts for 30 years.
(Keystone-ATS) The violence has intensified since 2021 with the resurgence of the M23 antigan group, which took over the big cities of Goma in January and then Bukavu in February.
The March 23 Movement (M23), supported by Rwanda, as well as local militias affiliated in Kinshasa, “have inflicted collective rapes on women and undergoes civil rights abuses” that “could be akin to war crimes,” said Amnesty International in a report on Wednesday.
The NGO claims to have been maintained with more than 53 victims and witnesses to develop this report. “All the victims of collective rapes committed by M23 fighters explained that the authors of the attacks carried uniforms resembling those of the M23 and were expressed in Kinyarwanda, a language spoken by certain M23 fighters,” said the authors.
“In safety anywhere”
In the east of the DRC, “women are not safe now: they are raped at home, in fields or in the camps where they are looking for refuge,” said Tigere Chagutah, regional director of Amnesty International for East Africa and Southern Africa, quoted in this report.
M23 fighters “also engaged in human rights attacks against members of civil society, journalists and lawyers”, according to the NGO, which cites “acts of torture” and “forced disappearances”. Amnesty also provides elements showing that the M23 was guilty of five summary executions.
“The brutality of the belligerent parties knows no limits. These atrocities aim to punish, intimidate and humiliate civilians, “said Tigere Chagutah. “Rwanda and the DRC cannot continue to flee their responsibilities. They must bring all the alleged perpetrators to answer for their actions, “he added.
The violence against civilians continues in the east of the DRC, where the clashes of recent weeks between the M23 and the Congolese army supported by local militias have made thousands of displaced. More than two million people have been forced to leave their homes since January in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, where the M23 is active.
