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

The M23 rebels died at least 140 people in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last month in one of the oldest atrocities of the armed group after their resumption at the end of 2021, said Human Rights Watch report.

This is despite the peace process, mediated by the US and Qatar, to end the conflict in the region.

Witnesses told the advocacy group that the Rwanda -backed rebels “summarized” locals, including women and children, to a large extent from the group of ethnic Hutu in the Rutushuro area, near the Virunga National Park.

The rebels have previously strongly denied any role in these killings, calling the accusations a “gross misconception of facts.”

He did not respond to a request to comment on the report, said the rights group.

The alleged slaughter seems to have happened during the M23 campaign against an armed group Hutu, an FDLR formed by the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda.

HRW said the common killings in July could exceed 300, confirming similar findings from the UN earlier this month.

The fight between government troops and M23 escalated in January, when the rebels took large parts of the East -rich Minerals, including the regional capital Goma.

Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of civilians forced by their homes in the ongoing conflict, UN says.

In the report published on WednesdayHRW said the M23 used machete and shooting to attack people in at least 14 villages and agricultural areas near Virunga National Park between July 10 and 30.

The M23 fighters surrounded and blocked all roads in the area to prevent people from leaving, witnesses said.

“We woke up on July 11 and (M23) were there in a large number … (T) they were already on our doorstep … (T) hey is killing people with weapons and machetes,” a man said, adding that five family members were killed in the Katanga area.

A woman who saw M23 fighters kills her husband with a machete on July 11, said the M23 fighters were rounding about 70 women and children that day.

“We were told to sit on the edge of the river bank and then they started shooting at us,” the woman quoted, adding that she had survived after falling into the river without being shot.

Another man said he was watching the rebels kill his wife and four children aged nine months to 10 years from afar, according to the report.

The locals said that the M23 fighters told them to immediately bury the bodies in the fields or to leave them unburied, preventing families from organizing funerals.

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

Referring to 25 accounts for witnesses plus medical professionals, military and UN officials, the report says that members of the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) support the M23 operation.

Earlier this month, the UN Service of the Human Rights Commissioner also announced that RDF has supported the M23 killings of “at least 319 between July 9 and 21 in four villages in Rutshuru.”

Kigali did not respond to HRW’s claim, but angrily denied the UN accusations, calling them “gratuitous” and “sensational allegations”, saying that they risk undermine the peace process and claim that an armed group opposed the M23 who committed the murders.

Rwanda denies constant and widespread allegations that it was providing military support to the M23, which was largely composed of the ethnic group of Tutsi, which was directed by Hutu’s militia in the genocide.

But Kigali sees the Eastern Congo as a threat to security, mainly due to the continued existence of the Hutu Armed Forces, FDLR, which is fighting with the army.

The killings are happening against the backdrop of stagnant regional and international efforts to end the long -term deadly conflict, including an agreement between Rwanda and DRC with Kinshasa provisions to “neutralize” FDLR.

Separately in Qatar last month, M23 and the Government of D -C Congo also signed a transaction to end the fire, intended as a step towards constant peace.

But last week, as the negotiations had to be resumed, the M23 was moving away from peace talks, stating that Kinshas had not fulfilled the commitments outlined in the statement of principles.

The Congoan army also accused the M23 of breaching fire.

HRW has called on the UN Security Council, the European Union and the governments to condemn serious abuse, witnesses in the Eastern Congo, to impose additional sanctions against those responsible and to insist on arrest and appropriate pursuit of commanders involved in the conflict.