AFRICA/DR CONGO - Killings, kidnappings and forced labor are taking place in the areas occupied by the M23

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Killings, kidnappings and forced labor are taking place in Kamanyola, the village in the Ruzizi Plain (in the province of South Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo) that is on the front line between the pro-Rwandan M23 rebel movement that controls the area and the pro-government "Wazalendo" militiamen (or Bazalendo, see Fides, 4/3/2025). According to a new report sent to Fides by the local civil society association ACMEJ (Association against Evil and for the Supervision of Youth and Human Rights), on March 1, a young man suspected of belonging to the "Wazalendo" militia was killed by M23 soldiers with a targeted shot in the Busama district of Kamanyola. The body of another young man, kidnapped on March 1 in the Rubimba district, was found in a canal on March 3. Also on March 3, the M23 forced young people from Kamanyola to do forced labor to clean the national road no. 5. Those who refused were flogged. There are also reports of severe intimidation of politicians and civil society in the village of Katogota, where patrols of M23 militiamen are stationed near their homes. "This disturbing phenomenon shows that the militiamen have a list of people they want to terrorize or kill because of their opinions," the report says.
On the other side of the front, on March 3, the "Wazalendo" militia carried out attacks against M23 soldiers stationed in the city of Bukavu, the capital of the Congolese province of South Kivu, which was captured by the M23 on February 16 (see Fides, 17/2/2025).
Finally, the human rights organization points out that "the Congolese refugees from some villages in the Ruzizi plain, in particular the villages of Katogota, Kamanyola and Luvungi, who have found refuge in the province of Cibitoke in Burundi, are in a difficult situation". "Although they were well received by the Burundian authorities and the population, they fled empty-handed due to the surprise attack by the M23 on their villages," the statement says.
According to the ACMEJ, the pretext for the Rwandan intervention in the Congolese provinces of North and South Kivu, where it is supposedly intended to protect the Banyamulenge community (Congolese of Rwandan origin), is false. "In reality, the Banyamulenge are part of a community recognized as Congolese and accepted by the other Congolese communities; "among the Congolese Banyamulenge sons and daughters, there are Banyamulenge political leaders, including MPs, ministers, senior military commanders of the armed forces and senior executives of Congolese public companies," it is emphasized. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 5/3/2025)

Share:

war crimes

---

---