The M23 paramilitary group continues to rampage in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with testimonies detailing mass murders, rapes, and forced displacement. The Guardian reported, citing witnesses, that six children were killed in a market in Rubaya in April when rebels used wooden pestles and mortars to crush their skulls.
The 32-year-old survivor witnessed the brutal slaughter of children before fleeing. She and her friends were captured. She and one of her friends were raped, and the other was executed.
The M23 militia, also known as the March 23rd Movement, is a rebel group active in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The group has been responsible for numerous human rights violations, war crimes, and atrocities. The militias’ systematic violence includes forcing women into sexual slavery, attacking them in broad daylight, and killing witnesses.
A 25-year-old mother said she was raped at gunpoint in front of her daughters after her husband was murdered. Another survivor, 27, was gang-raped by eight men while tending to her crops.
Women were subjected to brutal attacks, and survivors said they were raped at gunpoint, often in front of their children. Humanitarian groups have warned that sexual violence in the region has reached unprecedented levels, overshadowing even the Democratic Republic of Congo’s tragic history of conflict atrocities.
The region, long plagued by conflict, has seen a surge in sexual violence, with NGOs reporting record numbers of rape victims. M23, long accused of operating with Rwandan support, is reportedly expanding its control into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with the support of thousands of Rwandan troops. . UN sources have confirmed the presence of Rwandan Defense Force soldiers within Congo’s borders, with up to 4,000 soldiers estimated to be involved.
Rwanda has denied allegations of supporting M23, citing cross-border threats as justification for its military presence. However, a UN report to the Security Council earlier this year said Rwanda was responsible for M23 war crimes, including territorial conquest and atrocities.
More than 650,000 people have fled violence in the region’s capital, Goma, which is surrounded by squalid concentration camps. A Médecins Sans Frontières report revealed record levels of sexual violence, with 25,166 survivors receiving treatment in 2023 alone, a number that had already been surpassed in mid-2024. .
The costs of the conflict extend beyond the immediate atrocities, with M23 imposing a system of taxation and replacing traditional authority structures in the areas it controls. Observers warn that this suggests a long-term strategy to annex parts of the DRC and could mirror Russian tactics in Crimea.
