Rwanda-backed M23 rebels executed at least 21 civilians over two days in February in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Tuesday.
The killings, which took place on Feb. 22 and 23, highlight the brutality of the group’s latest offensive in the decades-long conflict. The report focuses on a neighborhood near the Katindo military camp, where six men and a woman were shot in the head, according to a witness cited by Human Rights Watch.
“Commanders and combatants who directly ordered or carried out abuses should be held criminally accountable,” the rights group said.
Since launching their offensive in January, M23 rebels have captured Goma and Bukavu – eastern Congo’s largest cities – leaving thousands dead and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee.
In a separate incident, M23 fighters killed people and dumped their bodies at a construction site less than 100 meters from the camp. These included a 15-year-old who was taken from his home and later found dead at the site, Human Rights Watch said, citing a relative and a neighbor.
Goma's Kasika neighborhood was targeted because it had previously housed Congolese army barracks, the group said.
The violence continued in the neighborhood on Feb. 23, when M23 fighters rounded up about 20 young men at a nearby sports field.
A witness told Human Rights Watch the rebels accused the young men of being army members. Three who tried to flee were shot.
An M23 leader said the group would investigate the allegations and publish its findings.
“Human Rights Watch gives us an opportunity to mirror ourselves. We respect this organization despite its past accusations, which proved to be false,” M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa told Reuters.
The overall toll in Goma is likely higher, the group said, with medical workers reporting that more than 50 bodies were collected from the Kasika area over the two-day period.
Other organizations have previously reported grievous crimes committed in eastern Congo since M23 seized swaths of territory.
Amnesty International, in March, said rebels raided hospitals in Goma for wounded Congolese soldiers and took 130 people, including caregivers. Many were tortured and some are still missing.
UNICEF reported a fivefold surge in rape cases treated across 42 health centers in eastern Congo in February, describing it as the worst sexual violence seen there in years. Nearly a third of the victims were children, the agency said.
In one case, a mother reported that her six daughters – the youngest just 12 – were raped by armed men searching for food.
The conflict in eastern Congo is rooted in the spillover from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the struggle over Congo’s vast mineral resources. Rwanda denies U.N. allegations that it backs the M23, saying its forces are acting in self-defense against Congo's army and allied militias.
