UN: Conflict in Congo worsening with abductions, torture, rape

The United Nations this week highlighted the plight of women and children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, citing abuses by the M23 rebels including scores of abductions, torture, rapes, and killings.

According to a panel of UN experts, who interviewed more than 230 sources in multiple visits to the Rutshuru area of Congo’s North Kivu province – where the M23 has seized territory – M23 rebels have also forced children to be soldiers, AP News reported.

Conflict has been simmering in eastern Congo for decades, where more than 120 armed groups are fighting, most for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, while some groups are just trying to protect their communities. The volatile situation significantly deteriorated this year when the M23 resurfaced after being relatively dormant for nearly a decade.

In late 2021, the rebel group began capturing swathes of territory, as fighters killed, raped, and harassed civilians, the report said. The rebels accuse civilians of spying for the Congolese army, often incarcerating them and beating some the death, according to the panel.

“The security and humanitarian situation in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces significantly deteriorated, despite the continuous enforcement of a state of siege over the past 18 months,” and despite military operations by Congo’s armed forces, Uganda’s military and the UN mission in Congo, the report noted.

Adding to the difficult situation in eastern Congo, attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces — believed to be linked with the Islamic State group — are increasing, it continued, and such fighting is exacerbated by the region’s dire humanitarian crisis. 

Almost six million people are internally displaced in Congo, hundreds of thousands face extreme food insecurity, and cholera cases are spiking, said Save the Children NGO.