The M23 rebels killed 40 civilians despite the peace process, says humanity -

The M23 rebels killed at least 140 people in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo last month in one of the worst atrocities of the armed group since its resurgence at the end of 2021, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

This despite a peace process, negotiated by the United States and Qatar, to end the conflict in the region.

Witnesses told the advocacy group that the rebels supported by Rwanda “summarily executed” local residents, including women and children, largely from the Hutu ethnic group in the Ratshuru region, near Virunga National Park.

The rebels have already strongly denied any role in these murders, describing the accusations as “a false declaration of the facts”.

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

The alleged massacre seems to have taken place during an M23 campaign against an armed Hutu group, the FDLR, formed by authors of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda.

HRW said the total murders in July could exceed 300, corroborating similar results by the UN at the beginning of the month.

The fighting between the government’s troops and the M23 intensified in January, when the rebels captured large parts of the East rich in minerals, including the regional capital Goma.

Thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands of forced civilians from their home in the current conflict, says the UN.

In the report, published on Wednesday, HRW said that the M23 had used machetes and shots 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 the roads in the area to prevent people from leaving, witnesses said.

“We woke up on July 11 and (the M23) was there in large numbers. …

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