M23 rebels executed at least 21 civilians in Goma in February – HRW

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels executed at least 21 civilians over the course of two days in February in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, according to a new report released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The revelations underscore the alarming toll of the intensifying conflict in the mineral-rich but war-torn region.

The HRW report details a series of targeted killings carried out by the M23 rebel group on February 22 and 23 in the Mugunga neighborhood of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

Eyewitness accounts, video evidence, and satellite imagery reviewed by the rights group provide what HRW called “credible evidence” of deliberate executions of unarmed civilians, including women and children.

“These killings were not acts of war — they were cold-blooded executions designed to terrorize communities and assert control through fear,” said Thomas Fessy, senior Congo researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“The international community must do more than simply condemn these atrocities — it must act to prevent further abuses.”

The report’s findings offer a grim snapshot of the broader conflict that has gripped eastern Congo for more than two decades. The latest escalation has seen M23, a Tutsi-led rebel movement, expand its territorial control in North Kivu despite regional and international peace efforts.

The group, widely believed to receive military and logistical support from neighboring Rwanda — an allegation Kigali continues to deny — has increasingly targeted civilian areas as part of its offensive.

Mugunga, a densely populated neighborhood home to thousands of internally displaced people, has been on the front lines of the conflict since late 2023.

According to HRW, victims were pulled from their homes or public areas and summarily executed, often in front of family members. Many were accused of aiding Congolese government forces or simply refused to flee the area.

The report quotes a survivor who witnessed the killing of his two brothers: “They took them outside, accused them of being spies, and shot them in the head. They warned us that anyone who disobeyed would face the same fate.

The Congolese government has repeatedly accused Rwanda of fueling the conflict by supporting M23 rebels with arms, intelligence, and manpower — claims supported by UN experts but consistently denied by Rwandan authorities. Kinshasa condemned the killings outlined in the HRW report and reiterated calls for an arms embargo and sanctions against Rwanda.

“We demand justice for these victims and accountability for those who support and finance this violence,” said Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya in a statement Tuesday.

In a response to the report, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO, said it was “deeply concerned” and called on all parties to protect civilians in line with international humanitarian law.

Human Rights Watch urged the United Nations, African Union, and regional leaders to pressure Rwanda to cease its support of M23 and to hold those responsible for war crimes accountable. The rights group also called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to expand its investigations into crimes committed by armed groups in eastern Congo.

With more than 7 million people internally displaced and humanitarian conditions deteriorating rapidly, aid agencies warn that the situation in eastern DRC is reaching a critical point.

“The killings in Mugunga are just the tip of the iceberg,” said an aid worker based in Goma who asked not to be named for security reasons. “If the international community doesn’t act, we could see even more horrific massacres in the months ahead.”

The conflict in eastern Congo — driven by ethnic tensions, resource exploitation, and regional rivalries — has claimed millions of lives over the past two decades, either directly through violence or indirectly from disease and starvation. The latest revelations are a chilling reminder of the human cost of impunity and prolonged instability.