The non-governmental organization (NGO) Amnesty International is publishing a report on February 17, 2023, on abuses committed by the M23 rebellion in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), more particularly in the village of Kishishe between the November 21 and 30, 2022. The NGO highlights in particular dozens of rapes committed by militiamen.
This is a new document that sheds light on the events that took place at the end of November 2022 in North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The non-governmental organization (NGO) for the defense of human rights Amnesty International publishes this February 17, 2023, an investigation into the abuses committed by the M23 rebellion in the areas of Bambo and more particularly in the village of Kishishe between the November 21 and 30.
The DRC and the United Nations have accused the M23 of murder, rape, and looting, causing 171 deaths according to the UN, 272 according to local authorities, and eight according to the armed group. If Amnesty evokes a balance sheet of at least 20 dead, the NGO recognizes that it is probably underestimated. Because these 20 dead are the victims of whom Amnesty has the identities and the circumstances of death.
On the hand, in the published investigation, there is this testimony from a woman who recounts a mass killing at the Kishishe church on November 30, and who says she counted at least 80 bodies. “I had never seen so many bodies,” she said. Credible testimony according to Amnesty, which adds that it has been corroborated by other sources and other witnesses. This suggests that there were other executions in the area, by the M23.
“At least 66 women and girls” raped
And these are not the only crimes documented by the NGO: this investigation evokes a massive wave of rapes. “At least 66 women and girls” were raped by “the armed group M23, supported by Rwanda”, the statement said. The rebels went door to door, in a campaign that Amnesty describes as “apparently planned”.