At least 141 people, mostly Hutu civilians, were killed or went missing in a series of attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The rights group said Wednesday that the violence took place in July when M23 rebels, backed by Rwanda, attacked more than a dozen villages and farmland near Virunga National Park in North Kivu province. Survivors told HRW the killings were carried out as part of the group’s campaign against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu-led armed group.
“Dozens of summary executions of primarily Hutu civilians” were committed, said Clementine de Montjoye, HRW’s senior researcher on the region. Witnesses reported that M23 fighters, accompanied by Rwandan soldiers identified by their accents, ordered villagers to bury bodies quickly or leave them unburied, denying families the chance to hold funerals.
One woman recounted being forced to march with around 70 others to a riverbank near Kafuru, where soldiers lined them up before opening fire.
At least 47 people, including children, were confirmed dead, HRW said.
M23 spokesperson Willy Ngoma dismissed the findings as “military propaganda.” But HRW said evidence from UN sources, military officials, and witnesses pointed to direct involvement by the Rwandan military and the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF). Kigali has yet to respond publicly.
The violence underscores the fragility of eastern Congo, where more than 100 armed groups fight for territory and resources. Nearly two million Rwandan Hutus fled across the border after the 1994 genocide, with Kigali long accusing Congolese forces of protecting some responsible for the massacres.
Fighting between M23 and the Congolese army has intensified since January, despite ongoing mediation efforts. The United Nations has described the situation as “one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth.”
M23 has previously been accused of atrocities, including mass killings when the group seized key eastern cities in May.