DR Congo: M23 Rebels Commit Atrocities in Uvira

M23 Rebels and Rwandan Forces Accused of Brutal Abuses in Eastern Congo's Uvira

By Fatima Al-Rashid, Global1.news Ramallah — May 14, 2026

In the rolling hills above Lake Tanganyika, the once-bustling border city of Uvira has become a grim symbol of impunity in Africa's Great Lakes region. A new Human Rights Watch investigation released today documents how the M23 armed group, backed by Rwandan military forces, subjected civilians to a month-long campaign of killings, rape, looting and arbitrary detention beginning in December 2025.

The 42-page report, based on interviews with more than 80 victims and witnesses, paints a harrowing picture of life under occupation. Residents described summary executions of suspected government sympathizers, systematic sexual violence against women and girls, and the forced recruitment of boys as young as 14 into rebel ranks.

A City Held Hostage

Uvira fell to M23 fighters on 8 December 2025 after Congolese army units withdrew under heavy shelling. For the next 31 days, the city of roughly 300,000 people lived under rebel administration. Checkpoints sprang up on every major road. Businesses were ordered to pay "taxes" in cash or goods. Those who resisted faced brutal reprisals.

"Soldiers came to our house at night," one 34-year-old mother told HRW researchers. "They took my husband because he used to work for the local administration. Three days later his body was found in the river with his hands tied." Similar accounts of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings appear throughout the report.

Sexual Violence as a Weapon

Women bore the heaviest burden. HRW documented at least 47 cases of rape, many involving multiple perpetrators. Survivors described being assaulted in their homes, at makeshift rebel bases, and even inside churches where they had sought sanctuary. Several victims were as young as 12.

One 19-year-old student recounted being held for five days in a house occupied by Rwandan soldiers attached to M23. "They said if I screamed they would kill my little brother," she said. Medical facilities in Uvira recorded a sharp spike in pregnancies resulting from rape during the occupation period.

Displacement and Humanitarian Crisis

By the time M23 withdrew on 8 January 2026, an estimated 85,000 residents had fled toward Burundi or deeper into South Kivu province. Many remain in makeshift camps with limited access to food, clean water and medical care. Schools destroyed during fighting have yet to reopen.

The occupation also disrupted vital trade routes linking eastern Congo to neighboring countries. Prices for staple foods tripled in the weeks after the takeover, pushing already vulnerable families deeper into poverty.

International Calls for Accountability

Human Rights Watch is urging the United Nations Security Council to impose targeted sanctions on M23 commanders and Rwandan officers implicated in the abuses. The group also calls for expanded investigations by the International Criminal Court, which already has an open probe into crimes committed in eastern Congo.

Rwanda has consistently denied direct involvement in M23 operations, claiming its troops act only in self-defense against cross-border threats. Congolese authorities have likewise condemned the occupation but have struggled to reassert control in the volatile east.

The Human Cost of Regional Power Plays

For ordinary Congolese, the cycle of rebellion, occupation and displacement feels endless. Many families in Uvira have now been uprooted three or four times in the past decade. Each new wave of fighting deepens trauma and erodes trust in institutions meant to protect civilians.

As the international community debates new peacekeeping mandates and sanctions regimes, survivors in eastern Congo are asking a simple question: when will the powerful finally be held to account?

The answer will determine whether Uvira's nightmare becomes a turning point toward justice—or merely another chapter in a long history of forgotten atrocities.

Source: HRW via YouTube — 2026-05-14T09:18:29+00:00.