Human Rights Watch says M23 and Rwandan army abused civilians in Congo

Human Rights Watch said civilians in Uvira were hunted, abused and killed during a month-long occupation by M23 rebels and the Rwandan Defence Force, deepening the accountability crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a report titled We Are Civilians!, the group said its investigators carried out the first field research in Uvira since M23 withdrew and interviewed more than 120 survivors, witnesses, relatives of victims and other sources. The findings covered killings, sexual violence and abductions in South Kivu, where the city of Uvira sits on Lake Tanganyika as a strategic gateway to Burundi.

Human Rights Watch said the occupation began on December 10, 2025, after days of fighting in South Kivu that displaced tens of thousands of people. It said fighters shot at civilians fleeing the violence and went door to door, targeting men and boys they accused of links to government-backed local militias. Many of the civilians who were killed died after the battle in the city had largely ceased, according to the report, which said the abuses may amount to war crimes.

Reuters reported that Human Rights Watch documented 53 summary executions, eight rapes and 12 enforced disappearances during the takeover and occupation. The group said Lewis Mudge and Clémentine de Montjoye traveled to Uvira in March 2026 to interview people about the abuses, turning survivor testimony into one of the clearest records yet of what happened under M23 control.

The case has again exposed the gap between atrocity documentation and meaningful consequences. M23 briefly seized Uvira in December, then withdrew weeks later under pressure from the United States. Human Rights Watch said a U.S.-brokered peace agreement between Rwanda and Congo may have helped trigger that withdrawal, but the city’s civilians were left to absorb the violence after the fighting had largely ended.

The report lands as the broader war in eastern Congo continues to churn through communities that have faced repeated displacement and insecurity for years. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the United Nations estimated almost 500,000 people had been displaced in South Kivu since December 2, 2025, a toll that underscores how far the crisis extends beyond Uvira itself.

Rwanda’s government and a spokesperson for M23 did not immediately respond to the latest accusations. Both have denied similar allegations in the past and have accused Congolese forces and allied militias of abuses against Tutsi communities. Washington imposed sanctions in March on the Rwandan Defence Force and senior military officials over their alleged support for M23, which Rwanda denies, but the latest findings suggest the conflict on Congo’s eastern flank remains dangerously unstable despite diplomacy and international pressure.