DR Congo conflict could have 'catastrophic' fallout: HRW

DR Congo conflict could have ‘catastrophic’ fallout: HRW

By : AFP

Date: 25 January 2025 12:41pm WAT

Congolese displaced fleeing the area of Minova board with their belongings boat leaving the port of Nzulo on January 21, 2025 to seek shelter in Goma. The Congolese army said on Tuesday that M23 fighters had made a "breakthrough" in the east of the country after the armed group seized Minova, a trading hub that supplies the city of Goma. The fall of Minova to M23 fighters backed by the Rwandan army further encircles the regional capital Goma in a conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. (Photo by Jospin Mwisha / AFP)

DR Congo battles intensify, Western nations ask citizens to leave Goma — Soldiers of the Armed forces of the Democratic republic of Congo (FARDC) ride on top of a tank as they leave the city of Goma, on January 23, 2025 towards Sake. A barren plain surrounded by volcanic peaks and where shelters are rare: in this lunar landscape, the Congolese army is fighting to halt the advance of the M23 towards Goma, a city in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Photo by Jospin Mwisha / AFP)

Civilians in eastern DR Congo face “increasing risks” as Rwandan-backed group M23 closes in on the key city of Goma, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.

Friday saw intense clashes barely 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the provincial capital of North Kivu, which has a million inhabitants and at least as many displaced people.

“Civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are at increasing risk as the abusive M23 armed group, supported by the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), as the group nears Goma,” HRW said in a statement which warned of looming “catastrophic consequences” for people in the region.

“The situation facing Goma’s civilians is becoming increasingly perilous and the humanitarian needs are enormous,” said Clementine de Montjoye, HRW’s senior Africa researcher.

“The horrific abuses by the M23, Wazalendo (pro-Kinshasa militia) and the Rwandan and Congolese armies should serve as a stark warning to concerned governments that they need to press the warring parties to protect civilians,” de Montjoye added.

“Currently around 30 to 40 percent of injured people seeking medical care in Goma are civilians,” one humanitarian source told HRW.

The rights group noted that on Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said the hospital it runs in Goma was “saturated” after an influx of patients, largely women and children.

The group also accused the M23 of “forced labor, forced recruitment, and other abusive practices.”

It added that “Rwandan forces and the M23 and the Congolese military and its allies have a legacy of atrocities including murder, rape, and looting.”

The conflict between the M23, supported by some 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan troops according to the UN, and Congolese forces has gone on for more than three years, deepening a chronic humanitarian crisis in the region.

Many civilians have been forced from their homes on countless occasions.

The UN estimates around 400,000 people have been displaced by fighting since the start of this year.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm Thursday about a resurgence of violence which he warned could spark a regional war.

Guterres has convened an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Monday.

DR Congo accuses Rwanda of wanting to take control of mineral-rich eastern Congo, which Kigali denies.