UN rights chief Volker Turk says the violence resulted in ‘one of the largest documented death tolls’ despite a truce.
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels killed at least 319 civilians, including 48 women and 19 children, last month in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Volker Turk, UN high commissioner for human rights, said, citing “first-hand accounts”.
The violence in the Rutshuru territory of North Kivu Province produced “one of the largest documented death tolls in such attacks since the M23’s resurgence in 2022,” Turk said in a statement on Wednesday.
With Rwanda’s support, the M23 has seized swaths of the mineral-rich Congolese east from the DRC’s army since its resurgence in 2021, triggering a spiralling humanitarian crisis in a region already riven by three decades of conflict.
July’s violence came only weeks after the Congolese government and the M23 signed a declaration of principle on June 19 reaffirming their commitment to a permanent ceasefire, following months of broken truces.
“I am appalled by the attacks on civilians by the M23 and other armed groups in eastern DRC amid continued fighting, despite the ceasefire that was recently signed in Doha,” Turk said in a statement.
“All attacks against civilians must stop immediately, and all those responsible must be held to account,” he added.
Turk’s UN Human Rights Office said it had documented multiple attacks in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces, in the conflict-ridden east of the country bordering Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
In the agreement signed in Doha, the warring parties agreed to “uphold their commitment to a permanent ceasefire”, refraining from “hate propaganda” and “any attempt to seize by force new positions”.
The deal includes a roadmap for restoring state authority in eastern DRC, and an agreement for the two sides to open direct talks towards a comprehensive peace agreement.
It followed a separate agreement signed in Washington by the Congolese government and Rwanda, which has a history of intervention in the eastern DRC stretching back to the 1990s.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi are due to meet in the coming months to firm up the Washington agreement, whose terms have not yet been implemented.
Last week, the two countries agreed to a US State Department-brokered economic framework outline as part of the peace deal.
“I urge the signatories and facilitators of both the Doha and Washington agreements to ensure that they rapidly translate into safety, security and real progress for civilians in the DRC, who continue to endure the devastating consequences of these conflicts,” said Turk.
Rich in key minerals such as gold and coltan, the Congolese east has been riven by fighting between rival armed groups and interference by foreign powers for more than 30 years.
Dozens of ceasefires and truces have been brokered and broken in recent years without providing a lasting end to the conflict.