GOMA, Democratic Republic of the Congo – A damning new report from the M23 rebel group accuses the Burundian national army (FDNB) and its allied Imbonerakure militias of committing widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity on Congolese soil, detailing a campaign of terror that has left civilians trapped in a humanitarian and legal vacuum. The allegations, if substantiated, reveal a brutal dimension to the complex regional conflict engulfing eastern DRC.
The Core Allegations
In a detailed communiqué issued Monday, M23 spokesperson Lawrance Kanyuka presented what the group claims is documented evidence of atrocities committed between March and October of this year in the territories of Uvira, Mwenga, and Kalehe in South Kivu province.
The cited violations are severe and systematic:
-
Summary Burials & Mass Graves: The report claims Burundian forces hastily bury their own dead, and likely civilians, in mass graves near villages, posing severe public health risks through water contamination.
-
Weaponizing the Landscape: Abandoned automatic weapons, ammunition, and improvised explosive devices in populated areas have led to civilian casualties, with specific incidents involving women and children recorded in June and August.
-
Violence and Displacement: A pattern of theft, looting, property destruction, and death threats has forced entire communities to flee, creating new pockets of displacement and famine.
-
Climate of Fear: Night patrols, arbitrary reprisals, arrests, and threats of sexual violence are described as tools to intimidate and control the local population.
A Regional Conflict with Local Victims
The Burundian army is present in eastern DRC as part of a bilateral agreement with the Congolese government and was initially deployed under the now-defunct East African Community Regional Force (EACRF). Its official mandate is to combat armed groups, including the RED-Tabara rebel faction which operates from DRC and threatens Burundi’s government.
However, the M23 allegations suggest these forces are now actively terrorizing the population they were purportedly sent to protect. “These repeated acts are not isolated military crimes but part of a strategy of terror aimed at controlling by force the territories seized in the East of the DRC,” Kanyuka stated.
The Congolese government in Kinshasa, which views M23 as a Rwandan proxy and a primary enemy, has not officially commented on these specific allegations. Previous UN reports and human rights organizations have documented abuses by all sides in the conflict, including Congolese armed forces, M23, and various local militias.
Violations of International Law
Legal experts reviewing the allegations for this report noted their gravity. The acts described—targeting civilians, inhuman treatment, forced displacement—would constitute clear breaches of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“The abandonment of explosives and the creation of mass graves near water sources show a blatant disregard for the principles of distinction and precaution, and for the long-term well-being of the civilian population,” said a humanitarian law researcher from the region, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Stakes for the International Community
The M23 report calls for urgent international intervention: diplomatic pressure on Bujumbura and a prompt ICC investigation. These calls come amidst a stalled regional peace process and a worsening humanitarian crisis, with over 7 million people displaced within DRC.
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) is in the process of a contested withdrawal, leaving a security vacuum. The international community’s leverage appears limited, with focus divided among numerous global crises.
Silence from Bujumbura
Requests for comment from the Burundian government and military headquarters have so far gone unanswered. Historically, Burundi has denied allegations of human rights abuses by its forces both at home and abroad.
The Human Cost
Beyond the legal framework, the report sketches a landscape of profound suffering: families scattered, fields abandoned, schools shuttered, and communities living under a pall of fear. The psychological trauma and the physical destruction risk creating cycles of instability that will endure long after the guns fall silent.
As the world’s attention wavers, the people of eastern DRC continue to pay the price for a regional conflict where accountability remains elusive and the fundamental rules of war are treated as optional.
