The field of slaughter: will it be possible to stop the massacres of citizens in the DRC

Mass rapes and killings of civilians have become commonplace for residents of the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to the latest data from human rights activists, more than 300 people died at the hands of the rebels in July alone — more than 140 of them were executed without trial. Responsibility for the crimes lies with the M23 group, which is linked to the Rwandan authorities. At the same time, the international mediators — the United States and Qatar — have not yet been able to completely stop the fighting between Kinshasa and the M23. Why it is not possible to stop the bloodshed and how Moscow reacts to what is happening — in the Izvestia article.

Bloodshed in the eastern regions of the DRC

Despite the peace agreement signed between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda on June 27 in Washington, the conflict in the east of the DRC is not abating. Clashes between government forces and the M23 group ("March 23 Movement"), which is associated with Rwanda, continue, and with them the brutal massacres of civilians.

According to a Human Rights Watch report released on August 20, more than 300 people were killed in Rutshuru in July alone. At the same time, over 140 residents of 14 villages were executed without trial. Since the beginning of the year, about 7 thousand people have died as a result of the fighting.

In July, the armed group M23, supported by the Government of Rwanda, attacked more than a dozen villages and farmlands and carried out dozens of extrajudicial executions, mostly of Hutu civilians. If the perpetrators of these war crimes, including at the highest levels, are not properly punished, these atrocities will only increase," says Clementine de Montjoie, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

One of the latest massacres took place in mid-July near the Congo-Rwanda border. It all started with clashes between M23 fighters and militia from the DRC. At the moment when the members of the group realized that they were losing the advantage in the firefight, they turned on the unarmed field workers.

A woman who managed to survive that day says she hid behind corpses for three days without food or water. On the way home, she had to step over bodies every now and then. Most of the dead are still not buried, she says. The locals couldn't even mourn their loved ones because they were afraid of being spotted by the M23 and being killed.

Various videos from the scene show corpses with deep machete marks, decapitated bodies with their hands bandaged from behind, and a pile of severed heads nearby.

"They were all killed with machetes. Their throats were cut," says one of the human rights defenders' interlocutors. He had to bury his 47-year-old fellow villager along with his four children aged 11 to 17.

Mass brutal killings are only a part of the crimes committed by the M23 that the civilian population is facing. Another problem that international organizations are paying attention to is sexual violence. According to the UN, in the first five months of 2025, more than 17 thousand people became victims of it.

One of the victims of the violence, who introduced herself as Chantal, tells how members of the M23 forcibly brought her to a building under construction. They said, "If you don't want this, we'll kill you." According to the girl, as soon as they entered, she fell to the floor, losing consciousness. When she came to, she heard a conversation between the fighters.:

"Let's kill her," said one.

"No, she's beautiful. Let's not kill her, we'd better sleep with her. Don't kill her," replied the second.

"Why don't you kill me? I thought you were going to kill me," Chantal said.

After that, according to the girl, the men took turns raping her until she lost consciousness again.

"When I came to myself again, I was on the floor, I couldn't lift my leg. It felt very heavy. I lay on the floor for an hour. I was mentally ill, I couldn't get up," she says.

Later, "Chantal" managed to get to the hospital and get medications and psychological help, but still, when she sees a man with a gun, memories pop up in her head.

In addition, the M23 practice massacres in hospitals in the Congo. Eyewitnesses say that the fighters come in in ordinary clothes and start shooting. Public organizations also note cases when M23 was detained, interrogated, threatened and harshly treated by representatives of civil society, journalists and human rights defenders. The group openly says that it does not want them to be active in the areas under its control.

Resolution of the conflict between the DRC and Rwanda

The DRC has been in a state of armed conflict for more than 30 years. The reason for the latest escalation was the revival of the M23 rebel group, which emerged in 2012 and represents the interests of the Tutsi ethnic minority. In January of this year, the M23 was able to establish control over Goma, an important city in the east of the DRC, which has a population of about 2 million people. The M23, which includes mostly former soldiers of the Congolese army, accuses the Government of failing to implement previously reached agreements on the integration of militants into the country's army and on the protection of ethnic minorities.

The DRC government accuses neighboring Rwanda of supporting the M23 militants. According to the UN, from 3 to 4 thousand Rwandan troops participated in the conflict on the M23 side. Kigali denies links to the group. The Rwandan authorities have claims against the DRC because of discrimination against Tutsis living on its territory.

The conflict between Kinshasa and Kigali centers on the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, which make up 9% of the country's territory. About 18 million people live there, which is about 17% of the total population of the DRC. Among them are up to half a million refugees from neighboring countries, including Rwanda.

The eastern provinces of the DRC have significant reserves of minerals such as cobalt and coltan. These resources are of key importance for the world's high-tech industries, in particular, for the creation of electronic equipment. The DRC accounts for 70% of global cobalt production and 80% of coltan production. However, in the east of the country, mining is mostly illegal, and exports are carried out through neighboring countries, including Rwanda, which is why the state treasury receives less funds. Therefore, for the Government of the DRC, the issue of control over the eastern regions is a key one.

An important factor influencing the continuation of the conflict between the DRC and Rwanda is the fact that the Tutsi ethnic group lives on both sides of Lake Kivu, located on the border of Rwanda and the DRC. By the way, the current President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, is from a Tutsi background. He was a participant in the 1990-1994 Rwandan civil war, infamous for the genocide of Tutsis by the Hutu, the country's dominant ethnic group.

According to political analyst Kirill Kotkov, the current conflict in the east of the DRC is a direct continuation of the 1997-2003 war, when the Great Lakes region actually fell out of Kinshasa's control.

"There is no way to stop this, given the primitive customs of the natives (up to cannibalism) and the extremely difficult geographical accessibility of the region," the expert said in an interview with Izvestia. — The region is separated from the western part of the DRC by impenetrable forests and rivers. The area is relatively accessible only from Rwanda and Uganda.

The conflict between the DRC and Rwanda has a bloody background, which is personal between Paul Kagama and the President of the DRC Felix Chisekedi, says Maya Nikolskaya, head of the Africa in the Focus of Russian Interests program at MGIMO.

— These are two completely different pictures of the world. Kagame is a true "African Kshatriya" with a globally beautiful idea of what will happen to his country in the future. Chisekedi is mainly trying to control his country's resources," the expert notes.

Since 2022, a number of regional organizations and countries, including the East African Community, the African Union and Angola, have been making efforts to resolve the situation in DR Congo. Qatar has also joined the mediation process. In March of this year, the Presidents of the DRC and Rwanda, Felix Chisekedi and Paul Kagame, held talks in Doha. And already in April, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, managed to organize the first direct meeting between representatives of the DRC and the M23.

In February of this year, DRC President Felix Chisekedi appealed to the United States, offering them, as well as the European Union, access to his country's rich natural resources in exchange for support in the confrontation with Rwanda. At the end of June, Donald Trump announced the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. The American leader received the foreign ministers of both countries at an official ceremony in Washington. Soon, French President Emmanuel Macron called the signing of the agreement a historic step.

— The United States needs peace so that no one interferes with their peaceful mining. And the political advantage lies in positioning oneself as a great peacemaker," Maya Nikolskaya noted.

However, the expert notes that in the current circumstances, true reconciliation between the DRC and Rwanda is hardly possible. According to her, the parties will actively arm themselves, and it looks as if Rwanda wants to change the regime in the DRC.

Russia supported the signing of a peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Anna Evstigneeva said. At the time of the escalation of the conflict, which occurred in January, the Russian Foreign Ministry also called for an immediate end to violence through dialogue. Russia and Rwanda maintain close contacts. Vladimir Putin has met with the President of Rwanda more than once, in particular, in Sochi at the Russia-Africa summit in 2019, as well as in Moscow in 2018. The Russian Federation is also developing cooperation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In June 2024, Sergey Lavrov held talks with the Foreign Minister of the DRC.