'I could see my family... they were all shot dead': survivors recount Congo M23 massacre

The numbers are impossible to confirm - the United Nations has indicated at least 319 civilians were killed, Human Rights Watch says it can confirm 141 deaths - but what is clear is that the murder of civilians on the edge of the Virunga National Park in eastern DR Congo is one of the most brutal since the latest phase of the conflict began in December.

Researchers at Human Rights Watch (HRW) analysed photos and dozens of testimonies to piece together how farmers, some with their hands tied, were beheaded or had their throats cut with machetes or were simply shot.

The attacks appear to have begun on July 10 or 11 after farmers who had been ordered off their fields were told by M23 leaders that they could return on payment of a $10 tax. Militiamen blocked the roads for several days to prevent people leaving and even reportedly killed relatives who came to retrieve bodies.

“I left to hide some tools but when I returned to get my family, I saw the M23 had reached them,” said a farmer who was living in a field near Kiseguru. “I could see them [his family members] from a distance … they were all shot dead.” He told HRW his wife and their three children—aged 9 months to 10 years old—were killed in front of him.

The bodies of men were apparently left in the fields to support claims that they had been killed in an operation against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, another armed group linked to perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.

However, witnesses said women and children were led away.

One woman recounted:

“Around 10 a.m., we were forced to walk toward the place where our lives were going to end. We walked in silence. If a child started crying, they threatened to kill them. They killed with knives.” She said they were a group of about 70 people, including women and girls: “We walked all day until we reached the confluence of the Kitchuru and Rive Rivers in the evening…. They told us to sit on the edge of the riverbank, and then they started shooting at us.”

She said she escaped by falling into the river. Almost 50 people were killed, she said.

The killings continued for several weeks.

HRW reported that witnesses identified the fighters as members of the M23 group, and also saw soldiers in Rwandan military uniforms. However, Rwanda has denied any involvement, blaming the killings on another group hostile to M23.

The massacres happened after the signing of a peace treaty between Rwanda and the Congolese government, mediated by Donald Trump, which was supposed to end the violence.