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The United Nations Human Rights Council launched a commission to investigate atrocities without providing specific details or referring to particular events. Previous accusations by U.N. agencies have implicated both Congolese government forces and rebels in the recruitment of children. The commission will focus on incidents such as rapes, killings resembling “summary executions,” and other violations committed by both sides from the start of the year.
Recently, the M23 rebels took control of Bukavu, a city with a population of 1.3 million, following their capture of Goma, located 63 miles to the north, last month. The conflict in Goma resulted in a reported death toll of at least 3,000 people and the displacement of thousands more.
The imagery shows Red Cross workers clearing the area in Bukavu, the second-largest city in eastern Congo, a day after it fell to M23 rebels on February 17, 2025, as captured in the photograph by AP Photo/Janvier Barhahiga.
The M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of eastern Congo’s trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that’s critical for much of the world’s technology. The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts.
Rwanda accuses Congo of enlisting Hutu fighters responsible for the 1994 genocide of minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. M23 says it’s fighting to protect Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination and wants to transform Congo from a failed into a modern state — though critics say it’s a pretext for Rwanda’s involvement.
Unlike in 2012, when the M23 briefly seized Goma and withdrew after international pressure, analysts have said the rebels this time are eyeing political power.
The decades-long fighting has displaced more than 6 million people in the region, creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
A Ugandan military official said Tuesday that Ugandan troops had entered the eastern Congolese city of Bunia to assist the Congolese army in quelling deadly violence by armed ethnic groups.
