Photo credit: Human rights watch
Rwandan forces and M23 rebels have shelled refugee camps and other highly populated areas in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on many occasions this year, according to Human Rights Watch.
The Guardian reports the NGO has also accused the DRC’s armed forces and its allied militias of putting the camps’ residents in danger by stationing their artillery nearby in its report alleging a violation of international humanitarian and human rights law in the country’s longstanding war.
Decades of fighting among regional armies and rebels in eastern DRC has killed and displaced millions. Most of the displaced are living in the eastern province of the country. More than half a million people have been forced into camps near Goma, the capital of North Kivu, as the rebel group advances.
Researchers of the report interviewed 65 witnesses, camp authorities and victims of abuses in six displacement camps around Goma. They also spoke with 31 humanitarians, diplomatic, UN, and military sources and analyzed photos and videos of attack sites, images of weapon remains, and satellite imagery. They further alleged that alongside a group of its allied militia known as Wazalendo, members of the DRC army raped many women in camps and others who were looking for food and firewood close by. They also shot people inside, killing some and wounding others.
The report called on the UN, the African Union and governments to push the conflicting sides to protect civilians.
