Children fall prey to lethal violence, rape in east Congo war
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As M23 rebels take over the major eastern cities of Goma and Bukavu, cases of rape escalate with both fighting parties accused of war crimes.
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M23 rebels escort government soldiers and police who surrendered to an undisclosed location in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, January 30, 2025. (AP)
A new report by Reuters highlights the dire humanitarian situation in the eastern Congo, where children are falling victim to murder and rape from both sides of the fighting.
Both sides of the war, the M23 rebels and the Congolese military, are accused of shooting children, as rapes spike after the major city of Goma in eastern Congo was captured, while the M23 rebels claim they want to restore peace and order.
United Nations warns of violations against children
The United Nations has previously warned of a significant rise in child recruitment, abductions, murders, and sexual crimes as the March 23 militants up their offensive on eastern Congo and take over more territory.
A military prosecutor accused fleeing soldiers from the Congolese army of a plethora of crimes, including murder and rape, while the United Nations said M23 fighters carried out summary executions on three children in Bukavu, a claim an M23 spokesperson denied.
The victims were allegedly holding weapons abandoned by runaway soldiers, Reuters cited the head of the rights office in the Congolese capital Patrice Vahard as saying, before adding that he isn't sure of the number of child casualties under similar circumstances due to the difficulty in investigations amid the fighting.
"There is a climate of terror in Bukavu that makes it difficult for parents to testify," he said, but "one child is enough - we don't need numbers."
Increase in rape
Reuters highlighted that the recent fighting brought in a surge in sexual violence; in the week when Goma fell, 42 healthcare centers recorded 572 cases of rape, including 170 children, according to Lianne Gutcher, chief of communications for the UN Children's Agency in Congo.
"Rapes were perpetrated by armed men. It is suspected that all parties to the conflict committed sexual violence," Gutcher said, adding that the number of cases is 95 more cases per week compared to 2024.
"There were women and girls who were raped to the point of destroying their bladders," a medical worker who treats sexual violence told Reuters, adding, "We haven't seen anything like that in a long time."
Vahard emphasized that gang rapes of young girls have been reported in Goma and Bukavu, while Congo refuses to comment on reports of rape perpetrated by its troops, calling on the United Nations to investigate violations by M23 rebels and Rwanda, who rejected any responsibility.
Children; the most vulnerable
The UN refugee agency reported that children are collapsing from exhaustion as their families flee Burundi in an attempt to escape the fighting, "When they follow their parents, they are the most vulnerable. They cannot run like their parents," Vahard stated.
M23 has promised to restore order in the two towns they took over, Goma and Bukavu, opening ports again, a promise that came too late for 19-year-old Emile Bashali, whose little sister died after a bomb hit their family home, according to Reuters.
"The baby started to cry. I rushed into the room to get her", said her older brother adding that she had been seriously injured by shrapnel, doctors tried to operate on her, however, 30 minutes later they came to tell us that our baby had died," Bashali said. "Our baby's name was Keyna. She was one year and four months old."
