M23 accuses a militia connected to the government of engaging in cannibalism --[Reported by Umva mag]

A spokesperson for the M23 rebel group in eastern DR Congo has alleged that members of a government-allied militia lynched and consumed the body of a civilian in South Kivu province.

Lawrence Kanyuka stated that the “barbaric acts” on August 12 in the Misisi area were carried out by Mai-Mai/Wazalendo militiamen, who are part of a government-led coalition fighting against the M23.

“The Mai-Mai lynched, killed and consumed the flesh of the victim for the simple reason that he was Tutsi,” Kanyuka said Monday in a post on X.

Footage of the alleged incident has been circulated on social media.

He said dozens of similar cases had been reported in eastern DR Congo in the past two years, adding that the M23 rebels were “determined to put an end to these crimes against our Congolese compatriots.”

Since November 2022, the United Nations Special Advisor on Genocide Prevention Alice Wairimu Nderitu has reported a rise in hate speech driven by the FDLR militia in eastern DR Congo and warned of risk factors for genocide and atrocities against the Tutsi communities.

The M23, which is part of the rebel movement Congo River Alliance (AFC), has been fighting the Congolese army in North Kivu province since November 2021.

It accuses the Congolese government of driving violence against the Tutsi communities by using proxies such as the FDLR, a miltia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and local groups called the Wazalendo.

“The AFC/M23 unreservedly condemns these barbaric acts committed by groups belonging to the Kinshasa government coalition, and demands an immediate end to these atrocities and the arrest of all criminals involved,” Kanyuka said.

These acts of lynching and cannibalism against the Tutsi and Banyamulenge in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces are happening with complete disregard from human rights organizations,” he stated.

A UN expert report in May highlighted the Congolese army’s collaboration with militias like the FDLR in their conflict with M23 rebels. The report indicated that the FDLR had been integrated into the army, further intensifying violence in North Kivu.

Eastern DR Congo, home to over 200 armed groups, has remained unstable for three decades.

Despite multiple international interventions, violence continues in the country’s eastern region, where a UN mission has been present since the late 1990s.

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