Report
DRC: "the M23 buried them in mass graves", testifies a survivor of Kishishe [3/4]
Audio 01:17
East African Community joint force troops on patrol in Goma, December 2, 2022, three days after the M23 attacks.
AFP - GLODY MURHABAZI
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Third episode of our series on the events of Kishishe, a village in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the UN and the Congolese government, on November 29, civilians were killed there by M23 rebels.
Rebels who are supported and helped by Rwanda and its army, always denounces Kinshasa.
While many men wanted by the M23 had fled the village before the rebels arrived, there were more women in Kishishe on the day of the tragedy.
Publicity
Read more
With our special correspondent in Goma,
Coralie Pierret
In a wooden house, survivors of Kishishe now live under the same roof.
On the day of the tragedy, Rosaline, whose first name has been changed, met three M23 elements in the street when she came out of her hiding place with other women.
“
We heard a noise, it was poof poof.
We thought it was the noise the M23 made as they smashed down the doors of the houses.
But in fact, we saw the bodies of two men sprawled on the ground.
We said to ourselves
:
"my God"
, Mr. Takamba and another dad have just died.
We realized that the situation had changed and that it was becoming difficult
”.
When the M23 arrived in the village, Pauline, who wished to remain anonymous, took refuge in an Adventist church with other women, children and men.
“He
just selected the men
and took them outside to finish them off.
They said they were Kishishe rebels.
Then the M23 buried them in mass graves.
We were still in the church, and late in the evening when we left, the M23 had already withdrawn.
So we too went into the bush, towards the town of Bambo
”.
Pauline assures that after her departure, women were abused.
About twenty would have been raped according to the preliminary investigation of the UN.
►
To read also:
In
the DRC, a look back at the few days preceding the Kishishe tragedy [1/4]
In the DRC, Kishishe survivors accuse the M23 of having targeted civilian men [2/4]
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
ground floor