The president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRCongo), Felix Tshisekedi, assured this Saturday that more than a hundred civilians had died this Tuesday in an alleged massacre perpetrated by the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23), in the town of Kishishe.
The President declared three days of national mourning for the massacre, which occurred in the territory of Rutshuru, in the east of the country.
In the last few hours, local sources raised the death toll to 122, according to Radio Okapi, noting that at least 64 dead were hiding in a church.
“The President of the Republic also sent a message of compassion and solidarity to the families and communities directly affected by this tragedy. These three days of national mourning will culminate on Monday, December 5, 2022, with a charity event in the form of a television marathon,” says a statement from the Presidency released by the Actualité news portal.
In the Council of Ministers, the President “asked the Ministry of Justice to open without delay an internal investigation and at the same time work in favor of an international investigation to clarify this war crime.”
The French embassy in DR Congo showed, in its official account on the social network Twitter, “great concern” over the reports of massacres “supposedly committed by the M23 against civilians in Kishishe and that may constitute war crimes.”
“These acts must not go unpunished and the M23 must be removed without delay,” the embassy added.
For his part, M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka earlier said in a statement that Kinshasa’s accusations are “unfounded” and stressed that “M23 has never attacked civilian populations.”
“M23 warns of the ongoing genocide in Masisi and calls on the international community and the United Nations to fully investigate,” the spokesperson emphasized.
In this sense, the rebel group has warned of “a campaign, especially by those who do not want peace, to damage the image (of the M23) and its good relationship with the civilian population under its control, for which reason a independent investigation quickly.
“M23 reiterates its commitment to start a direct dialogue with the DRC government and believes that this is the only way to peacefully resolve the conflict in eastern DRC,” Kanyuka concluded in its statement, released by the group via Twitter.
Within the framework of a summit in the Angolan capital, to advance the normalization of diplomatic relations, RDCongo and Rwanda agreed last Friday to a ceasefire, as well as the withdrawal of the M23 from the recently conquered areas in the province.
The new round of talks in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, which began on Monday, comes after the rebel group said it accepted in principle the cessation of hostilities agreement in the North Kivu province, although it warned that it reserves any right of reply to any attack.
Source: Observadora
