Since January 28, three years after the M23 took up arms again, Goma, the main city in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), has been entirely controlled by the rebel group supported by Rwandan special forces. For three days, the Armed Forces of DR Congo (FARDC), backed by the Wazalendos, tried to contain the M23 fighters and the Rwandan army. At the end of intense fighting, this battle of Goma caused the death of more than 3,000 people according to the UN.
On February 21, the UN Security Council voted for a resolution3 which “strongly condemns the offensive led by the M23 [...] with the support of the Rwandan Defense Force”. The text demands “the cessation of hostilities, invites all parties to conclude a ceasefire and calls for the immediate withdrawal of the M23 and its Rwandan allies [...] without preconditions”.
Without effect for the moment on the ground. A cycle of terror and death has set in in the city: intimidation, threats, rape and executions punctuate the days. People from Goma testify to Afrique XXI. All first names have been changed to preserve their anonymity and security.
“People adopted a survival reflex”
The images of the population of the largest city in North Kivu welcoming M23 soldiers as heroes have challenged the Congolese. On January 27, while the first columns of the M23 entered Goma from the north, the inhabitants of the Majengo district formed lines of honor by acclaiming them and singing their praises. These demonstrations seemed to validate the cause of the “liberators”. “Those who are outside Goma did not understand these images which circulated on social networks”, admits Yannick, a resident of Goma.
What you need to understand is that, from the start, people adopted a survival reflex. The Majengo district, through which the M23 entered the city, is mainly populated by Nandes, a people very hostile to the identity aims of the M23, in particular in relation to the Tutsis [community to which the majority of M23 members belong, editor’s note]. If they welcomed them like that, it was to make “friends”, to put them in their pocket and avoid appearing as a hostile population. Moreover, if I had been with them at that time, I too would have gone out to celebrate the invaders, yes, I would have done it! Goma has already been occupied by the M23 in the past, we know how they operate, we know their methods, we know the terror they impose.
The first days of the M23, supported by thousands of elements of the Rwandan Defense Force (RDF), plunged Goma into total unknown, while the city was deprived of water, electricity, mobile network and Internet access by the government. Trapped, dozens of FARDC soldiers were executed by the M23 and the RDF while surrendering, according to concordant local military and civilian sources. On social networks, images of their bodies bathing in pools of blood shocked Internet users. Numerous other testimonies, with videos to support them, reported kidnappings and forced enlistments of young people from Goma by the M23, with systematic execution of those recalcitrant.
These stories contrasted with the scenes of February 6, the date of the first major meeting organized at the Stade de l’Unité by the M23 and their allies from the Congo River Alliance (AFC, the political showcase of the armed group, led since December 15, 2023 by the former president of the Independent National Electoral Commission Corneille Nangaa). Faced with a jubilant crowd demanding the capture of Kinshasa by the rebels, the various political leaders of the movement took turns at the podium to solicit the confidence of the population.
“The FARDC committed rape”
“All of this was largely artificial,” admits Rashidi, a resident of the city. “The reality is that the day before the meeting, M23 activists were circulating in all the districts of the city on motorcycles, with loudspeakers, and they told us to send at least one person per family to attend the meeting, under penalty of being whipped, beaten or tortured. People were afraid, so they showed up at the stadium.” Rashidi continues:
I think that a tiny minority of the population really adheres to the M23’s discourse, sometimes because of ethnic proximity to them, because we have Tutsis in Goma and some are sensitive to the cause of the M23 and Rwanda. But there are others who will join the M23 out of spite, because they no longer want to deal with Kinshasa: fleeing the city, in the last hours of the fighting, elements of the FARDC looted our stores, some committed rape. I have a neighbor whose wife was raped by them, then they raped him, in front of his family. At the same time, for years, Goma has provided a lot of boys to the Congolese army. Seeing how our soldiers were abandoned by their hierarchy in the city, how they were massacred, or how some were recruited by the enemy, it hurts our hearts and we hold Kinshasa responsible for this. Some people therefore chose to support the M23 because they were disappointed by the indiscipline and crimes of the FARDC, but also because they felt humiliated to see the bravest soldiers left to their own devices.
In the discourse of M23 leaders, such as spokesperson and major Willy Ngoma, the movement “does not commit pillaging or harassment”, unlike the FARDC and the FDLR, who “eat human flesh in Goma” [sic]. But this desire to establish themselves as liberators of the Congolese people, disciplined and respectful of international law, quickly came up against the brutality of the armed group.
“The M23 is attacking us, those who resist”
On February 11, traditional leader Prosper Kimanuka Musekura, leader of the village of Kiziba 2, in Nyiragongo, was killed at his home with his entire family by armed men. The circulation of weapons in Goma and the presence of former detainees who escaped from Munzenze prison during the fall of the city made the region more dangerous. But, if the perpetrators of the assassination of the traditional leader have not been clearly identified, the man was known to have refused to collaborate with the M23 and to recognize his authority.
Another discordant voice eliminated, the committed singer Idengo Delcat, who was killed on February 13 north of the city. Imprisoned for his song’s hostile to President Tshisekedi, the artist was one of the escapees from Munzenze prison. He was shot dead just a few hours after the online release of a new song explicitly targeting the M23. “It’s an assassination to set an example, it’s typical of terror,” says Yannick:
What they are putting in place works, because no one today can afford to openly criticize the M23 in the city. Seeing one of our leading artists being killed like that, but also a traditional leader, it freezes the blood. For Chief Kimanuka, some say that it was armed bandits who killed him. But regardless of the perpetrators of this crime, it contributes to the climate of terror. In fact, the M23 is attacking us, those who resist, those who refuse to enlist, those who do not support their fight. But the city of Goma has also become the “far west” with all the weapons abandoned by the army and the Wazalendos, and the former detainees who escaped from Munzenze. The M23 executed many young men, claiming afterwards that they were escapees and bandits and that it was to protect us. All of this contributes to the climate of terror that has reigned for a month.
On Saturday, February 22, in the Katoyi district, twelve young men were shot dead. This massacre plunged an entire population into incomprehension and anger, plunging dozens of families into mourning. No one has the slightest certainty about the identity of the perpetrators of this killing, but many accuse the M23 on the grounds that these young people, unarmed and not belonging to any militia, would have refused to join their ranks. “They were civilians, they had not hurt anyone, there was no reason to kill them,” deplores a resident who requested anonymity: “The M23 and the Rwandans are installing something very bad in Goma. If it continues like this, the population will end up rising up, which risks causing many deaths.”
“Their situation remains dramatic”
Alongside the M23, soldiers from the Rwandan Forces are clearly visible. Recognizable by their poor French [Rwandans are English-speaking, editor’s note] or their limited mastery of Swahili for some, they have popularized Kinyarwanda (the Rwandan national language) in Goma, a language well known in the region and of which a variant, Kinyabwisha, is spoken in several places in North Kivu, particularly in the territory of Rutshuru or in that of Masisi. While their sophisticated equipment and their discipline enabled the capture of Goma in less than a week, the Rwandans also constitute a deterrent force in the city and its periphery, in particular by their role played in the forced displacement of population.
Thus, on February 11, a 72-hour ultimatum expired, launched by the M23 to displaced populations and settled around Goma, so that they return home. For three years, the capital of North Kivu was perceived by the inhabitants of the areas occupied by the M23 as the safest place in the province. The entire periphery of Goma was dotted with tents and makeshift shelters where thousands of displaced people lived. According to the UN, no less than 110,000 of them have taken to the road again to seek refuge elsewhere in the province. “Some will return home, but in what state will they find their villages, while houses have been bombed by the M23 since the start of the war?” asks a local association actor.
The rebels have restored electricity, which had been cut off by the government, they say they are taking care of the issue of the displaced... They want to show that they are solving the problems but this is done under pressure and without fixing anything. Many people who have left the displaced sites are still destitute, homeless, or are being housed by friends, neighbors... Their situation remains dramatic.
By taking control of Goma, the M23 fighters and Rwandan soldiers took up residence at the Katindo military camp, named after a district of the city and where the families of the FARDC are housed. Without news of their husbands, many of whom were killed at the front or enlisted by the M23, women and their children wander in Goma, invest in unoccupied schools before being driven out by the new masters of the city.
“Each of us knows a family who has lost one or more people”
“The M23 wants to impose order in the city at all costs, all the speeches that their leaders make revolve around this point,” explains Isaac, a close associate of Lucha, a Congolese citizen’s movement which fights for social justice. The organization is particularly targeted: it announced the assassination by the M23 on February 12 of one of its members, Pierre Byamungu Katema.
The problem is that these are not people used to administering spaces in a peaceful way, and even less cities like Goma, Minova or Bukavu [the main city of South Kivu which fell into the hands of the M23 on February 16, editor’s note]. We see that every day there are cases of mob justice, lynchings, there is no longer a police force worthy of the name and the maintenance of order no longer exists. The M23 has appointed its governor of North Kivu and a mayor of Goma to try to legitimize themselves with us, but we lack everything. The banks have been closed for a month by Kinshasa, some neighborhoods still lack electricity and we bury the dead every day. Each of us knows a family who has lost one or more people in recent weeks. The M23 proclaimed that they had come to liberate us, supposedly, from the regime of Félix Tshisekedi, but in reality, Goma has become an open-air prison and it is becoming our cemetery. But we have chosen to resist.
In defeat by the M23 and Rwandan troops, the FARDC have lost, since 2022, considerable portions of the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu. While the DR Congo obtained the unanimous adoption of the Security Council resolution, President Tshisekedi assured that these territories would be recovered through diplomatic channels, or through military means.
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