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The ongoing fighting between the M23 armed group and Rwandan forces on one side, and the Congolese military and allied militias on the other has brought misery and atrocities to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo for the last three years.

It’s exposed civilians to mass displacement, indiscriminate shelling and killings, widespread sexual violence, and other violations by all parties to the conflict.

Now, adding to the never ending list of atrocities, the M23 has forcibly deported civilians – a war crime – to Rwanda with the assistance of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), HRW finds in a new report. 

In February, the Rwandan-backed M23 forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave camps for displaced people near Goma. Some were prevented from going home by M23 fighters and were living in schools and temporary shelter in Sake, about 25 kilometers from Goma. 

Then in May, the M23 gathered as many as 2,000 people in Sake and forcibly took them to a UNHCR-run transit center in Goma. There, many were unlawfully deported to Rwanda.

Of the people forcibly moved on May 12, the M23 first transferred some of the men to the Stade de l’Unité (Unity Stadium) in Goma. There, the M23 accused many of them of being “Rwandan subjects,” even though they had Congolese documents. 

Witnesses said M23 fighters burned people’s Congolese voter cards and told those seen as Rwandan to go back to Rwanda.

The forcible transfer of civilians to Rwanda, whether Congolese citizens or Rwandan refugees, is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

Rwanda, along with the M23 it supports, controls parts of eastern Congo. This means it meets the definition of an occupying force under international law. 

This makes Rwanda’s government ultimately responsible for the armed group’s numerous abuses in eastern Congo.

The international community needs to put strong pressure on Rwanda to stop the unlawful deportations right away, protect everyone in the areas it controls, and bring those responsible for the abuses to justice.

Japan: The country is finally addressing corporal punishment of athletes (taibatsu). Last week, the Japanese National Diet passed a revision to a law, now requiring the government to adopt measures against any form of physical or sexual abuse, and against verbal and other abuse when committed by coaches and others in positions of power. 

Guatemala: The same actors who tried to prevent President Arévalo from taking office in 2023 are ramping up efforts to oust him. The risk to democracy and human rights is serious. But there’s still an opportunity to lay the groundwork for the change – reconstruction of rule of law, dismantling of organized crime, and creation of a more inclusive economy – that Guatemalans urgently need.

Please send us your suggested links via email, Instagram, Mastodon, LinkedIn, or Bluesky.

Today, we have a mix of your recommendations along with a couple of ours: 

• Israeli warplanes hammer Iran’s capital as retaliatory missile barrages diminish (AP)
• Charred bodies, shattered lives after gunmen kill 100 in Nigeria (Reuters)
• Israel kills at least 70 Palestinians in Gaza’s deadliest day at aid sites (Al Jazeera)
• Police shoot man at close range during Kenyan protests (Africanews)
• Russia uses drones to target civilians in alarming development (The Hill)
• A Saudi journalist tweeted against the government – and was executed for ‘high treason’ (The Guardian)
• Germany sees sharp rise in incidents of Islamophobia (DW)
• Two Tibetan Buddhist monastery leaders sentenced for Dege dam protests (Radio Free Asia)

What readers clicked on most in the last edition of the Daily Brief: Exploited in Russia: African women forced to make drones (DW)