VIDEO: Recruitment of M23 Rebels to Suppress Protests in DR Congo

At Least 62 Killed in December 2016, as President Kabila Refused to Step Down

Senior security force officers in the Democratic Republic of Congo mobilized at least 200 and likely many more former M23 rebel fighters from neighboring Uganda and Rwanda to protect President Joseph Kabila and quash anti-Kabila protests in December 2016. Military and police units, with M23 fighters integrated, were responsible for killing at least 62 people and arresting hundreds of others during protests across the country between December 19 and 22, after Kabila refused to step down at the end of his constitutionally mandated two-term limit.