Hundreds of Congolese women were raped and burnt alive after Rwandan-backed militants raided a prison.
The female inmates were attacked in their wing inside Goma’s Munzenze prison during a mass jailbreak, UN peacekeeping chief Vivian van de Perre said.
The M23 rebels, which refers to the 23 March 2009 accord that ended a previous Tutsi-led revolt in eastern Congo, took up arms against the Congolese government last week.
Tens of thousands of residents in eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, fled their homes after the rebels made swift gains in the North Kivu province bordering Rwanda.
As several thousand men managed to escape from the prison during the fighting, the area reserved for women was set on fire, Ms van de Perre said.
“There was a major prison breakout of 4,000 escaped prisoners. A few hundred women were also in that prison.
“They were all raped and then they set fire to the women’s wing. They all died afterwards,” Ms van de Perre told The Guardian.
This week the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR) warned that sexual violence was being used as a weapon of war by rival armed groups in Goma.
The city, home to more than one million people, is under the total control of M23 forces. But in an unforeseen development late on Monday, the militia announced a unilateral “ceasefire”.
Until then, fears had been mounting that Rwanda was determined to take more territory from its vast neighbour, with M23 forces steadily heading south towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province 120 miles (190km) from Goma.
Responding to news of the unexpected ceasefire. Van de Perre said: “I hope it stays that way because they [M23] were already moving in the direction of Bukavu with reinforcements and heavy weaponry, which can be seen passing [along] the streets in Goma.
“If they retreat, that’s good news. Otherwise, we’ll have a new clash with potentially thousands of additional deaths.”
The rebels temporarily took over Goma in 2012 and resurfaced in late 2021, with increasing support from Rwanda, according to Congo’s government and United Nations experts. Rwanda has denied such support.
Congolese government officials have said the country is “in a war situation” and accused Rwanda of committing “a frontal aggression [and] a declaration of war”.
Analysts have warned the latest escalation of hostilities could further destabilise the region, which is already experiencing one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises with more than six million people displaced.
