The East Congo war exposes children to deadly violence and rape

The major city in eastern Congo was being surrounded by rebels supported by Rwanda when fleeing army troops stormed into Suzanne Amisi Wilonja’s house near the airport to plunder. They fired randomly and shot her 10-year-old son Sylvain in the head.

Street fights delayed the family’s attempt to contact physicians until the next morning, by which time Sylvain had already passed away and was just one of many children who had been killed in deadly violence that was sweeping across the mineral-rich area.

When Wilonja told Reuters that she had seen her son’s death, she was crying. “We were afraid to go out to take him to the hospital because the soldiers were crowded near our door,” she said.

When asked about the event in Goma in late January, an army official did not reply. Reuters was unable to verify the information on its own.

In the wake of the rebels, known as M23, taking control of more area in eastern Congo than ever before, the UN has issued a warning about an increase in child recruitment, kidnappings, murders, and sexual assault.

Rape and murder are among the crimes that a military prosecutor has charged runsaway soldiers with.

The second-largest city in the province, Bukavu, fell earlier this month, and the U.N. human rights office reported last week that three children were summarily murdered by M23 rebels there. The claim has been refuted by an M23 representative.

The head of Kinshasa’s rights office, Patrice Vahard, told Reuters that the victims in Bukavu were carrying weapons that had been abandoned by escaping soldiers.

He noted that he was unable to pinpoint the precise number of children who had been killed or injured in such situations, pointing out that investigations are difficult when combat continues.

“There is a climate of terror in Bukavu that makes it difficult for parents to testify,” he stated, however “one child is enough – we don’t need numbers” .

RAPES ARE GROWING

Rooted in the battle for control of Congo’s abundant natural wealth and the spilling of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide into Congo, the M23 attack is the most severe escalation in over ten years of the long-running conflict in east Congo.

Rwanda denies accusations that it provides troops and weapons to M23, the most recent in a long series of ethnic Tutsi-led rebel groups to arise in the east of Congo. According to the statement, it is protecting itself from a Hutu militia that it claims is fighting with the Congolese military.

The long-standing problem of sexual assault in the area has increased as a result of the current battles.

The head of communications for the U.N. children’s agency in Congo, Lianne Gutcher, reported that 42 medical institutions in and around Goma reported 572 rape cases in the week following the fall, including 170 minors.

“It is an increase from the 95 weekly rape cases in 2024 in the same facilities,” she added.

A group of armed guys committed rapes. “All parties involved in the conflict are suspected of committing sexual violence,” she stated.

In Goma, a medical professional who handles victims of sexual abuse reported a rise in “serious” incidents.

For safety considerations, the worker spoke on condition of anonymity. “There were women and girls who were raped to the point of destroying their bladders,” she claimed.

“We haven’t seen anything like that in a long time.”

Vahard stated that although data was still being gathered, reports of gang rapes of young girls had been made in both Goma and Bukavu.

Congo has remained silent on claims involving its forces and has urged the United Nations to look into abuses it attributes to Rwanda and M23 rebels. Rwanda has denied culpability. Requests for comment have not been answered by M23 rebels.

“Most VULNERABLE”

According to the U.N. refugee agency, children are also dying from fatigue while their families attempt to flee to Burundi in order to avoid the conflict.

Their vulnerability is greatest when they follow their parents. Like their parents, they are unable to run,” Vahard said.

With promises to retrain police personnel and reopen ports, M23 has pledged to restore order in Goma and Bukavu, despite the ongoing fighting in North and South Kivu provinces.

For individuals like Emile Bashali, 19, whose baby sister was murdered when a bomb struck the family house as Goma fell, it comes too late.

“The infant began sobbing. She had sustained severe shrapnel wounds, he claimed, but I hurried inside the room to get her.

But “30 minutes later they came to tell us that our baby had died,” Bashali recalled, after the hospital’s doctors attempted surgery. Keyna is the name of our infant. It was her first year and four months.