Nine people killed daily by armed groups in DR Congo since beginning of the year (UN)

Bintou Keita, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in the country (MONUSCO) revealed Monday October 9 that an average of 9 people are killed day in day out since the beginning of 2023 in DRC by armed groups which have been sowing havoc in the central African country.

B. Keita was speaking before the UN Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the African country, ‘Radio Okapi’ reports. “The human rights situation continues to be affected by armed violence in the provinces of Ituri, Mai-Ndombe, Kwilu, Kwango, Kongo-Central, Kinshasa and North and South Kivu, and by the gradual increase in political tensions as the country prepares for elections in December 2023. Human rights violations and abuses in conflict zones have led to a growing number of victims and exacerbated social inequalities,” she added.

The UN diplomat also condemned the increase in violence between “armed groups allied to the Government and the M23” in Masisi over the past ten days, which has resulted in the displacement of over 84.000 people, the media added.

M23 is the most prominent rebel group fighting the Congolese army and which controls swathes of the country’s territories.

Congolese authorities, the U.S. and several western countries have called on neighboring Rwanda to end support for the rebel group. Kigali has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Mrs Keita added that the Luanda Roadmap, a 2022 agreement on the Pacification in the Eastern Region of DRC, is the only path for peace. She called on the M23 to dismantle its parallel administration and return to the positions on the ground as set out in the Luanda roadmap.

“Their presence and activism worsen the humanitarian and human rights situation,” she added.