In a harrowing incident at Muzenze prison in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s Goma city, the UN says some of the approximately 4,000 male inmates who escaped on 3 February allegedly r*ped an estimated 165 to 167 female inmates. Then, the male inmates reportedly set ablaze the female section, k*lling most of the r*pe victims.
This incident unfolded following Rwanda- and Uganda-backed M23 rebels seizing Goma city on 27 January. Peacekeepers say they have been unable to investigate the incident due to restrictions imposed by M23.
Since M23 took control of Goma, a city with a population exceeding one million, it has faced a dire humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands fleeing and at least 2,900 lives lost. M23’s success in seizing territory in eastern DRC comes amidst a Western-backed, three-decade-long war for the Congo’s natural resources that had already k*lled 6 million by 2010 and internally displaced about 7 million Congolese by last year’s figures.
Sources:
https://www.caritas.org/2010/02/six-million-dead-in-congos-war
https://drcongo.iom.int/en/news/internal-displacement-overview-2024-published