Massacres, Rape, Burned Bodies – and the World Looks Away.
More than 70 bodies – women, children, elderly people – were discovered in a church. Beheaded with machetes, their hands tied behind their backs. Another massacre in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), another chapter in a war the world has long forgotten. But for the people there, this horror is everyday life.
The perpetrators? Likely the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) – an originally Ugandan militia that has been marauding through Congo for decades and now openly pledges allegiance to the Islamic State. The Ugandan president sends troops into the neighboring country – officially to fight the ADF, but perhaps also to monitor or even coordinate the offensive of the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels. A proxy war in the heart of Africa while the world prefers to focus on other crises.
Goma Falls – and with It, All Hope
Meanwhile, hell breaks loose in the city of Goma. The Rwandan-backed M23 rebels took the city in early February, the Congolese army retreated – despite all the government’s assurances. As soon as the soldiers were gone, the massacres began. Nearly 3,000 dead, say the United Nations. 800, claims the M23 leadership – and only "fighters."
But the numbers say nothing about the immeasurable suffering taking place on the ground. Rape is a standard part of this war, a systematic weapon of war. Women are abducted, abused, enslaved – by all sides.
Solange, 35 years old, is one of countless victims. Two villagers found her bleeding in the bushes after a gang rape, brought her to a clinic where she did not even learn which of the hastily administered pills was meant to prevent pregnancy. Two weeks later, she lives in an emergency shelter next to the hospital. Her wounds are deep, her future uncertain. Her husband was murdered by the M23 because he refused to join them. His name was Innocence.
Rape as a War Strategy – on Both Sides
It would be easy to attribute the brutality to just one warring party, but the truth is darker. Not only do the M23 rebels rely on sexual violence – so do Congo's government troops.
The UN Human Rights Office reports 52 women in South Kivu alone who were raped by Congolese army soldiers – including gang rapes. For decades, women in eastern Congo have been victims of this systematic violence, but in recent months, the scale has been particularly shocking. A war in which women are not only victims but targets.
The Horror in Goma Prison – Burned After Being Raped?
But it goes even deeper. On January 27, the M23 rebels take Goma – and chaos immediately breaks out in the city. Congolese soldiers flee, throwing away their uniforms to hide. Romanian mercenaries, hired by the government as mercenary troops, barricade themselves on UN grounds.
And then there is the central prison of Goma. Another catastrophe unfolds there. A fire breaks out, over 90 women die in the flames. Some reports claim male inmates committed mass rapes before they fled. Others say the women set the fire themselves, trying to burn documents or force an escape.
The truth? Barely traceable. The charred bodies are packed into body bags eleven days later, while a prison guard watches with an empty gaze.
Global Indifference – A Firestorm Looms
The war in Congo is not a civil war. It is a proxy war, fueled by geopolitical interests, by the resource hunger of foreign countries and governments, by the systematic failure of the international community. And while people on the ground live in sheer terror, while women are mass raped, mutilated, or murdered, while bodies are piled in churches, the international response remains shockingly silent.
How much longer? How much longer will the world look away before this conflict – like so many before it – ends in a bloody regional firestorm?
Solange only hopes she will survive. For her children. For a future her husband no longer has. And while we read this, somewhere in Congo, the next victims of a war no one wants to stop are bleeding out.
The Last Victim: His Name Was Innocence.
English 
German 
