At least 171 bodies have been uncovered in mass graves near the city of Uvira in South Kivu province, the Associated Press reported Thursday, citing local authorities. Governor Jean-Jacques Purusi confirmed that 30 bodies were found in Kiromoni, near the border with Burundi, and 141 more in Kavimvira, areas recently controlled by M23 rebels.
Authorities and civil society groups, including the Local Network for the Protection of Civilians, accused M23 fighters of targeting civilians suspected of supporting the Congolese army or allied militias. In December, M23 briefly seized Uvira on Lake Tanganyika before government forces retook the city last month. The Congolese government reported that more than 1,500 people were killed in the offensive, while the United Nations estimates that roughly 200,000 people have fled the fighting, with over 30,000 crossing into Burundi.
The discovery follows the reported killing of M23 military spokesman Willy Ngoma in a drone strike in neighboring North Kivu, carried out by the Congolese army. Mass graves have repeatedly surfaced in the region over the past years. UN investigators documented similar sites in Ituri province in 2023, and Human Rights Watch reported last July that M23 executed more than 140 civilians near Virunga National Park, underscoring patterns of widespread abuses.
United Nations experts, speaking on the sidelines of a Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, condemned the extreme violence used by M23 against human rights defenders and their families. “We are horrified by the gravity and brutality of the abuse committed against human rights defenders and their families,” they said, highlighting the severity of the humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo, which has displaced millions and continues to destabilize the region.
