{"id":54284,"date":"2025-05-25T14:59:45","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T14:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/goma-liberated-from-nightmare-of-atrocities-m23-says-in-rebuttal-to-monusco\/"},"modified":"2025-05-25T14:32:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T14:32:26","slug":"goma-liberated-from-nightmare-of-atrocities-m23-says-in-rebuttal-to-monusco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/goma-liberated-from-nightmare-of-atrocities-m23-says-in-rebuttal-to-monusco\/","title":{"rendered":"Goma liberated from \u2018nightmare of atrocities,\u2019 M23 says in rebuttal to MONUSCO claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a strongly worded press statement released on Sunday, May 25, AFC\/M23 accused the Congolese government and its international allies, including MONUSCO\u2019s senior civilian protection advisor Teohna Williams, of spreading false information to derail the fragile peace process mediated in Doha.<\/p>\n

Williams, in a briefing to the international community on May 22, painted a grim picture of Goma\u2019s current state under M23 control, a portrayal the group flatly rejects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese falsehoods, coming from a biased actor, cannot deceive informed opinion,\u201d the statement read, defending the group\u2019s occupation of the North Kivu capital since January.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoma was then living a daily nightmare\u2026 We have ended these atrocities, restored order, and allowed Goma to rise again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rebel movement claims that prior to its takeover, the city was overrun by lawlessness, violence, and ethnic killings, carried out by forces loyal to Kinshasa. It also accuses the Congolese army of using civilians as human shields and deploying artillery in displacement camps around the city. <\/p>\n

According to the statement, the camps have since been dismantled and displaced persons have returned safely to their homes.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, blamed MONUSCO for ignoring what he described as widespread human rights abuses committed under government authority. He cited acts such as public executions, arbitrary detentions based on ethnicity, and even cannibalism, which he maintained have been overlooked by the UN mission.<\/p>\n

Asserting control over security in Goma, the M23 says it is now conducting a disarmament operation to recover weapons allegedly distributed by the Congolese government to civilians. <\/p>\n

AFC\/M23 statement also disputes DRC Ambassador Zenon Mukongo\u2019s recent letter to the UN Security Council claiming M23 offensives in several areas, including Kishishe and Bambo. M23 says those locations have been under its control since 2022.<\/p>\n

The group pointed to an April 12 press release by the Congolese army (FARDC), which they claim contradicts the ambassador\u2019s allegations. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe accusations by Mr Mukongo, refuted by the FARDC’s documents, confirm the regime’s duplicity,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\"AFC\/M23<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The AFC\/M23 rebel coalition has pushed back against recent claims by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO, insisting that its capture of Goma has brought an end to a reign of terror and restored order to the embattled city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000087894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-54284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000087894,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/481414992_18299129932208502_2022565945526017945_n_1_.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/481414992_18299129932208502_2022565945526017945_n_1_.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/481414992_18299129932208502_2022565945526017945_n_1_.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/481414992_18299129932208502_2022565945526017945_n_1_.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/481414992_18299129932208502_2022565945526017945_n_1_.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/481414992_18299129932208502_2022565945526017945_n_1_.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000087894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54284"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=54284"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=54284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}