Democratic Republic of the Congo - February 2025

Crime and insecurity surged in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in February, as M23, an armed rebel group, continued its territorial advances in the provinces of North and South Kivu. In the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, both now under the administration of M23 and its rebel coalition, the Congo River Alliance (Alliance Fleuve Congo, AFC), the UN reported an increase in home invasions, kidnappings and vehicle hijackings. Sexual violence also rose steeply, with 42 healthcare facilities in and around Goma recording 572 rape cases in the week that followed M23’s seizure of the city from government forces on 27 January 2025. In 2024, the same facilities averaged 95 cases per week. According to UNICEF, the UN’s agency for children, the rapes were carried out by ‘armed men’, and all parties to the ongoing conflict are suspected to have perpetrated sexual violence.

Sources: International Crisis Group, Jeune Afrique, Deutsche Welle, United Nations, Reuters