<\/p>\n
Speaking to Channel Africa on Tuesday, HRW Central Africa Director Lewis Mudge said the situation has deteriorated into what he described as \u201ca crisis within a crisis\u201d, as long\u2011running local tensions have been sharply intensified by the spread of the M23 rebellion from neighbouring North Kivu.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The highlands lie around the town of Minembwe and have been affected by years of inter\u2011communal conflict. According to Mudge, the arrival of the Rwanda\u2011backed M23 rebels has dramatically worsened conditions, leaving many civilian communities effectively under blockade.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople cannot get basic food staples or medical supplies,\u201d Mudge said. \u201cThey are not allowed to leave by the armed groups that control the highlands, and those who do manage to escape often face further risks when they reach positions held by Congolese forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
HRW says humanitarian access is now so dangerous that many aid agencies have suspended operations in large parts of South Kivu. Mudge said organisations he spoke to in the provincial capital, Uvira, told him they could no longer justify the risk after staff were killed in ambushes or had vehicles seized. \u201cAs a result, civilians are simply not receiving aid,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen humanitarian actors pull back, it directly affects people\u2019s ability to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The region is marked by a complex and shifting landscape of armed actors. These include M23 and allied local militias, Congolese government forces, Burundian troops, and foreign armed groups such as Red Tabara. Mudge said all sides bear responsibility for abuses against civilians, making accountability extremely difficult to establish. \u201cWhat we do know is that all of these groups are perpetrators,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are shifting alliances and a complete maze of armed forces operating in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
HRW has also raised concerns about the use of drones and escalating military tactics, particularly airstrikes attributed to government forces. Communications blackouts and restricted access have made it hard to verify civilian casualties, he added.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The organisation is urging the United Nations Security Council, which meets on April 15, to demand that all parties allow humanitarian access and safe passage for civilians, and to consider targeted sanctions against commanders responsible for abuses. \u201cCivilians are caught between a rock and a hard place,\u201d Mudge said. \u201cWithout international pressure, their suffering will continue unseen.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31915,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-31914","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that civilians in the South Kivu Highlands of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are increasingly trapped by fighting, with armed groups and government forces alike obstructing humanitarian aid and preventing people from fleeing violence.","published_date":"","news_description":"Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that civilians in the South Kivu Highlands of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are increasingly trapped by fighting, with armed groups and government forces alike obstructing humanitarian aid and preventing people from fleeing violence.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31917,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31914\/revisions\/31917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}