Human Rights Watch is reporting that the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) brutally slaughtered at least 100 Congolese civilians in the Kivu provinces in the east between January 20 and February 8.<\/p>\n
According to reports, HRW researchers interviewed dozens of victims and witnesses who recently arrived at camps near Goma, the capital of North Kivu. Their accounts are the first reports of killings of civilians by the FDLR since joint operations between Rwandan Defence Forces and the Congolese army against the group began on January 20.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FDLR have a very ugly past, but we haven\u2019t seen this level of violence in years,\u201d\u009d said Anneke Van Woudenberg, the senior researcher in the Africa division at Human Rights Watch. \u201cWe\u2019ve documented many abuses by FDLR forces, but these are killings of ghastly proportions.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n