DRC: The ECLJ's Actions After the Massacre of 70 Christians

A call for justice and action to international institutions

The eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is once again sinking into violence. The M23 rebel group, supported by Rwanda, launched a large-scale offensive on the province of North Kivu in early January 2025, leading to the deaths of 7,000 Congolese and the displacement of half a million people.

This chaos has enabled Islamist terrorist groups, including the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) to escalate targeted killings and religious persecution. The ADF, a former Ugandan rebel group affiliated with the Islamic state since 2019, recognized as a terrorist group by the United States and the United Nations, has carried out massacres, abductions, particularly targeting Christian communities.

In eastern DRC, civilian populations, particularly Christian communities, are caught between the atrocities committed by Islamist terrorists on one side and the clashes between the Congolese government forces and the M23 on the other. UNICEF reported nearly 600 cases of rape in a single week following the fall of Goma, with M23 rebels and Congolese forces among the perpetrators.

On February 15, 2025, more than 70 Christian civilians were beheaded inside a Protestant church in Kasanga, North Kivu. The victims, primarily women, children, and the elderly, had been abducted days earlier from the village of Mayba by ADF militants. This brutal massacre is part of a wider pattern of religious persecution in the region. In June 2024, the ADF massacred 150 Congolese, including many Christians, in North Kivu using gunfire and machetes. Pope Francis condemned these attacks, calling the victims "martyrs of the faith."

This major humanitarian crisis in the DRC is fueled by ongoing conflict in the East, recurrent natural disasters, and disease epidemics. As the Congolese state is too weak to protect its population, the UN launched an appeal on February 27, 2025, for $2.54 billion (2.44 billion euros) to assist 11 million people.

ECLJ’S Actions

In response to this escalating crisis and the massacre of 70 Christians, the ECLJ has launched an international campaign to demand accountability, justice and urgent protection for Christian communities. We have formally reached out to key international institutions, urging them to take action against these crimes against humanity and ensure the protection of civilians.

As part of its engagement with UN mechanisms, the ECLJ has addressed formal letters to the UN Special Rapporteur (SR) on Freedom of Religion or Belief (Ms. Nazila Ghanea), and the SR on Torture, Degrading and Inhumane Treatment (Ms. Alice J. Edwards). In these communications, the ECLJ urged them to investigate and publicly condemn the targeted persecution of Christians in the DRC and to advocate for the creation of a UN special procedure dedicated to monitoring and addressing the mass persecution of Christians and other religious minorities across Africa, including in the DRC and Nigeria.

At the European level, the ECLJ formally reached out to the EU Representative for Foreign Affairs (Ms. Kaja Kallas), calling on the European Union to take diplomatic and political action. Given the scale, gravity and systematic nature of these crimes, we urged the EU to engage with the DRC government, regional and international actors to ensure the protection of civilians and bring the perpetrators of criminal acts to justice.

Recognizing the strategic role of African institutions in regional conflicts resolution, the ECLJ also addressed key African organizations, calling for investigations and crisis prevention measures.

To the African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, H.E. Bankole Adeoye, the ECLJ demanded that these crimes be addressed at the African Union (AU) level, we demanded that the DRC be held accountable for prosecuting perpetrators and urged Rwanda to cease its support for the M23, given that both countries are AU member states.

To the Country Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in the DRC, Honorable Commissioner Marie-Louise Abomo, the ECLJ called for an investigation into these grave human rights violations, requesting that she publicly condemn these crimes and advocate for justice at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

To the Chairperson of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Honorable Wilson Almeida Adao, the ECLJ urged for the protection of children affected by the conflict and to facilitate to facilitate access to humanitarian aid.

To the Executive Secretary, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, H.E. João Samuel Caholo, the ECLJ emphasized the need for action in regard to the Protocol on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity, and called for independent inquiries and fact-finding missions to document and address religious persecution in the DRC.

Finally, to the President of the Economic Community of Central African States Commission, H.E. Gilberto Da Piedade Verissimo, the ECLJ urged that the matter be referred to the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa, and called for immediate action to prevent further atrocities and support peace efforts in the DRC.

The massacre of Christians in the DRC is part of a broader pattern of religious persecution across Africa. The ADF and other Islamist militias have been conducting a campaign of terror, and the international community cannot remain silent.

The atrocities in the DRC cannot be ignored. We stand with the victims and honor their memory.