DRC: Thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced in conflict

Since January, the ongoing violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has claimed the lives of around 7,000 people, Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka reported at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The deadly conflict has also left 450,000 people without shelter after the destruction of 90 displacement camps. The advance of the M23 rebel group, which has captured key territories and valuable mineral deposits, marks the worst escalation in over a decade.

Tuluka called on the international community to impose “dissuasive sanctions” as the region faces widespread displacement, summary executions, and horrific human rights abuses.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the devastating situation, saying that human rights are being "suffocated" around the world.

The DRC government has faced criticism for its military strategy amid back-to-back losses in North and South Kivu provinces.