By Hell in Congo: Women Raped, Children Burned Alive in Rebel Prison Break**
Eastern Congo is bleeding. Again.
A horror show unfolded last Monday when **M23 rebels—backed by Rwanda—stormed Munzenze Prison** in Goma, unleashing absolute carnage. In the chaos, **4,000 prisoners escaped**, but the true nightmare was what happened to the women.
**168 women were raped.**
**Children were burned alive.**
**The women’s prison wing was torched—many died inside.**
This isn’t just another tragic war story. This is a deliberate, cold-blooded massacre.
#### **“They Were All Raped, Then Set on Fire”**
Vivian van de Perre, deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force, described the horror in Geneva:
> **”There was a major prison breakout of 4,000 prisoners. A few hundred women were also in that prison. They were all raped, and then they set fire to the women’s wing. They all died afterwards.”**
She called it **”one of the most horrific atrocities we’ve documented in years.”**
Footage from the jailbreak showed **huge crowds of prisoners running for their lives**, gunfire ringing out, while thick **black smoke** billowed behind them. Those trapped inside never had a chance.
**Who Are the M23 Rebels?**
If you haven’t been following, here’s the dea **M23 (March 23 Movement)** is a ruthless militia that first emerged in **2012**, claiming the Congolese government had broken a peace deal. They are Tutsi-led and **heavily backed by Rwanda**, which has its own intl:erests in the mineral-rich eastern DRC.
Rwanda denies involvement, but according to UN experts, **M23 has been receiving weapons, training, and even troops from Rwanda**.
M23 are not just another rebel group,”** says a security analyst in Goma. **“They are well-trained, well-funded, and well-organized. They don’t just kill, they terrorize.”**
M23 Is Wiping Out Our People”**
The rebels have been moving fast, seizing territory across North Kivu province. Tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing their homes.
> **“I grabbed my daughter and ran,”** said 34-year-old survivor Claudine Kambale. **“We heard the rebels were coming, and we knew what would happen to the women.”**
The **United Nations has confirmed 2,900 deaths** so far, but the real number could be much higher.
**“We are seeing bodies on the roads,”** said a humanitarian worker in Goma. **“Many haven’t been buried. The situation is beyond words.”**
#### **The Bigger Picture: A Crisis Spinning Out of Control**
This is more than a prison break gone wrong. It’s part of a **wider campaign of terror** that’s pushing eastern Congo into full-scale war.
– **Over 2,900 people have already been killed.**
– **Hundreds of thousands have been displaced.**
– The violence is so bad that experts fear it could trigger an **Ebola outbreak** due to the collapse of medical services in Goma.
#### **Will Anyone Stop This?**
UN Secretary-General **Antonio Guterres** has called for an immediate end to the fighting, saying:
> **“It is time for mediation. It is time to silence the guns. It is time for peace.”**
But peace is nowhere in sight. The Congolese government is pointing fingers at Rwanda, accusing them of fueling the conflict by directly supporting M23 rebels. Rwanda, of course, denies it—but the evidence is piling up.
> **“M23 and Rwanda think they can take what they want,”** said a Congolese army officer. **“They don’t want peace. They want to dominate.”**
#### **What Happens Next?**
Right now, **Goma is a war zone**, and there’s no sign of the violence slowing down. With the rebels gaining ground, the fear is that more mass killings, rapes, and war crimes are coming.
For the women who died in Munzenze Prison, justice might never come. But the world **needs to wake up to the nightmare unfolding in eastern Congo.**
> **“The world ignored Rwanda’s role in the 1994 genocide,”** said a human rights worker in Kinshasa. **“Are we going to ignore this too?”**
This is war at its most brutal. And it’s happening right now.
