# 'They killed all these young people' - BBC investigates allegations of a massacre in rebel-held Congolese city

Freddy Mukuza's final moments were witnessed by a friend, who stood helpless, 50m (160 ft) away. When he heard that Freddy had been shot - by M23 rebels he was told - he and others rushed to the scene in Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

"When we arrived, we found Freddy still breathing, and wanted to take him away, but the M23 did not allow us," says the friend, who we are calling Justin.

"When we insisted, they fired bullets into the ground as if to say: 'If you dare cross this perimeter, we will kill you as well.'"

So they had to keep their distance, as Freddy, 31, took his last breath. Only then did the M23 allow them to approach and take away his body.

Shortly before the killing, three pick-up trucks full of rebel fighters had come to Freddy's neighbourhood - Kasika.

It was around 15:00 on Saturday 22 February - almost a month after the rebel group had captured Goma in a rapid advance through the east of the country.

Within an hour or so, between 17 and 22 people had been killed, mostly young men, according to our sources.

We have gathered detailed accounts from residents, who cannot be identified, for their own protection.

We asked the M23 for a response to the allegation that they carried out a mass killing in the neighbourhood. They did not reply.

Olficials in Kasika have not released a death toll, and there is little or no prospect of an independent criminal investigation into what residents are calling a massacre.

But locals insist the M23 is the only armed group which can operate freely, and shoot to kill in broad daylight in Goma.

Since taking the city at the end of January, the rebels have been in complete control. During the 18 days we spent on the ground, their authority was absolute.

They have been accused in the past of carrying out atrocities in other areas.

The heavily armed rebels do not act alone. They are backed by neighbouring Rwanda, according to the UN and the US. Rwanda denies this, though it no longer denies having its own troops in DR Congo, saying they are there in self-defence.

It is believed the M23 targeted Kasika because of a former Congolese army base in the area.

The Katindo camp is now closed but some of the soldiers and their families remain in the district.

"Not all the soldiers were able to run away," a local resident explains. "Some threw away their guns and stayed about the neighbourhood."

But Freddy Mukuza was a civilian - a married father of two, struggling to get by. When hard times came, he earned a living by taking passengers on his motorbike.

He was also an activist and songwriter who rapped about the many problems in his homeland - a country rich in minerals whose people are amongst the poorest in the world.

DR Congo is known as a place of corruption and instability - and of conflict, stretching back 30 years. That is if the country and its suffering are remembered at all.

Sexual violence is endemic. The government is weak, at best.

There was plenty for Freddy to rap about.

One of his songs is called Au Secours (Help in French), :

> "Who will come to the aid of these people? Who will come to the aid of these raped women? Who will come to the aid of these unemployed men?... The people are in danger, they don't have enough to eat. They  buy jeeps."

On the day of his death, Freddy was moving to a new rented home in Kasika. His brother-in-law was helping him put a tarpaulin over the roof.

His sister-in-law was there too, getting the house ready for Freddy's family. When they heard the shooting, they were inside and rushed to shut the door, but they were seen by the M23.

The rebels shot and killed Freddy's two in-laws, according to his friend Justin.

Since then, Justin has barely left home, not even to earn money. His family is surviving on vegetables and fruit. Tea is now a luxury they cannot afford.

He has stopped his children going to school, for fear they might be taken from their classrooms by the M23 and forcibly recruited.

"We believe it is more important that they stay alive," he says.

His world has shrunk to his own four walls. There is the constant nagging fear that the rebels could return hunting for young men.

Just the sight of one of their pick-up trucks in the street sends locals running, he says.

These days it is rare to find a group of young people talking together, he tells us, and neighbours no long share gripes about the authorities as they did before the rebel takeover.

"Before, there was bad governance, but we were free," he says. "There was embezzlement. There was mismanagement and we spoke out about that. We had the chance to go to court. Today, there is bad governance, but we live in terror and silence."

Justin is speaking to us because he wants Freddy Mukuza to be remembered, and he wants the outside world to know about life and death under the M23.

Denis Baeni was on his way home when the rebels arrived in Kasika. He dashed into a small shop to hide with a few others, our sources say.

The primary school teacher got his ID card out of a pocket. He may have thought that would save him, by proving he was a civilian.

A neighbour - with knowledge of the events - tells us what happened. We are calling her Rebecca.

"They heard a voice from outside asking: 'Are there any soldiers?'" Rebecca says. "They said no but the M23 took them out of the shop."

The men were told to walk a short distance to a half-built house where they were "assembled for execution".

"There was so much gunfire," she says. "It was so close. There were 21 people killed all at once from our neighbourhood. Many were just passing by."

Rebecca insists they were all civilians. "Not one was a soldier," she says.

Denis leaves behind two children, who he was raising alone.

Death is not the only danger here. Locals also face the risk of being recruited to fight - willingly or otherwise.

"Nowadays men have to be home by 17:30," says Rebecca. "By 18:00 it's dark, and they can take you very easily."

"Go to  for more news from the African continent."

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