DRC Conflict: What happened during Goma’s prison break?

Warning: this pod contains description of violence from the beginning. “They died in the hands of the state. And to die in the hands of the state – that’s something we can’t just let pass… Without their rights they cannot rest in peace.” Nearly a month ago, M23 rebels captured the regional capital Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the time, one of the worst reported atrocities of the conflict took place – when more than 150 women prisoners and their children were killed in Munzenze Prison - after an intense fire broke out. The UN says most of the women were probably subjected to sexual violence before they died. The horror of it all has left family members trying desperately to find the remains of their loved ones. In this episode, Alan Kasujja speaks to Mwamisyo, an activist who was a prisoner at the time of the fire, and to Lumumba, whose aunt was one of the women who died.