The Kishishe massacre (French: Massacre de Kishishe) occurred on Tuesday, November 29, Wednesday, November 30 and Thursday, December 1, 2022, in the North Kivu village of Kishishe in the Rutchuru Territory in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The M23 rebels, a predominantly Tutsi armed group, summarily killed at least 131 civilians in Kishishe following clashes with local militias, according to a preliminary United Nations investigation. At the same time, the Kinshasa authorities had mentioned approximately 300 dead in the massacre. More than hundreds of thousands of people were displaced to other locations, such as, Kanyabayonga, Kibirizi, Kashala, Kirima, Nyanzale, Kashalira, Bambu and Kitchanga, or taken refuge in neighboring countries. The massacre provoked a salvo of indignation around the world and caused widespread outrage from targeted communities, as well as Congolese politicians, including Juvénal Munubo Mubi, Moise Katumbi, Martin Fayulu, Felix Tshisekedi, Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, Julien Paluku Kahongya and Jean-Pierre Bemba. Background For over a year, M23 militias have been escalating attacks in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A mainly Tutsi rebellion defeated in 2013, the M23 (“March 23 Movement”) took up arms again at the end of 2021. In the M23's view, the Congolese government has not been able to protect their diverse interests––their security, investments, political power and had failed to honour a pledge to integrate its fighters into the army. To safeguard these assets, the M23 has committed summary executions and forced recruitment of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Tutsi community occupies a precarious position in North Kivu, between privilege and discrimination. Its leaders are some of the wealthiest landowners and entrepreneurs in the region. These privileges have positioned the Tutsi community precariously in Congolese society, alternately benefitting from access to state power and suffering virulent discrimination, being persecuted and participating in brutal rebellions. For the locals, they see M23 as a Rwandan-backed rebellion that is massively looting minerals among other natural resources in North Kivu. Attack The attack took place in Kishishe village, in the Bambo groupement, in the chiefdom of Bwito, about 34 kilometers from Rwindi. According to provincial officials, NGOs, the United Nations, and human rights activists, the militias killed civilians while they prayed in an Adventist church, which was later set on fire. The rebels were wearing military uniforms, described by some as new and different from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic