Since January, however, the rapid conquest and occupation of a huge area of the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and the M23 rebel group it supports has raised concerns that the principle may now be endangered.

Rwanda-backed rebels captured a key eastern Congo city a month ago Friday. Residents in Goma say they are struggling on various fronts even as the rebels try to consolidate their administration and restart normal life.

A professor of global health was in Kivu when the fighting began to rage. She recounts what she and her colleagues experienced during those days of terror.

The recent kidnappings of patients from hospitals by the M23 once again demonstrate its disregard for peace in eastern DRC and its contempt for the people of this region,' says Lucy Tamlyn - Anadolu A

Businesses are struggling to survive, financial transactions are almost impossible, and people are having trouble making ends meet.

The M23 said their raid was aimed at securing the medical infrastructure, which had been infiltrated by fighters.

The latest conflict in eastern Congo has exposed endemic weaknesses in the country’s military, long known for corruption, extortion and abuse.

In response to this development, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has adapted by deploying mobile teams to provide life-saving healthcare to people who are once again forced to move, returning to hometowns they had previously fled.

Kanyuka argues that the M23 fighters did not raid but conducted a peaceful operation against 130 Armed Forces of Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) soldiers who were hiding in hospitals.   Goma, DRC | THE INDEPENDENT | The March 23 Movement (M23) have dismissed accusations against them of raiding hospitals in Goma city,

The United Nations says the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have abducted at least 130 sick and wounded men in two hospitals in a major city in eastern Congo.

In terms of access to combat theaters, journalists from Goma, Bukavu, or Bunia have difficulty reporting live. “Many are faced with these limitations and prohibitions—only those who work with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo [FARDC] report live in theaters of operations,” according to Musamba.

The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has entered a new and more destabilizing stage. A call for a pause in the fighting by leaders from the 8 member states of the East African Community (EAC) and 16 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was dismissed by Rwandan-backed M23