In a report published on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch made new revelations about the murder of Delphin Katembo Vinywasiki, better known as Delcat Idengo, a Congolese singer and activist killed by M23 fighters in Goma on February 13.
Audio and video testimonies examined by the organization indicate that when jeeps arrived at Delcat Idengo’s home, he tried to flee before being shot dead by armed men. Photographs taken after his death show several bullet wounds on his body, notably to his head, arms and right hand. According to independent forensic experts quoted by Human Rights Watch, these wounds suggest that he tried to protect his head with his arms when he was shot.
Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesman for the M23, acknowledged that his fighters had killed Delcat Idengo, accusing him of being a member of the LUCHA citizens’ movement.
“The population was forbidden to wear military insignia. He was found at home wearing military insignia during a combing operation”, he declared.
However, there are troubling elements that call this version into question. Human Rights Watch notes that the clothes worn by Delcat Idengo at the time of his execution are the subject of contradictions. Some media reports claim that he was filming a music video when he was shot. In some photos released after his death, he appears wearing military-style camouflage pants, while other shots show him wearing white pants with an embroidered Congolese flag. This suggests, according to the report, that his clothes were changed after his murder. No weapon was found at his side.
Active member of the LUCHA movement between 2018 and 2020 in Beni. The singer had had previous run-ins with the law. In 2021, he was prosecuted, but eventually acquitted, for insulting President Félix Tshisekedi and spreading “false rumors” through songs denouncing the Head of State’s broken promises. In 2024, he was imprisoned for allegedly inciting an armed uprising against UN peacekeepers, before escaping from Goma prison during the M23 offensive.
The day before his murder, on February 12, Delcat Idengo had published a song denouncing the “Tutsi occupation” and severely criticizing the M23.
Yvette Ditshima
