AFC/M23 rejects Amnesty allegations of trafficking minerals to Rwanda

The AFC/M23 armed movement has rejected allegations by Amnesty International that its fighters killed and abused artisanal miners and facilitated the trafficking of gold and coltan from Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to Rwanda.

In a statement issued in Goma on Tuesday, AFC/M23 said Amnesty had failed to provide evidence that could be independently examined to substantiate the allegations.

Amnesty International said in a report published Monday that it had documented killings, torture, arbitrary detention, forced labour and forced recruitment of miners in areas controlled by M23 in North and South Kivu provinces.

The organisation said its findings were based on interviews with 26 people, including miners, mining experts, mine-shaft owners and relatives of victims, as well as an examination of photographs and video footage.

The report focused on the coltan-producing area around Rubaya in North Kivu and the Lomera gold-mining site in South Kivu.

Amnesty said it documented the deaths of 18 artisanal miners at the two sites, including people it said were killed by beatings, shootings or after being abducted.

It also alleged that miners were forced to work and, in some cases, threatened with detention or recruitment if they refused to comply with M23 demands.

Amnesty further alleged that gold from M23-controlled areas was smuggled into Rwanda through established routes.

At Lomera, the organisation said witnesses and visual evidence indicated that sacks containing gold-bearing soil were transported by boat towards Kamembe in Rwanda.

It called on governments and companies to stop buying gold and coltan from Rwanda until there are safeguards demonstrating that minerals originating in conflict-affected areas of Congo are not entering the supply chain.

AFC/M23 disputed those conclusions, saying allegations as serious as those contained in the report should be supported by evidence identifying when and where crimes occurred, who committed them and what relationship those individuals had with the movement.

The group also rejected the suggestion that the presence of Kinyarwanda speakers or people described as Rwandan at mining sites was sufficient to establish involvement by the Rwandan government.

It said Kinyarwanda is widely spoken by communities in North and South Kivu and warned against equating language or identity with Rwandan nationality or state involvement.

The dispute comes amid a wider conflict in eastern Congo in which M23 has captured large areas of North and South Kivu.

The movement is the principal armed component of the Alliance Fleuve Congo, a political-military coalition led by former Congolese electoral commission chief Corneille Nangaa.

The AFC was established in 2023, with M23 serving as its main military force.

M23 captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in January 2025 and subsequently seized Bukavu in neighbouring South Kivu.

The United Nations and other international organisations have accused Rwanda of providing military support to M23, allegations Kigali has repeatedly denied.

AFC/M23 said it was prepared to have the allegations examined by an independent body if they were supported by sufficient evidence.

The movement’s response could not independently resolve the allegations made by Amnesty, and the claims have not been adjudicated by a court.

The conflict and disputes over control of eastern Congo’s mineral resources remain major obstacles to efforts to secure lasting peace in the region.