Amnesty accuses M23 of abuses amounting to war crimes at Congo mines

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Amnesty International accused M23 rebels in eastern Congo of carrying out abuses and unlawful killings of miners while trafficking critical minerals to neighboring Rwanda, in what it said could amount to war crimes.

The Rwanda-backed rebels control dozens of artisanal mines in Congo’s eastern North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, where tens of thousands of miners dig for minerals critical for much of the world’s electronics, including mobile phones.

Amnesty International said in its report on Monday it interviewed 26 people to document the crimes allegedly committed from January 2025 to March 2026, particularly at a coltan mine near Rubaya in North Kivu and a gold mine in Lomera in South Kivu.

Sixteen of the interviewees, including miners and civilians, said the M23 rebels or security guards at the rebel-controlled mines had tortured or mistreated them, the report said.

The rights watchdog said it documented abuses by the rebels that likely amounted to crimes under international law, including “summary killings” — a term used to describe killings outside of any legal framework — torture, arbitrary detention, forced labor and pillage.

The report detailed the killings of 18 artisanal miners at the Rubaya and Lomera mines. “Witnesses and family members reported that 10 were beaten to death, two were shot dead and six abducted miners were later found dead.”

Amnesty International also said it found evidence that gold was trafficked out of M23-controlled areas of eastern Congo into neighboring Rwanda through smuggling routes.

The M23 and Rwandan authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

United Nations experts, the United States and Congo’s government have in the past accused Rwanda of profiting off Congo’s minerals in exchange for its support to the rebels, which Rwanda denies.

Eastern Congo, the mineral-rich part of the Central African nation, has for decades been ripped apart by violence from government forces and different armed groups, including M23, whose recent resurgence has escalated the conflict, worsening an already acute humanitarian crisis.

The Rubaya mine is a major coltan mining site that has seen numerous tragedies, including a mine collapse in March that killed at least 200 people, and a landslide in January, which left around 200 people dead.

The Lomera gold mine suffered a collapse last year, trapping numerous miners.

Last year, Congo produced more than half of the world’s tantalum – an ore derived from coltan used in smartphones among other products – with the Rubaya mine pumping out about 15% of global production, according to Amnesty International.

The country also exported more than 28 tons of gold that year, the group said.