Amnesty: DRC Miners Abused by M23, Gold Trafficked to Rwanda

Amnesty International accused the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group on Monday of carrying out killings, torture, forced labour and forced recruitment against DRC miners at artisanal mines in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and of moving gold and coltan from mines under its control across the border into Rwanda. The allegations come from a new investigation published September 21 covering events between January 2025 and March 2026. Amnesty said the documented abuses could amount to war crimes, and the mineral plunder could amount to the war crime of pillage.

The abuses documented at Rubaya and Lomera

Investigators focused on two sites: the Rubaya coltan mines in North Kivu and the Lomera gold mine in South Kivu. Amnesty said it interviewed 26 people, including artisanal miners, mining specialists, mine owners and relatives of victims, and reviewed photographs and video from the mining sites.

The group said it gathered information on the summary killing of 18 DRC miners at the two mines. Witnesses and relatives said 10 were beaten to death, two were shot and six who had been abducted were later found dead, according to the report. Sixteen miners and civilians living near the sites described torture or other mistreatment by M23 fighters or guards working with them.

Some miners said they were beaten for asking for breaks, refusing to hand over ore or disobeying orders. Amnesty said fighters forced miners to work underground for more than a week at a time and ran detention sites near Rubaya that included three shipping containers and underground cells known as ndake. More than 20 miners were held in an ndake and beaten repeatedly, the report says. Seven miners said they were detained and threatened with transfer to an M23 military training camp unless they paid a ransom.

The report also says Rwandans were present at both sites. Some worked as civilian miners or managers, while others could take part in hostilities alongside M23 fighters, according to testimonies gathered by Amnesty.

The mineral trail into Rwanda

Amnesty said it found evidence that gold from M23-controlled areas was exported illegally to Rwanda through established smuggling networks. Testimonies from miners and mining representatives in Lomera, combined with analysis by the organization's Evidence Lab, indicated that gold-bearing soil was carried by boat to Kamembe in Rwanda's Western Province, then unloaded at a collection point before entering the supply chain.

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general, said the findings should warn companies that buy minerals from Rwanda. She said the Rwanda-backed M23 was committing terrible atrocities against artisanal miners in eastern DRC that could constitute war crimes, and that companies could no longer claim ignorance, since some of the minerals on the market may have been illegally sourced from M23-controlled areas.

Coltan is a key mineral in electronics manufacturing, including mobile phones, so the alleged trafficking links what happened to DRC miners to global supply chains. The group said it believes M23's appropriation of gold and coltan likely constituted looting, a war crime under international law.

What Amnesty is asking for

Amnesty called on states and companies to stop buying gold and coltan from Rwanda, and from third-country processors and refineries that source minerals from Rwanda, until there is evidence the illegal trade has stopped. It also urged the United States and European Union member states not to enter mining agreements involving the Rubaya mine or other M23-controlled mines until independent international human rights observers can freely access the sites.

Callamard urged the African Union and its member states to take stronger action against what she described as the plundering of African mineral resources. She said international actors must stop remaining silent in the face of the atrocities committed by the M23, the trafficking of minerals from conflict-affected areas, and Rwanda's responsibility.

Amnesty says M23 currently controls dozens of artisanal mines across North and South Kivu, where tens of thousands of people depend on mining for their livelihoods. Neither the M23 nor Rwandan officials responded to the organization's requests for comment, according to the report. Rwanda has previously denied that it supports M23 or benefits from illegal mineral exploitation in eastern Congo.

Elsewhere on GenZ NewZ this week: eleven people were killed at a house party in KwaMakhutha, South Africa, and Saskatchewan's premier called Trump's Belarus potash proposal blood potash over the country's human rights record. Reporting on the Amnesty investigation: New Post Africa and Business Day.