Amnesty international accuses M23 of summary executions and forced labour at coltan and gold sites in North and South Kivu
Amnesty International has accused the M23 armed group of committing “terrible human rights abuses” against artisanal miners in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a report released on Monday. The group, which is backed by Kigali, has seized vast swathes of mineral-rich territory since its resurgence in 2021, including the mining town of Rubaya.
Rubaya alone accounts for 15 percent of global coltan production, a strategic mineral essential to the electronics industry. UN experts say the M23 has imposed a tax on mineral production and trade in the area, a claim the group has consistently denied.
Killings, torture and forced labour documented at Rubaya and Lomera
In its report, Amnesty International states that M23 fighters carried out “summary executions,” “torture and other ill-treatment,” “arbitrary detention,” “forced labour” and “forced recruitment” at mining sites under their control.
The organisation documented the summary execution of 18 artisanal miners at Rubaya in North Kivu province and at the Lomera artisanal gold mine in neighbouring South Kivu province.
“According to witnesses and victims’ families, 10 of them were beaten to death, two were shot, and six were abducted and later found dead,” the report says.
Miners describe beatings for asking for breaks or refusing to hand over ore
Miners told Amnesty International they were beaten if they requested breaks, refused to hand over their ore or violated orders, even in minor ways, the report adds.
More than 20 miners at Rubaya were held in underground cells and “beaten three times a day” by M23 fighters, according to the organisation.
