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

DAKAR, Senegal -- 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 o...