DRC: M23 fighters abused miners and trafficked gold and coltan to Rwanda

• The plunder by M23 and Rwanda of DRC’s gold and coltan may amount to war crime of pillage
• M23’s multiple violations that also involve Rwandans may amount to war crimes
• “Rwanda has continued to illegally profit from DRC’s mineral wealth,” Agnès Callamard
• Minerals linked to abuses by M23 are prevalent in electronic devices owned by millions across the world

Rwanda-backed March 23 Movement (M23) fighters have committed horrific human rights abuses against artisanal miners in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) while facilitating the trafficking of gold and coltan to neighbouring Rwanda with the help of Rwandan authorities, Amnesty International said in a new briefing.

“DRC: We didn’t come to play: M23 abuses at artisanal mines **and the trafficking of gold and coltan to Rwanda”, **documents M23 violations including summary killings, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, forced labour and forced recruitment. It shows how M23 fighters forced miners to dig minerals, often making them work underground for more than a week at a time in coltan mines near Rubaya in North Kivu province, and Lomera, a gold mining site in South Kivu province. The violations may amount to war crimes, which are crimes under international law.

“Rwanda-backed M23 is committing horrific human rights abuses, which may amount to war crimes, against artisanal miners in eastern DRC. These are meant to punish and instill fear among miners and others living and working near the mines, as minerals are trafficked across the border into Rwanda, which has continued to profit from the exploitation of DRC’s mineral wealth,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

Rwanda-backed M23 is committing horrific human rights abuses, which may amount to war crimes, against artisanal miners in eastern DRC. These are meant to punish and instil fear among miners and others living and working near the mines, as minerals are trafficked across the border into Rwanda, which has continued to profit from the exploitation of DRC’s mineral wealth,

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's Secretary General

“The African Union and its Member States must take far bolder steps than they have done thus far to put an end to the likely pillage driven by an endless international appetite for African critical minerals. Failure to stand united against such pillage and the horrific abuses that comes in its wake will only encourage others to follow suit.”

“International actors must end their silence about M23’s atrocities, the smuggling of minerals from conflict affected areas, and Rwanda’s responsibility. They need to hold perpetrators, including Rwandan government officials, accountable.”

Amnesty International is calling for all countries and companies to cease the purchase of coltan and gold from Rwanda – or processors and refineries from third countries that buy these minerals from suppliers in Rwanda – until the Rwandan government provides concrete evidence that it has ended the receipt of coltan and gold trafficked from DRC. Rwanda’s authorities must also ensure that armed or other Rwandans are not present at and play no role in abuses at the Lomera and Rubaya mining sites.

The African Union and its Member States must take far bolder steps than they have done thus far to put an end to the likely pillage driven by an endless international appetite for African critical minerals. Failure to stand united against such pillage and the horrific abuses that comes in its wake will only encourage others to follow suit.

Agnès Callamard

Amnesty International is also calling on the US and EU member states not to establish any mining agreements involving the Rubaya mine or other M23-controlled mines in the DRC unless international human rights observers and independent international oversight organizations have full and unfettered access.

M23 controls dozens of artisanal mines in North and South Kivu, where tens of thousands of people rely on them for income. The group tightly controls access to these mines, which have no independent international oversight.

Amnesty International interviewed 26 people, including artisanal miners, mining experts, mine shaft owners and family members of victims. Researchers also analysed photos and video evidence from mining sites.

Testimonies indicate that Rwandans are present at Rubaya and Lomera. In Rubaya, miners said Rwandans play a dual role as civilian miners or mineshaft managers but also take part in hostilities when needed alongside M23 fighters. In Lomera and Rubaya, security guards, some of whom have identified as Rwandan and spoke Kinyarwanda, the language of Rwanda, collaborate with M23 and have beaten and ill-treated miners.

Neither M23 nor Rwandan government officials responded to Amnesty International’s request for comment.

Human rights abuses at the mines

The organization documented the summary killing 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.

Among those killed was Evariste*, a 22-year-old husband and father of a one-year-old daughter.

An eyewitness said:

“When we saw Evariste* he was in so much pain. He didn’t have the strength to speak. He couldn’t lift his feet. His entire body was bloody.”

Another miner who witnessed his brother beaten to death said:

“He was beaten on his chest with a pickaxe, when I denounced the man who beat him to death, [M23 fighters] put me in prison. They gave me a punishment of two weeks without salary in the mine shaft. I told people I wanted to take [his body] to our family. He was buried like an animal [in the mineshaft].”

He was beaten on his chest with a pickaxe, when I denounced the man who beat him to death, [M23 fighters] put me in prison.

Evaritse*, miner

Sixteen miners or civilians who lived near the mines recounted how they had been tortured or ill-treated by M23 fighters or security guards working with them. Some miners were beaten so badly that they lost consciousness. Miners described to Amnesty International how they were beaten if they requested breaks, refused to hand over minerals, or for minor transgressions.

A mining supervisor recounted how M23 fighters attacked one of his employees, “When we got out of the mine shaft with the mineralized sand, there were five well-armed [M23 fighters] and three who were not armed. They said: “We didn’t come to play. If you resist [giving us the mineralized sand], we will kill you.”

Near the Rubaya mine, M23 uses three shipping containers as detention cells. One interviewee said he could hear the screams of detainees as they are being tortured inside the containers. “It’s better to die than being detained there,” he said.

In Lomera, M23 detained four men and accused them of communicating with authorities in Kinshasa and suspected them of having links to the Wazalendo armed group.

One victim told Amnesty International that the supervisor of the detention site told him:

“I will kill you and then give you a weapon and say you were Wazalendo.”

Amnesty International also documented the use of underground detention cells known as ndake. More than 20 miners who worked at the Rubaya mine were kept in a *ndake *and beaten three times a day by M23 fighters.

The briefing also details how M23 uses the mines as forced recruitment sites. Seven miners recounted how M23 detained miners and threatened to send them to M23 military training centres if they failed to pay ransoms for their release.

Trafficking of minerals to Rwanda

Amnesty International found evidence that gold was trafficked out of M23-controlled areas into Rwanda through well-established smuggling routes.

PrivateMen load sacks of sand – known as robotas – that contain gold on to a boat docked at the port of Lomera, a gold mining site in Kabare territory, South Kivu province, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Much of the gold from artisanal mines in South Kivu is illicitly sent to Rwanda.

Testimonies from miners, mining representatives, and others who worked at Lomera, as well as evidence gathered by Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab, confirmed that soil containing gold from Lomera was loaded onto boats at the Port of Lomera. Sacks of soil containing gold from DRC arrived via boat at a “sand port”, a collection site for sand used in construction, in Kamembe, a town in Rwanda’s Western province.

One Congolese miner who worked at Lomera said: “I was there at night. I hid and saw that [M23] sent three groups … to different mineshafts. They took the mineralized sand [soil containing gold] and took it near the lake…When they arrived, they put it in small boats and sent it to Rwanda.”

Another miner from Lomera said:

“We saw [boats being loaded]. Loaded with *robotas *[sacks of soil containing gold]. They did this very early in the morning. Each morning, they came with traders from Rwanda. And the same boats came at night.”

Amnesty International believes that M23’s plunder of gold and coltan likely amount to the war crime of pillage.

We saw [boats being loaded]. Loaded with *robotas *[sacks of soil containing gold]. They did this very early in the morning. Each morning, they came with traders from Rwanda. And the same boats came at night.

Miner, Lomera

Given the significant amounts of gold and coltan trafficked to Rwanda – often with the complicity of Rwandan and M23 leaders – it is likely that Rwanda is directly engaged in pillaging the resources of the DRC.

“This investigation should serve as a wake-up call to Rwanda that Rwandans may bear international criminal responsibility for facilitating the trafficking of pillaged minerals to Rwanda,” said Agnes Callamard. “Rwanda may also bear state responsibility for the horrific abuses against miners if Rwandans in the mines are acting under the direction or control of Rwanda, even if they are not employees of the government.”

Corporate responsibility

International standards establish clear expectations for states and companies to prevent and address human rights harms linked to mining activities. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights extends beyond those involved in the extraction of minerals, to all those along the supply chain.

The brutality of the crimes detailed in this report should be a warning for all corporations buying minerals from Rwanda. These minerals are likely to be trafficked into Rwanda from eastern DRC, where miners are the victims of horrific abuses at the hands of Rwanda-backed M23.

Agnès Callamard

“The brutality of the crimes detailed in this report should be a warning for all corporations buying minerals from Rwanda. These minerals are likely to be trafficked into Rwanda from eastern DRC, where miners are the victims of horrific abuses at the hands of Rwanda-backed M23,” said Agnes Callamard.

“The weight of evidence from Amnesty International and others means that corporations cannot claim ignorance. Their purchase of minerals out of Rwanda – and from the smelters that buy from Rwanda – is likely to contribute to human rights abuses by M23 in Rubaya and Lomera. Corporations could be held criminally responsible for complicity in war crimes.”

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees

The post DRC: M23 fighters abused miners and trafficked gold and coltan to Rwanda appeared first on Amnesty International.