Rwanda and M23 accused of forced recruitment and detention in eastern dr Congo

A campaign of forced recruitment and abusive detention targeting thousands of captured fighters and civilians has been carried out by Rwandan military forces and the M23 armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to findings from an investigation.

The 87-page report, titled “’Death Was Everywhere’: Arbitrary Detention, Killings, and Forced Recruitment by the M23 and Rwandan Defence Forces,” documents large-scale sweeps and arrests in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces between mid-2024 and December 2025. It also details serious abuses against detainees at the Rumangabo and Tshanzu military training camps in North Kivu. M23 fighters, backed by Rwandan military personnel, have committed killings, torture, corporal punishment, forced labour, and used child soldiers. These violations amount to war crimes and should be investigated as possible crimes against humanity.

“The M23, supported by Rwanda, runs so-called military training camps in eastern DRC where recruits have been subjected to mistreatment and torture, sometimes with fatal consequences,” said Clémentine de Montjoye, senior researcher on the Great Lakes region. “Regional bodies and partner governments should pressure Rwandan authorities to end these serious abuses and ensure accountability.”

Interviews were conducted with 102 former detainees who escaped from the Rumangabo and Tshanzu camps, were deployed with the M23, or later surrendered to the Congolese army. Witnesses and sources from the United Nations, M23, military and intelligence services, media, and diplomatic channels also contributed. Former detainees were interviewed in person in Uganda and several DRC cities, and by phone in M23-controlled areas. The report also relies on geolocated and verified videos and photographs, satellite imagery of the camps, and a 3D reconstruction to estimate numbers transported in trucks.

M23 has been carrying out forced recruitment campaigns among civilians and captured combatants since 2024. These efforts intensified in areas under the group’s control after it seized large territories and major towns in eastern DRC in 2025. Thousands of Congolese soldiers, Wazalendo militiamen allied with national forces, police, and civilians—including children as young as 12—have been recruited, sometimes voluntarily but often by force.

M23 fighters ambushed and set up road checkpoints, apprehended people in hospitals, churches, and schools, and summoned residents under false pretences or threats before transporting them to the two camps in trucks.

Inside the camps, detainees were beaten and deprived of food, water, medicine, and adequate medical care. Former detainees described summary executions and beatings of those attempting to escape or who drank water, ate food, or relieved themselves without permission. “If we were caught trying to drink from puddles on the ground … the guards severely beat us,” said one civilian detained for five months. M23 held children at Tshanzu camp who were subjected to training and forced labour; some were chosen to serve as guards and beat other detainees.

The total number of deaths in the camps may only be determined if all mass graves are located and exhumed. However, former detainees indicated that hundreds, perhaps more, died from harsh conditions, beatings, and executions in both camps throughout 2025.

One former detainee held at Tshanzu recounted: “I was just a student, I had never seen a corpse before. They made me bury bodies seven times, we put them in a large pit.”

Former detainees identified Rwandan soldiers during sweeps and among instructors and commanders in the camps by their uniforms, equipment, accents, and inability to speak French or Swahili—languages not widely spoken in Rwanda—in conversations with detainees. Military and intelligence sources, as well as UN sources, confirmed Rwandan involvement.

The extensive military presence and influence of Rwanda over M23 operations in eastern DRC indicate that Rwandan forces exercise effective control over the area, meeting the criteria of belligerent occupation under international humanitarian law. Rwandan authorities may be criminally responsible for the actions of M23 forces in the training centres.

The Rwandan government and M23 leaders have long denied allegations of abuses but have not conducted investigations. Other armed groups in DRC, some backed by Rwanda, have also engaged in forced recruitment and use of child soldiers in eastern DRC. Over the years, neither DRC nor Rwanda has taken serious action regarding these grave crimes.

In May 2026, researchers conducted telephone interviews and visited Makala prison in Kinshasa, DRC’s capital, where dozens of civilians who had been forcibly recruited by M23 before surrendering to Congolese forces are held. Thirty-four detainees, including 14 children, explained that Congolese military intelligence had imprisoned and interrogated them for periods ranging from a few days to a month before transferring them to Makala prison.

On June 9, a letter was sent to DRC’s ministers of justice and defence requesting information on the legal basis for detaining these individuals and posing further questions.

International partners of Rwanda, including the United Nations, African Union, European Union and its member states, and the United States, should publicly address the cycles of abuses committed with impunity by Rwanda in eastern DRC for a long time. They should review assistance and military cooperation programmes with Rwanda to ensure they do not fuel further serious violations. These countries should promote accountability, including imposing new targeted sanctions against M23 and Rwandan commanders and leaders responsible for abuses, and supporting national and international justice efforts.

Congolese judicial authorities should ensure preservation of evidence of crimes committed at Rumangabo and Tshanzu and pursue appropriate prosecutions. As part of its ongoing investigation in eastern DRC, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Rwandan forces and M23 during forced recruitment campaigns and detention of recruits in training camps.

“Forced recruitment of civilians, including children, is part of a cycle of abuses that has lasted for decades in eastern DRC,” concluded Clémentine de Montjoye. “Concerned governments should emphasise that atrocities committed by Rwanda and M23 in their training camps require urgent action to end them, and that no one is beyond the reach of justice.”