GOMA, DRC – 23 August 2025 – The Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC/M23) has issued a counter-allegations paper rejecting UN and NGO reports and accusing President Félix Tshisekedi’s government and allied forces of committing systematic abuses in eastern Congo.
The document cites massacres in Ituri, attacks on Banyamulenge communities, use of child soldiers by Wazalendo militias, collaboration between FARDC and FDLR, and collective punishment of civilians in rebel-held zones.
In Ituri, the report lists mass killings: early June massacres of Hema in Djugu; 69 worshippers killed in Komanda on 28 July; attacks in Bahema Boga/Kinyanjojo on 11 August; three public shootings in Bunia in late July and early August; and a February 2024 case in which 16 Hema were buried alive in Tali. It blames FARDC operations with ADF and CODECO.
In South Kivu, AFC/M23 accuses FARDC, Mai-Mai and Burundian forces of coordinated violence against Banyamulenge since June, citing a 30 June bombing of a humanitarian plane in Minembwe, arson and pillage in Rurambo, Kagogo and Mibunda in July, and destruction of homes and livestock.
The group details FARDC–FDLR collaboration, including FDLR-FOCA units fighting alongside FARDC in Masisi and Kalehe in August, resupply operations in Mpeti (Walikale) between 1–6 August, and joint actions around Pinga from 5–19 August. It also names an FDLR general operating in Minembwe and cites a photo of an FDLR fighter treated in Kinshasa.
The report cites child recruitment: children armed in Bukavu in February; a boy under 10 paraded with a rifle in Shabunda on 11 August chanting anti-Tutsi slogans; an April 1 NGO alert on Wazalendo recruitment in Walikale; a MONUSCO recovery of 10 children from FARDC ranks on 2 April; and a 15-year-old fighter presented in Goma on 5 August.
It accuses Kinshasa of punishing civilians through bank closures and mass “technical leave” for civil servants in rebel areas.
The movement says it has shown good faith by declaring a ceasefire, repositioning forces from Walikale, participating in Doha talks, issuing a joint communiqué with Kinshasa, and facilitating the transfer of 1,283 FARDC and police personnel and dependents from Goma, the repatriation of 4,077 “SAMIRDC” members, release of 713 Romanian mercenaries, return of 1,871 FDLR dependents via UNHCR, and access for humanitarian agencies. It also calls for MONUSCO’s mandate to be scaled back.
The paper denies torture allegations, describes rehabilitation of Goma’s Munzenze prison, and highlights corruption, noting elections in 2023 cost more than $1 billion against a $600 million budget.
The claims remain unverified but illustrate how AFC/M23 seeks to contest international narratives by highlighting mass killings in Ituri, anti-Banyamulenge violence in South Kivu, and what it portrays as collusion and abuses by government forces.
