Drc authorities implicated in supporting armed group accused of war crimes

An armed group operating with the alleged backing of the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) has been responsible for widespread atrocities, including killings, torture of civilians, property looting, and the abduction of women forced into sexual slavery within the Rutshuru territory of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These grave accusations were brought to light on June 25, following a comprehensive investigation.

Known as the Collectif des Mouvements pour le Changement-Forces de Défense du Peuple (CMC-FDP), this faction is part of the Wazalendo – a loosely organized coalition of armed groups. The Congolese army reportedly leverages these groups as auxiliary forces in its ongoing conflict against the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23), which is said to receive support from Rwanda. The CMC-FDP primarily operates in Bukombo groupement, Rutshuru, an area currently under M23 control.

Civilians residing in and around Bukombo find themselves trapped between the brutal actions of the M23 and the equally severe abuses perpetrated by the CMC-FDP. Their daily ordeal is horrific, particularly in remote areas where the CMC-FDP operates with alarming impunity.

Tigere Chagutah, regional director for East and Southern Africa at Amnesty International

The CMC-FDP maintains isolated bases within Bukombo, frequently targeting civilians, often under the cover of night or in regions where M23 fighters are less numerous. Following clashes with the M23, CMC-FDP combatants have reportedly sought revenge against individuals perceived to have family ties to M23 members. Such human rights violations against civilians flagrantly disregard international humanitarian law and could constitute war crimes.

Tigere Chagutah, the regional director for East and Southern Africa at Amnesty International, underscored the dire situation: “Civilians residing in and around Bukombo find themselves trapped between the brutal actions of the M23 and the equally severe abuses perpetrated by the CMC-FDP. Their daily ordeal is horrific, particularly in remote areas where the CMC-FDP operates with alarming impunity.”

Chagutah further emphasized, “While DRC authorities rightly condemn M23 violence, they often overlook similar violence and human rights abuses committed by Wazalendo groups, including the CMC-FDP. In effect, this condones these crimes, absolving the authorities of their responsibility to protect civilians and bring Wazalendo combatants to justice. The international community must exert pressure on the DRC government to immediately cease its support for these armed groups.”

Between March and April 2026, our investigation involved remote interviews, conducted via secure phone applications, with 16 victims and survivors. These included individuals who endured rape and sexual assault, and family members of civilians killed, raped, tortured, abducted, or otherwise mistreated by CMC-FDP combatants between June and December 2025. We also received credible accounts from human rights defenders detailing similar violence attributable to this group in the region, including summary executions and house burnings.

The international community must exert pressure on the government of the DRC to immediately cease its support for these armed groups.

Tigere Chagutah

On June 8, 2026, we communicated our findings to the CMC-FDP, requesting information on the conduct of their commanders and combatants towards civilians in areas under their control. Héritier Donald Gashegu, spokesperson for the CMC-FDP, responded in writing on June 16, 2026. In their letter, the CMC-FDP denied any responsibility for the documented human rights abuses, asserting their “commitment to human rights and the discipline of its combatants.”

Rape and other sexual violence against women

One woman, in her early twenties, recounted to us how, after her husband joined the M23 in May 2025, CMC-FDP fighters abducted her from her home and held her captive for three months. “They gave me a choice: either I went with them, or they would kill me,” she stated.

She described being held by CMC-FDP combatants in a house within their camp, where she was introduced to a commander who was to become her “husband.” Daily, the fighters provided her with a cup of taro and maize. She observed two other women detained in the camp but was threatened with being shot if she spoke to them. The woman explicitly stated that the commander repeatedly raped her. “I thought he would kill me if I refused. He came every night [for sexual relations].” She managed to escape when the M23 attacked the CMC-FDP camp.

We also spoke with a 22-year-old woman who reported being abducted by CMC-FDP combatants in June 2025, after her husband joined the M23. She was taken to their Mudugudu base in Bukombo, where she was forced to become a commander’s “wife.” “He said: ‘If you don’t sleep with me, I will kill you.’” She claimed there were four other women in the camp, also compelled to be “wives” of fighters.

She further added that she witnessed civilians being detained and mistreated at the camp. “They would take people and bring them to the base. If you had nothing of value, they would beat you. If you were lucky, they would leave you alone. They put people in [underground detention cells]. They detained people to extort money.” These actions bear the hallmarks of the war crime of hostage-taking.

This woman escaped in October 2025, following an M23 attack on the camp.

Both victims of sexual violence we interviewed were held in conditions akin to sexual slavery. They reported contracting sexually transmitted infections as a result of the rapes, causing them pain and suffering. While these two women received treatment at health centers, many victims of sexual violence perpetrated by Wazalendo armed groups lack access to adequate medical or psychological care.

Sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence committed during armed conflict constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law, amounting to war crimes. They also infringe upon numerous human rights, including the right to equality and non-discrimination, the right to physical integrity, and the right not to be subjected to torture or other forms of ill-treatment.

The CMC-FDP categorically denied allegations that its combatants raped, sexually enslaved, or forced women to “marry” its commanders. They stated, “No complaint, official report, or referral has been brought to the attention of our internal disciplinary or judicial bodies concerning the facts mentioned.”

CMC-FDP leaders should have been aware of the violence perpetrated by their commanders. They could be considered complicit if they knew such violence was occurring and failed to prevent or stop it.

Mistreatment and other violence against women

On November 20, 2025, eight individuals, including a pregnant woman and her husband, sought refuge in a banana plantation in Mashango, a village in Bukombo, during a firefight between the M23 and local armed groups, likely including the CMC-FDP.

Armed combatants discovered them and demanded cooking oil. “We told them we had no oil left. They then looted everything in our home and burned our houses. One [of the combatants] took pity on me. He said: ‘This woman is pregnant and will soon give birth; we must spare her.’”

She identified the combatants as CMC-FDP because the group maintained a base in Mashango, within the Bukombo groupement, an area it controlled.

The combatants took her husband and killed him. “They cut him with a machete. Everyone was killed with machetes. I then went searching for the bodies… when we found them, they were already decomposing.” That same day, at 5:30 PM, the woman gave birth to a baby boy, alone in the forest.

Another female victim shared with us that her husband joined the M23 in June 2025, and CMC-FDP combatants came to her home the following month. “Four of them arrived at noon,” she stated. “Two had pistols, the other two had whips. I begged them to have pity on me because I was pregnant. They replied: ‘Your pregnancy is not our problem; we want to see your husband.’ They beat me severely. They hit and wounded me with a knife. The next day, I had a miscarriage.”

The CMC-FDP denied the allegation that they looted and burned houses.

Revenge killings and summary executions

Nine victims and survivors informed us that CMC-FDP combatants killed their husbands or abducted them because their sons or husbands had joined the M23.

A 35-year-old woman reported that a CMC-FDP commander and six fighters came to her home in Kyahemba, a village in Bukombo groupement, in November 2025. She explained that the commander entered the house and asked her: “Did you let [the M23] recruit your child?” The woman stated that her 15-year-old son had left without warning earlier that month to join the M23. “I replied that I didn’t know how he was recruited. At that moment, he started shooting my husband.” She specified that her husband was shot three times in the chest in front of their eight and six-year-old children. She was later informed that her son had died while with the M23.

They shot him [my husband] three times in the chest and in the genitals. After shooting him, they looted the house. They left with four goats, clothes, and cooking pots.

Elisabeth*

According to four victims and information provided by a human rights defender, a CMC-FDP commander based in Kyahemba was implicated in the detention or killing of their relatives.

Another woman, Elisabeth*, recounted that six CMC-FDP combatants, four of whom were former neighbors, came to her home in November 2025, searching for her husband. “They told us to leave the house. They said: ‘You are collaborating with the [M23]…’ They acted as if [my husband] was in league with the M23. They shot him three times in the chest and in the genitals. After shooting him, they looted the house. They left with four goats, clothes, and cooking pots.”

In its response, the CMC-FDP did not specify the measures it had taken to investigate allegations that its combatants had killed civilians. It claimed it lacked sufficient information to conduct investigations.

Extortion and threats

Before the M23’s arrival in the region, the CMC-FDP extorted money from residents, a form of taxation known as lala salama (“sleep peacefully” in Swahili). These “taxes” were purportedly for civilian protection. One victim stated that her husband joined the M23 because he was fed up with these extortions.

Innocent*, who worked in Kyahemba, reported that CMC-FDP combatants approached him three times since his son joined the M23 in August 2025, demanding money on this pretext. He gave them 300 US dollars. “Each time, they told me to make my son join their group. I said it wasn’t me who took him there. How was I supposed to find him? Each time they came, they beat me. They burned three houses, mine and two others. They said they would kill me if I didn’t give them money.”

Justine*, a 20-year-old woman, stated that her husband fled in July or August of the previous year without warning. In September, CMC-FDP combatants came to her home. “I look like a Tutsi. [The CMC-FDP combatants] forced the door, entered, and whipped me once on the back and once on the chest. They tied my hands. They told me: ‘Tell us where your husband is.’” When she replied that she didn’t know, they explained they would take her to one of the CMC-FDP military commanders, implying he would force her to reveal her husband’s whereabouts.

Each time they came, they beat me. They burned three houses, mine and two others. They said they would kill me if I didn’t give them money.

Innocent*

En route, one of the combatants helped her escape. “I was carrying a child, and the combatant took pity on the baby. He said: ‘If you go this way, they will kill you.’”

Justine believed fear drove her husband to join the M23. She explained that in July or August, the M23 had threatened her husband, stating: “[You] are a Tutsi from Rwanda, and all Tutsis who do not join the M23 will be decapitated.”

The CMC-FDP wrote that it had “neither policy nor practice of demanding ransoms or payments from relatives of those who have joined the M23 or any other enemy movement. If isolated cases of behavior contrary to our principles existed, we would be the first interested in knowing the perpetrators so that appropriate measures can be taken in accordance with disciplinary rules and the requirements of justice.”

CMC-FDP leaders should have been aware of extortion and ransom practices and had a responsibility to investigate them and hold involved combatants accountable. If they knew these actions were occurring and failed to take necessary steps to stop them, they could be considered complicit.

Congolese army support for CMC-FDP

In May 2023, the DRC enacted a law establishing the Armed Defense Reserve, which allowed for the integration of certain local armed groups, including the CMC-FDP, into the Congolese army, thus forming a supplementary force to combat the M23.

The FARDC reportedly provides financial aid, weapons, and ammunition to these armed groups. In December 2025, the DRC’s Minister of Finance informed the National Assembly’s Defense and Security Committee that the state was paying Wazalendo groups 4 million US dollars monthly.

According to an internal document from the military government of North Kivu, obtained by Ebuteli, a Congolese research group, the CMC-FDP received over 100,000 rounds of ammunition and more than 100 40-millimeter rockets from the FARDC in late 2023 and early 2024.

It is unacceptable that the Congolese army continues to support CMC-FDP combatants despite the terrible human rights abuses they inflict on civilians.

Tigere Chagutah

In July 2024, the European Union sanctioned the commander-in-chief of the CMC-FDP, Dominique “Domi” Kamanzi Ndaruhutse, for “committing acts that constitute serious human rights violations and abuses.” This individual has fought with various nyatura (“strike hard” in Kinyarwanda) groups for over a decade and, according to the United Nations Group of Experts on the DRC, has collaborated with the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), particularly in the Bwito groupement (Rutshuru territory). The FDLR is an opposition armed group operating in eastern DRC, comprising Rwandan and Congolese fighters. Its ranks include former members of the Interahamwe and former Rwandan soldiers responsible for the 1994 genocide, as well as combatants who did not participate in the genocide.

“It is unacceptable that the Congolese army continues to support CMC-FDP combatants despite the terrible human rights abuses they inflict on civilians,” Tigere Chagutah asserted. “The group has engaged in rampant violence for years. DRC authorities must immediately end their collaboration and support for the CMC-FDP and other abusive Wazalendo groups, and ensure they are held accountable.”

* Pseudonyms are used to protect the identity of interviewees for security and confidentiality reasons.