I am very concerned after reading the latest report of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite the agreement for a humanitarian truce and a ceasefire, the Kigali regime continues to flout international law and pursue its policy of territorial expansion with its AFC/M23 coalition auxiliaries supported and controlled by 3,000 to 4,000 RDF elements. In a flagrant violation of the territorial integrity and Congolese sovereignty, those troops use sophisticated military equipment and high-tech weapons in the territories of Nyiragongo, Rutshuru, and Masisi, in the North Kivu Province.
The war of occupation and aggression is gradually taking on the appearance of an annexation by foreign forces, with the establishment of a parallel administration, similar to that of a State. It controls the conquered territories, in particular the Rubaya area, whose mines constitute one of the largest sources of coltan in the world.
The experts mandated by the Security Council have reported, with supporting evidence, that the AFC/M23 coalition exercises a monopoly on the fraudulent extraction, trade and illegal export of minerals from Rubaya to Rwanda. This causes the most significant recorded contamination of the supply chains of “3T” minerals (tin, tantalum and tungsten) in the Great Lakes region for the last ten years.
Experts estimate that the AFC/M23 coalition controls the trade and transport of approximately 120 tons of coltan per month and that the tax on the production and trade of Rubaya coltan generates at least USD 800,000 per month for the occupying forces.
Faced with the critical situation prevailing in eastern DRC, we once again urge the community of States to no longer accept superficial condemnations and empty words. Strong sanctions must be adopted against the actors of destabilization. Immediate and decisive measures must be taken to ensure that Rwanda ceases its support for the M23 and immediately withdraws its forces from Congolese soil.
It is time to put an end to this economic war and the illegal extraction and trade of strategic minerals in the heart of Africa if the economically developed world wants to pursue the energy transition and the fight against climate change in a clean and fair manner.
Bukavu, 01/09/2025
Dr. Denis Mukwege