In an official statement, AFC/M23 strongly refutes the accusations against it regarding alleged attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, churches, and schools, in the context of its stabilization operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The organization denounces a disinformation campaign orchestrated by certain media outlets and relayed by Ms. Vivian Van de Perre, Deputy Special Representative for Protection and Operations at MONUSCO. According to AFC/M23, these allegations result from deliberate manipulation aimed at tarnishing its image.
AFC/M23 clarifies that the operation conducted against 130 FARDC elements hiding in hospital facilities was carried out peacefully and in full compliance with international humanitarian law. The primary objective of this intervention was to ensure the security of medical facilities infiltrated by fleeing combatants posing as patients. This situation posed a threat not only to actual patients but also to medical staff.
This operation was conducted with the consent of the medical unit officials concerned, in response to reports confirming crimes committed by these FARDC elements, including rapes and acts of looting.
AFC/M23 asserts that it is one of the entities most respectful of international obligations, particularly those arising from the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, which guarantee the protection of civilian infrastructure. Under no circumstances does any legal provision authorize an attack on medical facilities, and the organization reiterates that its actions have never aimed to endanger civilian security or damage infrastructure protected by international law.
The operations conducted by AFC/M23 exclusively targeted the neutralization of illegal armed elements and the prevention of further crimes against the population.
The organization reminds that the tragic events at Munzenze Central Prison, involving rapes, murders, and cell burnings, occurred under MONUSCO’s supervision two days before its entry into the city of Goma.
It thus denounces the confusion maintained between these events and its stabilization operation, a confusion that has fueled unfounded rumors about massacres and forced recruitment. AFC/M23 condemns what it calls the “industry of lies and propaganda” of the Kinshasa regime, aiming to divert the Congolese people’s attention, who aspire to peace and a “constitutional revolution.”
Finally, AFC/M23 reaffirms its firm commitment to respecting international humanitarian law and international principles. It rejects any accusation that it has violated these principles, describing such allegations as “intentional distortion of facts” aimed at damaging its reputation and the dignity of the affected populations.
The organization calls on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to be vigilant against any erroneous and malicious interpretation of the facts and to resist manipulation orchestrated by the Kinshasa regime.
