An armed group operating with the backing of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) has been implicated in widespread atrocities, including the killing and torture of civilians, systematic looting, and the abduction of women for sexual enslavement. These horrific acts have occurred in the Rutshuru territory, located in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to findings released on June 25.
The Collectif des Mouvements pour le Changement-Forces de Défense du Peuple (CMC-FDP) is identified as a component of the Wazalendo (meaning “patriots” in Swahili), a loosely structured coalition of armed factions. The Congolese army utilizes these groups as auxiliary forces in their ongoing conflict against the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23), which is reportedly supported by Rwanda. The CMC-FDP primarily operates within the Bukombo groupement in Rutshuru, an area currently under M23 control.
Civilians residing in and around Bukombo find themselves caught in a brutal crossfire, enduring the barbarity of both the M23 and the CMC-FDP. Their daily suffering is immense, particularly in remote areas where the CMC-FDP operates with alarming impunity.
Tigere Chagutah, Regional Director for East and Southern Africa
Maintaining isolated strongholds within Bukombo, the CMC-FDP targets civilians, often under the cover of night or in locales where M23 fighters are less concentrated. Following clashes with the M23, CMC-FDP combatants have exacted retribution upon individuals perceived to have familial ties to M23 members. These egregious human rights violations against civilians flagrantly disregard international humanitarian law and could be classified as war crimes.
“The plight of civilians in Bukombo and surrounding areas is dire, trapped between the M23’s brutality and the CMC-FDP’s violence. Their daily ordeal is unspeakable, especially in secluded regions where the CMC-FDP acts without consequence,” stated Tigere Chagutah, Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.
“While DRC authorities rightly condemn the M23’s violence, they frequently overlook similar violence and human rights abuses committed by the Wazalendo, including the CMC-FDP. In effect, this condones these crimes and absolves the government of its duty 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, remote interviews were conducted via secure phone applications with 16 victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault, as well as family members of civilians killed, raped, tortured, abducted, or subjected to ill-treatment by CMC-FDP combatants between June and December 2025. Credible reports from human rights defenders also detailed similar violence attributed to the group in the region, including summary executions and the burning of homes.
The international community must exert pressure on the DRC government to immediately cease its support for these armed groups.
Tigere Chagutah
On June 8, 2026, findings were communicated to the CMC-FDP, requesting information regarding the conduct of its commanders and fighters towards civilians in controlled areas. Héritier Donald Gashegu, spokesperson for the CMC-FDP, responded in writing on June 16, 2026, denying any responsibility for the documented human rights abuses and asserting the group’s commitment to human rights and combatant discipline.
Sexual violence and other abuses against women
A woman in her early twenties recounted her experience, stating that after her husband joined the M23 in May 2025, CMC-FDP combatants 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 disclosed.
She described being held in a house within their camp, where she was introduced to a commander who was designated to become her “husband.” Daily, combatants provided her with a cup of taro and corn. She also observed two other women detained at the camp, but was threatened with being shot if she spoke to them. The commander, she stated, repeatedly raped her. “I believed he would kill me if I refused. He came every night [for sexual relations].” This woman ultimately escaped when the M23 launched an attack on the CMC-FDP camp.
Another 22-year-old woman interviewed detailed her abduction by CMC-FDP combatants in June 2025, following her husband’s enlistment with the M23. She was taken to their Mudugudu base in Bukombo and forced into a “marriage” with a commander. “He said, ‘If you don’t sleep with me, I will kill you.’” She noted the presence of four other women at the camp, similarly coerced into becoming “wives” of combatants.
She further reported witnessing civilians being detained and mistreated at the camp. “They would seize people and bring them to the base. If you had nothing of value, they would beat you. If you were fortunate, they would leave you alone. They confined people in [underground detention cells]. They held people for ransom.” These actions bear the hallmarks of the war crime of hostage-taking.
This woman managed to escape in October 2025 after the M23 attacked the camp.
Both sexual violence survivors interviewed were held in conditions akin to sexual slavery. They reported contracting sexually transmitted infections as a result of the rapes, leading to pain and suffering. While both 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 and amount 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 has “categorically rejected” allegations that its combatants raped, sexually enslaved, or forced women to “marry” its commanders. They stated that “no official complaint, report, or referral has been brought to the attention of our internal disciplinary or judicial bodies concerning the facts mentioned.”
The leadership of the CMC-FDP should have been aware of the violence perpetrated by its commanders. They could be considered complicit if they knew these acts were occurring and failed to take action to prevent or stop them.
Ill-treatment 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 from 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 them as CMC-FDP combatants because the group maintained a base in Mashango, within the Bukombo groupement, a region they controlled.
The combatants took her husband and killed him. “They cut him with a machete. Everyone was killed with a machete. I then went searching for the bodies… when we found them, they were already decomposing.” This woman gave birth to a baby boy, alone in the forest, at 5:30 p.m. that same day.
Another female victim informed that her husband had 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 mercy on me because I was pregnant. They replied, ‘Your pregnancy is not our concern; we want to see your husband.’ They severely beat me. They struck and wounded me with a knife. The next day, I suffered a miscarriage.”
The CMC-FDP denied the allegation that they had looted and burned homes.
Revenge killings and summary executions
Nine victims and survivors reported that CMC-FDP combatants killed their husbands or abducted them because their sons or husbands had joined the M23.
A 35-year-old woman described how a commander and six CMC-FDP combatants came to her home in Kyahemba, a village in the 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 did not know how he had been recruited. At that moment, he began shooting my husband.” She specified that her husband was shot three times in the chest, witnessed by 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 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 involved in the detention or killing of their relatives.
Another woman, Elisabeth*, stated 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 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 measures taken to investigate allegations of civilian killings by its combatants. It claimed insufficient information to conduct investigations.
Extortion and threats
Before the M23’s arrival in the region, the CMC-FDP extracted 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 had 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 sure my son joined their group. I said it wasn’t me who took him there. How was I going to find him? Every 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 arrived at her home. “I look like a Tutsi. [The CMC-FDP combatants] forced the door open, 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 did not know, they explained they would take her to one of the CMC-FDP military commanders and implied he would force her to reveal her husband’s whereabouts.
Every 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 had driven 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 beheaded.”
The CMC-FDP wrote that it had “neither a policy nor a 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 identifying the perpetrators so that appropriate measures can be taken in accordance with disciplinary rules and the requirements of justice.”
The leadership of the CMC-FDP should have been aware of the 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’s support for the CMC-FDP
In May 2023, the DRC enacted a law establishing the Armed Reserve for Defense, which provided for the integration of certain local armed groups, including the CMC-FDP, into the Congolese army, thereby forming an auxiliary force to combat the M23.
The FARDC provides financial aid and supplies weapons and ammunition to these armed groups. In December 2025, the DRC’s Minister of Finance informed the National Assembly’s Defense and Security Commission 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 intolerable that the Congolese army continues to support CMC-FDP combatants despite the horrific human rights violations they inflict on civilians.
Tigere Chagutah
In July 2024, the European Union sanctioned the CMC-FDP’s commander-in-chief, Dominique “Domi” Kamanzi Ndaruhutse, for “committing acts that constitute serious human rights violations and abuses.” Ndaruhutse 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 armed opposition group operating in eastern DRC, composed of Rwandan and Congolese combatants. Its ranks include former members of the Interahamwe and former Rwandan soldiers responsible for the 1994 genocide, as well as fighters who did not participate in the genocide.
“It is intolerable that the Congolese army continues to support CMC-FDP combatants despite the horrific human rights violations they inflict on civilians,” Tigere Chagutah asserted. “The group has engaged in rampant violence for years. Congolese authorities must immediately end their collaboration with 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.
