In a statement released on August 20, 2025, the armed group described the HRW report as 'fake, politically motivated, and an instrument of propaganda' aimed at demonising the AFC/M23.
The report, according to HRW, accused the M23 of targeting primarily ethnic Hutu civilians during the alleged killings in the Virunga region.
The statement, issued by the AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka, criticised HRW's methodology, saying the organisation relied on unverified telephone testimonies and satellite imagery without on-the-ground verification.
Kanyuka also accused the report of ignoring atrocities committed by other armed groups in the area, including coalition forces of the Kinshasa regime, the FDLR, Nyatura militias, PARECO, and Wazalendo.
'The Human Rights Watch report of August 20th, 2025, is fake and falsification of reality. Its methodology is fraudulent, its sources are corrupt, and its context is truncated,' the statement reads.
'It is based on no tangible evidence, only on hearsay, deceptively interpreted imagery, and complicit silence regarding the crimes of the coalition forces.'
The group insisted that the HRW report serves to divert attention from what it described as 'military failures and crimes against humanity' committed by the Kinshasa regime.
The AFC/M23 rebel group is currently engaged in ongoing peace processes in Doha, Qatar, aimed at ending the conflict in eastern DRC, where the rebels accuse government forces of targeting Kinyarwanda-speaking communities through marginalisation and violence.
IGIHE
