Vatican newspaper shines spotlight on M23 atrocities against Congolese miners
October 07, 2026
In the most prominent front-page article in its October 6 edition, the Vatican newspaper drew attention to atrocities committed by members of the March 23 (M23) Movement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“The history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is being stained by a new, dramatic chapter of violence, confirming how the global energy transition and the West’s ceaseless demand for technology continue to be fueled—and paid for—with the blood of the innocent,” Francesco Citterich wrote in “Il prezzo umano della tecnologia“ (The human price of technology).
Citterich wrote that a recent Amnesty International report (“DRC: ‘We Didn’t Come to Play’: M23 Abuses at Artisanal Mines and the Trafficking of Gold and Coltan to Rwanda“) “lifts the veil of silence on a systematic slaughter unfolding in the east of the African nation, where the war for territorial control is intertwined with an equally ruthless struggle for control over immense underground mineral wealth.”
“At the heart of the indictment is the March 23 Movement (M23), a Rwanda-backed rebel group held responsible for grave human rights violations against artisanal miners and for exercising systematic control over mining operations, actions deemed to constitute the war crime of pillage,” said Citterich.
The journalist concluded:
Faced with this crisis, humanitarian organizations have called for immediate action. However, the most urgent appeal is directed at major technology multinationals: they must immediately strengthen controls regarding the provenance of gold and coltan from the Great Lakes region, and specifically materials extracted in conflict zones or passing through Rwanda, until their lawful origin and the absence of links to networks of looting and the financing of armed groups can be guaranteed through verifiable and traceable evidence.
Yet responsible extraction must not result in the abandonment of Congolese miners, who would risk losing their only available source of livelihood. Instead, it must entail independent oversight, rigorous transparency, and traceability, ensuring that the digitalization of the world is not fueled by the suffering and rights violations of the most vulnerable workers.
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