DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: THREE MEN ABDUCTED BY M23 ARMED GROUP

Dear Sir,

I am concerned about the enforced disappearance in the context of the current armed conflict in DRC of Aloys Bigirumwami, Bahati Nshangalume, and Patient Basimike Bukombe Barhuze.

On May 13, 2025, fighters of the armed group, March 23 Movement (M23), conducted a raid in Goma, detaining hundreds of men, women, boys, and girls. The M23-appointed mayor, Julien Katembo, identified Aloys Bigirumwami, a human rights defender and member of the youth movement Lutte pour le Changement (LUCHA) in the crowd. Aloys Bigirumwami was taken away in an M23 vehicle. He has not been seen since. On October 26, 2025, Bahati Nshangalume, a businessman who works in the mining sector, went to M23’s military camp in Luhwindja to discuss a mining transaction with an M23 commander. Bahati Nshangalume has not been seen since. His family members asked M23 authorities about his whereabouts but received no information. On December 17, 2025, men in military uniforms who appeared, according to witnesses, to be M23 fighters, abducted Patient Basimike Bukombe Barhuze, an employee of the Higher Institute of Medical Technology, from a primary school in Munya. He has not been seen since.

I call on you to immediately disclose the fate and whereabouts of Aloys Bigirumwami, Bahati Nshangalume, and Patient Basimike Bukombe Barhuze. If they are detained by M23, they should be immediately and unconditionally released. I also urge you to ensure that no other civilian is detained, that no detainees are tortured or ill-treated in M23 detention centers, and that they have adequate shelter, food, clean water, healthcare, and unfettered access to lawyers and family members.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]