Global brands ‘likely’ using mineral that funds rebels accused of atrocities in DRC, investigation finds

M23 militiamen at the mining pits in Rubaya, in DRC’s North Kivu province. Much of the coltan extracted there is smuggled into Rwanda. Photograph: Camille Laffont/AFP/Getty Images

Leading global brands including Amazon, Ericsson and Sony are “likely” to have sourced minerals linked to a militia accused of widespread sexual violence, summary executions and torture, a new investigation claims.

The companies allegedly, but unknowingly, acquired coltan smuggled from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that are occupied by the M23 militia, which has committed myriad atrocities in eastern DRC.