The United States Department of the Treasury has announced sanctions against a Rwandan government minister and a leader of an armed group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), citing their alleged roles in fueling the ongoing conflict, Al Jazeera reports.
The move comes as fighting in eastern DRC intensifies, leading to a mass exodus of refugees into neighboring Burundi.
Rwanda’s Minister of State for Regional Integration, James Kabarebe, is being targeted for his alleged “central” role in providing support to the M23 armed group, according to the Treasury Department. Lawrence Kanyuka Kingston, a senior member and spokesperson for the Congo River Alliance (which includes the M23), is also facing sanctions, along with two companies he controls in the United Kingdom and France.
The Treasury Department’s statement emphasized that these individuals and entities are “linked to violence and human rights abuses” in the DRC. The statement further called for Rwanda to “return to negotiations under the Angola-led Luanda Process to achieve a resolution to the conflict in eastern DRC.”
The M23 rebels, allegedly backed by Rwanda, have made significant territorial gains in eastern DRC, including seizing the cities of Goma and Bukavu. These advances have raised concerns about a potential regional conflict and have triggered a major humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations refugee agency reports that the conflict has sparked Burundi’s largest influx of refugees in 25 years, with some 30,000 people crossing the border to escape the escalating violence.
Disturbing reports from the UN human rights office (OHCHR) have also surfaced, alleging that M23 fighters conducted summary executions of children after entering Bukavu last week. The OHCHR also noted that some of the rebels themselves were underage. The M23 has denied responsibility for the killings, blaming the Congolese army instead.
