Faced with escalating violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States is taking a tougher stance. Through targeted sanctions, Washington is denouncing not only logistical support, but also the direct operational involvement of Rwandan troops alongside M23 rebels.

According to UN and military sources, several thousand Rwandan soldiers, including special forces units, crossed the Congolese border in the weeks leading up to this major operation.

In response to the new sanctions imposed on the Rwandan army and four of its senior commanders, Human Rights Watch considers the overall response to be still too timid. The human rights organization is calling on the European Union, the United Kingdom and governments in the region to follow the United States’ lead.

The objective is clear: to increase pressure by adopting targeted sanctions against other high-ranking officials, both within the M23 and the Rwandan military hierarchy, in order to break the cycle of violence in eastern Congo.

For Nicole Widdersheim, deputy director of the organization’s Washington office, these US measures go beyond the mere diplomatic framework.

“The United States is making it clear that the M23’s territorial gains would not have been possible without the direct operational involvement of the Rwandan army,” she explains. According to her, these sanctions reflect an effort by Washington to enforce international agreements and demand that Rwanda end its support for the armed group “once and for all”.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) corroborates this analysis, stating that the Rwandan army “actively supports, trains and fights alongside the M23”.

The M23 is now at the heart of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the region. The United Nations, the United States and the European Union have documented an alarming list of abuses attributed to the group, including summary executions and sexual violence, massive, forced displacement of populations, indiscriminate attacks on civilians, and forced recruitment, including of child soldiers.

Written by Azarias Mokonzi