US Sanctions Rwandan Ex-Commander, Congolese Rebel Official
- By: Lewis Mudge | Director, Central Africa
- Photo: Rwanda minister of state and former military commander, Gen. James Kabarebe, in Kigali, September 12, 2012. © 2012 Sylvain Liechti/Monusco
Until now, the international response to the rapidly escalating crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has committed a litany of grave abuses, has been all talk and no action.
But on Thursday, the United States government imposed financial and property sanctions on Rwanda’s minister of state and former military commander, Gen. James Kabarebe, and on Lawrence Kanyuka Kingston, a Congolese national and spokesman for the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a politico-military coalition that includes the M23.
The reemergence of the M23 in late 2021 has exposed civilians to indiscriminate shelling and killings, widespread sexual violence, forced displacement, and other laws-of-war violations by all parties to the conflict. It is evident that Rwandan troops are actively operating alongside the M23 and were crucial in the M23’s advances since January. The region’s humanitarian situation has become increasingly dire.
Kabarebe has played a leading role in Rwanda’s abusive military actions in eastern Congo since 1996. In 2012 he had command control over the M23 when it captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, according to the United Nations. His role in coordinating Rwandan support of the M23 continues today. Kanyuka has been key in M23/AFC’s public relations.
But the muted international response to Rwanda and the M23 has only emboldened them. Last week their forces took Bukavu, the South Kivu provincial capital. This week they advanced on Uvira, a strategically located city further south. We continue to receive serious and credible reports of targeted killings in new zones under the M23’s control.
The US sanctions send a strong message that it is taking the situation in Africa’s Great Lakes region seriously. Other concerned countries, notably the United Kingdom and the European Union, which on Friday summoned Rwanda’s ambassador demanding action, should follow suit. A first step would be to sanction high-level commanders involved in violations in eastern Congo and Rwandan officials behind the M23.
They should also extend sanctions to top Congolese officials involved in abuse, as Congo’s military and its allies have also committed serious violations against civilians as it battles the M23.
The international response may be slow in coming, but it is not too late to pressure all warring parties to give a needed reprieve to civilians already affected by the conflict.