Rwanda is facing international backlash for backing M23 rebels in DR Congo, an accusation it denies.
The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on a Rwandan government minister and a senior member of an armed group for their alleged role in the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as M23 rebels there continue an offensive that is fuelling a mass exodus to Burundi.
The US Treasury Department on Thursday said Rwanda’s Minister of State for Regional Integration James Kabarebe was being targeted because he is “central to Rwanda’s support” for the M23 armed group.
The US sanctions also targeted Lawrence Kanyuka Kingston, a senior member and spokesperson for the Congo River Alliance – which includes the M23 – and two companies he controls in the United Kingdom and France.
In a statement, the Treasury said the two individuals and two entities were “linked to violence and human rights abuses” in DRC. “Today’s action underscores the need for Rwanda to return to negotiations under the Angola-led Luanda Process to achieve a resolution to the conflict in eastern DRC,” it added.
There was no immediate comment from Rwanda, which denies accusations from the United Nations, the US and several other countries that it supports the M23 militarily.
Rwanda has accused the DRC of sheltering the FDLR, an armed group created by Hutus who took part in the massacre of Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The DRC government accuses Rwanda of “expansionist ambitions” and says it is stealing vast amounts of minerals. UN experts said in a report (PDF) published last month that rebels in eastern DRC fraudulently exported 150 tonnes of coltan to Rwanda in 2024.
Germany summons ambassador
Separately on Thursday, Germany said it was summoning the Rwandan ambassador to Berlin to protest against M23 advances in eastern DRC.
“Backed by Rwanda the M23 militia continues its offensive in eastern DRC. Rwanda must respect the integrity of the DRC [and] withdraw its troops,” Germany’s Federal Foreign Office said on social media platform BlueSky. “We strongly condemn the violation of international law and have summoned the Rwandan ambassador.”
The ministry also said the DRC government in Kinshasa needed to “talk to M23” and “take Rwanda’s legitimate security interests seriously”.
The United Nations refugee agency said the conflict in the DRC had sparked Burundi’s biggest influx of refugees in 25 years, as roughly 30,000 people crossed the border to escape the rebels’ advance.
“People are still pouring in by the thousands every day,” Brigitte Mukanga-Eno, a UNHCR representative in Burundi, told a news conference on Wednesday.
The Rwandan-backed fighters have made big gains in the eastern DRC, seizing the cities of Goma and Bukavu and stoking fears of a regional conflagration.
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, confirmed on Tuesday that M23 fighters had conducted summary executions of children after they entered the city of Bukavu last week.
Some of the rebels were also underage, it said.
“We are also aware that children were in possession of weapons,” OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said. “We call on Rwanda and M23 to ensure that human rights and international humanitarian law are respected.”
Al Jazeera’s Alain Uaykani, reporting from Bukavu, said Red Cross staff were collecting bodies for a mass burial. “It’s very difficult to know the identities of those who were killed here, but the Red Cross has confirmed that children are among the victims,” he said.
Uaykani added that the M23 has denied responsibility, pinning the killings on the Congolese army instead.