The US has imposed visa sanctions on militia leaders linked to violence in the Congo-Rwanda region.
Six members of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s and Rwanda’s military forces or militias were sanctioned.
These new sanctions are coming just days after some officials from the same reason were barred from entering the US for illicit wildlife trade.
Six members of the military forces or militias from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda were subject to sanctions on Thursday by the United States as a result of their suspected involvement in igniting the violence in the region.
The persons, according to a statement from the U.S. Treasury Department, included one senior official from the Congo and one from Rwanda, as well as four top members of rebel armed organizations who have been sabotaging the stability of the eastern borders of the Congo for years.
In November 2021, the Rwandan-backed March 23 Movement (M23) captured portions of the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, igniting a conflict that has since forced thousands of residents to flee.
“Today’s sanctions reflect the United States’ commitment to advancing efforts to resolve the crisis and address the dire humanitarian situation,” said Brian Nelson, the treasury’s assistant secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement.
“All sides in the conflict are responsible for serious human rights abuses including, but not limited to, intentional targeting of civilian populations through sexual violence,” the treasury’s assistant secretary, added.
An ongoing humanitarian catastrophe has developed in eastern Congo as a result of war and frequent natural disasters. According to U.N. statistics, North Kivu and its neighboring provinces are home to almost 5.5 million displaced people.
An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by the Congolese army. M23 and the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), another militia whose members were sanctioned, were both unavailable for comment on the penalties on its members.
These new sanctions are coming just days after some officials from the same reason were barred from entering the US for illicit wildlife trade. On the 18th of August, it was reported that US concern in China’s illegal purchases of endangered species from the DRC led to visa bans as reprisal for DRC officials implicated in the trade.
The United States noted that the imposed visa bans are in solidarity with DRC’s conservative efforts and the good work the ICCN is putting in.
