Treasury Sanctions Rwandan Minister and Senior Militant for Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on James Kabarebe (Kabarebe), Rwanda’s Minister of State for Regional Integration. Kabarebe is central to Rwanda’s support for the March 23 Movement (M23), a U.S.- and United Nations (UN)-designated armed group that has rapidly expanded its territorial control in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and is responsible for human rights abuses. OFAC is also sanctioning Lawrence Kanyuka Kingston (Kanyuka), an M23 and Congo River Alliance senior member and spokesperson, alongside two of Kanyuka’s companies registered in the U.K. and France.At the end of January, M23 and the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) captured Goma, the provincial capital of the DRC’s North Kivu province in a battle that killed thousands of civilians.