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The United States has sanctioned the Rwandan Defense Force (RDF) and four senior RDF officers for “direct operational support” to the March 23 Movement (M23) and its affiliates in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The U.S. said days after President Donald Trump presided over the December 4, 2025 signing of the Washington Accords for Peace by President Felix Tshisekedi and President Paul Kagame, Rwanda-backed M23 captured Uvira city in Congo.
M23 has been implicated in human rights abuses, executions, and violence against civilians, including women and children. Already under U.S. and United Nations sanctions, M23 has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to over 8,000.
On Monday, the State Department emphasized that the steady backing from the RDF and its leadership has enabled M23 to take over locations in DRC sovereign territory—including Goma, Bukavu, and Uvira—and perpetrate grave abuses.
Reiterating support for calm in eastern DRC and the wider region, the American government said the Washington Accords mark a decisive turning point for the Great Lakes region and set a new course for peace, cooperation, and prosperity among neighbors.
The sanctions affect Gen. Mubarakh Muganga, RDF’s Chief of Defense Staff; Maj. Gen. Vincent Nyakarundi, Army Chief of Staff; Maj. Gen. Ruki Karusisi, 5th Infantry Division commander, and Brig. Gen. Stanislas Gashugi, Special Operations commander.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has blocked their property and interests. “We expect the immediate withdrawal of RDF troops, weapons, and equipment [from DRC],” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Responding, Rwandan government spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, stated that the U.S. sanctions “unjustly targeting only one party to the peace process misrepresent the reality and distort the facts of the conflict.”
The official, in a release, said the “consistent and indiscriminate” drone attacks and ground offensives, which have claimed many lives, constitute clear violations of the ceasefire agreement by the DRC.
The DRC coalition, according to Makolo, comprises “foreign mercenaries, state-sponsored ethnic militias (Wazalendo) and the FDLR genocidal militia,” which fights alongside the FARDC [Congo’s Armed Forces].
Rwanda further argued that Kinshasa’s promise to end support for non-state actors remains. Kigali, however, assured it remains committed to the Washington Accords and the Regional Economic Integration Framework.
Last December, the U.S. and European partners issued a joint reaction after violence erupted in South Kivu, in eastern DRC, following an offensive by the M23. The fighters’ attacks “risk destabilizing the whole region,” the allies warned.
