The United States government on March 2, 2026, announced sanctions on Rwanda's military and four senior commanders because of their support for the abusive M23 armed group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. The sanctions have wide-reaching implications for business, financial, arms, equipment, and other transactions with the Rwandan army, the Rwanda Defence Force.
The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control stated that Rwanda's military "is actively supporting, training, and fighting alongside the [M23]," an "armed group responsible for human rights abuses and a mass displacement crisis" in eastern Congo. The sanctions follow the Rwandan military and M23's capture of the city of Uvira on December 10, 2025, days after the Rwandan and Congolese presidents signed a US-brokered peace agreement in Washington, DC.
"The US sanctions go beyond acting against the Rwandan military's support for the M23 and reflect a significant effort to enforce the December 2025 Washington Accords," said Nicole Widdersheim, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch. "The US is making clear that the M23's territorial gains would have been impossible without the Rwandan military's direct operational involvement, and that Rwanda should end its support to the M23 once and for all."
The United Nations, the Unites States, and the European Union, as well as human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, have reported on the M23's widespread violations of international law, including summary executions, sexual violence, forced displacement, indiscriminate attacks on civilians, and forced recruitment, including of children. Many of the abuses occurred during and since the M23 and Rwandan military captured large swathes of territory in eastern Congo in 2025, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu as well as strategic mining sites critical to the region's economy and global mineral supply chains.
UN and military sources told Human Rights Watch that several thousand Rwandan soldiers, including special forces, crossed the border into Congo in the weeks preceding the offensive on Uvira in December. The M23 withdrew from Uvira in January following intense diplomatic pressure.
Those sanctioned include Maj. Gen. Vincent Nyakarundi, the Rwandan army chief of staff; Maj. Gen. Ruki Karusisi, commander of the 5th Infantry Division and former special forces commander; Gen. Mubarakh Muganga, the chief of defence staff; and Brig. Gen. Stanislas Gashugi, the special operations force commander.
The US sanctions block any assets these individuals or the Rwandan military may hold in the United States and prohibit US citizens from engaging in transactions with them. The Treasury Department stated in its news release that "financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons." This could have implications for institutions partnering with the Rwandan military, including the EU and its European Peace Facility funding to Rwandan army joint military operations in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
In February 2025, the US imposed financial and property sanctions on Rwanda's then-minister of state and current senior defense and security adviser to the president, Gen. James Kabarebe. In March 2025, the EU sanctioned several M23 leaders, several Rwandan officials, including General Karusisi, and the head of Rwanda's Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board, as well as a gold company for their role supporting abuses in eastern Congo. In response, the Rwandan government cut diplomatic ties to Belgium. Since then, the EU has not taken any additional measures in response to M23's violations and Rwanda's support for the armed group.
The new US sanctions come amid a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo, where ongoing fighting has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and exposed civilians to serious abuses. The haphazard and uncoordinated international response to Rwanda's support for the M23 has not provided a serious check on these abuses and has emboldened abusers on all sides, Human Rights Watch said.
Other concerned governments, notably in the EU, in the region, and the United Kingdom should follow the United States' lead by imposing targeted sanctions on additional M23 commanders and Rwandan military figures and officials or entities enabling M23 abuses. The US and regional actors should ensure that monitoring mechanisms are used to enforce the peace agreement's provisions.
Measures should also extend to any Congolese officials or allied groups whose actions pose a risk to civilians. Sustained multilateral pressure on all parties to the conflict is necessary to ensure civilians are adequately protected and have access to humanitarian assistance, Human Rights Watch said.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights should also intensify scrutiny of violations in eastern Congo, including through its special mechanisms. Regional accountability avenues should complement international efforts.
"The US Treasury's announcement signals that the US government is prepared to use available tools to uphold the Washington Accords," Widdersheim said. "The US and other governments should go beyond sanctions and press for accountability for war crimes and other grave violations of international law in eastern Congo."
