The United States has slapped sanctions on James Kabarebe, Rwandan Minister of State for Regional Integration and Lawrence Kingston Kanyuka, the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels political spokesperson over insurgency in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a statement released on Thursday by Tammy Bruce, Spokesperson of the United States Department of State, the two are accused of being linked to violence and human rights abuses in eastern DR Congo.
According to the statement, Kanyuka has been sanctioned together with two companies he controls; Kingston Fresh and Kingston Holding. The statement states that since mid-December 2024, the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group has expanded its control over the territory of the DRC, seizing the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma, on January 27, 2025, and the South Kivu provincial capital, Bukavu, on February 16, 2025.
The statement states that the aggression undermines the territorial integrity of the DRC and with Rwandan support, it has also threatened, injured, killed and displaced thousands of innocent civilians, claimed the lives of three United Nations peacekeepers and injured several others as well as violence risks escalating into a broader regional conflict.
It further calls on Rwanda’s leaders to cease support for the M23, already designated by the United States and the UN, and to withdraw all Rwandan Defense Forces troops from DRC territory. It also calls on Rwanda to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC. The statement adds that continued conflict hampers economic development and discourages U.S. companies from investing in both Rwanda and the DRC, which is a loss to the region and the American people. “The United States today sanctioned two individuals and two entities linked to violence and human rights abuses in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This action includes the designation of Rwandan Minister of State for Regional Integration James Kabarebe, as well as Lawrence Kanyuka Kingston, a spokesperson for M23 and the Congo River Alliance, and two of the companies he controls, Kingston Fresh and Kingston Holding.
Both Kanyuka and Kabarebe have not yet personally reacted to the sanctions.
Patrick Katembwe Muyaya, DR Congo’s Minister of Communications and Media said that DR Congo has welcomed the sanctions. According to Muyaya, this marks the beginning of a long series of sanctions that the nation wants to be more robust from the Security Council, the European Union and other partners to force Rwanda to withdraw its troops and cease its criminal activities on her soil.
“We welcome the US sanctions against General James Kabarebe, Rwandan Minister of Regional Integration and against the spokesperson of the terrorist movement M23. This marks the beginning of a long series of sanctions that we want to be more robust from the Security Council, the European Union and other partners to force Rwanda to withdraw its troops and cease its criminal activities on our soil”, says Muyaya in a statement.
Yolande Makolo, Rwanda’s Government Spokesperson says that the Rwandan government strongly condemned sanctions imposed by the United States against Minister Kabarebe over the ongoing conflict in DRC, terming them “unjustified” and counterproductive to regional peace efforts. Makolo says that the sanctions are unjustified. She says that the international community should support but not undermine ongoing regional efforts towards a political solution. She adds that If sanctions could resolve the conflict in eastern DR Congo, the region would have had peace decades ago.
Kanyuka and Kabarebe join another list of M23 rebel leaders namely; Bertrand Bisimwa, Corneille Nangaa Yobeluo, Lt.Col. Willy Ngoma and Colonel Charles Sematama, a commander and deputy military leader of Twirwaneho, militia group operating in South Kivu but affiliated to M23/AFC.
The insurgency resumed in 2022, led by Bertrand Bisimwa and Emmanuel Sultan Makenga. Since then insurgency left many parts of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the hands of the rebels.
Bisimwa and Makenga August 2024 allied with Nangaa to amplify the insurgency against the government. The DR Congo government has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting M23, a claim that both Rwanda and M23 deny.