Ministry of Defence, KG 1 Roundabout, Kigali, Rwanda
Official reason
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF)—the military of Rwanda—and four of its senior officials. The RDF is actively supporting, training, and fighting alongside the March 23 Movement (M23), a U.S.- and United Nations (UN)-sanctioned armed group responsible for human rights abuses and a mass displacement crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The RDF has supported M23 as it seized territory in eastern DRC, including provincial capitals Goma and Bukavu, along with strategic mining sites in eastern DRC. M23’s offensives would not have been possible without the active support and complicity of the RDF and key senior officials. The Rwanda Defence Force has provided direct operational support to M23 and its affiliates. The RDF has introduced advanced military equipment to the battlefield in eastern DRC, including GPS jamming systems, air defense equipment, drones, and additional materiel. Thousands of RDF troops are deployed across eastern DRC, where they actively engage in combat operations and facilitate M23’s control of territory. The RDF also provides training to M23 fighters at RDF military centers and supports its recruitment efforts, including the recruitment of refugees. The RDF is being designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13413, as amended by E.O. 13671, for being responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the DRC; and for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of M23. Nyakarundi, Karusisi, Muganga, and Gashugi are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13413, as amended, for being leaders of the RDF, an entity that has, or whose members have, been responsible for or complicit in, or has engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the DRC.
Democratic Republic of the Congo Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. 547
Regime
OFAC country specific / UN
Target State
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Measures
Blocking Property
Sanctions Portfolio
• https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/topic/1556
460. Can U.S. persons do business with entities in North Korea?
No. Unless authorized pursuant to a general or specific license from OFAC and/or BIS, Executive Order (E.O.) 13722 prohibits new investment in North Korea by a U.S. person and the exportation or reexportation, from the United States, or by a U.S. person, of any goods, services, or technology to North Korea. E.O. 13810 (“Imposing Additional Sanctions with Respect to North Korea”) does not modify any of those prohibitions.
Official Information
On May 28, 2009, OFAC issued the Democratic Republic of the Congo Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 547 (the “Regulations”) (74 FR 25439, May 28, 2009) to implement Executive Order 13413 of October 27, 2006 (71 FR 64105, October 31, 2006) (E.O. 13413).
Executive Order 13671. On July 8, 2014, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International EmergencyEconomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706) (IEEPA) and section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), issued Executive Order 13671 (79 FR 39949, July 10, 2014) (E.O. 13671). In E.O. 13671, the President amended E.O. 13413 to take additional steps to deal with the national emergency with respect to the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared in E.O. 13413, in view of multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions, including Resolution 2136 of January 30, 2014, and in light of the continuation of activities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the surrounding region, including operations by armed groups, widespread violence and atrocities, human rights abuses, recruitment and use of child soldiers, attacks on peacekeepers, obstruction of humanitarian operations, and exploitation of natural resources to finance persons engaged in these activities.
