US cautions about penalties for Rwandan and Congolese officials due to conflict

The US has issued a warning about potential sanctions targeting Rwandan and Congolese officials before a summit aimed at dealing with the intensifying conflict in eastern Congo, as per a diplomatic note reviewed by Reuters on Friday.

In eastern Congo, where Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have taken the regional capital Goma and are expanding their control, Kinshasa and Kigali have accused one another for the reemergence of unrest.

A diplomatic note dispatched by Washington to Kenya on Friday stated that stability in the region will necessitate the Rwandan military’s “withdrawal of its forces and advanced weaponry” from Congo. Kenya, which chairs the East African Community and has acted as a mediator in the crisis, received this note.

“We will contemplate sanctions against those who do not cooperate, including military and government officials from both parties, as we impose these demands on both sides,” the note stated.

Starting Friday in Tanzania, a high-stakes summit of leaders from Eastern and Southern Africa may convene Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who faces allegations from Congo, the United Nations, and other Western allies regarding his provision of arms and support to rebels.

The allegations have been consistently denied by Rwanda.

In July, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes M23.

After last week’s capture of Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, M23 on Wednesday seized another mining town in an advance toward Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, thereby breaching a unilateral ceasefire they had announced.

On Wednesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that the recent fighting in Goma had resulted in at least 2,800 deaths.

At an emergency gathering of the UN Human Rights Council on Friday, Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief, stated that he anticipated a rise in sexual violence in the region, including cases of rape and sexual slavery.