Key Takeaways:
- On Wednesday the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC sanctioned Rwanda’s Ministry of Defence and Zigama Credit and Savings Society for facilitating support to the March 23 Movement (M23) and its political wing, the Congo River Alliance.
- Secretary Scott Bessent said the action enforces President Trump’s commitment under the December 2025 Washington Accords, requiring Rwanda to halt support for M23 and withdraw its troops from eastern DRC.
- The ministry is designated under Executive Order 13413 for materially assisting the Rwanda Defence Force, which has deployed thousands of troops, advanced weapons and logistics alongside M23 in North and South Kivu, where the group has seized population centers and mining areas and committed human-rights abuses.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Wednesday imposed sanctions on the Rwandan Ministry of Defence and Zigama Credit and Savings Society, a Rwandan financial institution that has played a key role in facilitating Rwanda’s support for the March 23 Movement (M23) and its political wing, the Congo River Alliance.
“Today, the United States makes good on President Trump’s promise to hold Rwanda accountable for its commitments under the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Rwanda must halt its support for M23 and withdraw its troops from eastern DRC.
On October 12, the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation announced its formation as the successor to the Congo River Alliance. M23 is a U.S.- and United Nations-designated armed group that has illegally seized territory in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). With support from Rwanda’s security apparatus, including the deployment of thousands of troops and provision of military equipment, logistics, and training, M23 has captured key population centers and mining areas in eastern DRC, where it has perpetrated human rights abuses, subjected civilians to exploitation and forced labor, and contributed to a severe humanitarian crisis marked by mass displacement.
The historic U.S.-brokered Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity (Washington Accords) were signed by the DRC and Rwandan heads of state on December 4, 2025. In addition to paving the way for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in eastern DRC, the Washington Accords incorporated a regional economic framework to expand trade and investment, enhance transparency in critical minerals supply chains, and promote greater investment in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
The Rwandan Ministry of Defence (Rwandan MoD) is the umbrella organization for Rwanda’s security services, including the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), which OFAC sanctioned on March 2, 2026. At the direction of the Rwandan MoD, the RDF has deployed thousands of troops across eastern DRC’s North and South Kivu provinces, where they conduct operations alongside M23 and provide the armed group with military equipment, supplies, logistical support, and training. The RDF has also introduced advanced weaponry to the battlefield, including surface to air missile systems and jamming equipment, creating risks for civilian aviation in eastern DRC.
Since its rebellion reemerged in 2021, M23 has carried out extrajudicial killings, unlawful detentions, and torture or other physical abuses in areas under its control. In early 2025, M23 captured Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu provinces, respectively. M23 has also taken control of mining areas in eastern DRC, including gold mines in South Kivu province and Rubaya, an expansive area for coltan mining in North Kivu province. In M23-controlled mining areas, civilians have been subjected to forced labor, dangerous working conditions, and illegal “taxation” schemes. Minerals sourced from M23-controlled territory are integrated into supply chains in Rwanda, whose domestic mining capacity is smaller than export volumes reported since M23’s rebellion began. On July 8, 2024, the U.S. Department of State issued a statement of concern related to mineral supply chains that contribute to ongoing instability in eastern DRC.
The Rwandan MoD is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13413, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of the RDF.
