Kampala, Uganda — The State Department said on Friday that the US is imposing visa restrictions on “several senior Rwandan officials for promoting instability” in eastern Congo, intensifying pressure on the East African country after the sanctions were announced earlier this week.
The unnamed officials were targeted for their support of Congo’s M23 rebel group, which the US government says continues despite a US-brokered peace deal signed in December between the Rwandan and Congolese governments.
“By continuing to support M23 and violating the Washington Accords, these individuals are perpetrating violence and undermining stability in the region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
The US said it “expects all parties to fully honor their commitments to the Washington Accords”, which include expectations for the immediate neutralization of armed groups that threaten Rwanda and the withdrawal of Rwandan forces from Congo.
On Monday, the US imposed sanctions on the Rwandan military and four of its senior officers for supporting M23, whose insurgency has displaced thousands in eastern Congo. The group has been blamed for human rights abuses there.
Rwandan officials said the US sanctions were unjust, which they said constituted a violation of the peace accord by the Congolese government.
US President Donald Trump praised the leaders’ courage during the signing, as the deal opened up the region’s critical mineral reserves to the US government and American companies.
Despite the agreement, fighting between the two sides continues on several fronts in eastern Congo, claiming numerous civilian and military casualties.
M23 is the most prominent of about 100 armed factions vying for control in eastern Congo, near the border with Rwanda. The conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, according to the UN agency for refugees.
Congo, US and UN experts accuse Rwanda of supporting M23, which has grown from hundreds of members to nearly 6,500 fighters in 2021, according to the UN.
M23 emerged in 2012 as a Tutsi-led rebel group whose members signed a 2009 accord to look after their interests – including integration into the army and the return of refugees from elsewhere in East Africa – which the Congolese government said had been violated.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has described M23’s fight to protect the rights of Congolese Tutsis who have sought refuge in neighboring countries for decades as justified.
The decades-long conflict escalated in January 2025 after rebels made unprecedented advances into the major cities of Goma and Bukavu, further extending their control over several cities and towns in the hard-hit region.
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