{"id":2000103967,"date":"2026-03-02T23:31:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T21:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000103967"},"modified":"2026-03-04T11:07:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:07:54","slug":"rwanda-regrets-one-sided-u-s-sanctions-reaffirms-commitment-to-peace-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-regrets-one-sided-u-s-sanctions-reaffirms-commitment-to-peace-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda regrets \u2018one-sided\u2019 U.S. sanctions, reaffirms commitment to peace process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On March 2, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against the RDF as an institution and four senior military officials; Chief of Defence Staff Gen Mubarakh Muganga; Army Chief of Staff Maj Gen Vincent Nyakarundi; Commander of the RDF Special Operations Force, Brig Gen Stanislas Gashugi; and Commander of the RDF\u2019s Fifth Division, Maj Gen Ruki Karusisi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early December 2025, Rwanda and the DRC signed the Washington Accords in Washington, D.C., aimed at restoring peace in eastern DRC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the agreements, however, a DRC-allied coalition\u2014including the genocidal FDLR militia, mercenaries, Burundian soldiers, and Wazalendo militia, has continued launching attacks on AFC\/M23 positions and densely populated areas using ground and drone offensives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DRC has accused Rwanda of supporting the AFC\/M23 rebel coalition, which resumed fighting in 2021 to defend the rights of marginalized Tutsi communities targeted by the DRC government after previous talks failed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States statement imposed sanctions, accusing Rwanda of backing the M23, allegations Kigali has consistently denied, while urging the Democratic Republic of the Congo to end its collaboration with the FDLR, which has launched attacks on Rwandan territory on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the fighting in DRC, Rwanda was targeted multiple times, prompting the country to establish defensive measures along its border.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its statement released on March 2, 2026, the Rwandan government insisted that the sanctions unfairly target only one party to the peace process while ignoring violations by the DRC side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe sanctions issued today by the United States unjustly targeting only one party to the peace process misrepresent the reality and distort the facts of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,\u201d reads the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsistent and indiscriminate drone attacks and ground offensives constitute clear violations of ceasefire agreements by the DRC, and continue to cost many lives. Protecting Rwanda is a badge of honour which the Rwanda Defence Force carries very proudly,\u201d the statement adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Washington Accords were signed on December 4, 2025, Rwanda has repeatedly affirmed its readiness to comply, stating that its defensive measures will only be lifted once the DRC has fully dismantled the FDLR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the statement released today, Rwanda has again reaffirmed its full commitment to the Washington Accords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe DRC committed, in the Washington Accords, to an irreversible and verifiable end to state support for the FDLR and associated militias, but have not taken any steps to do so. […]  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRwanda welcomes the resumption of the implementation process, including the Joint Oversight Committee, which requires an even-handed approach from all partners. Rwanda remains committed to delivering on all aspects of the Washington Accords, including the Regional Economic Integration Framework,\u201d the statement concluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The fighting in eastern DRC, prompted Rwanda to set up defensive measures along its border.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Government of Rwanda has expressed regret over the United States’ imposition of sanctions on the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and four of its senior officials, describing the measures as unjust, one-sided, and a misrepresentation of the ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000103972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[151,72],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000103967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-editors-choice","tag-featured-news-home","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000103972,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/arasa.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":562,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/arasa.jpg","width":150,"height":84},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/arasa.jpg","width":300,"height":169},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/arasa.jpg","width":768,"height":432},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/arasa.jpg","width":1000,"height":562},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/arasa.jpg","width":1000,"height":562}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000103967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000103967"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000103967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000103971,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000103967\/revisions\/2000103971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000103972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000103967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000103967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000103967"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000103967"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000103967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}