US Will Broaden Sanctions to Deter Violence in Congo
New York Times - 50 minutes ago
The United States will expand sanctions on groups in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, making it easier to target those who are trying to
instigate violence and disrupt peacekeeping efforts in that country,
the White House announced on Tuesday.
"The United States continues to be deeply concerned about the
situation in the D.R.C., which has been marked by activities that
threaten the peace, security and stability of the country," the White
House said in a statement.
The announcement is a quiet signal that the United States is trying to
stay engaged in a troubled region that the administration is often
accused of forgetting. It comes a week after the administration placed
sanctions on the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan militant group
that operates in eastern Congo, and brings the United States in line
with United Nations sanctions that are already in place. Those
targeted by the sanctions could be subject to travel bans or have
their assets frozen.
Both the United States and United Nations measures are broad, and the
United States announcement noted that they would be applied to those
who are "directly or indirectly" involved in the recruitment of child
soldiers, sexual violence, obstruction of humanitarian assistance or
other provocative actions in Congo.
"It's hard to be optimistic when you look at events in the Congo, but
there has been progress in the last few months," said Richard Downie,
deputy director of the
Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies here.
The sanctions are a signal that the United States is trying to keep up
momentum to reduce the violence in Congo, despite efforts among the
commanders of some groups to bring their scattered fighters back into
the fold. "It sends a strong message to the spoilers out there -- we're
not going to stand for efforts to derail this process," Mr. Downie
said.
At the end of last year, the M23 rebel group, made up of former
members of the Congolese Army, signed an agreement to stop fighting.
In June, members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of
Rwanda, another militia operating in eastern Congo, also began to
disarm. Still, many of the fighters from these groups and others
continue to be active.
Last week, the United Nations Security Council and the United States
Treasury Department singled out the Allied Democratic Forces for
attacks carried out against civilians in Congo in 2013, displacing
many people from their homes. "The A.D.F. was also responsible for
brutal attacks on women and children in several villages, including
acts of beheading, mutilation and rape," the Treasury's statement said
in announcing those sanctions.
The sanctions announcement also comes after several high-profile
visits by United States officials in recent months. On Saturday, in
the middle of a trip through several African countries, Jill Biden,
the wife of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., traveled to Kinshasa,
the Congolese capital, and Bukavu, in eastern Congo. Dr. Biden met
with victims of sexual violence at a hospital in Bukavu.
In May, Secretary of State John Kerry visited Congo and urged
President Joseph Kabila to take action against the Allied Democratic
Forces, but noted that military force would not be enough.
"Lasting peace will not grow out of the barrel of a gun," Mr. Kerry
said at the time. "It will come from restoring state authority and
state services."
"It will also come from demobilizing the combatants and returning them
to civilian life," he added.
Next month President Obama and his administration will have another
chance to reinforce concerns about violence in Congo when Mr. Kabila
visits Washington as part of the United States-Africa Leaders Summit.
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SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
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