Rwanda Sanctioned for Facilitating the Recruitment of Child Soldiers

By Prince Kurupati

The United States government has sanctioned Rwanda for playing a key role in facilitating the recruitment of child soldiers. President Joe Biden’s government said Rwanda is complicit in facilitating the recruitment of child soldiers to back the M23 rebels in eastern Congo.

The United States’ sanctions will see all military aid from the U.S. to Rwanda being suspended with immediate effect (week starting 2 October 2023). In sanctioning Rwanda, the U.S. government was guided by the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) of 2008. CSPA aims at eradicating the recruitment of children in armed conflict and allows for violators to be reprimanded.

Rwanda’s blacklisting comes after the UN’s Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo released a demining report in June accusing Rwanda of meddling in the internal affairs of DRC. The report stated that its investigations identified “several RDF (Rwanda Defence Force) commanders and officials coordinating RDF operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo”.

The rationale In sanctioning Rwanda as relayed by a State Department official who spoke in anonymity to the Africa Report comes following intel gathered by U.S. officials that “the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) provided support to the March 23 Movement (M23), an armed group that recruited or used child soldiers in the conflict in eastern DRC”. The State Department official went further stating that “The United States uses the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) list to publicly hold countries to account where we (the U.S.) have credible information of the recruitment or use of child soldiers by government security forces or government-supported armed groups”.

The recent sanctions make it four times that Rwanda has been blacklisted and sanctioned under CSPA violations since 2013. In 2013, Rwanda was hit with military aid restrictions under the child soldiers’ law because of its alleged support for insurgents in eastern Congo. This was followed by another backlisting in 2014 also in relation to M23 rebels and then the 2016 sanctions for its alleged support for Burundian rebel groups.

In 2013 when Rwanda was sanctioned, then U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas Greenfield said “Our goal is to work with countries who have been listed to ensure that any involvement in child soldiers – any involvement in the recruitment of child soldiers – stop’. Then State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf echoed the same sentiments and went further stating that Rwanda was sanctioned because of its “support for the M23, a rebel group which continues to actively recruit and abduct children”. 10 years later, Rwanda seems to still be on the same path.

The latest developments also come just a few weeks after the U.S. Treasury Department “took unprecedented action by going after a senior Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) commander for the first time, imposing financial sanctions on Brig. Gen. Andrew Nyamvumba. The leader of the RDF’s 3^rd Division is accused of launching attacks on Congolese troops in conjunction with M23 fighters,” as reported by Julian Pacquet and Romain Gras writing for Africa Report.

The aid freeze sees Rwanda join several other African countries that are on the CSPA list including Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

The U.S. decision to sanction Rwanda was welcomed by the DRC. Speaking at the just-ended United Nations General Assembly, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi said, “The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo warmly welcomes the sanctions that the U.S. government has just inflicted on Rwanda for its support for the M23 terrorist group and on one of its senior officials implicated in the criminal adventure in Congo.”

Rwanda on the other hand hasn’t been forthcoming with a definite statement. Rather, the Rwandan army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronald Rwivanga simply said, “I have no idea about that decision and the reasons behind it… no notification and no idea of what it represents,” after being quizzed for a reaction on the imposed aid freeze.