US blacklists DRCongo general and three rebel leaders

The Treasury said Muhindo Akili Mundos, a general in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo and an ally of President Joseph Kabila, had “cooperated profitably” with rebel groups in North Kivu province in 2014 when he was supposed to be working together with the United Nations stabilization mission for the region.

Mundos failed to intervene to stop rebel abductions and mass killings. In addition, the Treasury said, he “recruited and equipped former fighters from local armed groups who participated in killings and massacres.”

Also placed on the sanctions blacklist were escaped prisoner Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga, leader of the Kata Katanga rebels in Katanga province; Guidon Shimiray Mwissa, who heads the Nduma Defence of Congo-Renove (NDC-R) in North Kivu; and Lucien Nzabamwita, a military leader of the Rwandan rebel group FDLR.

“We are targeting human rights abusers perpetuating the horrific conflict in the eastern DRC who have contributed to the tremendous suffering of the Congolese people,” said senior Treasury official John Smith in a statement.

“The United States stands in solidarity with the Congolese people against those who destabilize the region.”

The sanctions block any US citizens and businesses from doing business with those listed, as freezes any assets they may have under US jurisdiction.

Over the past four days the United Nations and France also imposed sanctions on Mondos and the three militia leaders.

Mondos was singled out for his alleged complicity in the killings of at least 400 civilians in 2104-2015 by the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group.

Mundos “recruited and equipped ex-combatants from local armed groups to participate in extrajudicial executions and massacres by the Allied Democratic Forces,” the UN peacekeeping mission to the country said.