March 4, 2009
tg-49
Treasury Designates Five Individuals for Contributing to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Washington, DC -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated five individuals pursuant to Executive Order 13413, which targets, among others, political or military leaders of foreign armed groups operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The five individuals are political and military leaders of the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR). The FDLR is an armed group operating in the DRC made up of ex-Rwandese Armed Forces, Interahamwe, and other Hutu extremists, including those responsible for the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The FDLR has been blamed as the root cause of instability in the eastern DRC, and its activities pose a grave threat to the entire Great Lakes region.
The United Nations has also added four of these five individuals to the United Nations Security Council's Consolidated Travel Ban and Assets Freeze list. The fifth individual has already been listed at the UN.
"These individuals bear heavy responsibility for the instability and enduring conflict in the eastern DRC," said OFAC Director Adam J. Szubin. "We are taking action in concert with the U.N. Security Council to disrupt their activities and to stem the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
The individuals designated today are Sylvestre Mudacumura, Callixte Mbarushimana, Pacifique Ntawunguka, Leopold Mujyambere, and Stanislas Nzeyimana, all of whom are military or political leaders of the FDLR.
As a result of Treasury's action, any assets of the individuals designated today that are within U.S. jurisdiction must be frozen. Additionally, U.S. persons are prohibited from conducting any transactions with these individuals.
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