The UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on the Mouvement Du 23 Mars (M23) armed rebel group in Democratic Republic of the Congo and two of its leaders.
M23's alleged allies in the neighboring country, Combatant Force for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), has also been added to the blacklist on Monday by the Security Council Sanctions Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 concerning the DR Congo.
M23 has been accused of carrying out mass killings of civilians, as well as raping women and children throughout various regions of the DRC. It also also carried out extensive forced recruitment campaigns of children into its ranks.
Lt. Col. Eric Badege, a military commander of M23, and Jean-Marie Lugerero, the coordinator of the political wing of M23, are the M23 leaders subject to UN punitive measures. The sanctioned groups are subject to asset freeze and arms embargo, while the leaders are subject to asset freeze and travel ban.
Badege is responsible for orchestrating indiscriminate killings of civilians, including women and children, when a militia that had been absorbed into the Congolese army mutinied and went on the rampage in the eastern part of the country.
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