US to Halt Security Assistance to Rwanda  

The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Robert Menendez says he would place a hold on US security assistance to Rwanda in Congress.

The hold comes following concerns about the Rwandan government’s human rights record and role in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Menendez called for a comprehensive review of US policy towards Rwanda.

Report says, he would begin by placing a hold on several million dollars in support for Rwandan peacekeepers participating in UN missions.

Menendez said he feared that US support for the Rwandan military while it is deployed to Congo and backing rebels would send “a troubling signal that the US tacitly approves of such actions.”

He added that there were credible accusations that the Rwandan government was muzzling critics at home and targeting dissidents living outside the country.

The M23 rebel group began a major offensive in Congo’s eastern borderlands with Rwanda at the end of March. Congo has accused Rwanda of backing M23, which Kigali denies.

Meanwhile, the United States allocated more than $147 million in foreign assistance to Rwanda in 2021, making it Rwanda’s largest bilateral donor.

REUTERS/CO