US Congress Orders Review of M23 as Terrorist Group

The U.S. Senate has directed the State Department to determine whether the Rwandan-backed March 23 Movement (M23) and Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) meet the criteria for designation as foreign terrorist organisations.

A recent amendment to the 2026 defence bill instructs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Treasury and Justice departments, to assess both M23 and RSF armed groups and report back to Congress within 90 days.

The measure comes as evidence mounts of large-scale abuses by M23 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since seizing the eastern cities of Goma and Bukavu early this year, the rebel group has raided hospitals and abducted more than 130 people, including wounded soldiers and civilians; many were tortured, and some remain missing.

United Nations human rights officials described the attacks on the CBCA Ndosho and Heal Africa hospitals in Goma in late February as “gravely concerning” and called for the immediate release of all abductees and documented summary executions and forced disappearances. Human Rights Watch reported that M23 fighters killed at least 21 civilians in Goma on 22–23 February; witnesses said some victims were shot in the head near Katindo military camp and others were dumped at a nearby construction site.

The same report noted that medical workers collected more than 50 bodies from the neighbourhood over those two days.

• READ: NBC Investigation Reveals Rwanda’s Secret Role in Congo Conflict

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said in August that M23 rebels killed at least 319 civilians, including 48 women and 19 children, in July in North Kivu province.

He described the violence as one of the deadliest episodes since the group’s resurgence in 2022. Citing the UN Joint Human Rights Office, the report states that the killings took place in four villages in Rutshuru territory and that most victims were farmers camping in their fields.

Other abuses include the forcible transfer of civilians. M23 rounded up as many as 2,000 people from the town of Sake and deported them to Rwanda; researchers called the forced transfers a war crime and said Rwanda’s support makes it ultimately responsible for the abuses.

Amnesty International and UN agencies have also documented widespread sexual violence. Survivors recounted gang rapes by M23 fighters and reported that some victims were threatened with death.

M23’s record of violations predates the current offensive. Earlier reports from Human Rights Watch describe war crimes in 2012–2013, including summary executions of at least 15 civilians, the rape of dozens of women and girls (some as young as eight), and forced recruitment of children.

Amnesty International documented further massacres in late 2022, when M23 fighters unlawfully killed dozens of civilians in Bambo and Kishishe. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect estimates that fighting linked to M23 since early 2025 has killed more than 7,000 people and displaced over half a million.

The Congolese government and regional bodies have urged the international community to treat M23 as a terrorist organisation. The group, composed largely of Tutsi fighters and reportedly backed by Rwanda, originally formed in 2012 and reemerged in 2021.

It claims to defend the Tutsi minority but has been accused of exploiting mineral resources and targeting civilians. The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on their leaders and on Rwandan officials accused of supporting the group.

Designating M23 as a foreign terrorist organisation would authorise further U.S. sanctions and make providing material support to the group a crime under U.S. law. The State Department’s review, now mandated by Congress, will examine whether M23’s actions meet the legal threshold for terrorism, namely, that it engages in terrorist activity that threatens U.S. nationals or national security.

Supporters of the measure argue that the group’s mass killings, forced transfers, and systematic violations of international humanitarian law warrant the designation, while critics caution that it could complicate ongoing regional peace efforts.