In response to recent violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United States has taken steps to expand the sanctions that were initially imposed against targeted persons in the DRC in October 2006. While these sanctions do not target the geographic territory (i.e., the DRC as a whole is not subject to sanctions), they do prohibit transactions with certain designated persons. These actions reflect the continued trend of the U.S. government to utilize such measures to penalize actors contributing to severe instability and violence.
