Current Situation

Rwanda has no government-issued troops in the Democractic Republic of the Congo.  Currently in the DRC, Rwandan rebel troops, many of whom participated in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, continue to terrorize many parts of the country.  These troops are Hutu militias and former Interahamwe members, not troops issued by the Rwandan government. These are individuals not connected to the Rwandan government, and furthermore, the Rwandan government would like them captured and brought to justice for the crimes they committed in Rwanda and in the DRC.

The Rwandan government supports MONUC and will aid in any way possible to bring peace to the DRC. MONUC (Mission of the United Nations Organisation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the largest UN mission in history, currently resides in the DRC  attempting to monitor the peace process in the region.

As the DRC is home to a vast amount of mineral wealth, Rwanda acknowledges that any foreign occupancy must be called into question, but the Rwandan government is solely interested in peace and stability in the region.

History with the DRC

​In 1996, the Rwandan government went into Zaire to capture former FDLR members who committed atrocities in the 1994 genocide. After Laurent Kabila ascended to power, the Rwandan government was asked to remove all troops from the region, and Rwanda complied. The absence of Rwandan troop presence in the DRC left the FDLR militias to run rampant.

The Rwandan government became very concerned when in 1998 the Second Congo War broke out.  Rwanda feared not only for their own citizens, who were still building themselves out of war and lived on the border of this conflict, but also for the innocent civilians in the DRC caught in the fighting.

The Rwandan government supported MONUC when, in 2001,it went into the DRC to monitor the peace agreement set up by Laurent Kabila’s successor and son, Joseph Kabila. 

In 2001,Laurent-Désiré Kabila was assassinated and his son Joseph Kabila tookpower seeking peace talks and the withdrawal of foreign armies.

In 2003, a peace agreement was signed so that Kabila would share power with militia groups and government-backed troops left.

In2006, Rwanda encouraged free and fair election in the DRC. The DRC heldelections and Kabila was sworn in, with MONUC monitoring the peaceprocess.

Future Relations

The government of Rwanda is adamant about Rwandan’s return home from the DRC.  Those who participated in war crimes in the DRC or the 1994 genocide must face repercussions for their actions. The joint Rwanda-World Bank rehabilitation program and center reintegrates former rebels and refugees into Rwandan society and teaches the new culture of equality and forgiveness.

If the DRC government requests, Rwanda will again send troops into the DRC to continue its work uprooting Hutu militias in the region.

Rwanda is not interested in controlling the DRC, nor is it interested in the minerals in the region; the goal of intervention is peace and stability for the region and safety for its civilians.

As a country that has moved forward from a genocide, Rwanda is in a position to help other countries move forward away from violence. Understanding the immense and horrific impact of genocide, Rwanda sent in the first 150 troops to the Darfur region in the Sudan to monitor a ceasefire in the contentious region.  Rwandan troops, under the leadership of the United Nations, remain in this region in order to bring peace and stability to the Sudan.

The government of Rwanda understands the extremity of the situation in the DRC and wants to help, but only if the DRC government allows this help.