ABSTRACT
Since the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, the Rwandan army – under the leadership of President Paul Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front party – has been militarily involved in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Pursuing former génocidaires (perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide), it triggered regime change to ensure Kinshasa would remain sympathetic to its political and economic interests, leading to the First and Second Congo wars. In December 2022, the UN Group of Experts on the DRC confirmed Rwandan support to M23 in the form of weapons provision, troop reinforcement, military intelligence and political support. In the DRC, the Rwanda Defence Force has acted jointly with M23 but also independently, especially against the FDLR. Kagame has made it abundantly clear that he will not ask for permission to intervene militarily in the DRC in the name of defeating the former genocidaires.
