Editing History of Rwanda (section)

==Post-civil war Rwanda==
{{See also|Great Lakes refugee crisis}}
[[Image:Rwandan refugee camp in east Zaire.jpg|thumb|300px|A Rwandan refugee camp in [[Zaire]], 1994]]
Between July and August 1994, Kagame's Tutsi-led RPF troops first entered Kigali and soon thereafter captured the rest of the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/education/rwandagenocide.shtml|title=Rwanda: A Brief History of the Country - Outreach Programme on the Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations|access-date=2018-03-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224221744/http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/education/rwandagenocide.shtml|archive-date=2018-02-24|url-status=live}}</ref> The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the genocide, but approximately two million Hutu refugees—some who participated in the genocide and fearing Tutsi retribution—fled to neighboring [[Burundi]], [[Tanzania]], [[Uganda]], and [[Zaire]]. This exodus became known as the [[Great Lakes refugee crisis]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ashe|first1=Muesiri O.|last2=Ojong|first2=Vivian B.|date=2018|title=Population Overhang and the Great Lakes Crisis: Rwanda and Her Neighbours|journal=Journal of African Union Studies|volume=7|issue=2|pages=127–147|doi=10.31920/2050-4306/2018/v7n2a7|s2cid=134975585}}</ref>

After the Tutsi RPF took control of the government, in 1994, Kagame formed a government of national unity headed by a Hutu president, [[Pasteur Bizimungu]]. Kagame became Minister of Defence and [[Vice-President of Rwanda]] and was the de facto leader of the country.<ref name="2007Reuters">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rwanda-president/rwandas-ex-president-freed-from-prison-idUSL0650070720070406
|title=Rwanda's ex-president freed from prison 
|last= Asiimwe 
|first=Arthur 
|work=Reuters 
|quote=An ethnic Hutu, he was appointed president when the ruling Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took power after the 1994 genocide, in which extremists from the Hutu majority butchered 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. President Paul Kagame, whose Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Army ended the hundred days of slaughter, was then vice-president, but in reality had more power than his superior. 
|date=April 6, 2007 
|access-date=April 29, 2021}}</ref>

Following an uprising by the ethnic Tutsi, sometimes referred to as a whole as [[Banyamulenge]] (although this term only represents people from one area in eastern Zaire—other ethnic Tutsi Kinyarwanda-speaking people include the ''Banyamasisi'' and the ''Banyarutshuru'', as an example) people in eastern Zaire in October 1997, a huge movement of refugees began which brought more than 600,000 back to Rwanda in the last two weeks of November. This massive repatriation was followed at the end of December 1996 by the return of another 500,000 from Tanzania, again in a huge, spontaneous wave. Less than 100,000 Rwandans are estimated to remain outside of Rwanda, and they are thought to be the remnants of the defeated army of the former genocidal government, its allies in the civilian militias known as Interahamwe, and soldiers recruited in the refugee camps before 1996.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} There are also many innocent Hutu who remain in the forests of eastern Congo, particularly [[Rutshuru Territory|Rutshuru]], [[Masisi Territory|Masisi]] and Bukavu, who have been misinformed by rebel forces that they will be killed upon return to Rwanda.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} Rebels also use force to prevent these people from returning, as they serve as a human shield.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members killed three Spanish aid workers, three soldiers and seriously wounded one other on January 18, 1997. Since then, most of the refugees have returned and the country is secure for tourists.

Rwandan coffee began to gain importance after international taste tests pronounced it among the best in the world,<ref>{{Cite book|last=King|first=David C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1yLx1zSuh_QC&q=Rwandan+coffee+best+in+world+test&pg=PA50|title=Rwanda|date=2007|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-2333-1|language=en}}</ref> and the U.S. responded with a contribution of 8 million dollars. Rwanda now earns some revenue from coffee and tea export, although it has been difficult to compete with larger coffee-producing countries. The main source of revenue, however, is tourism, mainly mountain gorilla visitation. Their other parks, Nyungwe Forest (one of the last high-altitude tropical forests in the world) and Akagera National Park (a safari game park) have also become popular on the tourism circuit. The lakeside resorts of Gisenyi and Kibuye are also gaining ground.

[[File:Pictures of Genocide Victims at the Genocide Memorial.jpg|thumb|Photographs of genocide victims displayed at the [[Kigali Genocide Memorial|Genocide Memorial Center]] in Kigali]]
When Bizimungu became critical of the Kagame government in 2000, he was removed as president and Kagame took over the presidency himself. Bizimungu immediately founded an opposition party (the PDR), but it was banned by the Kagame government. Bizimungu was arrested in 2002 for treason, sentenced to 15 years in prison, but released by a presidential pardon in 2007.{{Clarify|reason=Add context|date=April 2024}}<ref name="2007Reuters" />

The postwar government has placed high priority on development, opening water taps in the most remote areas, providing free and compulsory education, and promulgating progressive environmental policies. Their Vision 2020 development policy has the aim of achieving a service-based society by 2020, with a significant middle class. There is relatively little corruption in the country: after [[Botswana]] and [[Cape Verde]], it is the third least corrupt country in Africa according to the [[Corruption Perceptions Index]] as of 2022. 

Hutu Rwandan genocidal leaders were put on trial at the [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda]], in the Rwandan National Court system, and, most recently, through the informal [[Gacaca]] programme.<ref>Harrell, Peter E., Rwanda's Gamble: Gacaca and a New Model of Transitional Justice. New York: Writer's Advantage Press, 2003.</ref> Recent reports highlight a number of reprisal killings of survivors for giving evidence at Gacaca.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/rwanda/story/0,,1962910,00.html|title=Spate of killings obstructsRwanda's quest for justice|access-date=2006-03-12|date=2006-03-12|newspaper=[[The Observer]] | location=London | first=Karen | last=McVeigh}}</ref> These Gacaca trials are overseen by the government established National Unity and Reconciliation Commission. ''Gacaca'' is a traditional adjudication mechanism at the [[Imidugudu|''umudugudu'']] (village) level, whereby members of the community elect elders to serve as judges, and the entire community is present for the case. This system was modified to try lower-level ''génocidaires'', those who had killed or stolen but did not organize massacres. Prisoners, dressed in pink, stand trial before members of their community. Judges accord sentences, which vary widely, from returning to prison, to paying back the cost of goods stolen, to working in the fields of families of victims. ''Gacaca'' officially concluded in June 2012.<ref>{{cite news|date=2012-07-18|access-date=2016-10-19|title=Rwanda 'gacaca' genocide courts finish work|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18490348|work=[[BBC News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020125000/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18490348|archive-date=2016-10-20|url-status=live}}</ref> For many, ''Gacaca'' has been a vehicle for closure, and prisoners' testimonies have helped many families locate victims. ''Gacaca'' takes place once a week in the morning in every village across Rwanda and is compulsory.

Ethnicity has been formally outlawed in Rwanda, in the effort to promote a culture of healing and unity. One can stand trial for discussion of the different ethnic groups.<ref name=OutlawEthnicity>{{cite news|last1=Lacey|first1=Marc|title=A Decade After Massacres, Rwanda Outlaws Ethnicity|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/09/world/a-decade-after-massacres-rwanda-outlaws-ethnicity.html?_r=0|access-date=21 December 2015|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=9 April 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521151731/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/09/world/a-decade-after-massacres-rwanda-outlaws-ethnicity.html?_r=0|archive-date=2017-05-21|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rwanda has become a [[President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]] (PEPFAR) focus country, and the United States has been providing AIDS programming, education, training, and treatment. Rwandans who have been infected can now receive free [[antiretroviral drug]]s in health centers across the country, as well as food packages.

===First and Second Congo Wars===
{{See also|First Congo War|Second Congo War}}
In order to protect the country against the Hutu Interahamwe forces, which had fled to Eastern Zaire, RPF forces invaded Zaire in 1996, following talks by Kagame with US officials earlier the same year. In this invasion Rwanda allied with [[Laurent Kabila]], a progressist revolutionary in Eastern Zaire who had been a foe of Zaire's long-time dictator, [[Mobutu Sese Seko]]. In addition to Rwandan forces, Laurent Kabila's AFDL (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo) forces were also supported by Ugandan forces, with whom Kagame had trained in the late 1980s, which then invaded Eastern Zaire from the northeast. This became known as the [[First Congo War]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

[[File:Second Congo War Africa map en.svg|thumb|Belligerents of the Second Congo War]]
In this war, militarized Tutsi elements in the South Kivu area of Zaire, known as Banyamulenge to disguise their original Rwandan Tutsi heritage, allied with the Tutsi RDF forces against the Hutu refugees in the North Kivu area, which included the Interahamwe militias.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Hall|editor-first1=John A.|editor-last2=Malešević|editor-first2=Siniša|title=Nationalism and War|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9781107034754|page=312|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4h6yjCpZvfEC&q=first+congo+war+tutsi+elements+in+south+kivu&pg=PA312|access-date=30 March 2017}}</ref>

In the midst of this conflict, Kabila, whose primary intent had been to depose Mobutu, moved his forces to Kinshasa, and in 1997, the same year Mobutu Sese Seko died of prostate cancer, Kabila captured Kinshasa and then became president of Zaire, which he then renamed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With Kabila's success in the Congo, he no longer desired an alliance with the Tutsi-RPF Rwandan army and the Ugandan forces, and in August 1998 ordered both the Ugandans and Tutsi-Rwandan army out of the DRC. However, neither Kagame's Rwandan Tutsi forces nor Museveni's Ugandan forces had any intention of leaving the Congo, and the framework of the [[Second Congo War]] was laid.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

During the Second Congo War, Tutsi militias among the Banyamulenge in the Congo province of Kivu desired to annex themselves to Rwanda (now dominated by Tutsi forces under the Kagame government). Kagame also desired this, both to increase the resources of Rwanda by adding those of the Kivu region, and also to add the Tutsi population, which the Banyamulenge represented, back into Rwanda, thereby reinforcing his political base and protecting the indigenous Tutsis living there, who had also suffered massacres from the Interhamwe.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

In the Second Congo War, Uganda and Rwanda attempted to wrest much of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from Kabila's forces, and nearly succeeded. However, the DRC being a member of the SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) organisation, President Laurent Kabila called this regional organisation to the rescue. Armies were sent to aid Kabila, most notably those of Angola and Zimbabwe. These armies were able to beat back Kagame's Rwandan-Tutsi advances and the Ugandan forces.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

In the great conflict between 1998 and 2002, during which Congo was divided into three parts, multiple opportunistic militias, called [[Mai-Mai|Mai Mai]], sprang up, supplied by the arms dealers around the world that profit in [[small arms proliferation|small arms trading]], including the US, Russia, China, and other countries. Over 5.4 million people died in the conflict, as well as the majority of animals in the region.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

Laurent Kabila was assassinated in the DRC (Congo) in 2001, and was succeeded by his son, [[Joseph Kabila]]. The latter was chosen unanimously by the political class because of the role he played in the army, being the "de facto' officer in charge of the well trained batailions that defeated the Mobutu army and were fighting alongside SADC coalition forces. Joseph speaks fluent [[French language|French]], [[English language|English]] and [[Swahili language|Swahili]], one of the four national languages of the DRC. He studied in [[Tanzania]] and [[Uganda]] in his earlier years. He completed his military training in [[China]]. After serving 5 years as the transitional government president, he was freely-elected in the Congo to be president, in 2006, largely on the basis of his support in the Eastern Congo.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Kabila |access-date=Sep 3, 2024}}</ref>

Ugandan and Rwandan forces within Congo began to battle each other for territory, and Congolese [[Mai-Mai|Mai Mai]] militias, most active in the South and North Kivu provinces (in which most refugees were located) took advantage of the conflict to settle local scores and widen the conflict, battling each other, Ugandan and Rwandan forces, and even Congolese forces.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

The war was ended when, under Joseph Kabila's leadership, a ceasefire was signed and the all-inclusive Sun City (South Africa) talks were convened to decide on a two years transition period and the organisation of free and fair elections.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

Rwandan RPF troops finally left Congo in 2002, leaving a wake of disease and malnutrition that continued to kill thousands every month. However, Rwandan rebels continue to operate (as of May 2007) in the northeast Congo and Kivu regions. These are claimed to be remnants of Hutu forces that cannot return to Rwanda<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/fdlr.htm|title=Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR)(Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda)|access-date=2007-06-04|date=2004-01-23|publisher=Global Security.org, Alexandria, US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714133347/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/fdlr.htm|archive-date=2007-07-14|url-status=live}}</ref> without facing genocide charges, yet are not welcomed in Congo and are pursued by DRC troops.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22739&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo|title=Ban Ki-moon condemns massacre of civilians in DR Congo|access-date=2007-05-23|date=2007-05-23|publisher=UN News Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070617120006/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22739&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo|archive-date=2007-06-17|url-status=live}}</ref> In the first 6 months of 2007, over 260,000 civilians were displaced.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22692&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo|title=Dangers increase for displaced in eastern DR Congo, UN says|access-date=2007-05-25|date=2007-05-25|publisher=UN News Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070617101154/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22692&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo|archive-date=2007-06-17|url-status=live}}</ref> Congolese Mai Mai rebels also continue to threaten people and wildlife.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070523-gorillas-hostage.html|title=The Endangered Gorillas "held hostage" by rebels in African Park|access-date=2007-05-23|date=2007-05-23|publisher=National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., Kigali|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070526081822/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070523-gorillas-hostage.html|archive-date=2007-05-26|url-status=dead}}</ref> Although a large scale effort at disarming militias has succeeded, with the aid of the UN troops, the last militias are only being disarmed in 2007. However, fierce confrontations in the northeast regions of the Congo between local tribes in the Ituri region, initially uninvolved with the Hutu-Tutsi conflict but drawn into the Second Congo War, still continue.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

===Rwanda today===
{{Update|date=November 2023}}
Rwanda today struggles to heal and rebuild, showing signs of rapid economic development,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.neacdo.com/jobs/benebikira.php|title=Benebikira Sisters Foundation|access-date=2007-06-04|publisher=New England Association of Catholic Development Officers, Worcester, MA|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091129074342/http://www.neacdo.com/jobs/benebikira.php|archive-date=2009-11-29}}</ref> but with growing international concern about the decline of human rights within the country.

Economically, the major markets for Rwandan exports are Belgium, Germany, and People's Republic of China.{{Update inline|date=November 2023}} In April 2007, an investment and trade agreement, four years in the making, was worked out between Belgium and Rwanda. Belgium contributes €25–35 million per year to Rwanda.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=7923|title=Rwanda, Belgium to Sign Pacts|access-date=2007-04-17|date=2007-04-17|website=[[The New Times (Rwanda)|The New Times]] |location=Kigali|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043853/http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=7923|archive-date=2007-09-27|url-status=live}}</ref> Belgian co-operation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry continues to develop and rebuild agricultural practices in the country. It has distributed agricultural tools and seed to help rebuild the country. Belgium also helped in re-launching fisheries in [[Lake Kivu]], at a value of US$470,000, in 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/mplsups/rwandagen/gen16.php |title=Belgium on Mission to Rebuild Rwanda |access-date=2007-06-03 |date=2007-06-03 |publisher=Daily Monitor, Kampala, Uganda |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051221202048/http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/mplsups/rwandagen/gen16.php |archive-date=December 21, 2005 }}</ref>

In Eastern Rwanda, The [[Clinton Foundation|Clinton Hunter Development Initiative]], along with Partners in Health, are helping to improve agricultural productivity, improve water and sanitation and health services, and help cultivate international markets for agricultural products.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.clintonfoundation.org/cf-pgm-chdi-home.htm |title=CHDI Overview |access-date=2007-06-04 |date=2007-06-14 |publisher=William J. Clinton Foundation, Little Rock, US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070521212401/http://www.clintonfoundation.org/cf-pgm-chdi-home.htm |archive-date=2007-05-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pih.org/where/Rwanda/Rwanda.html|title=Rwanda / Inshuti Mu Buzima|access-date=2007-06-04|date=January 2007|publisher=Partners in Health, Boston, US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528100301/http://www.pih.org/where/Rwanda/Rwanda.html|archive-date=2007-05-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=November 2023}} Since 2000, the Rwandan government has expressed interest in transforming the country from agricultural subsistence to a knowledge-based economy, and plans to provide high-speed broadband across the entire country.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sida.se/globalassets/global/countries-and-regions/africa/rwanda/d402331a.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407182258/http://www.sida.se/globalassets/global/countries-and-regions/africa/rwanda/d402331a.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 7, 2015|title=Rwanda Vision 2020|work=Republic of Rwanda, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning}}</ref>

Rwanda applied to join the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] in 2007 and 2009, a sign that is trying to distance itself from French foreign policy. In 2007, it applied unsuccessfully to join at the [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting]] at Kampala in Uganda, but was accepted into membership in 2009 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in [[Port of Spain]], Trinidad. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith publicly stated this would help "entrench the rule of law and support the Rwandan Government's efforts towards democracy and economic growth." Rwanda also joined the [[East African Community]] in 2009 at the same time as its neighbor [[Burundi]].<ref>{{cite web |title=EAC History |url=https://www.eac.int/eac-history |website=www.eac.int |publisher=East African Community}}</ref>

However, since then [[Freedom House]] rates Rwanda as "not free", with political rights and civil liberties trending downwards. In 2010 [[Amnesty International]] "strongly condemned a worrying attack on a Rwandan opposition group"<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/intimidation-rwandan-opposition-parties-must-end-20100218 |title=Intimidation of Rwandan opposition parties must end &#124; Amnesty International |access-date=2016-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111230348/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/intimidation-rwandan-opposition-parties-must-end-20100218 |archive-date=2014-11-11 |url-status=live }}</ref> in the lead-up to presidential elections, citing the case of [[Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza|Victoire Ingabire]], president of the FDU-Inkingi (United Democratic Forces) and her aide Joseph Ntawangundi, attacked in February 2010 while collecting party registration documents from a government building in Kigali. In April, Rwandan Immigration proceeded to reject a work visa re-application by the Rwanda-based researcher for [[Human Rights Watch]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr47/003/2010/en/ |title=Rwanda: End human rights clampdown before presidential elections |date=24 April 2010 |access-date=2018-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122061722/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr47/003/2010/en/ |archive-date=2018-11-22 |url-status=live }}</ref> The sole new opposition party to secure registration, PS-Imberakuri, had its presidential candidate Bernard Ntaganda arrested on June 24,{{when|date=November 2023}} charged with "genocide ideology" and "divisionism".

[[Democratic Green Party of Rwanda|Rwandan Green]] Party President, Frank Habineza also reported threats. In October 2009 a Rwandan Green Party meeting was violently broken up by police, with authorities placing preventing the registration of the party or allowing it to run a candidate in the presidential election.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/07/20/rwanda-allow-independent-autopsy-opposition-politician |title=Rwanda: Allow Independent Autopsy of Opposition Politician |date=21 July 2010 |access-date=2016-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006075212/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/07/20/rwanda-allow-independent-autopsy-opposition-politician |archive-date=2014-10-06 |url-status=live }}</ref> Only weeks before the election, on 14 July 2009, André Kagwa Rwisereka, the vice president of the opposition Democratic Green Party was found dead, with his head severed almost entirely, in Butare, southern Rwanda.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/pre-election-attacks-rwandan-politicians-and-journalists-condemned-2010-08-05 |title=Pre-election attacks on Rwandan politicians and journalists condemned &#124; Amnesty International |access-date=2016-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512002251/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/pre-election-attacks-rwandan-politicians-and-journalists-condemned-2010-08-05 |archive-date=2014-05-12 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Public scrutiny of the government's policies and practices has been limited by press freedom. In June 2009 journalist for Umuvugizi newspaper Jean-Leonard Rugambage was shot dead outside his home in Kigali. Umuvugizi at the time was supporting a critical investigation into the attempted murder of former Rwandan general Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, in exile in South Africa. In July 2009 Agnes Nkusi Uwimana, editor of the "Umurabyo" newspaper, charged with "genocide ideology." As the presidential election got closer, two other newspaper editors left Rwanda.{{Update inline|date=November 2023}}

The United Nations, European Union, the United States, France and Spain publicly expressed concerns.