Foreign relations of Rwanda
Encyclopedia
Rwanda
has been the center of much international attention since the war and genocide
of 1994. Rwanda is an active member of the United Nations
, having presided over the Security Council during part of 1995. The UN assistance mission in Rwanda, a UN chapter 6 peace-keeping operation, involved personnel from more than a dozen countries. Most of the UN development and humanitarian agencies have had a large presence in Rwanda.
However, during the height of the crisis, a three-month period in 1994, the UN removed most of its peacekeepers, and virtually all other formal foreign support fled as well. The only other nation to directly involve itself at that point was France, which sent a contingent of soldiers to create a safe haven for the perpetrators of the genocide, under the pretense that those genocidaires
represented the legitimate government embroiled in a defending itself against a foreign insurgency http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7542418.stm. The genocidal Hutu
government was francophone
whereas the rebel RPF
was invading from anglophone
Uganda. While the Rwandan Civil War
was a complex sequence of violent episodes which included killers and victims on all sides, most historians agree with RPF's assertions that the 1994 genocide was a deliberate, methodical Hutu campaign to completely exterminate the Tutsis, and that plans for the genocide were well-known in advance by European, American, and UN officials.
While formal foreign assistance evaporated at the height of the emergency, more than 200 non-governmental organizations were carrying out humanitarian operations. Several west Europe
an and Africa
n nations, Canada
, People's Republic of China
, Egypt
, Libya
, Russia
, the Holy See
, and the European Union
maintain diplomatic missions in Kigali.
Rwanda is a member of the United Nations
, African Union
, Commonwealth of Nations
since November 2009; and the East African Union, which may become the East African Federation
.
and Rwanda dispute sections of border on the Akanyaru/Kanyaru and the Kagera
/Nyabarongo rivers, which have changed course since the 1960s, when the boundary was delimited; cross-border conflicts among Tutsi
, Hutu
, other ethnic groups, associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces persist in the Great Lakes region.
, invaded the Democratic Republic of the Congo
to back Congolese rebels trying to overthrow then-President Laurent Kabila. Rwandan troops remain in the Congo, backing rebels that aim to overthrow Laurent Kabila’s son, Joseph Kabila
, who is now the President of the Congo. Rwandan troops have pulled back, however, behind disengagement lines set forth in the Lusaka Cease-Fire Agreement.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame met with the Democratic Republic of the Congo's President Joseph Kabila in Goma
on 6 August 2009. It was the first presidential meeting between the two countries for 13 years, with the two countries having come to a disagreement in 1996 following an invasion by Rwanda into eastern Congo, a disagreement which was renewed in 1998 after a further invasion. The pair of presidents spent more than two hours in the company of each other and "reviewed all issues of common interest". Kabila referred to it as "the first giant step forward" in what was referred to as an "all new era". One month previous to the meeting both countries had appointed ambassadors to each others' capitals.
visited Kigali
in February 2010.
from a strictly humanitarian concern focusing on stability and security to a strong partnership with the Government of Rwanda focusing on sustainable development. The largest U.S. Government programs are the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President's Malaria Initiative, which aim to reduce the impact of these debilitating diseases in Rwanda. Other activities promote rural economic growth and support good governance and decentralization. Overall U.S. foreign assistance to Rwanda has increased fourfold over the past four years.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
has been the center of much international attention since the war and genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
of 1994. Rwanda is an active member of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, having presided over the Security Council during part of 1995. The UN assistance mission in Rwanda, a UN chapter 6 peace-keeping operation, involved personnel from more than a dozen countries. Most of the UN development and humanitarian agencies have had a large presence in Rwanda.
However, during the height of the crisis, a three-month period in 1994, the UN removed most of its peacekeepers, and virtually all other formal foreign support fled as well. The only other nation to directly involve itself at that point was France, which sent a contingent of soldiers to create a safe haven for the perpetrators of the genocide, under the pretense that those genocidaires
Genocidaires
Genocidaires, from the French for ‘those who commit genocide’, refers to those guilty of the mass killings of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, in which close to 1,000,000, primarily Tutsi Rwandans, were murdered by their Hutu neighbors...
represented the legitimate government embroiled in a defending itself against a foreign insurgency http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7542418.stm. The genocidal Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
government was francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
whereas the rebel RPF
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front abbreviated as RPF is the current ruling political party of Rwanda, led by President Paul Kagame. It governs in a coalition with other parties...
was invading from anglophone
English-speaking world
The English-speaking world consists of those countries or regions that use the English language to one degree or another. For more information, please see:Lists:* List of countries by English-speaking population...
Uganda. While the Rwandan Civil War
Rwandan Civil War
The Rwandan Civil War was a conflict within the Central African nation of Rwanda between the government of President Juvénal Habyarimana and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front...
was a complex sequence of violent episodes which included killers and victims on all sides, most historians agree with RPF's assertions that the 1994 genocide was a deliberate, methodical Hutu campaign to completely exterminate the Tutsis, and that plans for the genocide were well-known in advance by European, American, and UN officials.
While formal foreign assistance evaporated at the height of the emergency, more than 200 non-governmental organizations were carrying out humanitarian operations. Several west Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n nations, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, and the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
maintain diplomatic missions in Kigali.
Rwanda is a member of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
, Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
since November 2009; and the East African Union, which may become the East African Federation
East African Federation
East African Federation is the name of the proposed political union of the member nations of the East African Community, such that the five member states would federate into a single sovereign state....
.
Burundi
BurundiBurundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
and Rwanda dispute sections of border on the Akanyaru/Kanyaru and the Kagera
Kagera River
The Kagera River, also Akagera River, is an East African river, forming part of the upper headwaters of the Nile and carrying water from its most distant source....
/Nyabarongo rivers, which have changed course since the 1960s, when the boundary was delimited; cross-border conflicts among Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
, Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
, other ethnic groups, associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces persist in the Great Lakes region.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 1998, Rwanda, along with UgandaUganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, invaded the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
to back Congolese rebels trying to overthrow then-President Laurent Kabila. Rwandan troops remain in the Congo, backing rebels that aim to overthrow Laurent Kabila’s son, Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...
, who is now the President of the Congo. Rwandan troops have pulled back, however, behind disengagement lines set forth in the Lusaka Cease-Fire Agreement.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame met with the Democratic Republic of the Congo's President Joseph Kabila in Goma
Goma
Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the western branch of the Great Rift Valley, and Goma lies only 13 to 18 km due south of the crater of the active...
on 6 August 2009. It was the first presidential meeting between the two countries for 13 years, with the two countries having come to a disagreement in 1996 following an invasion by Rwanda into eastern Congo, a disagreement which was renewed in 1998 after a further invasion. The pair of presidents spent more than two hours in the company of each other and "reviewed all issues of common interest". Kabila referred to it as "the first giant step forward" in what was referred to as an "all new era". One month previous to the meeting both countries had appointed ambassadors to each others' capitals.
France
As a result of alleged French complicity with the genocidaires, Rwanda cut off relations with France at the end of the war, and replaced French with English as an official language. Relations were resumed in November 2009 . Nicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
visited Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...
in February 2010.
United States
U.S. Government interests have shifted significantly since the 1994 genocideRwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
from a strictly humanitarian concern focusing on stability and security to a strong partnership with the Government of Rwanda focusing on sustainable development. The largest U.S. Government programs are the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President's Malaria Initiative, which aim to reduce the impact of these debilitating diseases in Rwanda. Other activities promote rural economic growth and support good governance and decentralization. Overall U.S. foreign assistance to Rwanda has increased fourfold over the past four years.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm
See also
- RwandaRwandaRwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
- List of diplomatic missions in Rwanda
- List of diplomatic missions of Rwanda