Fiston Mututsi

RPF war – 1990–1994 and how it was perceived in Ex-Zaire On 1 October 1990, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) launched a war from the Ugandan border against the regime of former President Juvénal Habyarimana. This war openly pushed the official Zairian state towards alignment with the Rwandan government and its armed forces. As a result, the situation of Congolese and Rwandan Tutsi communities deteriorated significantly. They were targeted by Zairian security forces in various cities. In North Kivu, Hutu militias such as MAGRIVI intensified violent attacks against Rwandan and Congolese Tutsi communities, with the support of elements within the Zairian government. These dynamics led many Tutsi youth to support various Pan-African liberation movements, including the RPF. They viewed the RPF as an organisation capable of providing protection against what they perceived as a campaign of extermination. This difficult choice troubled the consciences of well-intentioned Congolese citizens who were insufficiently informed about the reality faced by Tutsi communities. It created the impression that the Tutsi had definitively chosen a new homeland, without recognising that, for many, this was perceived as an option for survival. At the same time, Mobutu deployed Zairian troops to support the Rwandan government’s army, which was later implicated in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Similarly, many MAGRIVI members volunteered to join President Habyarimana’s party, the MRND, as well as the national army and militias that later participated in the genocide. The Post-1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi In July 1994, the RPF, or Inkotanyi, ultimately defeated a heavily armed national army that had received extensive training and material support, including from France, and that was supported by militias committed to mass violence against the Tutsi population. The situation of Congolese Tutsi communities in Zaire deteriorated further during the 1991–1992 National Sovereign Conference, amid political campaigns and debates that sought to restrict or challenge the ethnic and political identity of Tutsi communities in Zaire. The Zairian government viewed the RPF victory as a serious concern, not in security terms but because of the perception that Rwanda had come under Tutsi political leadership. In Kivu, some civil society leaders advocated for Rwandan refugees to leave Rwanda, arguing that this would leave the country without a population for the RPF to govern. There were also campaigns claiming that the RPF would exterminate the Rwandan population, contributing to further displacement. In Zaire, killings of Tutsi and Banyamulenge communities had already begun in 1993, particularly in North Kivu. Thousands of people were killed, and as a result, many of those targeted fled to Rwanda in 1994. The new RPF-led government provided them with refuge. In 1995, the Zairian government moved towards the expulsion of Tutsi populations from parts of Zaire. These campaigns occurred alongside violent attacks involving elements among the Rwandan refugee population, including former Rwandan government forces and militias that were reorganising and preparing to launch attacks against Rwanda. Two security dynamics eventually contributed to the outbreak of the AFDL war: the persecution of Tutsi populations in Zaire and Mobutu’s support for the former Rwandan army (FAR) and associated militias, including the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi. Final thought.. Today’s security dynamics are not fundamentally different from those of the 1990s. The DRC government’s hostility towards Rwanda is intertwined with ongoing internal security challenges, including the persecution of Congolese Tutsi communities. The RPF war was fought on Rwandan territory and was, fundamentally, a conflict between Rwandans. The authorities in ex-Zaire not only contributed to turning the conflict into a regional security issue, but also aligned themselves with the Habyarimana regime and facilitated the involvement of members of MAGRIVI in support of that regime. However, the authorities were subsequently surprised when Tutsi youth, recognising that they had limited options for their own survival and security, chose to support the RPF. What was portrayed by some as an external alignment was, for many of these young people, a response to the insecurity and persecution they were experiencing.