The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, says that Rwanda, as a country that experienced the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, is always concerned by the mistreatment of Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, especially those of Tutsi origin, because it understands the seriousness and consequences of such actions.
Minister Nduhungirehe made these remarks during an interview with journalist Joshua Barnes from the Indian media outlet Firstpost, which focused on the ongoing problems in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
When asked whether the sanctions recently imposed by the United States on the Rwanda Defence Force would help provide a lasting solution to the recurring conflict, Nduhungirehe said that would not be the case.
He explained: “Those aren’t the first sanctions against Rwanda, In 2012-2013, there were other sanctions during the first conflict of M23. That conflict ended in 2013 by military solutions, but the root causes of that conflict were never addressed and this is why this conflict came back eight years later in October-November 2021.”
Nduhungirehe emphasized that this is the time to address the root causes of the crisis in order to put a permanent end to the recurring conflicts.
He said Rwanda has repeatedly raised concerns about how these issues could be solved because the country’s own history is closely connected to what Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese are currently experiencing circumstances that also contributed to the emergence of the M23 movement.
Rwanda and its leaders have often spoken out about the mistreatment of Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, particularly Tutsi, by their own government, while also proposing ways to address the situation.
Nduhungirehe added: “In 1994, Rwanda suffered a terrible genocide, so, when we hear genocide ideology, when we hear the same words that were used before the genocide because words like ‘cockroaches’, ‘microbes’ referring to Tutsi, are still used now in DRC, even by officials, we take it seriously, because what happened to us in 1994 will never happen again.”
The Minister also spoke about the FDLR, a group made up of individuals responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which he described as a terrorist organization currently operating in eastern Congo.
According to him, the DRC government supports the FDLR, which also works with mercenaries hired by the Congolese authorities.
He said the situation worsened when the Congolese government brought in foreign forces, including those mercenaries and Burundian troops.
Nduhungirehe added that what is most concerning is that these forces are cooperating with the FDLR, which he says still holds the goal of returning to Rwanda to complete its genocide agenda.
“These coalitions of negative forces that have vowed to overthrow our government and finish the job of 1994 will never succeed. This is why we have deployed our defensive measures ad still wish to protect our citizens and our borders.”
He also reiterated that Rwanda remains committed to peaceful solutions to the crisis in eastern DRC and still has confidence in the Washington agreement signed with the DRC in December 2025.
RADIOTV10
