• Rwanda’s Rampaging Rebel Force
    Dec 28, 2012
    Commentary

    Despite supporting a brutal rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda is about to take a seat on the U.N. Security Council. Few countries dare challenge the Security Council the way Rwanda does; even fewer get away with it. Yet on Tuesday, despite backing an abusive rebel group that has attacked U.N. peacekeepers in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda will take a two-year seat on the council.  

  • DR Congo: US Should Urge Rwanda to End M23 Support
    Nov 20, 2012
    Press release

    The United States government should publicly support sanctions against Rwandan officials backing the armed group M23, which has been responsible for widespread war crimes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. M23 rebels, whose commanders have been implicated in serious abuses, captured the city of Goma on November 20, 2012.

  • DR Congo: M23 Rebels Committing War Crimes
    Sep 11, 2012
    Press release

    M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are responsible for widespread war crimes, including summary executions, rapes, and forced recruitment. Thirty-three of those executed were young men and boys who tried to escape the rebels’ ranks.

  • Letter to World Bank Vice President for Africa On Rwanda
    Sep 5, 2012
    Letter

    I am writing to urge the World Bank to review its programing in Rwanda in light of detailed evidence of human rights abuses by the Rwandan government and the Rwandan military’s support for armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) responsible for serious human rights violations.

  • Rwanda is hindering justice for Congo's atrocity victims
    Jul 11, 2012
    Commentary

    The sentencing on Tuesday of Thomas Lubanga, a rebel leader from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was a rare victory for Congolese victims of atrocities. There have been few occasions during my 13 years of documenting abuses in Congo by Lubanga and others in which justice was done. This was one of those moments.

  • DR Congo: Rwanda Should Stop Aiding War Crimes Suspect
    Jun 3, 2012
    Press release
    Rwandan military officials have been arming and supporting the mutiny in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
  • ICC: Pursue Case Against Rwandan Rebel Leader
    Jun 1, 2012
    Press release
    The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should urgently submit information sought by the court in the case against a Rwandan rebel leader whose forces are still committing atrocities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 31, 2012, the ICC judges unanimously found that the request for an arrest warrant against Sylvestre Mudacumura lacked clarity and specificity, but did not rule on the merits of the case.
  • DR Congo: Prosecute Atrocities Exposed by UN
    Oct 10, 2011
    Press release
    Governments around the world should intensify efforts to bring to justice those responsible for grave abuses documented in the United Nations’ October 2010 “mapping report,” Human Rights Watch said today. One year after the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published the report, there has been insufficient follow-up by governments in Africa’s Great Lakes region and by the UN itself.
  • Rwanda: Serious Concerns Regarding Freedom of Expression
    Jun 7, 2011
    Oral statement
    Human Rights Watch welcomes the outcome of the UPR of Rwanda, in particular its recommendations on freedom of expression, legal reforms and the independence of the judiciary. However, Human Rights Watch remains seriously concerned that freedom of expression is not respected in practice.
  • Rwanda: Mixed Legacy for Community-Based Genocide Courts
    May 31, 2011
    Press release
    Rwanda’s community-based gacaca courts have helped communities confront the country’s 1994 genocide but have failed to provide credible decisions and justice in a number of cases, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. As the gacaca courts wind down their work, Rwanda should set up specialized units in the national court system to review alleged miscarriages of justice.