| Rwanda Defence Forces Forces Rwandaises de Défense |
|
|---|---|
| Founded | 1962 |
| Current form | 1994 |
| Service branches | Army, Air Force, Reserve Force |
| Headquarters | Post Box 23, Kigali |
| Leadership | |
| President of Rwanda | Paul Kagame |
| Minister of Defence | James Kabarebe |
| Chief of Defence Staff | Lieutenant General Charles Kayonga[1] |
| Manpower | |
| Available for military service |
2,004,750 males, age 16–49[2] (2005 est.), 1,990,935 females, age 16–49[2] (2005 est.) |
| Fit for military service |
1,103,823 males, age 16–49[2] (2005 est.), 1,096,644 females, age 16–49[2] (2005 est.) |
| Expenditures | |
| Percent of GDP | 13.3% (2006 est.) |
The Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF, in French Forces Rwandaises de Défense) is the national army of Rwanda. Largely composed of former Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) fighters, it comprises (a) The High Command Council of the Rwanda Defence Forces; (b) the General Staff of the Rwanda Defence Forces; (c) the Rwanda Land Force; (d) the Rwanda Air Force; and (e) specialised units.[3] In November 2002 Emmanuel Habyarimana was removed from his post as Minister of Defence, which government spokesperson Joseph Bideri attributed to his "extreme pro-Hutu" views.[4] Habyarimana was replaced by Marcel Gatsinzi.
After the successful conquest of the country in 1994 in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide, the Rwandan Patriotic Front decided to split the RPF into a political division (which retained the RPF name) and a military division, which was to serve as the official army of the Rwandan state in two distinct and independent institutions.
Defence spending continues to represent an important share of the national budget, largely due to continuing security problems along the frontiers with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, and lingering concerns about Uganda's intentions towards its former ally. The government has launched an ambitious plan to demobilize thousands of soldiers.
Four serving army officers of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) were indicted in June 2008 for crimes committed during the 1994 genocide.[5]
Contents |
| Hutu militants |
|---|
| Rwandan Genocide (1994) |
| Impuzamugambi |
| Interahamwe |
| Rwandan Armed Forces |
| Refugee crisis |
| RDR (1995–1996) |
| 1st and 2nd Congo War |
| ALiR (1996–2001) |
| FDLR (2000–present) |
The U.S. Army's Area Handbook for Rwanda, compiled in 1968-69, describes the security forces of Rwanda in 1969 as the 2,500 plus strong National Guard and the National police, about 1,200 strong.[6] The National Guard had been established two years before independence and had gained experience by repelling small Tutsi invasions in 1963 and 1964. It was under the direction of the Minister of Defence, Juvénal Habyarimana, who also held the function of Chief of Staff of the National Guard in mid 1969. At that time it was composed of a headquarters, an intervention group (effectively an infantry battalion), five other rifle companies, and five independent rifle platoons.
The Rwandan Armed Forces or Forces Armées Rwandaises was the national army of Rwanda until July 1994, when the Hutu-dominated government collapsed in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide and the invasion by Paul Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front. Alison Des Forges and Human Rights Watch describe the army under President, former General, Juvénal Habyarimana, as some 7,000 strong, including about 1,200 of whom were part of the Gendarmerie. Elite troops included the Presidential Guard, estimated at between 1000 - 1300 troops, as well as the Paracommando and Reconnaissance units.[7] These two units were of battalion strength by 1994, and then counted a total of 800 troops.[8]
In response to the RPF invasion of 1990, the 5,000-man FAR rapidly expanded, with French training assistance (as many as 1,100 French troops were in Rwanda at a time[9]), to some 30,000 by 1992.[10] A significant number of the new soldiers opposed the negotiations with the RPF (the process that would lead to the Arusha Accords), not just because they did not wish to give up the fight, but because the dreaded demobilisation, and potential return to menial labour that they thought they 'had left behind' by their new military careers.
The Arusha Accords, signed on August 4, 1993, laid out a very detailed plan for the integration of the Rwandan Government and Rwandan Patriotic Front military forces.[11] The Rwandan government was to provide 60% of the troops for the new integrated army, but would have to share command positions with the RPF down to the level of battalion. The new army was to consist of no more than 19,000 soldiers and 6,000 Gendarmerie.[12] However radical elements within the Rwandan government were implacably opposed to implementation of the Accords and, instead, began the planning that would lay the foundations for the genocide.
The Reconnaissance Battalion's commander, François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, and his subordinates played a key role during the genocide. Together with the Reconnaissance Battalion, the Paracommando Battalion under Major Aloys Ntabakuze and the Presidential Guard under Major Protais Mpiranya became the three most significant genocidare units.
Colonel Marcel Gatsinzi was briefly named chief of staff of the armed forces from April 6 to April 16, 1994, but was replaced by Augustin Bizimungu, quickly promoted to major general, as Gatsinzi opposed the genocide.[13] Bizimungu was only briefly chief of staff before fleeing the country. Many soldiers of the FAR have since been implicated by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the genocide, including its leader during the genocide, Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, who was chief of the cabinet (private office) of the Ministry of Defence prior to the genocide. Other top leaders in the FAR were implicated in the assassination of the President, Juvénal Habyarimana, which sparked the genocide.
Many elements of the former Rwandan régime, including soldiers formerly of the FAR, fled to eastern Zaire after the RPF victory, where they formed the RDR army, which still has a descendant force in today's Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, active primarily in North Kivu.
A number of sources, including Gerard Prunier, document U.S. aid to the RPA before the First Congo War.[14] The officially admitted part of the training was Joint Combined Exchange Training. Prunier strongly implies the United States supplied communications equipment, vehicles, boots, and medicines to the RPA before the war began and after it broke out, delivered second-hand Warsaw Pact weapons and ammunition either directly to Goma or by airdrop along the AFDL front lines. He reports that after the war's outbreak, the United States Air Force had switched from using C-141 Starlifters and C-5 Galaxys to deliver the non-lethal aid to Kigali Airport and Entebbe Airport, to airdrops by C-130 Hercules aircraft.[15]
From July 1994 until December 1997 the RPA had six brigades, as designated in the Arusha Accords: 402nd in Kigali and Kigali Rurale Prefecture; 201st in Kibungo, Umatura, and Byumba Prefectures; 301st in Butare, Gikongoro, and Cyangugu Prefectures; 305th in Gitatama and Kibuye Prefectures; and 211th in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri Prefectures. The brigade boundaries mirrored the political administrative boundaries, which often complicated military operations.[16] During the First Congo War the brigade headquarters remained inside Rwanda but directed operations inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[17]
Jane's World Armies said in July 2009 that 'the RDF is deployed to protect the country's borders and defend against external aggression. There are four divisions, each deploying three brigades:
The Cyangungu Military Camp (alternative spelling seems to be Cyangugu) has been reported to house the 31st Brigade of the 4th Division of the Rwandan Defence Forces.[19]
Lieutenant General Charles Kayonga is the Chief of Defence Staff of the Rwandese Defence Forces.[1]
Many soldiers from the former Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR), the national army under the previous regime, have been incorporated into the RDF since 1994. This process began soon after the genocide in January 1995, when several former FAR officers were given high positions in the new armed forces: Colonel Marcel Gatsinzi became the Deputy Chief of Staff of the RPA, Colonel Balthazar Ndengeyinka became commander of the 305th Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Laurent Munyakazi took command of the 99th battalion, and LTC Emmanuel Habyarimana became an RPA member of parliament and the director for training in the Ministry of Defence. Gatsinzi later became Director of Security and then Ministry of Defence in 2002.[20]
Tanks and infantry fighting vehicles reported in service include 24 T-55 tanks (30 received) from the Soviet Union, and BMP-1 Infantry fighting vehicles from the USSR.
Small arms reported in service include the Soviet AK-47, AKM, the South African R4 rifle, the German Heckler & Koch G3, the Belgian FN FAL, the Soviet RPK machine gun and DShK machine gun, the Soviet RPG-7, and three types of mortar: French 81mm mortar and 120mm mortar, and Soviet 82mm mortar.
After achieving independence in 1962, the air arm (Force Aerienne Rwandaise) was formed with Belgian help.[21] By 1972 the first modern equiment started to arrive in the form of seven Alouette IIIs. Other deliveries included SA 342L Gazelles, Britten-Norman Islanders, Nord Noratlas, SOCATA Guerrier armed light planes and AS 350B Ecureuils. After fighting began between the RPA and the government in 1990 most aircraft were shot down, destroyed on the ground or crashed. Few survived.
Aircraft reported to be currently in service are listed below.
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service[22] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aérospatiale SA 365 Dauphin | France | utility helicopter | SA 365CS | 1 | |
| Aérospatiale SA 355 Ecureuil | France | utility helicopter | SA 355F | 1 | |
| Mil Mi-24 Hind | Soviet Union | attack helicopter | 2 | ||
| Mil Mi-8 Hip | Soviet Union | transport helicopter | 3 | ||
| SA-342 Gazelle |
France |
attack helicopter |
6 |
||
| SA-316B Alouette-III |
France |
utility helicopter |
7 |
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