(2017-0888-F) Paul Kagame and the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)

The materials in FOIA 2017-0888-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request 2017-0888-F was for Clinton Presidential Records related to Paul Kagame and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). This collection includes records from NSC ARMS and National Security Council cables, emails, and records management system documents pertaining to Country Human Rights Reports on Rwanda, press guidance, media summaries, news releases, and articles relating to Paul Kagame, Rwanda, and the RPF. The bulk of the records in this collection date from 1993 to 2001. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), formerly known as the Rwandese Alliance for National Unity (RANU), is currently the ruling political party in Rwanda. On October 01, 1990, the RPF led by MajGeneral Fred Gisa Rwigyema invaded Rwanda, starting the Rwandan Civil War. Maj-General Fred Gisa Rwigyema was killed on October 02, 1990. Paul Kagame, a close childhood friend of Rwigyema and active member of RANU and the RPF, returned from his studies abroad to take over the RPF. Over the next two years, the RPF under Kagame’s rule participated in guerilla attacks and gained control of much of the Northern territory of the country. In 1993, negotiations between the RPF and the Rwanda government led to the signing of the Arusha Accords, which allowed the RPF and other refugees to return to Rwanda. In April of 1994, the Rwandan genocide was sparked by the death of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu. On April 6, 1994, President Habyarimana’s airplane was shot down above the Kigali airport. Between April and July 1994, Hutus killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and some moderate Hutus. The Tutsi Rwandese Patriotic Front or RPF, led by Kagame, launched a major offensive in response to these killings. The RPF captured the capital city, Kigali, on July 4th and claimed victory once the rest of the country was under their control on July 18, 1994. After the genocide, the post-war government, based loosely off of the Arusha Accords, was formed and Paul Kagame assumed the dual roles of Vice President of Rwanda and Minister of Defense while Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu who had been a civil servant under Habyarimana before fleeing to join the RPF, was appointed president. In March 2000, President Bizimungu resigned his position and Kagame became the acting president until he was officially appointed by the national assembly and government ministers. Kagame was sworn in on April 22, 2000. The majority of these records related to this FOIA case are closed for national security reasons.