She was speaking on October 7, 2025, at the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council, during an intervention on the draft resolution No. A/HRC/60/L32.Rev1 concerning the human rights situation in eastern DRC.
Ambassador Bakuramutsa said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Continuing to repeat the same accusatory narratives while ignoring the root causes of the conflict will not bring peace, neither to the people of the DRC nor to our region.”
“Rwanda rejects the unfounded accusations made against it; nevertheless, it will continue to engage constructively to ensure that security, accountability, and the protection of civilians remain at the core of all initiatives aimed at restoring peace and dignity to the populations of the Great Lakes region,” she added.
In June 2025, Rwanda and the DRC signed peace agreements aimed at restoring security in eastern DRC.
The accord includes four key components: the dismantling of the FDLR rebel group, the lifting of Rwanda’s defensive measures, economic cooperation between the two countries, and a political section that commits both governments to support ongoing talks between the DRC and the M23/AFC, as well as facilitation for the voluntary repatriation of refugees.
However, Rwanda has consistently highlighted that President Tshisekedi’s government has been slow in implementing these agreements.
In August 2025, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, told Senators that while Rwanda is hopeful the signed peace agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo will bear fruit, it still has serious concerns about its actual implementation as agreed upon by both parties.
The visit aims to strengthen the existing defence cooperation between the two countries’ armed forces.
During the visit, Major General Odawa Yusuf Rage held a meeting with the Rwandan Minister of Defence, Juvenal Marizamunda, and the RDF Chief of Defence Staff, General MK Mubarakh.
The visit by the Chief of Defence Forces of the Somali National Armed Forces aligns with the SNAF’s strategic plan to strengthen defence cooperation and mutual support among East African partners, which is considered as a critical factor in transforming security gains into sustainable peace and long-term regional stability.
During the meeting, the Somali National Armed Forces delegation was briefed on regional security dynamics, including Rwanda’s contribution to Peace and Security in Africa.
The Somali National Armed Forces delegation also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where they paid tribute to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The delegation will also visit the MoD/RDF-affiliated agencies, as well as the Campaign against Genocide Museum.
The surgery, called Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD), allows patients to avoid more serious treatments like chemotherapy or a permanent colostomy (an opening in the belly for waste to leave the body).
The hospital shared this achievement on its official X account on Tuesday, October 7, calling it a “proud moment” for Rwanda’s healthcare.
This successful operation is seen as a big step forward in improving cancer care in the country, showing how much Rwanda’s medical field is advancing.
Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD) is a modern, less-invasive technique used to remove tumors from the digestive system.
Doctors use a flexible tube with a camera and small tools to remove cancerous growths from the inner lining of the intestines or rectum.
This procedure is important for patients with early-stage rectal cancer because it means they don’t need heavy treatments like chemotherapy or surgery to create a permanent opening in the stomach.
This new procedure is a huge benefit to patients, offering a quicker recovery and a better quality of life. King Faisal Hospital’s successful surgery shows that Rwanda is making great progress in treating cancer.
Gen (Rtd) James Kabarebe once recalled that had President Paul Kagame not stepped in at that critical moment, the liberation struggle might have ended entirely, as the army had just lost its commander.
Reflecting on those early days, Gen (Rtd) Fred Ibingira also emphasized that Kagame’s decision to take command became a turning point that ultimately led them to victory.
“The man found us in Kagitumba, each of us looking for a way to flee again […] the war had overwhelmed us. Soon, he arrived and found everyone wide-eyed, discouraged, and demoralized,” he noted.
President Kagame himself, also reflected on the situation described by Gen (Rtd) James Kabarebe and Gen (Rtd) Fred Ibingira.
He highlighted that the state in which he found the soldiers may have been among the worst things he has ever witnessed in his life, alongside the Genocide against the Tutsi.
In the book A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It by Stephen Kinzer, it is noted that Kagame was deeply shaken by what he saw when he arrived at the battlefield.
In a series of interviews the author held with President Kagame in 2006 and 2007, he said: “It was totally disorganized. The first sight was probably the worst I have ever seen, that and the genocide; things that have made a mark in my life, my mind, things that probably changed my life forever.These two things never go away. I live with them. . . .,” he said.
At that time, President Kagame said he immediately called commanders for a meeting to decide how the war could continue.
“They were terribly demoralized, even that was an understatement. They were not even thinking. It was a devastation,” he said.
The book titled,The Struggle for Liberation: War and Militarism in African History by John Burton Kegel, shows that there were many reasons proving Kagame was the only one capable of restoring the army’s confidence and keeping the liberation struggle alive.
Beyond that, his experience working in military intelligence within the Ugandan army gave him exceptional access to information that others could not obtain, a critical advantage for the campaign launched by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) and its army wing, RPA.
{{Admiration in the Ugandan army}}
Besides being known in the RPA as a man who did not tolerate mistakes and as someone with deep military knowledge, Lt Gen (Rtd) Caesar Kayizari once said Kagame had already built a strong reputation in Uganda’s National Resistance Army (NRA).
His track record on the battlefield was so solid that whenever there was a problem, people trusted things would be resolved if he showed up.
He said, “Even in the NRA they used to say, ‘If Kagame has come, everything will be solved.’”
Kagame’s return from the United States brought a turning point in the liberation struggle. The RPA shifted from conventional warfare to guerrilla and mobile warfare.
Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe once explained it clearly: “At first, we engaged in conventional warfare, fighting almost like terrorists. Habyarimana’s forces would take positions on hills with anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, tanks, ambushes and air support, while we advanced with our small arms confidently, until we reached their heavy weapons. Many died. This was in Mutara, a wide-open area, where you could be targeted from three to four kilometers away before even getting close.”
“That’s why the Zairians said the RPA were terrorists […] and frankly, it was true at the time. The Commander-in-Chief changed the tactics from conventional warfare to guerrilla and mobile warfare, hit-and-run attacks, striking the enemy where he least expects, firing from where he cannot see you, hitting at night, at dawn, on the move, confusing the enemy.”
The first operation under this new tactic was the attack on Gatuna in early November, led by Col (Rtd) Twahirwa Ludovic, known as Dodo.
It was a highly organized assault that greatly boosted morale among the troops, especially those who were just entering the battle and had not witnessed the chaos of the early days.
The witness made the request during an appeal trial on October 6, 2025, before the Court of Assizes on appeal in France.
The witness, presented by the civil parties, appeared via video conference from Kigali, accompanied by an interpreter.
The woman, born in 1953, recounted that during the genocide, her husband was arrested and imprisoned in a place known as “Maison 60” for one day before being transferred to the Tumba sector office where other Tutsi were detained.
She said Dr. Munyemana was the one responsible for keeping the keys to the detention site after he had replaced the sector leader, Bwanakeye.
Later, a vehicle belonging to the commune, nicknamed “Ruhumbangegera,” came and transported those detained at the sector office to the office of the then-prosecutor, Sebushishi.
According to the witness, they were subsequently taken to the local gendarmerie where they were severely beaten before being moved to an unknown execution site.
“I don’t know the location. On this matter, I would ask Munyemana to tell us where the bodies of our loved ones were taken so we can bury them decently. I am sure he knows where they are because he played a major role in what happened there,” she said.
The witness explained that during the genocide, her national ID card identified her as Hutu because she was born to a Hutu father and Tutsi mother. She and her husband had eight children, but one died after the genocide.
When asked by Dr. Munyemana’s defense lawyers if she knew him personally before the genocide, she said she had only heard his name frequently at the time but came to know more about him later during the Gacaca courts.
Other witnesses have continued to testify, linking Dr. Munyemana to the killings of Tutsi detained at the Tumba sector office.
In December 2023, the Paris Assize Court found Dr. Munyemana guilty of genocide charges, crimes against humanity and participation in a conspiracy to prepare those crimes, sentencing him to 24 years in prison. He appealed the verdict.
His appeal trial began on September 16, 2025, and is expected to conclude on October 24.
In a petition delivered by Dr Ladislas Prosper Agbesi, Chairman of Pan African Business Forum(PABF) to the President of the Assembly of States Parties, Ambassador Paivi Kaukoranta in the hague PABF noted it had “profound concerns” regarding the ongoing external investigation into Prosecutor Karim Khan KC arguing that the Court’s credibility, however, is now under strain.
A statement released earlier this year from the ICC stated that Karim Khan will be on leave until the conclusion of an external inquiry into an alleged complaint of sexual abuse filed against him, which started late last year. In his absence, his deputy prosecutors will oversee the office.
However, the PABF Pan-African Business Forum is raising concerns with ongoing as external process as it argues the process lacks fairness.
“We have recently been sent evidence from a whistle-blower indicating that members of the Bureau have been compromised in this process”.
The petition steted while expressing dismay at the intense lobbying for succession by a Ugandan diplomat resulting in an inappropriate contact with the complainant at the centre of the allegations.
“Most disturbingly” the group say the recording evidence in their possession shows that the said Ambassador lobbying for the positon has pre-determined position against Mr. Khan.
Also, to the group noted that recent developments in the investigation process risk undermining not only the integrity of the Court but also wider confidence in multilateral institutions at a time of global instability.
It added that as a continental body that champions good governance, the rule of law, and the stability on which Africa’s economic development depends, the PABF have long regarded the International Criminal Court as an institution essential to international justice hence the need for what it describes as “major concerns” ought to be addressed.
In the immediate term PABF called for a suspension of the ongoing external investigation in order to pave way for the group’s request for an independent verification that will unravel the items it had pointed out in their petition in order to bring closure to the matter.
The insisted that the investigation should also determine whether individuals connected to the process, including report that the complainants have had any direct or indirect contact with members of the ICC Bureau, and, if so, establish both the nature and the substance of that contact”.
In addition, the group says it wants a transparent assessment of whether the President or any of the Vice-Presidents have been influenced by similar prejudicial lobbying, compromising your ability to discharge your responsibilities impartially”.
While addressing these immediate concerns the Pan African group says issues such as Improper Disclosure, Disparaging External Commentary, Sanctions and Intimidation and Irregular Process against Mr. Khan ought to be given critical attention.
The group assured that it stands ready to support the Court in its mission to uphold due process and equality before the law.
The attack on Al-Zurq market has drawn sharp condemnation across Sudan and renewed questions about the widening use of foreign-supplied weapons in the country’s war.
Eyewitnesses said the strike hit the market at its busiest hour. when vendors and shoppers from across the state had gathered.
Survivors described the assault as targeted and racially motivated, deepening fears in a region scarred by years of ethnic violence.
Sudanese groups including the United Civil Forces Alliance (Qimam), the National Human Rights Observatory, and the Foundational Sudan Alliance (Ta’sis) condemned the attack.
They said Turkish-made Akıncı drones, produced by Baykar, were used. All three organizations demanded accountability for those behind the strike.
The Sudanese army has relied on drone warfare in Darfur and Kordofan. It denies hitting civilian areas. Yet marketplaces, hospitals, and homes have been repeatedly bombed.
The gap between official statements and civilian suffering continues to widen.
The groups went further, pledging to hold not only Sudanese commanders but also Baykar itself responsible.
They cited company executives Haluk and Selçuk Bayraktar by name, reflecting growing pressure on international arms suppliers linked to the war.
The Washington Post reported earlier this year that Baykar secretly delivered at least $120 million worth of drones and missiles to Sudan in 2024.
Evidence included text messages, recordings, and financial documents. The shipments, according to the report, were supervised directly inside Sudan.
This strike follows a legal push at the International Criminal Court.
The Sudanese Rights Alliance filed a case last week, accusing senior army commanders of war crimes. Rights groups say aerial strikes on civilian areas fit a consistent pattern of abuses.
Western powers have already responded with sanctions. The United States targeted Sudan’s army, the Islamist Al-Baraa Ibn Malik Battalion, and Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim. The European Union sanctioned the Sudanese Air Force and extended the measures through 2026.
For civilians in Darfur, these actions have yet to change daily reality. The war, which erupted in April 2023, continues to devastate communities.
Each strike, like the one on Al-Zurq, reinforces the sense of abandonment among survivors.
The attack is not an isolated event. It is another chapter in a conflict that has systematically eroded civilian life.
Markets, homes, and hospitals are now recurring battlegrounds, leaving little space untouched by violence.
The cooperation pact was signed in Jakarta, Indonesian between Inspector General of Police (IGP), Felix Namuhoranye and General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the Indonesian Chief of Police.
The signing ceremony was also witnessed by Rwanda’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Sheikh Abdul Karim Harerimana.
The MoU establishes a framework for collaboration in combating transnational organized crime, sharing information and expertise, training, and other capacity-building programmes aimed at enhancing policing capabilities between the two countries.
The partnership marks a significant step in bilateral relations between the two law enforcement institutions and reflects the growing commitment by both countries to strengthen international police cooperation in addressing evolving security challenges through joint efforts and knowledge exchange.
IGP Namuhoranye, who is on a four-day visit to Indonesia at the invitation of his host, also toured the Indonesian Police College, where he interacted with over 300 commissioned officers attending various courses.
The engagement provided an opportunity to share experiences and explore avenues for future cooperation in police education and professional development.
For decades, the exiled Rwandans had lived in limbo, scattered across Uganda and other countries in the region, dreaming of a return to a homeland most had not seen since childhood.
Many had fought under Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in the Ugandan Bush War, rising through the ranks of the National Resistance Army (NRA). But in their hearts, they were still refugees. Their families remained in camps, their parents’ land still out of reach. Diplomacy had done nothing.
At the heart of Rwanda’s liberation dream were two lifelong friends; Paul Kagame and Fred Gisa Rwigema. As boys in exile, they spent hours listening to elders recount the daring fights of earlier resistance fighters known as the Inyenzi, their imaginations fired by stories of return and freedom.
Those childhood talks hardened into resolve as the two rose to command positions in Uganda’s army. After helping bring Yoweri Museveni to power, they and other exiled Rwandans began quietly shaping a different mission, one not for another nation, but for their own. The time had come to stop waiting and start reclaiming home.
{{The calm before the march}}
According to historian John Burton Kegel in his book The Struggle for Liberation: War and Militarism in African History, the final decision to activate Option Z came in September 1990.
By then, tension within Uganda’s army was palpable. Anti-Rwandan sentiment had grown, and intelligence officers were already suspicious that some NRA soldiers were secretly loyal to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). If the plan leaked, the entire network could be dismantled overnight.
Rwigema’s home in Kampala quietly became the center of operations. Around 20 September, small groups of trusted officers began visiting under the cover of darkness. No meetings were recorded, no written orders were left behind. Each man left with one instruction: be ready to move at any time.
One of the key figures in these clandestine gatherings was Major Sam Kaka, the then commander of Uganda’s Military Police and one of Rwigema’s most trusted allies.
Kaka traveled across the country using official duties as camouflage, quietly alerting Rwandan officers in scattered NRA units, those stationed in Bihanda under Theogene Bagire, others at Mbarara under Charles Musitu, and some embedded in 129 Battalion under Commander Cyzia. He told them only what they needed to know: the time had come.
By September 29, the decision was sealed. The armed return was no longer an aspiration, it was a date on the calendar.
{{Building an army without an army}}
The RPA existed more in loyalty than in form. It was a force that lived within another army but bound by a deeper allegiance. Mobilization had to be improvised.
Kegel notes that the core of the initial force came from Kaka’s Military Police Battalion, which was almost entirely composed of Rwandan patriots.
Around one hundred soldiers from President Museveni’s elite Presidential Protection Unit joined in, having been secretly recruited by charismatic commanders Charles Muhire and Charles Ngoga. Another three hundred came from 31 Brigade in central Kampala.
They brought what they could carry, rifles, ammunition, boots, even food rations. They had no tanks, no artillery support, no formal supply chain. But they had determination. By evening on September 30, Rwigema gave the final order.
{{The convoy that slipped through the night }}
At 2:30 a.m. on October 1 , 1990, a convoy began rolling out of Kampala’s dark streets. It was an unlikely army on the move, a jumble of army trucks, minivans, borrowed buses, and private cars.
Kaka’s military police led the way to discourage roadblocks. Each man knew discovery meant death or imprisonment, but not a single one turned back.
As the convoy moved, radios buzzed with tension. Rwigema’s communications team stayed awake through the night, listening for any sign that NRA commanders had noticed the disappearance.
Then came a brief radio message, relayed from the Ugandan presidency’s office: “ Don’t be afraid, if it is Fred who is going with his soldiers, they are not going to fight us. I think he must be returning home.”
President Museveni was out of the country. To this day, no one knows who sent that message, but it kept the convoy moving, unchallenged, toward the border.
{{Dawn at Kagitumba}}
By 10 a.m., the first RPA platoons reached the Kagitumba border post on the Muvumba River. Morning mist blanketed the valley. Across the river, a small detachment of Rwandan government troops stood guard, unaware that history was about to cross their path.
Then came a moment of symbolism that would echo through history. Before crossing the border, Rwigema’s men stopped and tore the Ugandan insignia from their uniforms.
The firefight was swift and decisive. The road to Nyagatare was suddenly open.
They entered Rwanda not as invaders, but as sons returning home. As Kegel observed, this act was deliberate, a declaration that this was not Uganda’s war but Rwanda’s own awakening.
{{The chaos of secrecy}}
Victory at Kagitumba brought euphoria but also confusion. The RPA had emerged from the shadows, but it was still a network, not a structured army. Fighters arrived in scattered groups, many unsure of who to follow or what the overall plan was. Rwigema and his senior officers; Kaka, Steven Ndugute, and others, scrambled to restore order.
By nightfall, they had created four ad-hoc battalions led by Chris Bunyenyezi, Steven Ndugute, Adam Wasswa, and Sam Kaka. Yet they faced an immediate crisis: hunger. Because secrecy had been absolute, no supply lines or civilian staging areas had been arranged. The soldiers began seizing cattle from local herders, leaving handwritten IOUs that promised repayment after the war.
The very secrecy that had ensured success now revealed its price, confusion, shortages, and improvised command.
{{Lighting the fuse}}
Still, morale burned brighter than fear. Plans for the following day were bold, push deeper into Rwanda, seize Gabiro, Camp Mutara, and Nyagatare before reinforcements arrived.
The fighters moved forward with faith stronger than logistics, believing that speed would compensate for what they lacked in numbers and supplies.
In hindsight, Option Z was not simply a military maneuver. It was a gamble built on courage, stealth, and conviction, a calculated leap into the unknown.
Despite early setbacks, including the death of Maj Gen Fred Rwigema on the second day of the struggle, the drive to free Rwanda did not falter.
Just days later, Maj Paul Kagame returned from military training in the United States to assume command. He reorganized the war, restored the soldiers’ morale, and led the campaign that ultimately liberated Rwanda and ended the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Option Z had succeeded.
This victory opened the path to rebuild a nation once reduced to ashes, restore unity, and set Rwandans on a shared journey of recovery and development.
He encouraged them to invest in modern and larger buildings to transform the district’s image.
CP Hatari made these remarks on Saturday, October 4, 2025, during the official opening of La Briella Hotel, which will complement existing hospitality facilities and increase the number of available accommodation rooms.
“We want Rubavu to become the second among the country’s secondary cities. We have everything it takes. Our security is guaranteed. We have a market for our produce.
“You have seen that during festive seasons or when big events take place, many visitors struggle to find places to stay and end up sleeping in cars, yet you have the means. Use this good ambition and build new structures. Play your part in renewing the city,” he urged.
CP Hatari reminded business owners and investors that while expanding into other districts can be valuable, they should first prioritize building essential investments within their own communities.
“Look at how Musanze has been modernized without having better opportunities than Rubavu. You should stand up and join efforts to build an exemplary nation. Security alone is not enough without economic activity and development,” he added.
CP Hatari commended Rubavu’s private sector for the progress they continue to make in transforming the town.
Rubavu District Mayor, Prosper Mulindwa, who attended the inauguration of La Briella Hotel, also reminded local entrepreneurs that their investments benefit not only themselves but the entire country.
“Everything you do, you do it for the country, not just for yourselves. You build for the present and the future generations. This new hotel will contribute to taxes and revenue.
The courage you showed to invest is rare because many people only keep ideas without bringing them to life,” he said.
Mulindwa praised Antoine Habarurema, the investor behind the newly built hotel, highlighting his determination.
“Many will learn from you. As the district leadership, we appreciate your contribution to renewing a town that has long needed modernization,” he stated.
For his part, Antoine Habarurema, the hotel owner acknowledged that his achievement was made possible by Rwanda’s inclusive and fair governance.
“If it weren’t for the country’s good leadership that doesn’t discriminate based on origin or region, I would not have been able to complete this project. I thank our national leadership for giving everyone equal opportunities to work and invest. Without this fair system, I would not be doing business here. This hotel is a fruit of good governance,” he said.
