The Republican Rally for Democracy in Rwanda (french: Rassemblement Républicain pour la Démocratie au Rwanda (RDR)), also known as the (''Rally for the Return

f Refugees and Democracy in Rwanda F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. His ...

') is an unregistered Rwandan

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. Its stated goal is to establish a democratic and free Rwandan Republic, and its current president is

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza (born 3 October 1968) is a Rwandan politician and chairperson of a new political party - Development And Liberty For All (DALFA-Umurinzi) with the focus to campaign for more political space and for development. Previous ...

History

The Rally for the Return of Refugee and Democracy in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

was formed on April 3, 1995, by a group of Rwandan refugees in Mugunga, the eastern region of the then

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

, now the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. The RDR's creation was a response to the outcome of the

Rwandan Civil War The Rwandan Civil War was a large-scale civil war in Rwanda which was fought between the Rwandan Armed Forces, representing the country's government, and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) from 1October 1990 to 18 July 1994. The war arose ...

and the resulting

refugee crisis A refugee crisis can refer to difficulties and dangerous situations in the reception of large groups of Forced displacement, forcibly displaced persons. These could be either internally displaced person, internally displaced, refugees, asylum ...

in the

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in the ...

region. By August 1994, over two million Rwandan refugees fled to neighboring African countries and created an extreme

humanitarian crisis A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or extern ...

. Inside Rwanda, the internally displaced population were at risk of famine. Within refugee camps, the presence of former government military personnel and

Interahamwe The Interahamwe ( or ) is a Hutu paramilitary organization active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The Interahamwe was formed around 1990 as the youth wing of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND ...

, a Hutu extremist group responsible for the Tutsi genocide, undermined the welfare of civilian refugees, making the

humanitarian relief Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and v ...

effort vastly complex.

Criticism

In '' We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families'', author Philip Gourevitch claimed that the RDR, founded in the refugee camps of exiled Hutus in Zaire after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, is a shadow organization effectively run by former Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) commanders and genocidaires. He criticized Western aid workers, who regarded the RDR as a moderate and legitimate organization, as naive and ill-informed.

René Lemarchand René Lemarchand (born 1932) is a French- American political scientist who is known for his research on ethnic conflict and genocide in Rwanda, Burundi and Darfur. Publishing in both English and French, he is particularly known for his work ...

criticized the book for its lack of scholarly credentials.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Republican Rally For Democracy In Rwanda 1995 establishments in Rwanda 2006 disestablishments in Rwanda Defunct political parties in Rwanda Political parties established in 1995 Political parties disestablished in 2006 Rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Rebel groups in Rwanda