Rwanda: 'Genocost' Narrative Aims At Minimising Genocide Against the Tutsi - Nduhungirehe

What the report says

Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe has rejected DR Congo’s “Genocost” narrative, describing it as a political idea with no basis in international law and saying it is intended to diminish the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. He made the comments in an interview on The New Times’ podcast, according to the report published by The New Times and distributed by AllAfrica.

Nduhungirehe said the Congolese concept, which Kinshasa uses to describe the human and economic impact of decades of conflict and resource exploitation, also shifts attention away from what he described as persecution of Congolese Tutsi communities. He argued that the term has no standing under the Genocide Convention and framed it as part of a broader political dispute between Kigali and Kinshasa.

The article said his remarks came after DR Congo held its annual Genocost commemoration in Kinshasa on August 2 under President Félix Tshisekedi’s patronage. Nduhungirehe questioned the symbolism of that date, linking it to anti-Tutsi violence that followed the outbreak of the Second Congo War in 1998. He also pointed to historical and recent examples of anti-Tutsi rhetoric and violence in DR Congo, including statements attributed to former officials and references to abuses against Banyamulenge and other Congolese Tutsi.

The issue matters because it reflects continuing tensions over historical memory, ethnic persecution, and cross-border accusations involving Rwanda and DR Congo. The report also noted that the Congolese government and Rwandan officials have increasingly used the term in competing narratives about conflict in eastern DR Congo.