U.S. senator questions aid to Rwanda over human rights, role in Congo

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has said he would place a hold on any security assistance to Rwanda submitted to Congress over concerns about the Rwandan government's human rights record and role in conflict in Congo. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Robert Menendez called for a comprehensive review of U.S. policy towards Rwanda, saying he was concerned Washington's support for Kigali was out of step with U.S. values.

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has said he would place a hold on any security assistance to Rwanda submitted to Congress over concerns about the Rwandan government's human rights record and role in conflict in Congo.

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Robert Menendez called for a comprehensive review of U.S. policy towards Rwanda, saying he was concerned Washington's support for Kigali was out of step with U.S. values. "Until such a review is undertaken and briefed to my staff, I plan to carefully review all assistance notified to Congress for Rwanda, and will place a hold on all security assistance, starting with several million dollars in support for Rwandan peacekeepers," Menendez wrote in the letter, which was leaked to media and which his office confirmed was authentic.

"I am concerned that any U.S. support for the Rwandan military while it is deployed to DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and is backing rebels responsible for attacking civilians, Congolese troops, and U.N. peacekeepers sends a troubling signal that the U.S. tacitly approves of such actions," he wrote. The M23 rebel group began a major offensive in Congo's eastern borderlands with Rwanda at the end of March, its most sustained since it captured vast swathes of territory a decade ago. Congo has accused Rwanda of backing M23, which Kigali denies.

The United States allocated more than $147 million in foreign assistance to Rwanda in 2021, making it Rwanda's largest bilateral donor. Menendez also noted that the Rwandan military was receiving U.S. capacity-building assistance and training. Rwanda is the world's fourth-largest contributor of uniformed personnel to U.N. peacekeeping missions, with more than 4,200 troops in conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan and Central African Republic, as of the end of April.

"The United States cannot support Rwandan contributions to peacekeeping in some parts of Africa while looking the other way as Rwanda foments rebellion and violence in other parts of the continent," Menendez wrote. His letter said the Rwandan government was also credibly accused of muzzling critics at home and targeting dissidents living outside the country, pointing to assassinations in South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda and Kenya.

A Rwandan government spokesperson and the U.S. Department of State did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Menendez's concerns contrast with the stance of close U.S. ally the United Kingdom, whose Conservative government has effusively praised Rwanda in recent months as it has defended a policy to send some asylum seekers who enter Britain to Kigali.

The policy has been condemned by human rights groups, the Church of England and, according to the British media, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles. Legal challenges have temporarily halted the scheme, but both contenders to be the next British prime minister have vowed to pursue it. (Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Simon Lewis in Washington DC, Clement Uwiringiyimana in Kigali; Editing by Estelle Shirbon and Mark Heinrich)

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