Rwanda CSPA Country Profile • Stimson Center

CSPA Implementation Tracker

Rwanda

Years Listed

Each shaded box corresponds to a year the country appeared on the CSPA list and what types of waivers it received, if any.

Rwanda appeared on the CSPA list in 2013, 2014, and 2016 and, following a six-year absence, appeared again in 2023 and 2024. The U.S. president waived, either in part or in full, CSPA prohibitions against the provision of U.S. arms sales and military assistance to Rwanda for two of the five years it was listed (2014 and 2016, affecting FY2015 and FY2017 arms sales and military assistance), resulting in the provision of more than $1.3 million in arms sales and military assistance over two years. Specifically, the president has waived nearly $40,000 in Direct Commercial Sales and more than $1.3 million in International Military Education and Training. Due to CSPA prohibitions, the president denied Rwanda $1,464 in Direct Commercial Sales.

Rwanda was first placed on the CSPA list in 2013 following reports that Rwandan government officials provided material support (including weapons and ammunition) in 2012 to the M23, an armed group operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that was known to recruit and use child soldiers in combat and support roles.¹ In 2013, these activities expanded to include the provision of logistical support, particularly military training and personnel reinforcement, by the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF).² There were reports of the RDF conscripting soldiers into the M23 in 2012 and 2013, and cases in which government officials (including the director of the Rwandan Demobilization and Reintegration Commission) forcibly recruited recently demobilized child soldiers from rehabilitation centers into the M23.³ There were no reports of these activities continuing in the years immediately following M23’s military defeat in November 2013, and Rwanda was subsequently removed from the CSPA list in 2015.⁴

Rwanda reappeared on the 2016 CSPA list following reports that Rwandan security forces facilitated or tolerated the recruitment activities of Burundian opposition groups that recruited child soldiers, as well as reports that it provided these groups with training. In 2015, Burundian refugees, including at least three children, residing in Mahama refugee camp in Rwanda were recruited into nonstate armed groups supporting the Burundian opposition; Rwandan security forces tasked with protecting the camp population reportedly facilitated or tolerated the recruitment activity, including by threatening and physically assaulting those who refused recruitment attempts. Refugees also reported that Rwandan military personnel provided weapons training to Burundian recruits, some of whom were children.⁵ There were no reports of these activities continuing in 2016, and Rwanda was removed from that year’s CSPA list.⁶

From 2013 to 2016, Rwanda took several steps to prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers by government and government-backed forces. For example, the Rwandan government continued its victim protection efforts, including by providing psycho-social support, education, and reintegration services to former child soldiers, in part to prevent their re-recruitment.⁷ It passed and implemented a national anti-trafficking action plan from 2014 to 2016, and increased government spending on anti-trafficking programs the following year.⁸ However, despite a history of quality care for former child soldiers, in 2012 and 2013 the Rwandan government denied re-entry into Rwanda to some demobilized M23 combatants of Rwandan nationality and did not provide reintegration assistance to repatriated M23 members.⁹ Further, though complicity in trafficking crimes reportedly ceased by the end of 2015, the government conducted only limited investigations of officials associated with child soldiering and only administratively disciplined some perpetrators.¹⁰

Rwanda reappeared on the CSPA list in 2023 following renewed reports of the provision of material support to and coordination with M23, during which time the group forcibly recruited and used child soldiers, including in direct hostilities.¹¹ Such action by the government continued has continued into 2024.¹²

For more information, see the U.S. State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report and 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

Total Waived and Prohibited

Since the CSPA took effect.

Explore the Data

Country- and program-level data on the number and type of national interest waivers granted, as well as the amount of arms sales and military assistance waived.

Amounts

Waivers

Amounts

Waivers