Rwanda

Rwanda’s controversial Formula One GP leads Lewis Hamilton to call for freedom for DR Congo, while renewing Palestine plea.

Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has renewed his call for freedom for Palestine when pressed on the controversial decision to award a Grand Prix to Rwanda.

The 41-year-old is the only Black competitor in the motorsport and said an African race would make people more aware of the continent, but recognised there were concerns and used the issue to expand on his stance on humanitarian issues across the world.

Human rights campaigners Amnesty International recently accused Formula One of hollow words and offering Rwanda a “sportswashing prize” – an accusation levelled at countries perceived to be using sport to improve a tarnished image abroad.

Hamilton, who was speaking before Sunday’s US Grand Prix, has long called for a Gaza ceasefire amid Israel’s genocidal war and returned to the matter – as well as other conflicts – when asked about a Grand Prix in Rwanda.

“I think we need to make sure we’re pushing to free Congo, free Sudan, free Syria, free Palestine,” Hamilton said.

“There’s a lot of peace that I’m hoping we get to at some stage.”

Rwanda in the spotlight after Formula One GP award

Rwanda President Paul Kagame has been accused of repressive methods to keep his grip on power, with opponents dying in prisons, independent media muzzled, and other abuses.

Neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) joined the criticism of Formula One’s decision to award a race to Rwanda, which is accused by the DRC, the United States and United Nations experts of backing the M23 rebels fighting in the DRC.

“Of course, I don’t get to choose where we go,” Hamilton continued.

“Naturally, there are problems all over the world today, so I’ve seen many of the stories. But I think we really have to approach it with humility.

“Of course, going there doesn’t mean that you neglect the things that are happening there.

“So hopefully many people start to educate themselves a little bit more about what is happening there and what has happened there for hundreds of years. I hope that does spark the conversation.

“Growing up in England, they never taught us anything about Africa. It needs to be on the curriculum.

“A lot of the problems they have there are still results of colonialism and the West intervening.”

Formula One’s return to Africa has been Hamilton’s dream

Hamilton said a race in Africa was a dream that could keep him going longer in the sport now that Formula One has done a deal with Rwanda for a Grand Prix in the early 2030s.

The Ferrari driver will be 42 in January and has a contract for 2027. Fernando Alonso, the oldest active F1 driver, is 45 and recently signed up for another season with Aston Martin.

“I’m now forced to stay a lot longer because we have a race in Africa, and that’s been my dream, to be able to race in Africa,” Hamilton said on Thursday in a news conference alongside championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

“I have to keep fighting to try and stay fit. If I can still punch out good results over the next year, we’ll keep it going.”

Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton at Mercedes last season and is still only 20 years old, encouraged him: “You got to do at least the first one.”

Hamilton, the sport’s first and only Black champion, has long campaigned for a race in Africa – a continent that last hosted a race at South Africa’s Kyalami circuit in 1993 – and spoke of his efforts.

“Countless meetings with the stakeholders, so many meetings with (F1 CEO) Stefano (Domenicali) at his office in London, but also on race weekends, countless calls: ‘What’s happening? Where are we going? Who are you meeting with?’

“Many meetings with different presidents from different countries. Lots of phone calls with different presidents from different countries within Africa,” he recalled.

“I think for me, it’s a place that deserves to have a Grand Prix. It’s about more than just one country. It’s about the continent itself.”

And the DRC’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said in a statement last week that “giving (Rwanda President) Paul Kagame this platform would help polish the image of an authoritarian leader whose government has helped fuel a devastating war in our country”.

She pointed out that the US had sanctioned the Rwandan army and four senior officers for their role in destabilising the region, conducting military operations inside the DRC and supporting, training and fighting alongside the M23 rebel group.

She added that F1 “should require credible, independent guarantees that no money used to host the race comes from conflict-linked minerals or the exploitation of Congolese resources”.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton said: “Africa is a place that deserves to have a grand prix. It’s about more than just one country. It’s about the continent itself, and there are so many beautiful countries within it.

“The people are so lovely. The culture is so rich, and I think it’s important that we get to show that to the world. We get to do that with our sport. We get to go to all these different countries, and people see some of these countries they didn’t really know too much about.

“All of a sudden, it becomes something that’s on the screen, and kids are talking about it. They go to school talking about it. So, I’m really, really hopeful for that grand prix.”

However, the Ferrari driver added: “Going there doesn’t mean that you neglect the things that are happening there.

“So hopefully many people start to educate themselves a little bit more about what is happening there and what has happened there for hundreds of years. I hope that does spark the conversation.

“And then I guess I’ll finish it off with this: I think we need to make sure we’re pushing to free Congo, free Sudan, free Syria, free Palestine. I think there’s a lot of peace that I’m hoping we get to at some stage.”

Musanze, Rwanda – Jean Claude Hategekimana feared that returning to Rwanda could cost him his life. After years with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), he decided to leave the armed group and return home. At Rwanda’s Mutobo Demobilisation and Reintegration Centre, he began preparing for civilian life.

Born in 1996 in Rutsiro District, in western Rwanda, Hategekimana moved to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with his parents and grew up in an area controlled by the FDLR. He joined the group in 2018, underwent military training and eventually reached the rank of captain.

“I arrived at the Mutobo Centre after fighting to defend Goma. Following our defeat, I fled to Masisi. After realising that I was fighting for nothing, I decided to return to Rwanda. I came back on February 24,” he told Al Jazeera.

Hategekimana said FDLR members had been taught that anyone who returned to Rwanda would be killed.

“Upon arriving in Rwanda, I realised that the FDLR had been lying to us. For me, returning home felt like embarking on a suicide mission,” he said.

His experience illustrates the challenge of reintegrating former fighters whose beliefs and fears have been shaped by years in an armed group.

Rebuilding civilian life

Francis Musoni, secretary-general of the Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission, said the Mutobo centre, located in Musanze in Rwanda’s Northern Province, was established in 2001 to receive members of the FDLR and other Rwandan armed groups returning from the DRC.

The FDLR emerged in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. After the genocide, members of the former Rwandan armed forces and militia groups fled to what was then Zaire, now the DRC. The Rwandan government accuses the FDLR of carrying out attacks against Rwanda and contributing to cross-border insecurity.

At Mutobo, the rehabilitation programme includes medical care, psychosocial support, civic education and assistance with reconnecting with families. Returnees can also contact relatives and friends through a telephone service, Musoni said.

“We help them to build confidence among themselves, build trust, and empower them to go back into the community and contribute to the development of the country together with their families,” he said.

The centre also allows visitors and media representatives to meet returnees. Musoni said those undergoing rehabilitation can visit their communities for short periods to help rebuild their confidence in returning home.

“They can travel to their communities [during rehabilitation]. They are given written permission for a week or two, and we even facilitate transport,” he said.

Different journeys home

For the former commanders interviewed by Al Jazeera at Mutobo, the decision to leave the FDLR was shaped by family ties, disillusionment and concerns about personal safety.

Major-General Anastase Munyaneza served in the former Rwandan armed forces in Kigali’s Kicukiro District during the 1994 genocide. He said he left Rwanda after the genocide and later joined the FDLR, eventually commanding its South Kivu sector.

Although he had come to accept the group’s beliefs, Munyaneza remained in contact with his family in Rwanda. News of their lives made him question his own circumstances.

“I was the only one who had fled to the DRC. I regularly received news about them. I knew they were still alive, attending school, working for the government and improving their lives. I began asking myself what I was doing in the forest,” he said.

He added that seeing other members return safely encouraged him to consider going home.

Munyaneza said he contacted personnel from the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), who transported him from South Kivu to Bukavu and then to the Congolese-Rwandan border. He subsequently proceeded to Mutobo.

Lieutenant-Colonel Idrissa Bizimana, who was responsible for ideology, propaganda and recruitment within the FDLR, said his decision to return followed a change in his convictions.

“I no longer believed in the ideology I had been promoting. After receiving verified information about what was happening in Rwanda, I decided to return home,” he said.

Bizimana said he had been in contact with a MONUSCO general who had offered to help him return. Using a satellite phone equipped with GPS, he sent his location and the date. A helicopter was then dispatched to retrieve him, he said.

Lieutenant-Colonel Emilien Mpakaniye, who joined the FDLR in 1998 and was responsible for economic affairs at its headquarters, said he began questioning the organisation after becoming disillusioned with what he described as its lies.

Colonel Augustin Nshimiyimana, a former FDLR intelligence commander, returned to Rwanda in 2022 and underwent rehabilitation at Mutobo. He said he decided to leave after another commander accused him of working with Rwanda following a disagreement over a mission in Bujumbura.

Nshimiyimana said the accusation made him fear for his life.

“When they accuse you of working with Rwanda, it means they consider you a Tutsi, and the next step is to kill you,” he said.

Preparing for a new life

At Mutobo, former fighters receive education and practical support to prepare for life after discharge.

Febronie Mukankiko, a teacher at the centre, said teaching people who grew up in the forest required a different approach.

“Our students are different from ordinary students. They are adults who grew up in the forest, so teaching them requires special skills. We undergo additional training to ensure that we can teach them effectively,” she said.

She added that completing their studies could be a significant achievement for those with limited access to formal education.

“When they graduate and receive their certificates, they are very happy,” she said.

Musoni said the average stay at the centre was five months, after which returnees completed a formal discharge process. He said assistance could include financial support, vocational training, formal education and help establishing income-generating activities. The commission also follows up with former residents to assess how they are adjusting to life in their communities.

For those who have spent years away from Rwanda, leaving Mutobo marks the start of another transition: finding work, reconnecting with family and adjusting to civilian society.

For Mpakaniye, disillusionment came partly from the contrast between the lives of senior commanders’ families and those of ordinary fighters.

“First, their family members live in Rwanda and in Europe, while ours are in the forest,” he said.

Formula One returns to Africa for the first time in more than three decades, but DR Congo slams decision to race in Rwanda.

Formula 1 will “polish the image of an authoritarian leader” if it goes ahead with plans to hold an African Grand Prix in Rwanda, the foreign minister of neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, said Thursday.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame joined F1 Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali and FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Tuesday to announce the race. It will be held at a circuit yet to be built at Bugesera, near Rwanda’s capital Kigali, in “the early 2030s,” F1 says. The series last raced in Africa in 1993.

The DRC, the United States and UN experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23 rebels in eastern DRC. Rwanda says its security measures are intended to protect it against threats from armed groups operating across the border.

“In February 2025, I warned Stefano Domenicali and the F1 authorities that allowing Rwanda to host a Grand Prix would be morally indefensible,” Kayikwamba Wagner said in a statement. “[The DRC] welcomes Formula 1’s return to Africa, but giving Paul Kagame this platform would help polish the image of an authoritarian leader whose government has helped fuel a devastating war in our country.”

Kayikwamba Wagner said the DRC backs rival efforts from South Africa to host a race instead.

“This is also an opportunity for F1 to show its audiences and supporters what the sport truly stands for,” she added. “It should require credible, independent guarantees that no money used to host the race comes from conflict-linked minerals or the exploitation of Congolese resources.”

The DRC has previously objected to other Rwandan efforts to promote its brand through sports, especially a string of high-profile sponsorship agreements with leading European football clubs.

The US imposed sanctions on Rwanda’s military and four senior officers in March over their support for M23 rebels in eastern DRC. Rwanda rejected the sanctions as one-sided and said they misrepresented the conflict.

He ruled the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for almost two decades.

And now, Joseph Kabila is making a comeback.

This time, he’s formed a coalition with M23 fighters in eastern DRC.

Kabila will lead the political-military alliance, which opposes the government in Kinshasa.

Many say the move will worsen the fighting in eastern DRC.

Several attempts to reach a peace agreement between government forces, rebels and armed groups in the region have so far failed.

Is this coalition likely to escalate the fighting?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Henry-Pacifique Mayala – Coordinator of the Kivu Security Tracker at the Ebuteli institute

Ovigwe Eguegu – Policy analyst at Development Reimagined, specialising in African geopolitics and great power competition

Vincent Rouget – Head of political risk for Africa at Control Risks, a global consultancy