Rwanda of 1884 assigned the territory to Germany as part of German East Africa, marking the beginning of the colonial era. The explorer Gustav Adolf von Götzen was the first European to significantly explore the country in 1894; he crossed from the south-east to Lake Kivu and met the king. The Germans did not significantly alter the social structure of the country, but exerted influence by supporting the king and the existing hierarchy and delegating power to local chiefs. Belgian forces took control of Rwanda and Burundi in 1916, during World War I, beginning a period of more direct colonial rule.
Rwanda National Congress declared that it had "decided to rise to the historic responsibility of naming the crimes committed against the Rwandan Hutu in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo by their rightful name, genocide." It released a list of what it called "masterminds of the genocide against the Rwanda Hutu", which included Nyamwasa. The "old" RNC announced the names of its "newly elected executives" the same month, which did not include Rudasingwa nor Gahima. Rwanda National Congress The Rwanda National Congress (RNC) is Rwandan opposition group in exile, established in the United States on 12 December 2010. Prominent founders included Dr.