Rutshuru has a pre-colonial Congolese Hutu population, and following the Rwandan genocide large numbers of Rwandan Hutu refugees were housed in camps there. The First and Second Congo Wars saw much fighting in the district involving Ugandan, Rwandan and Congolese forces of various factions. Since the official end of the war in 2002/3, fighting has periodically erupted between militias allied to the Hutu and Tutsi. The town has always been occupied by proxy forces linked to Rwandan president Paul Kagame and has since the advent of the Rwandan genocide been the focal of troubles between Tutsi and Hutu with stakes in Rwanda. At the onset of all the Rwanda's invasion of Congo, Tutsi troops loyal to Kagame have been linked to massive looting and mass rapes of Congolese locals. Rutshuru much like most of the DR Congo eastern region is a town of collateral damage from infighting between Rwandan proxies and local populations.