The Guard appears to be a functional successor to Mobutu's
Special Presidential Division. The Guard is organizationally distinct from the FARDC, and its members wear a recognizably different uniforms. Until 2007, they wore black uniforms. Today, they wear red
berets to distinguish them from regular FARDC soldiers. General Bulenda Padiri described the Republican Guard in 2007 as a private army within the military and that most of its members came from President Kabila's home province of Katanga. During the
2006–2007 election cycle in the DRC the Republican Guard was recorded by Amnesty International for extrajudicial killings and other abuses of Kinshasa residents during the political unrest. In the
next general election in 2011, the UN reported that Republican Guards, accompanied by the
Congolese national police and intelligence agency, shot at protestors, killing 33 and wounding another 83. Another 265 were arrested, many reported that they were tortured. The UN stated it will work with the country's judiciary to investigate the incident and try those who were responsible. It was reported that Republican Guards opened fire at crowds of opposition members, who rallied near an airport where their leader was expected to be arriving. In the
Katanga Province, it was reported that an attack on a polling station in Lubumbashi left several people dead who were caught in a fire fight between the assailants and Republican Guards. Also around that time, 30 people were arrested by the GR as around 60 tried to break into President Kabila's residence in Kinshasa. It was reported that some had military training, but the idea that they were angry Republican Guards was denied by the country's information minister. The GR fought them off successfully, though the fighting also spread to a nearby army base. Kabila called it a "coup attempt". in 2006 On March 23–24, 2013, Guard troops fought off a rogue
Mai Mai militia attack in the
Katanga Province. The group,
Mai Mai Kata Katanga, has been trying to establish the province as an independent state. The guardsmen in the area have been known to commit various crimes against the locals, and even some
United Nations workers. During the
December 2013 Kinshasa attacks members of the Republican Guard stationed in the capital fought off attacks by members of an extremist religious group. In March 2015, a court in the North Kivu region found a Republican Guard soldier guilty of murder and had him executed. It was also reported that 300 Republican Guards were deployed to the
Central African Republic during the
civil war in that country, around 2012–2013, to assist the falling government of President
François Bozizé. Throughout
2015 and
2016, Republican Guard troops were accused by various human rights organizations and media outlets of brutality towards protestors who were demonstrating against President Kabila not wanting to step down in November when his constitutionally-mandated term ended. In addition, they have arrested and harassed members of the Congolese opposition. The Republican Guard is legally unable to help the
Congolese National Police (PNC) in maintaining public order, the police are only able to call on the
Armed Forces. After the protests, in December 2016, the
European Union placed sanctions on Republican Guard commander Ilunga Kampate and several other officials. In February 2018 the Guard fought off a Mai Mai militia attack on one of the President Kabila's residences in the North Kivu provinces. In early January 2019 it was reported that Republican Guard troops were deployed to help police deal with protestors in the aftermath of the
30 December 2018 general election. Since
Félix Tshisekedi replaced Joseph Kabila as president of the DRC following the
2018 general election, Tshisekedi made an effort to reform the military, including regulating the role of the Republican Guard. ==Organization==