The Republican Guard () of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as the Special Presidential Security Group (Groupe Spécial de Sécurité Présidentielle, GSSP), is maintained by President Félix Tshisekedi. Military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) military officials state that the Garde Républicaine is not the responsibility of FARDC, but the Head of State. Apart from Article 140 of the Law on the Army and Defence, no legal stipulation on the DRC's Armed Forces makes provision for the GR as a distinct unit within the national army. In February 2005, President Joseph Kabila passed a decree which appointed the GR's commanding officer and 'repealed any previous provisions contrary' to that decree. The GR is more than 10,000 strong (the ICG said 10,000–15,000 in January 2007), and formerly consisted of three brigades, the 10th, at Kinshasa, the 15th, and the 16th, at Lubumbashi (more recently it has been reorganized into defense zones and regiments). It has better working conditions and is paid regularly, but still commits numerous crimes near their bases, including against United Nations officials.
It is said to be part of the Military Household (Maison Militaire) of the President, which are the DRC's state security agencies, and has been used against President Kabila's political opposition. The Republican Guard has been accused, by the United States, the United Nations, and numerous human rights groups of undermining the democratic process in the country by harassing political rivals, targeting opposition parties, abusing journalists, arbitrarily detaining and executing civilians, and preventing public gatherings.
History
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".
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.