Gustave Makonene, who worked for anti-graft body, Transparency International, was found dead in July 2013 in Rubavu.
The Judge, Esron Gashyende, said the two men convicted by the court on Friday in Kinshasa, were both police corporals, Isaac Ndabarinze and Nelson Iyakaremye.
He said they had been sentenced to 20 years rather than life, the usual term for the crime, because they had confessed and cooperated with the investigation.
Meanwhile, Mupiganyi Appolinaire, Executive Drector, Transparency International in Rwanda said the sentence was too light.
"We followed the trial carefully and the convicts had been saying that the murder was a planned one, “he said.
"We expected that they would get the heaviest punishment in the Rwanda penal code,’’ he added.
He said he would consider an appeal after examining the full ruling.
A report by a U.N. panel in 2012 accused Rwandan traders of using the mineral trade profits to fund M23, a now defeated rebel group which experts and Western governments had said was backed by Rwanda.
However, Kigali denied the accusations and said it vigorously pursues and prosecutes those involved in smuggling or corruption.
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