KINSHASA, DR Congo
DR Congo’s army (FARDC) has
announced it will end any ties with the FDLR, a UN-sanctioned terrorist group
based in the country’s east, and whose leaders are accused of perpetrating the
1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.Maj Gen Sylvain Ekenge
In a video message, shared on FARDC account on X on Tuesday, November 21, spokesperson Maj Gen Sylvain
Ekenge, said all soldiers were informed of a “strict ban on establishing or
maintaining any contact ... with the FDLR.”
Ekenge said violators of the
directive would be arrested and face the law.
“The principle of zero
tolerance is now strictly applied,” he said.
The FDLR was founded in May
2000 with the help of the Congolese political and military authorities -
a fact
admitted by one of its founders and former vice president Straton Musoni,
who now lives in Rwanda.
The FARDC ’s announcement
comes after months of calls from regional and international organisations to
end its collaboration with the FDLR, especially in the ongoing war with the M23
rebels in eastern DR Congo.
The conflict in particular has
led to the diplomatic tensions between Rwanda and DR Congo, which accuses
Kigali of supporting the rebels. Rwanda dismisses the allegation saying the
rebellion is a Congolese issue.
The directive came one day
after the visit
by White House Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to
Rwanda and DR Congo where she met with Presidents Paul Kagame and Felix
Tshisekedi.
The White House said in a
statement following Haines’s meeting with the two presidents “plan to take
specific steps to reduce current tensions by addressing the respective security
concerns of both countries.”
The US has on numerous
occasions condemned the collaboration of the FARDC and the FDLR.
The Rwandan government has for
years called on the DR Congo government to end any ties and
support to the FDLR, which launched attacks on its territory throughout the
past two decades.
An October 2019 attack by one
of the FDLR factions killed
14 civilians in Musanze District, Northern Province.
The FDLR was created by
remnants of Interahamwe militia and the former Rwandan army responsible for the
1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The militia is accused of
spreading hate speech and violence against the Congolese Tutsi communities.
The M23 rebels, whose stated
mission is to protect Tutsi communities from the FDLR and its allied militias,
says the genocidal group is integrated in the army.
It remains to be seen how the FARDC can dissociate itself from the FDLR, in spite of their longstanding ties.
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