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| Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda | |
|---|---|
| Ingabo za demokarasi zo kubohoza u Rwanda (Kinyarwanda) Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (French) | |
 Flag of the FDLR | |
| Leaders | Ignace Murwanashyaka (POW) Callixte Mbarushimana Sylvestre Mudacumura † Gaston Iyamuremye (interim president)[1] Pacifique Ntawungukav (overall commander of military wing)[2] |
| Dates of operation | 30 September 2000 (2000-09-30) – present |
| Headquarters | Kibua andKalonge |
| Active regions | EasternDemocratic Republic of the Congo |
| Ideology | Hutu Power |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Size | 6,000–7,000 (October 2007) 5,000 (October 2015)[3] 1,000 to 1,500 (2024)[4] |
| Allies |  Interahamwe |
| Opponents |  Rwanda |
| Battles and wars | |
Preceded by Army for the Liberation of Rwanda Succeeded by Rasta militia (faction) | |
| Hutu militants |
|---|
| Rwandan genocide (1994) |
| Refugee crisis |
| RDR (1995–1996) |
| 1st and2nd Congo War |
TheDemocratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (French:Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda,FDLR;Kinyarwanda:Ingabo za demokarasi zo kubohoza u Rwanda,IDKR) is an armed rebel group active in the easternDemocratic Republic of the Congo.[5] As anethnic Hutu group opposed to theethnic Tutsi influence, the FDLR is one of the last factions of Rwandan rebels active in the Congo. It was founded through an amalgamation of other groups of Rwandan refugees in September 2000, including the formerArmy for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALiR), under the leadership of Paul Rwarakabije.[6] It was active during the latter phases of theSecond Congo War and thesubsequent insurgencies in Kivu.
As of December 2009, Major GeneralSylvestre Mudacumura was the FDLR's overall military commander. He was the former deputy commander of the FAR Presidential Guard in Rwanda in 1994.[7] Mudacumura was killed by DRC security in 2019. The FDLR made a partial separation between its military and civilian wings in September 2003 when a formal armed branch, the Forces Combattantes Abacunguzi (FOCA), was created.[7]
According to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, the FDLR is believed to be responsible for about a dozen terrorist attacks committed in 2009.[8] These acts of terrorism have killed hundreds of civilians in Eastern Congo.
Before ALiR merged with the FDLR in September 2000, the military configuration was as follows:
Gérard Prunier presents a different picture to the ICG's assessment. As of approximately August 2001, he describes two separate ALiR groups, the 'old' ALiR I inNorth Kivu, made up of ex-FAR andInterahamwe, about 4,000 strong, and the 'new' ALiR II operating inSouth Kivu out of DR Congo government supported bases inKasai and northernKatanga. Prunier says of ALiR II that '..it had over 10,000 men, and although many of the officers were oldgenocidaires most of the combatants were recruited after 1997. They were the ones that fought aroundPepa,Moba, andPweto in late 2000.'[9] 'The even newer FDLR had around 3,000 men, based inKamina inKatanga. Still untried in combat, they had been trained by the Zimbabweans and were a small, fully equipped conventional army.'[10]
It is not clear which if either of these two accounts is correct.The ALiR is currently listed on the U.S. Department of State's Terrorist Exclusion List as a terrorist organization.[11]
The FDLR counts among its number the original members of theInterahamwe that led the 1994Rwandan genocide. It received extensive backing from, and cooperation from, the government of Congolese PresidentLaurent-Désiré Kabila, who used the FDLR as aproxy force against the foreign Rwandan armies operating in the country, in particular theRwandan Patriotic Army (RPF military wing) and Rwanda-backedRally for Congolese Democracy. In July 2002, FDLR units still in Kinshasa-held territory moved intoNorth andSouth Kivu. At this time it was thought to have between 15,000 and 20,000 members. Even after the official end of the Second Congo War in 2002, FDLR units continued to attack Tutsi forces both in eastern DRC and across the border into Rwanda, vastly increasing tensions in the region and raising the possibility of another Rwandan offensive into the DRC – what would be their third since 1996. In mid-2004, a number of attacks forced 25,000 Congolese toflee their homes.
Following several days of talks with Congolese government representatives, the FDLR announced on 31 March 2005 that they were abandoning their armed struggle and returning to Rwanda as apolitical party. The talks held inRome,Italy were mediated bySant'Egidio. The Rwandan government stated that any returning genocidaires would face justice, most probably through thegacaca court system. It was stated that if all of the FDLR commanders, who are believed to control about 10,000 militants, disarmed and returned, a key source of cross-border tensions would be removed.[12]
On October 4, 2005, theUnited Nations Security Council issued a statement demanding the FDLR disarm and leave theDemocratic Republic of the Congo immediately. Under an agreement reached in August, the rebels had pledged to leave Congo by September 30.[13][14]
In August 2007, theCongolese military announced that it was ending a seven-month offensive against the FDLR, prompting a sharp rebuke by the government of Rwanda. Prior to this, Gen.Laurent Nkunda had split from the government, takingBanyamulenge (ethnic Tutsis in the DRC) soldiers from the formerRally for Congolese Democracy and assaulting FDLR positions, displacing a further 160,000 people.[15]
In October 2007 theInternational Crisis Group said that the group's military forces had dropped from an estimated 15,000 in 2001 to 6–7,000 then, organised into four battalions and a reserve brigade inNorth Kivu and four battalions inSouth Kivu.[16] It named the political and military headquarters as Kibua and Kalonge respectively, both in the jungle coveredWalikale region ofNorth Kivu. It also said that 'about the same number' of Rwandan citizens, family members of combatants, and unrelated refugees remained behind FDLR lines in separate communities.
In December 2008 DR Congo and Rwanda agreed to attempt to disband the FDLR,[17] though they will have to destroy the organisation by force or otherwise shut it down. On January 20, 2009, the Rwandan Army, in concert with the Congolese government,entered the DR Congo to hunt down lingering FDLR fighters.[18]
On 9 and 10 May 2009, FDLR rebels were blamed for attacks on the villages ofEkingi (South Kivu) andBusurungi (Walikale territory, southern boundary ofNorth Kivu).[19] More than 90 people were killed at Ekingi, including 60 civilians and 30 government troops, and "dozens more" were said to be killed at Busurungi.[19] The FDLR were blamed by the United Nations'Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.[19] The UN Group of Experts' report, S/2009/603, issued 9 November 2009, said "Consistent statements collected by the Group from FDLR elements who participated in this attack confirmedthat it was conducted in retaliation against the FARDC for the killings in late April 2009 at Shalio."[20]
The Group further commented that "The attack at Busurungi on 10 May 2009 was conducted in clear violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The systematic nature of attacks by the FDLR against the civilian population at Busurungi suggests that they could qualify as crimes against humanity. The attack on Busurungi was perpetrated by the elements of the FDLR battalion "Zodiac" under the command of Lt Col Nzegiyumva of the FDLR Reserve Brigade, in turn under the command of Col Kalume. Reportedly, the attacks were also perpetrated by the Special Company under the command of Capt Mugisha Vainquer. Some information received by the Group indicated that the operation was supported by an FDLR commando unit."[21]
The FDLR had attacked several other villages in the preceding weeks and clashes occurred between FDLR forces and the Congolese Army, during which government forces are reported to have lost men killed and wounded.[22] The most recent attacks have forced a significant number of people from their homes in Busurungi toHombo, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north.[22] The Congolese Army and MONUC have conducted Operation Kimia II in North and South Kivu to try to eliminate the FDLR, which has not been very successful.[22]
The FDLR website was hosted in Germany, but after the request of the German newspaperDie Tageszeitung, it was taken offline. The website is now hosted by the Italian provider Register.it.[23]
The UN peacekeeping missionMONUC has been accused of sharing intelligence with the FDLR.[24] However, these accusations are unreliable at best as they were made by the New Times, a media outlet under Rwanda state control. The government of Rwanda has been hostile towards MONUC and during its proxy war with the Congo, its military forces even attacked peacekeepers while part of the CNDP.
On August 24, 2010, the United Nations confirmed that rebels from the FDLR and from theMai Mai militia raped and assaulted at least 154 civilians from July 30 to August 3, in the town ofLuvungi in North Kivu province.United Nations Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon, who had made protecting civilians and combating sexual violence central themes of his presidency, was reported to be outraged by the attack. Atul Khare, deputy head of the U.N.'s peacekeeping department, was dispatched to the region, andMargot Wallström, the organisation's special representative for sexual violence in conflict, was instructed to take charge of the U.N. response and follow up. The United Nations had withdrawn 1,700 peace keepers in recent months, responding to the Congolese government's demand to end the UN peacekeeping mission (recently renamed MONUSCO). Earlier Wallstrom was quoted as saying that this withdrawal would make the struggle against sexual violence in the region significantly more difficult.[25]
FDLR chairmanIgnace Murwanashyaka was arrested in Mannheim, Germany, in April 2006, but released shortly thereafter.[26] However, in November 2009, after pressure applied by the United Nations, the GermanBundeskriminalamt captured Murwanashyaka, the 46-year-old chairman of the FDLR, again, along with his 48-year-old deputy,Straton Musoni, inKarlsruhe.[27] This was considered a severe blow to the FDLR organization.
The trial for Murwanashyaka and Musoni began on May 4, 2011, before theOberlandesgericht inStuttgart. They are accused of several counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity according to the GermanVölkerstrafgesetzbuch. Their trial is the first to be held in Germany for crimes against this law.[28][29]
In October 2010, the Executive Secretary,Callixte Mbarushimana, was arrested in France under a sealed warrant from theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in the Kivus (Democratic Republic of the Congo). The warrant concerns widespread attacks allegedly committed by FDLR troops against civilians in North and SouthKivu in 2009. The Court's judges state that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mbarushimana bears criminal responsibility for these attacks, including murder, torture, rape, persecution and inhumane acts. The warrant alleges that Mbarushimana was part of a plan to create a humanitarian catastrophe to extract concessions of political power for the FDLR.[30]
On 13 July 2012, the ICC announced an arrest mandate against the FDLR chiefSylvestre Mudacumura for war crimes committed in the Kivus[31] as well as againstBosco Ntaganda.[32]On 7 November 2019, Trial Chamber VI of International Criminal Court (ICC) sentenced Bosco Ntaganda to a total of 30 years of imprisonment.[33]
In April 2020, the FDLR was accused of attacking a civilian convoy in theVirunga National Park, killing a dozen park rangers,[34] while in February 2021, it was accused of killing the Italian ambassador to DRC,Luca Attanasio, his bodyguard and his driver.[35]
On 1 March, 2025, FDLR intelligence chief Ezechiel Gakwerere, who was previously captured in the M23 offensive, was handed over to the Rwandan government. The leader of the FDLR's military wing, Pacifique Ntawungukav, was reportedly killed in the January fighting, but this could not be confirmed.[36]
In October 2022, findings from reports byHuman Rights Watch revealed that the Congolese military provided support to the FDLR in their engagement against theM23 rebel group.[37][38]
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