President Paul Kagame has rejected a cantonment agreement between the DR Congo government and the FDLR, arguing that the arrangement confirms longstanding cooperation between Kinshasa and the militia.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, August 24, Kagame said Kinshasa’s decision to negotiate a protocol covering the FDLR’s disarmament, demobilisation and placement in designated sites amounted to an acknowledgement that the group operates on Congolese territory.
“They are saying they have done something about FDLR. It is because they (the FDLR) are there. If they were not there, they wouldn’t be doing anything,” Kagame said.
He accused Congolese authorities of supplying weapons to the FDLR and incorporating its fighters into government forces, saying former combatants had provided Rwanda with evidence of that cooperation.
“What we know on a regular basis is that they arm them, they integrate them in their own forces, and we have evidence because we have people here, former FDLR combatants, who have been part of all those efforts, and either some of them came back home on their own or were captured in Congo, and they are telling the same story,” he said.
Kagame referred to former FDLR fighters undergoing rehabilitation at Mutobo Demobilisation Centre, saying their testimonies also pointed to support from other actors, including United Nations forces.
The FDLR was established by remnants of the former Rwandan army and the Interahamwe militia responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The group has been accused of conducting attacks against Rwanda, committing atrocities against civilians in eastern DR Congo and operating alongside elements of the Congolese security forces.
Kagame said Rwanda would take every necessary measure to protect itself from threats linked to the militia.
“We will do anything that contributes to that protection, day or night. There are no two ways about it. That one we will, no question,” he said.
“We are a country that can’t afford to mess up. If you give so many enemies an excuse, a chance to bring it to us, I think it will be largely our mistake,” he added.
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe previously described the Kinshasa-FDLR protocol as a political manoeuvre intended to delay commitments made under the Washington peace process.
Government Spokesperson Yolande Makolo has maintained that DR Congo must dismantle the FDLR, separate its fighters from the Congolese armed forces and facilitate their repatriation to Rwanda, in line with the Washington Accords. She said the militia remains a threat to Rwanda, Congolese civilians and the wider Great Lakes region because of its record of violence and continued promotion of genocide ideology.
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