On return, FDRL rebels are demobilized and reintegrated in society: More than 12, 000 have repatriated in the last decade
After twenty days of being blocked from repatriating, Congolese army, FARDC last week finally allowed twenty-five of the FDLR rebels to come back home, but retained two Senior Commanders in the group.
According to sources, the officers in custody are Colonel Feredinand Bembabahizi and Captain Karege Tumusifu.
Colonel Bembabahizi is said to have been arrested in South Kivu on his way to Rwanda and is currently being detained at a DRC army camp in Bukavu while Captain Karege is detained against his will at a FARDC camp outside Goma in North Kivu.
It has been established that the two officers were detained by the Congolese army for daring to desert the FDLR a genocidal militia that is responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
On November 6, 2013 is when the Congolese authorities allowed the twenty-five junior officers to return to Rwanda through the Rubavu border after they had been blocked by the Congolese immigration authorities arguing that they were too many to cross the border at once.
This incidence is one in many which show the working relationship between FARDC and FDLR which has been on various occasions described by Rwanda government as an open secret.
It also confirms that the Congolese government and the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) do not take Rwanda’s stability as an important thing which is why they continue working closely with the genocidal FDLR.
Since 2001, more than 12,000 FDLR rebels have voluntarily repatriated home, in a trend that has seen almost a daily flow of combatants. However, media reports show that since October 11, no combatants had been recorded by Rwandan authorities.
The Rwandan government has also continued to pile pressure on the UN peace keeping mission in DR Congo accusing it of looking away as Rwandan rebels roam Congo’s jungles – and planning to attack Rwanda.
Rwanda’s envoy at the UN Eugene Richard Gasana last week fired at the agency following the M23 rebel group declaring end to its rebellion.