Rwandan rebels say more to surrender in DRC
News24 - 11 hours ago
2014-06-06 10:08

Kinshasa - A second wave of Rwandan rebels from a group linked to the
1994 genocide in their homeland will turn themselves in on 9 June in
the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a leader of the group said
on Thursday.
The Hutu rebels are members of the Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) which includes remnants of the militia,
now based in the DRC, that carried out the genocide of at least 800
000 ethnic Tutsis, according to the United Nations.
More than 100 rebels turned themselves in on Friday in the DRC's North
Kivu province, handing over their weapons at a school. North Kivu's
governor said they would now be given a choice between returning to
Rwanda or seeking asylum in the DRC.
Wilson Irategeka, interim executive secretary of the FDLR, said there
would now be "more ceremonies" in which rebels will surrender.
"The next one will be on June 9 in Kigogo in South Kivu. It is a
guaranteed date," he told AFP, without indicating how many rebels
would hand themselves in.
The FDLR - whose fighters have been refugees in the east of the DRC
since 1994 - is today much weakened, numbering 1 500 combatants
according to the UN, although the Rwandan government gives a figure of
4 000.
The rebels are scattered across Kivu, where they have been accused of
widespread violence and rights abuses.
Political struggle
Human Rights Watch has documented vicious attacks against civilians by
the FDLR in which dozens of women, children and the elderly have been
hacked to death with machetes.
In April the FDLR said it wanted to lay down its arms and "devote
itself to the political struggle" in Rwanda, which has refused any
dialogue with the group.
None of the FDLR's leaders sought by courts in the region or
internationally have handed themselves over.
"We have given up our arms, we have given up our fighters... we have
even given up our superior officers. We want the international
community to support us in starting dialogue with Kigali," said
Irategeka.
But UN, African Union and European Union officials in the region are
sceptical, saying on Sunday that those who had handed themselves in
were "an insignificant number of low-ranking combatants".
In a joint statement, they urged the "further and complete surrender
of all FDLR combatants and senior leaders in the coming days".
Irategeka attempted to appease these concerns, saying: "It is a
process. The others will come. Even the chiefs. What are they going to
stay and do there?"
The Congolese government hopes that 1 400 rebels will have surrendered
by the end of June. - AFP
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SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
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