The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group in Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday said it had handed over to Kigali 20 fighters from a militia founded by ethnic Hutus who took part in the Rwandan genocide.
Rwanda has long pointed to the alleged presence of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), whose leaders were involved in the 1994 massacre of ethnic Tutsis, over its border in the DRC to justify its support for the M23.
With Rwanda’s support the M23 has seized swathes of the DRC‘s troubled east in recent months, including the key provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.
Saturday’s handover took place at the border separating Goma from the Rwandan town of Gisenyi.
The highest-ranking FDLR official handed over was General Ezechiel Gakwere, accused by international reports of having played an active role in the genocide of the Tutsis in the southern Rwandan town of Butare.
Another officer handed over, Major Gilbert Ndayambaje, was sentenced in 2018 to life imprisonment by a DRC court for crimes against humanity.
“There are a total of 20 FDLR soldiers commanded by a general. We are continuing to track down others hiding in the town of Goma,” M23 deputy spokesman Oscar Balinda told the press.
‘Invade Congo For Minerals’
Escorted to the border post by M23 fighters, the alleged FDLR members, some too young to have taken part in the 1994 genocide, were then searched by Rwandan officers.
“If there are any who have committed crimes of genocide, they will be brought to justice,” said Colonel Joseph Mwesigye.
He declared their arrest “absolute confirmation of what the government of Rwanda has always said” about their presence in the DRC, accusing the FDLR of being integrated into the Congolese armed forces.
Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe likewise said that Rwanda had “told Western countries many times that, for the past 30 years, the FDLR genocidal force has been a permanent threat to Rwanda.”
“Unfortunately, these world’s powers refused to listen to us, arguing… that Rwanda is using them as a pretext to ‘invade Congo for minerals’,” Nduhungirehe added on X.
Though Rwanda denies offering the M23 direct military support, a UN experts’ report said Kigali maintains several thousand troops in the eastern DRC and exerts de facto control over the armed group.
The report also found Rwanda was using its presence in the DRC to profit from its neighbor’s vast mineral wealth, including gold and rare materials crucial to the manufacture of laptops and phones.
