LUSHEBERE, DRCongo, (AFP)
– High in the mountains in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Rwandan Hutu rebel leader Edmond Ngarambe denounces the Tutsi “dictatorship” in his homeland.
RPF engeneering massacres of Hutu STUDENTS in School’boys
dormitory in the north-western region of Rwanda
Lieutenant Colonel Ngarambe, spokesman for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), has been exiled here, since he joined the FDLR in 1998. He is one of some 6,000 fighters with the FDLR, one of the many armed factions fighting in this troubled corner of DR Congo.
Lieutenant Colonel Ngarambe, spokesman for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), has been exiled here, since he joined the FDLR in 1998. He is one of some 6,000 fighters with the FDLR, one of the many armed factions fighting in this troubled corner of DR Congo. Some members of this rebel force have been here since 1994 when, having taken part in the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda, they were driven over the border by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR).
Ngarame, 40, is a hefty looking man in full combat fatigues and a pistol on his belt. He acknowledges that some of his men may have been taken part in the Rwandan genocide.
“Some elements are ready to surrender, but they don’t trust justice in Kigali,” he said, referring to the courts in the Rwandan capital.
The FDLR fighters would like to return to Rwanda, he said. “But there is no safety for us in Rwanda, it is a dictatorship,” he insisted.
“Those who don’t want to kneel down before the regime are considered as an enemy,” he added.
Before his men could return home, he said, Rwandan President Paul Kagame had to leave office and what he called an “equitable” justice system had to be put in place to judge suspects in the genocide.
Ngarambe denounced the community-based courts, known as “gacaca”, that have been dealing with such cases in the Rwanda, where only the Hutus were considered to be guilty.
Members of the Kagame’s ruling FPR should also be held to account for their actions, he argued. “Nobody says anything on FPR reprisals after the genocide,” he said.
“Those who don’t want to kneel down before the regime are considered as an enemy,” he added.
Before his men could return home, he said, Rwandan President Paul Kagame had to leave office and what he called an “equitable” justice system had to be put in place to judge suspects in the genocide.
Ngarambe denounced the community-based courts, known as “gacaca”, that have been dealing with such cases in the Rwanda, where only the Hutus were considered to be guilty.
Members of the Kagame’s ruling FPR should also be held to account for their actions, he argued. “Nobody says anything on FPR reprisals after the genocide,” he said.
From his position 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the Rwandan border, Ngarambe pointed out a mountain a few kilometres off. This was the battle line where his men were fighting their main enemies in the region, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), of renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda.
Since fighting resumed in the eastern DR Congo province of Nord-Kivu in August, the FDLR has formed makeshift alliances with DR Congo government soldiers and the pro-government Mai-Mai militias against the CNDP.
Since fighting resumed in the eastern DR Congo province of Nord-Kivu in August, the FDLR has formed makeshift alliances with DR Congo government soldiers and the pro-government Mai-Mai militias against the CNDP.
Nkunda, whose forces have made significant gains in the recent fighting, has denounced President Joseph Kabila for making common cause with the FDLR, who he says threaten the local Tutsi population.
But Nkunda’s forces have themselves been accused of receiving support from eastern neighbours Rwanda.
But Nkunda’s forces have themselves been accused of receiving support from eastern neighbours Rwanda.
“Laurent Nkunda is Kigali’s puppet,” said Ngarambe. “His only aim in fighting us is to wipe out all opposition to the regime in Kigali,” he said.
“If Kinshasa helped the FDLR as much as Kigali helps Nkunda, we would march on Kigali in two days!” he said. Most of Nord-Kivu province was already in Rwandan hands, he said: and Nkunda was fighting for control of that land.
“If Kinshasa helped the FDLR as much as Kigali helps Nkunda, we would march on Kigali in two days!” he said. Most of Nord-Kivu province was already in Rwandan hands, he said: and Nkunda was fighting for control of that land.
Ngarambe did not accept UN accounts of FDLR collaboration with Kabila’s soldiers, preferring to speak only of cohabitation.
At the nearby town of Lushebere, government soldiers and Mai-Mai militia members could be seen rubbing shoulders with the rebels of the FDLR. But each force fought as an autonomous unit, Ngarambe insisted.
He raised an agreement in November 2007 between the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to flush out illegal armed groups in the east of DR Congo.
It was “unfortunate”, he said, that the FDLR “were always the scapegoats for the insecurity in the region.”
At the nearby town of Lushebere, government soldiers and Mai-Mai militia members could be seen rubbing shoulders with the rebels of the FDLR. But each force fought as an autonomous unit, Ngarambe insisted.
He raised an agreement in November 2007 between the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to flush out illegal armed groups in the east of DR Congo.
It was “unfortunate”, he said, that the FDLR “were always the scapegoats for the insecurity in the region.”
While he wanted talks with all the other concerned parties, he said, his forces were being hunted down and talked of in terms of “forced neutralisation.” Yet when it came to the rebels in Uganda and Burundi, people were happy to talk about negotiation.
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a “time”, yet it cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a time, yet It cannot be destroyed => Wolverine
