The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), fighters and dependents should present themselves to Congolese or UN authorities for disarmament and repatriation, the US has said.In a statement on the current situation in eastern DRC, released on Wednesday, the United States reiterated its support for the international community’s comprehensive approach to disarming and demobilising the FDLR.FDLR is largely composed of militia and former government soldiers (ex-FAR) responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, as well as a spate of atrocities against civilian populations in eastern DRC.“We support ongoing efforts to hold FDLR leaders accountable for their atrocities, and we urge FDLR soldiers and dependents to present themselves to Congolese or UN authorities for disarmament and repatriation,” the US State Department said in the statement.The statement comes barely a week after the International Criminal Court rejected attempts to indict FDLR supreme commander, Sylvestre Mudacumura. Earlier, the Hague-based court also dropped charges against FDLR Secretary General, Callixte Mbarushimana.Previous Joint Military Operations conducted by Congolese forces (FARDC) and the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) dealt a severe blow to FDLR, resulting into deaths, arrests or surrender of several senior commanders and fighters.More than 400 FDLR combatants are reported to have returned home between last November and early this year.The United States expressed its support for the “international community’s comprehensive approach to disarming and demobilising the FDLR and other rebel outfits.”Washington further said it was concerned by the continued mutiny of officers and soldiers, formerly integrated into the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and now operating in North Kivu province as an armed group under the name M23.“We encourage the DRC, its neighbours, and its partners to work together to prevent M23, the FDLR, and all other armed groups from receiving outside support in contravention of the UN Security Council’s arms embargo on non-governmental entities and individuals operating in the DRC,” it added.The US has in the past supported regional countries in their military strategy against FDLR and other negative armed groups, including Uganda’s Lords’ Resistance Army (LRA)– principally through what is called the Joint Intelligence Fusion Cell and the Tripartite Plus Mechanism.Last year, US President Barack Obama authorised deployment to Uganda of about 100 combat-equipped US forces to help regional forces flush out the LRA from the battlefield.Also, strategies to wipe out remnants of a weakened FDLR militia featured in the discussions between the new US envoy to the Great Lakes, Barrie Walkley, and Defence Minister, Gen. James Kabarebe, when the former visited Rwanda in January this year.
