Is MONUSCO supporting FDLR?

The UN Stabilising Mission in the Congo (MONUSCO) has continued to turn a blind eye to the plight of the Congolese citizens by ignoring the atrocities committed by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) as well as providing them with emergency relief supplies, it has emerged.The New Times has learned from reliable sources that the force, the world’s second largest UN mission with more than 20,000 peacekeepers, maintains a friendly relationship with the top commanders of the DRC-based terrorist group, whose members are largely responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.Speaking to this newspaper, several former FDLR defectors who crossed to Rwanda over the last few months, spoke of different incidents when MONUSCO came to the militia group’s rescue, including bailing them out with food supplies.Jonas Niyonsaba, 23, a former FDLR fighter who returned to Rwanda in May, said MONUSCO provided food to an FDLR unit, led by one Lt. Kayitana, that had occupied Nyabyondo town near Masisi, North Kivu province, after the latter dislodged the Congolese army, in February, 2012.Niyonsaba, currently undergoing rehabilitation at Mutobo demobilization and reintegration centre, also said that when FDLR fighters conquered several areas near Nyabyondo, MONUSCO struck a deal with FDLR, which saw the latter retreat into Nyabyondo.“We fought with FARDC and chased them from several areas, with residents fleeing to a MONUSCO base. Later, MONUSCO secured a deal under which FDLR relinquished some villages but was offered a base in Nyabyondo town. They also gave us food for a whole week,” he explained.“Many FDLR fighters moved into the town following that arrangement.”Later, FDLR further captured an area known as Pinga (in Masisi) but due to shortage in food supplies, they resorted to looting and feeding on livestock from local communities, he added.Niyonsaba said he was based in Matembe in Masisi, which he said is located about five-hours walk from a MONUSCO base.This account was corroborated by Lt. Col. Etienne Mbarushimana, another former FDLR rebel commander, who returned to Rwanda on May 24 through the Walikare area.He described MONUSCO as a “harmless” party when asked whether the UN’s most expensive mission posed any threat to the survival of FDLR and other militia groups in eastern DRC.MONUSCO Spokesperson Madnodje Mounoubai dismissed the claims. “It is just not true, that is all I can say; it is not true,” he told the The New Times when contacted by telephone yesterday. Medical assistanceHowever, similar allegations against MONUSCO have surfaced before.In November 2009, it was reported that two medical doctors facilitated by some officials of the UN mission in DR Congo (MONUC) – which preceded MONUSCO – entered DRC jungles to treat ailing FDLR overall commander Maj. Gen. Sylvestre Mudacumura.The physicians, who were identified as Jerome Gasana and Francois Goujon, are said to have entered the Walikale region under MONUC’s highly guarded secret and sensitive operation.At the time, sources told The New Times that Mudacumura was seriously diabetic a month before the doctors came to his rescue, and that he had initially approached his MONUC contacts seeking to be airlifted to Congo Brazzaville for treatment.After deliberations and networking, the option of bringing in doctors was the preferred course of action, sources said.MONUC dismissed those allegations but commissioned no inquiry to ascertain the truth. Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have resumed efforts to indict Mudacumura after an initial attempt failed.Earlier, in April 2008, a BBC investigation found that MONUC troops had traded arms and UN rations for gold, ivory and drugs from FDLR.The report also indicated that MONUC had “failed to support the disarmament of the group (FDLR)”. ‘Congolese army-FDLR alliance’The UN mission has also previously been accused of serious sexual abuses against Congolese women, with one of the most glaring cases involving an 18-year old girl who was allegedly raped on the night of July 31, 2009 in a UN facility at Kinshasa’s Ndijili airport.Meanwhile, the FDLR defectors also said that the terrorist group and Congolese army have resumed their “old alliance” in the wake of a new war pitting government troops and mutinous soldiers, who operate under the name M23 Movement.They say FDLR is actively taking advantage of the deteriorating situation to regroup, rearm and to launch a new wave of atrocities against civilian populations.Niyonsaba said Mudacumura issued instructions to “prepare for regrouping” as the latest conflict broke out.“By the time I left (last month), the plan was to combine two battalions to form a ‘sub sector’ and then move from one place to another, but we had not been told where we were moving to,” explained Niyosaba who said he was kidnapped three years ago and forced into FDLR.He added that senior FDLR commanders had informed the foot soldiers that they were waiting for further directives from Mudacumura on where each sub sector would be deployed.However, DRC government Spokesperson, Lambert Mende, denied the allegations insisting that if any Congolese soldier is found to have collaborated with FDLR, they are punished.“These people (FDLR) are just causing confusion between the two countries (DRC and Rwanda), but we are not going to allow them to ruin our relations,” Mende told The New Times by telephone from Kinshasa last evening.MistrustHe added: “A month and a half ago, we arrested 11 soldier, some of whom were fighting for the rebel group, M23, while others identified themselves as members of FDLR yet they were FARDC; they were all sentenced by the court martial and are now serving time.”“Another group of 18 FARDC soldiers was arrested in similar circumstances but they are still before the military court in Uvila, while eight soldiers who were arrested recently are yet to be produced before court,” said Mende.Kigali has warned that the current situation in eastern DRC was a breeding ground for FDLR, which it accuses of seeking to accomplish its genocidal agenda.However, there is too much mistrust within the FDLR camp which has created internal cliques and increased desertion, the defectors say.“Because so many (FDLR) fighters are intercepted while trying to escape, those arrested are no longer killed or jailed for long. But they beat you up as a deterrence,” said Niyonsaba.Niyonsaba alleged that Mudacumura instructed commanders to start treating the Congolese army (FARDC) as their allies in the ongoing hostilities in North Kivu province.He said the instructions came at a time FDLR was threatened by growing desertions, with some fighters joining other local militias, while others returned to Rwanda.The former rebel argued that some FDLR commanders have close friends within the Congolese military, who always leaked information whenever FARDC planned an offensive against the FDLR in the past.“That’s why they always found us prepared, and that’s the reason we always carried out counter attacks or at least fleed in advance,” he added.“We used to buy bullets from FARDC soldiers or sometimes we could negotiate on a friendly basis and they gave us bullets for free. That always came in handy because at some point we were running out of ammunition so much that a fighter would be sent to the battlefield with only five bullets.”Mbarushimana estimated the current FDLR strength to be about 4,000 officers and men.“Mudacumura made it clear that FDLR has to reach out to the FARDC bases and work with them. Currently, FDLR has defective weapons and needs to replenish its stock,” added Mbarushimana.He added: “Most of the time FARDC uses Mai Mai (a Congolese militia) and FDLR in its wars; this is what is happening at the moment. FARDC is fighting alongside FDLR against M23.”He said that the 2009 Umoja Wetu Operation (a joint operation between Congolese and Rwandan military) had left FDLR a highly demoralized outfit after it lost territories and fighters, but the regroup reorganised as soon as the offences ended.“We recaptured Kinyana and Bibwe areas, which had fallen to FARDC,” he recalled.

National

Is MONUSCO supporting FDLR?