Legitimising FDLR has regional consequences

It should be recalled that the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi is the genocide of the twentieth century; more than one million Tutsis were killed in only three months in what is the fastest and most vicious genocide in human history. The consequences of the 1994 Genocide was not limited to Rwandans themselves, but suffering and death extended to other parts of the region. Millions of Rwandans were displaced, forced into refugee camps in the then Zaire—the present day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Burundi. It is estimated that more than 1.2 million Rwandans entered in Congo in the former Zaire.The aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi indicates that when one group is targeted, all neighboring countries are affected, which therefore, compels world leaders to resolve that such a crime against humanity should never be allowed to happen again.The genocide in Rwanda was not an accident or an instinctive reaction to a single event, as some would have wished the world to perceive. It was clear that the genocide was not the result of a spontaneous outburst of grief caused by the shooting down of President Habyarimana’s plane on April 6th, 1994 as some people have averred for their own interest. It was carefully planned and executed. The genocide was the culmination of process that began under colonial rule with the classification and institutionalization of divisions among the Rwandans along ethnic lines. Its ideology was then nurtured by post-colonial government during which pogroms against Tutsi were carried out in 1959, 1961,1963,1965,1973 and the early 1990s. A fully-fledged genocide was finally implemented by the most extreme of these governments in 1994.Upon arrival in Zaire after being defeated by the RPA troops, former government soldiers and interahamwe militias remained active in criminal acts after transforming themselves from ALIR, which later became the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), with a long-held dream of finishing off the “work” they did not complete in 1994, which is exterminating the Tutsi. Their entire political and military structure is geared towards this ultimate goal as inspired by one young FDLR recruits who in May 1998 told British journalist Chris McGreal from the Guardian that “the path to a better life is over Tutsi graves.” FDLR has been officially recognised as a terrorist organization by the UN, the European Union and the African Union, and its members have been blacklisted. The group’s hate ideology has never for one day relented with their political beliefs similar to those from old Rwanda, over nineteen years ago. The extremism of Hutu ideology which was the main tool for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi has been cultivated and intensified with the rank and file of these militiamen. Inspired by their hatred against the Tutsi and the shame of not being able to finish their plans to exterminate the Tutsis, they are determined to oust the current government in Rwanda by violent means necessary in order to claim power in the guise of ‘’Hutu majority theory.’In addition, they shield suspected genocidaires in their ranks – some of them top political and military leaders – from domestic and international justice. They are advancing lies and fabricated stories on the reality of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.Any politician, academic, lawyers and religious groups who chooses to continue supporting the FDLR, is by default a promoter of the genocide against the Tutsi.Their hate propaganda network is composed of deniers of the 1994 Genocide perpetrated Against the Tutsi in the Great Lakes African Region, Europe and in America. They are talented with skill in advance of wrong story and lies on the truth behind the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. It should be clearly known that be it an individual, state or group of people with an intention of legitimising FDLR as a military and political movement with the intent on bringing reform to Rwanda is automatically falling into trap of the lies by genocide deniers.Individual regional readers have argued that there is no other peaceful solution to the global conflict in eastern Congo other than for Rwanda to unconditionally negotiate with the perpetrators of genocide. As Rwandans, this is another strike by a machete and therefore unacceptable.In conclusion, let us together as civilized states of Africa and of the world work together to eradicate genocide -related crimes by bringing to justice all those who committed genocide against the Tutsi and enacting laws that punish and criminalize hate message.One cannot promote peace and reconciliation on a bed of lies, hatred and ethnicity conflict.The writer is researcher and genocide scholar based in Kigali