The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group in Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday 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.
Yesterday’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.
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.