DRC: Of US legitimising FDLR terrorists

Author: Lindah Uwase

• 2023-01-01 05:26:00

The United States has not invested any effort in calling out the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government on its collaboration with the FDLR terrorist group, despite overwhelming evidence in several reports proving the collaboration.

The FDLR was formed by perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The US blacklisted the group as terrorists in 1999 after they killed two American tourists in Bwindi Forest, along the Uganda-DRC border.

One would have thought that the US, as a victim of the terrorists’ acts, would have taken a strong stand against the genocidal militia and anyone who supports it. But Washington has never shown any serious inclination to go against these génocidaires.

Kinshasa exploited the international community’s silence on FDLR and integrated it in its national army. In return, the terror group has used the FARDC cover to launch attacks on Rwandan territory over the years. Of recent, the duo deliberately shelled on Rwandan territory several times killing civilians and destroying property.

Rwanda’s complaint about the collaboration continues to land on deaf ears. Instead, attention is put on the M23 rebel group which is Congolese and has a legitimate cause for fighting.

The Luanda roadmap stated that the FDLR should be extracted from the DRC army, disarmed and repatriated. Still, the US keeps skipping this part of the agreement.

During a December 15 press briefing, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, pointed fingers at M23 rebels but bit his tongue when it came to the FDLR.

An October 2022, Human Rights Watch reported that between May and August, the Congolese army with a coalition of armed groups as well as FDLR fought against the M23 rebels in North Kivu province. Senior FARDC commanders, on May 8 and 9, met with FDLR commanders, and on July 21, the national army from the 3411 regiment provided more than a dozen boxes of ammunition to FDLR fighters in Kazaroho, one of the militia’s strongholds in the Virunga National Park.

The FDLR is the main root cause of genocidal acts in eastern DRC.

But the US keeps turning a blind eye to such alarming reports. The US’ silence on FDLR can be justified as the former is avoiding any impasse with Kinshasa whose national army operates closely with the genocidal group.

Washington’s top import from the DRC is copper, which accounts for over 50 per cent of total exports to the US. Other leading exports from DRC to the United States include antiques, diamonds, coffee and coffee beans, propane, and tantalum.  

Much of the lithium and cobalt which are key components in the batteries used in electronic vehicles come from DRC. To date, US is battling with scarcity of lithium and reports indicate that by 2035, the lithium supply gap is projected to be acute—over one million metric tons, or 24 per cent less than demand.

One wouldn’t be wrong to say that the US legitimises FDLR to satisfy its own demands.