Who are the FDLR?

The Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) are a rebel organization located East Congo that was formed on September 30^th, 2000. Major General Sylvestre Mudacumura is the FDLR’s overall military commander. They operate out of the North and South Kivu provinces of East Congo after their immigration from Rwanda. The FDLR is composed mostly of the perpetrators from the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The perpetrators were forced to flee Rwanda after the rise of a Tutsi government in their homeland. One million Hutu’s fled Rwanda and settled in refugee camps in Eastern Congo. These refugee camps were used as bases for incursion against Rwanda. Some of these refugees have been recruited to be commanders of the FDLR along with ex-officers and civilians who had leadership roles in the Rwanda Genocide. The roughly 10,000 combatants are mostly ethnic Hutus who are opposed to Tutsi rule and influence in their surrounding regions. Although the FDLR is a rebel group that causes the most civilian suffering in Eastern Congo, the Congolese government supports the FDLR activities. They do this in order to limit Rwandan influence in the east on the Congo-Rwandan border. The Congolese government also supports the FDLR in order to get help fighting Rwandan backed Congolese rebels. As well as being backed by the Congolese government, the FDLR controls the gold and tin mining regions in East Congo. The FDLR rebels profit immensely from the exploitation of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s widely coveted natural resources. Because of the large profit they make off of their exploitation, the FDLR has the highest military capabilities of the rebels.