Knowing the Enemy
Despite the fact that the UN's biggest peacekeeping force is in the Congo, the violence has continued. We track down the murderous Rwandan militia- the FDLR- and the villagers they rob, rape and kill.
"The rape and killing was not organised, it was down to individuals", says an FDLR soldier, captured by the Rwandan Army. The Rwandan army have been here since January 2009, when Rwanda and Congo joined forces to fight a common enemy: the FDLR are a Hutu nationalist group, believed to be responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Villagers here, say peacekeeping efforts have had no effect. In the small town of Langira, they emerge from the bush where they have been hiding: "they rape and torture us. We live in total fear." According to the captured FDLR soldier, the FDLR are well-organised, have a 4500 strong army and will stop at nothing to take back power: "the ideology of genocide in the FDLR is very strong. It comes from the highest levels." Whilst the villagers of Langira were hiding, the FDLR razed their village. Now they will travel to the camp just outside of Congo, following the other 1 million refugees who have lost their homes in the decade-long war. They live in fear of the withdrawal of the Rwandan Army, saying with certainty that: "when the military is no longer here to protect us, the FDLR will kill us all."
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