Painting by Cheri Samba

Lokuta eyaka na ascenseur, kasi vérité eyei na escalier mpe ekomi. Lies come up in the elevator; the truth takes the stairs but gets here eventually. - Koffi Olomide

Ésthetique eboma vélo. Aesthetics will kill a bicycle. - Felix Wazekwa

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Tanzania reportedly arrests deputy FDLR commander

Numerous sources are now reporting on the arrest of General Stanislas Nzeyimana (aka Izabayo Bigaruka), the deputy commander of the FDLR––the German Tageszeitung wrote about it last Friday, and sources close to the Tanzanian security services are now confirming.

Bigaruka, as he is commonly known, was not directly involved in the 1994 genocide, as he was in undergoing military training abroad at the time. However, he did play a significant role during the insurgency in northwest Rwanda between 1997-1998. He later became commander of the South Kivu division and eventually was promoted to become deputy overall commander in 2008.

It is not clear how and when Bigaruka was arrested, although according to one UN source he was taken into custody by Tanzanian security officials at the Serena Hotel on April 5. He was allegedly accompanied by two Congolese protestant ministers. The newspaper Umuvigizi, which has been banned in Rwanda, however reported that he had been arrested in Kigoma, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, where he had been based for several years as an FDLR liaison officer. Accounts also differ on Bigaruka's fate, although it appears the Tanzanian authorities have not yet accepted to extradite him to Rwanda.

If confirmed, Bigaruka's arrest would be a further blow to an already weakened organization. In the past two years, the FDLR have lost their Chief of Staff Colonel Mugaragu, head of logistics Lieutenant-Colonel Furaha Honoré, and the influential battalion commander Lieutenant-Colonel Sadiki Soleil. Their president and vice-president are being tried by a German court, and the appearance of the Raia Mutomboki, which made it increasingly difficult to protect their civilian population in particular, have been further setbacks.

The FDLR's future depends on whether it can re-establish its alliance with the Congolese army, or at least with other armed groups. There have been numerous reports in the past year that Kinshasa––or at least certain officers––have considered renewing their ties with the FDLR in order to defeat the M23, especially after many commanders lost faith in their own troops after the Goma debacle in November 2012. But those ties are still extremely tentative, and it is questionable whether the FDLR would present anything more than a huge reputational liability for the Congolese government.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Jason,
I found a more detailed and probably accurate account on what happened to General Stanislas Nzeyimana. It can be found on the AfroAmerica Network (http://www.afroamerica.net) at the following link: http://www.afroamerica.net/AfricaGL/2013/04/12/how-fdlr-top-commander-general-stanislas-nzeyimana-was-abducted-by-rwandan-dmi/

James.

sema wapi said...

Unknown, this report is very interesting. That means, the tanzanian Military ask the FDLR's help for their Intervention Brigade in eastern Congo?! Now, what's going on here? Shouldn't this "Special Forces" eliminate ALL THE REBELL GROUPS there? So, what is the FDLR? I think, it was one of the most wanted Rebell groups, who brought a lot of disaster to the Kivus? Nevertheless, the story is believable, because it has always been clear, that these foreign troops will be downsited in the jungle area. So they will need help with local knowledge, and it seems that nobody trust in the capability of the congolese army.

This story at last confirms my conviction, that this Intervention Brigade is above all a help for pres. Kabila, to get rid of M23.

But as well, the assistance of FDLR is also an affront against Rwanda and against the people of D.R. Congo. Because the FDLR will surely not give aid for free, they will obtain their wage. That should be worth considering, espacially for all the great patriots. And besides, it appears that not all rebell groups are considered equal, without observances of their goals or the crimes they are suspected.


Unknown said...

@Sema wapi

That is so smart for a wife of Congolese Bantu from the Kivus, as you told all,unasked. LOL.
Rest assured we have had all of them from saviours of Congolese to messiahs all Congolese await. LOL.

No need for blah blah blah. Just say your say. Is it too bad maladroitness? What is nice is that you wont be alone this time around! LOL!

Take care anyway!

muanacongo

sema wapi said...

muana congo, it is not true that I talked about me unasked, I was suspected being rwandan, that's why I talked about my citizenship. But anyway, I know it doesn't make any sense to discuss in here. You don't see what you don't like to see, and some of your brothers also. Besides, who are you? I'm sure you stay somewhere in the USA with an US Passport, so the problems of kongolese people are not really your problems. So, keep on fantasising.

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Anonymous said...

Finally the water want to thought in one direction, this may be the final deal of UN and FDLR and some other African countries in Congo. if i was a Congolese i should first ask the UN to help FDLR to go back in their country or give them Congolese citizenship, then the war should end itself. Because the problem in eastern Congo is the present of Rwanda refugees of 1994 not M23. the main problem caused M23 to revolt against Kabila's government is their family present in Rwanda as refugees, and according to what i had from many Congolese people is that; those Congolese Tutsi present in Rwanda as refugee will never come back as longer as the FDLR still available in Congo.

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