DRC: Life sentence for two FDLR commanders in South Kivu

Two commanders of the FDLR were sentenced to life last weekend for crimes against humanity committed in South Kivu, report three international NGOs.

In a joint statement on Tuesday (September 25th), NGOs Trial International, eyeWitness to Atrocities and Witness say that the military garrison court of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu, has recognized the commanders Gilbert Ndayambaje and Evariste Nizeyimana guilty of murder, acts of torture, looting and burning citizens’ properties.

The 100 victims involved in the proceedings were all awarded reparations ranging from US $ 5,000 to US $ 25,000.

The events for which the commanders Ndayambaje (aka Rafiki Castro) and Nizeyimana (aka Kizito) were convicted date back to six years ago when the villages of Kamananga and Lumenje (South Kivu) were the scene of FDLR attacks.

“Alleging that the villagers were supporting a rival local militia, men responding to the orders of two commanders (Gilbert Ndayambaje and Evariste Nizeyimana) looted the two villages, tortured and killed civilians, and set fire to several buildings,” explain the three NGOs in their report released and hailed a “victory against impunity” in eastern DRC.

For the first time in Congolese East, videos have been presented as prosecution evidence.

“When the videos were screened, the atmosphere in the courtroom changed dramatically,” says Guy Mushiata, human rights coordinator for TRIAL International in the DRC.

“Impunity in the DRC is extremely widespread, including within the command of armed groups, which sends a clear message to anyone who commits abuses in the belief that his military power puts him above the law,” said Daniele Perissi, program manager at TRIAL International in the DRC.

This verdict is one of the very few pronounced against FDLR leaders, a rebellion opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame and created by Rwandan Hutu refugees in eastern DRC after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The genocide killed over a million people mainly among the Tutsi population. The FDLR includes genocide perpetrators.

These rebels are accused of regularly committing atrocities against civilians in areas under their control in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu where they are scattered.

Initiating a major operation against armed groups, the DRC armed forces (FARDC) have recently announced that they have “neutralized” a thousand FDLR rebels since 2015.