A Rwandan rebel force based in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday affirmed its readiness to cooperate in any inquiry into alleged rapes in the region.
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) — a mainly Hutu group of fighters, including remnants of those who carried out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda — said in a statement that it is ”ready to cooperate with all investigators in order to identify and bring to justice” those responsible.
At the end of October, rights group Amnesty International accused armed groups operating in the eastern DRC of violating human rights, including raping women and girls.
The FDLR said in that statement that it had done its internal inquiry in August and September as a result of many ”complaints” about rapes.
”From this inquiry, it came out that three armed groups [among them, there are Hutu Rwandese] are responsible for these crimes,” the FDLR said in the statement released in Nairobi. The rebels denied any links with these groups.
Some members of FDLR are widely accused of carrying out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which according to the United Nations, claimed about 800 000 people, mostly minority Tutsis.
The eastern DRC, where the violations allegedly took place, is an ethnic powder keg that has long been volatile, both before and since the 1998-2003 war, which claimed an estimated three million lives, either in conflict or through famine and disease. — Sapa-AFP