Four former FDLR senior officers describe how an ideology that dehumanises Tutsis as 'snakes' was instilled through Rwandan institutions before the 1994 genocide and persists among the group in exile in eastern DRC.
01Summary
- 01Former FDLR Major General Anastase Munyaneza said Tutsis were referred to as 'snakes' and soldiers were taught to hate them.
- 02Lieutenant Colonel Idrissa Bizimana said exiles who attacked Rwanda were called 'Inyenzi' (cockroaches) and that school teachings claimed Tutsis had 'ruled through hatred for 400 years'.
- 03The 1959 Hutu uprising helped topple Rwanda's monarchy and sparked attacks on Tutsis, forcing thousands into exile.
- 04In exile in Zaire after July 1994, former Rwandan Armed Forces and militia members reorganised militarily, laying the foundations for the FDLR.
- 05The FDLR's presence in eastern DRC remains a source of regional tension between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
02Why it matters
This matters because the FDLR's enduring anti-Tutsi ideology continues to fuel instability in the Great Lakes region, complicating relations between Rwanda and the DRC and threatening civilian safety in eastern Congo.
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