The latest attacks by the FDLR genocidal militia on Ugandan territory should trigger a long-overdue reckoning: this virulent outfit is not merely a Rwandan security concern but a regional menace that has been tolerated for far too long. According to reports, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces have intensified patrols along the Uganda–DR Congo border in Kisoro District following attacks by FDLR elements against civilians. Uganda: Army on high alert over FDLR attacks against civilians That such a group can still move, organise and attack from bases in eastern DR Congo, three decades after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, is an indictment of the region and the international community. The FDLR is not an ordinary armed group. It is rooted in the extremist networks responsible for the Genocide against the Tutsi. Its continued existence is a direct threat not only to Rwanda, but to every neighbouring country that shares borders with the lawless spaces in which it operates. Uganda knows this danger too well. In 1999, the same militia group attacked tourists in Bwindi National Park located in south-western Uganda, killing eight people, including two Americans. The attackers left a message warning America and other countries against supporting the Government of Rwanda. The US Department of Justice later described that attack as an act of terror aimed at making a political point. At the time, the world appeared to understand the nature of the threat. Sanctions and designation of the outfit as a terror organization followed. Yet, with time, the pressure faded, pressure weakened, and the FDLR was allowed to entrench itself in DR Congo, where it openly enjoys the support of the Congolese government. This complacence must end. For years, Rwanda has warned that the FDLR is not a theoretical danger. Those warnings were often dismissed, politicised, or reduced to “a bilateral issue” between Rwanda and DR Congo. The latest attacks in Uganda prove otherwise. A genocidal militia operating freely in one country will inevitably threaten the security of others. The international community cannot continue to condemn instability in the Great Lakes while ignoring one of its oldest and most toxic sources. Neutralising the FDLR must return to the centre of regional and international security efforts. DR Congo must be pressed to stop any form of collaboration, or accommodation of this group. Regional mechanisms must treat the FDLR as a shared threat. The United Nations and major powers must also revive the seriousness they showed after Bwindi. Three decades of indulgence have only emboldened the militia and the cost is now being paid by civilians beyond Rwanda’s borders.]
