The Perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide Are At Large in the Congo (2010)

conflict between the government and various militias has consumed eastern congo for over a decade more than one million people have had to leave their homes in january 2009 a groundbreaking agreement between rwanda and congo seemed to offer a way to end the conflict and bring stability to the region a joint operation would combine the two countries military with local militias together they would take the fight to a common enemy the democratic forces for the liberation of rwanda the fdlr photojournalist susan shulman traveled with the rwandan defense force as they entered the congo to confront the fdlr a hutu nationalist group the fdlr was responsible for the rwandan genocide in 1994. they fled from rwanda to congo and changed their name but is still known to people here is the interahamway they prey on the civilian population in eastern congo appearing from the bush to rob rape and kill an fdlr soldier who surrendered to the rwandan forces gives an idea of why they're so feared um the fdlr are based in the dense forest in eastern congo the area is impassable to ground vehicles supplies have to be airlifted to an improvised landing zone hacked out from the jungle finding the fdlr on their own turf is not going to be easy and this is no ragtag militia they are highly organized well armed and have a clear aim foreign the rwandan troops hire local villagers to carry their supplies there are no jobs here the villages are eager for work the rwandans enter the heart of wally cali like most of eastern congo it can only be penetrated on foot far from any government presence local militias have plagued the area for years this one perico joined the congolese military in january to fight the fdlr local villages are yet to see much benefit from the new agreement the rwandans press on to the front line the terrain is difficult but they cover 27 kilometers in five hours the alliance is fragile there's distrust on all sides after long years of fighting among rwanda congo and militias from both countries so although the operation is a joint one the forces operate in parallel eventually the rwandans make camp near the village of langhira it isn't long before their presence draws out the local villagers who've been in the bush hiding from the fdlr apart hey foreign camp a captured member of the fdlr reveals the scale of the problem that's four and a half thousand well-armed men who've been living in the area for up to 15 years fighting the fdlr in this terrain is dangerous even for the rwandan defence force the camp commander receives news of intense fighting nearby one of his soldiers has been killed a group of people has gathered below the camp they left their village braza as it had become too dangerous to stay there the presence of the rwandan forces offers them a brief period of respite from fdlr attacks these people don't know what the future holds they've left their homes with no clear destination in mind their sole objective is to stay one step ahead of the intra-hum way the rwandans don't have enough manpower to halt their advance and protect the civilians a smoke signal guides a helicopter in to repatriate the dead soldier's body the region's so remote there's no other way to reach the forward base operations against the fdlr continue but the rwandans realise there's a limit to how much they can do here we don't know what to follow next because our operations continue we would very much like to protect the civilians but we are not capable of carrying out all the two tasks as as i would want it to be to be done if there was a force coming behind us that would be fantastic but it's not for the country the fdlr continue to dominate the region they don't want to in the end it seems the rwandan's efforts and those of the congolese government will only give the civilians a temporary reprieve when the rwandan forces withdraw from one area the fdlr moves back in to prey on the civilian population in foreign

Channel: Journeyman Pictures

Views: 1,106,992

Keywords: journeyman pictures, news, current affairs, world news, documentary, DRC, Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, Rwanda, genocide, Hutu, FDLR, UN, United Nations, village, rape, murder, army, peacekeeping force, ideology, razed, fear, violence, conflict, Langira, nationalism, ethnic cleansing

Id: ktzqV_DTVkE

Length: 10min 32sec (632 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 07 2016