Just days ahead of the Great Lakes Regional Summit (ICGLR) and the scheduled signing, on October 23, of the Washington Accord between the DRC and Rwanda, Kigali has taken its crackdown on Hutu exiles to a new level. By designating several FDLR leaders as “terrorists,” the Rwandan regime is sending a clear message: any voluntary return home will be punished. The move is a direct blow to the implementation of the Accord and a political warning meant to discourage future repatriations.
The Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) — Rwanda’s financial watchdog tasked with monitoring suspicious transactions, money laundering, and terrorism financing — has released a list branding several exiled leaders of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) as terrorists. Far from being a purely security-related action, the measure is politically charged and directly threatens ongoing efforts to repatriate these Hutu militants, reigniting tensions around the implementation of the Washington Accord between Kinshasa and Kigali.
Among those newly blacklisted are Lt. Gen. Gaston Iyamuremye (alias Rumuli), Maj. Gen. Pacifique Ntawunguka (alias Omega), Col. Sylvestre Sebahinzi (alias Zinga Zinga ZZ), and Maj. Alphonse Munyarugendo (alias Monaco Dollar).
According to reliable sources, some of these leaders are still based in eastern DRC, while others have sought refuge in various African countries.
The classification appears aimed not only at surveilling these individuals but also at sending a broader political message to all FDLR elements still in exile: any voluntary attempt to return to Rwanda will be treated as a hostile act.
The timing of this publication — just days before the ICGLR summit and the October 23 signing of the Washington Accord by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents — leaves little doubt about its purpose: to obstruct the return of Hutu combatants and maintain pressure on both the DRC and the international community, perpetuating the narrative of criminalization against these groups.
This is not the first time Kigali has opposed the repatriation of FDLR members. In 2005, Rwanda rejected any prospect of dialogue with the group, even after they had publicly declared in Rome, on March 31 — under the auspices of the Sant’Egidio Community and with facilitation from the Congolese government — that they were abandoning the armed struggle and condemning the genocide. That declaration was welcomed at the time by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council.
During voluntary repatriation operations conducted under the DDRRR framework between 2008 and 2012 in the DRC, Rwanda repeatedly disrupted the process by dispersing combatants and their families whenever they gathered in camps awaiting return. Worse still, some repatriated fighters were allegedly bribed and redeployed back into Congolese territory to attack Banyamulenge Tutsi communities — a manipulation that sustained Kigali’s narrative of insecurity and served as justification for repeated Rwandan military interventions in eastern Congo.
Just days ago in Brussels, President Paul Kagame, through his Foreign Minister on social media, openly rebuffed the peace overture of his Congolese counterpart Félix Tshisekedi, who had invited him to pursue a “peace of the brave.”
This latest decision by the FIC thus represents a troubling repetition of Rwanda’s past obstructionist tactics. By labeling exiled FDLR leaders as terrorists, Kigali is effectively undermining the core of the Washington Accord — which envisions the repatriation and reintegration of these combatants into Rwandan society. Beneath the guise of counterterrorism, what emerges is a calculated political and strategic blockade — one that once again jeopardizes prospects for lasting peace and stability in eastern Congo.
Jonas Eugène Kota
