Two leaders of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Ignace Murwanashyaka and his aide Straton Musoni, were arrested in Germany last Tuesday. While the arrests were praised by human rights groups and the international community, many questions still remain regarding the timing, motivation, jurisdiction and even the charges being brought against the suspected war criminals.
The FDLR is a Hutu militia group whose leadership is comprised largely of escaped Rwandan genocidaires and operates in the eastern Democratic Republic on the Congo. The FDLR began operations in the DRC in 1994 and continue to commit atrocities there to this day. Murwanashyaka and Musoni have lived in Germay for years and have directed FDLR operations in the DRC from there with impunity, until now. Germany had dismissed calls for their arrests in the past from the Rwandan government, the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), Interpol and the U.N. Security Council.
Several factors could have played a role in Germany’s decision last week. Tensions between the Kabila government in the DRC and MONUC have flared recently. MONUC has been accused of both aiding the FDLR who they are charged with disarming and also participating in war crimes committed by DRC national forces. On top of that, Kabila’s legitimacy as the first democratically elected leader of the DRC in decades continues to suffer under the presence of the large foreign force in the east. This has led DRC officials to talk openly of a MONUC exit strategy and setting benchmarks for a troop draw down. Germany currently has no troops serving in the 20,000+ MONUC forces, but the arrests could help assuage criticism on Germany’s part and either precede a drawdown of UN troops or serve as consolation for an extended MONUC presence.
Another driving force could have been last month’s EU Council meeting where it was resolved that members would become fully compliant with two U.N.S.C. Resolutions imposing restrictive measures on fugitive leaders of the FDLR including “financial and travel sanctions”.
Lastly, the German Justice department recently changed heads with Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a Free Democrat, taking over from Brigitte Zypries, a Democratic Socialist, at the end of October. Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger served a previous term as the Federal Minister for Justice, from 1992-1996, which happened to coincide with the Rwandan genocide.
It is still not clear exactly what charges are being brought against Murwanashayaka and Musoni . It has been reported that they are being charged with terrorism, war crimes and crimes against humanity for crimes committed in the DRC. But there has been no word as to whether they will be tried under German, Congolese or International Law. Meanwhile, Rwanda is asking for jurisdiction to try them for crimes committed during the 1994 Genocide.
