'Maj' Gilbert Ndayambaje, 49, one of the members of the DR Congo-based FDLR militia who were handed over to Rwandan authorities by AFC/M23 rebels on March 1, claims to have been forced into joining the genocidal militia, in 1998.
At the time, the post-genocide government in Rwanda was busy battling infiltrators, commonly known as of Abacengezi. From their bases in eastern Zaire, present-day DR Congo, members of the defeated genocidal regime's army and youth militia were determined to infiltrate deep into Rwandan territory, continue killing civilians, cause turmoil, and return to power to finish their genocidal plot.
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Ndayambaje claims that he had returned to Rwanda to register and sit for final primary school exams at Ecole de Sciences et Technique de Busogo, in Musanze District, when he met members of the militia and they forced him to follow them, alongside other young men.
This, he said, happened on the road between Nyange and Rwankuba.
"They said that they wanted educated people that they would train to become cadres," Ndayambaje told The New Times during an interview at the Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) camp in Mutobo, Musanze District.
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The youths were then led to Mount Nyiragongo - in the Virunga Mountains - in eastern DR Congo where they were taken through military training by the so-called Armée pour la libération du Rwanda (ALIR).
When the Rwanda Patriotic Army took over power and stopped the Genocide against the Tutsi, in July 1994, the ousted genocidal regime's army (ex-FAR), politicians, and Interahamwe militia that had committed Genocide - runaway, en masse, with their weapons, to eastern DR Congo, then known as Zaire.
They later banded together into ALIR. In 2000, soon after the US government listed it as a terrorist organization following its murder of American tourists in Uganda's Bwindi forest, they formed FDLR so as to distance themselves from their horrendous crimes.
"Not only did we get military training but also deep ideology teachings against the new government of Rwanda and extreme hatred against the Tutsi. They said their goal was to overthrow the Rwandan government and rule the country."
Ndayambaje and others are now part of the 74th cohort of ex-combatants undergoing a demobilization programme in Mutobo, where they are prepared to reintegrate in Rwandan society. They are allowed to visit their families and return to the camp.
He recounted how he grew through the ranks of the terrorist group, later training new recruits and leading a platoon of fighters. Their special operations, he said, included imposing and collecting [illegal] taxes, and looting the farm produce of Congolese civilians. The militia often burnt homes and killed people.
According to him, all looted supplies and tax proceeds were sent to the genocidal militia's leaders, something that often caused friction among the other militia members.
Ndayambaje confirmed that "it is indeed true" that FDLR commits crimes against humanity such as killing innocent civilians, raping girls and women, as well as recruiting child soldiers.
In one particular case, they killed people in Busurungi village, in Masisi Territory, North Kivu Province.
This was during an operation by the Congolese army and Mai Mai militia that targeted FDLR. The latter went into the village, entered people's homes, killed people, and raped women, as well as burnt their houses.
"Many people died during that time. I can't remember the exact number but it was more than 700 homes. That's how FDLR operates up to now, the only difference being that it is now collaborating with FARDC (Congolese army)," he said.
"FDLR has an extreme [genocide] ideology that could never be uprooted."
ALSO READ: Why genocide ideology doesn't dissolve three decades after dispersion of genocidaires
Ndayambaje also talked about the history of the collaboration between the genocidaires and Kinshasa, from the time of late president Laurent-Désiré Kabila who worked hand in hand with the militia.
When President Felix Tshisekedi assumed office, he said, the collaboration with FDLR continued, as they were "working together in everything."
Soldiers of the same rank in FDLR and FARDC are treated the same way."
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"In this war between DR Congo and M23, FDLR plays a crucial role, especially because the Congolese soldiers easily become discouraged. Whenever the battle becomes tough, they put their arms down and run, leaving FDLR to take charge. They are weak."
According to him, the FDLR-FARDC collaboration extends from military operations' planning and execution, to sharing including uniforms, weapons, and food, among other things.
Ndayambaje recalls when the operations to track down and dismantle FDLR elements in DR Congo in collaboration with Kinshasa, were sabotaged by the Congolese army themselves in 2012.
This was a military operation called "Amani Kamilifu" (strengthening peace), organized by MONUSCO and FARDC against FDLR elements in the territories of Shabunda, Mwenga, Kalehe and Kabare, in South Kivu Province.
"Colonel Jaguar of FARDC called Colonel Hamada Habimana, who was then FDLR's division commander for South Kivu and alerted him about the operation and warned him to flee from the region," said Ndayambaje who was in South Kivu as well. They fled to the jungle.
"They (MONUSCO and FARDC) didn't find anyone there and we returned to the place after some time."
MONUSCO on the spotlight
According to Ndayambaje, the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, has been playing a two-sided game; it has supported FDLR over the years, despite being involved in operations meant to track them down and force their repatriation to Rwanda.
"In 2011, three white members of MONUSCO, including someone called Johnson, came to South Kivu and spoke with a Hamada-led delegation. Immediately after they left, I saw a message accompanied by boxes of ammunition to each unit."
MONUSCO would also provide food items to FDLR on several occasions, he said. Whenever it was under pressure from the Congolese government to withdraw from the country, Ndayambaje said, "MONUSCO would abandon us and then provide the government with weapons and support. During that time, FDLR disappeared back into the jungle until they came back to revive the mission."
'FDLR killed anyone who attempted to escape'
Ndayambaje explained that due to the manner in which the militia fighters were always mistreated by their commanders, he always wished to return to Rwanda despite the lies - they were told that they would be killed once they set foot in the country.
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According to him, he would have rather faced "death in Rwanda" than continue living the way they did in the jungle. He said he had been planning to escape since 2010.
Asked why he didn't cross to Rwanda during all these past years during which he got promoted through the ranks, Ndayambaje said that "FDLR killed anyone who attempted to escape or anyone whom they thought was planning to."
Also read: FDLR 'General' linked to Queen Gicanda murder captured in DR Congo, repatriated
After the capture of Goma by AFC/M23 rebels, on hearing that 'Brig Gen' Gakwerere was apprehended, Ndayambaje said he devised a plan to reach the Rwandan border, from Sake where he was.
Without extensive knowledge of the city of Goma, Ndayambaje said that he entered some Congolese home asking for directions. The home that he had entered, he said, was hospitable.
"They went outside and, after a few minutes, came back with three M23 soldiers. I was still dressed in FARDC uniform, I had no other clothes," he said, explaining what seemed to him as the end of one chapter in his life.
In 2012, he had sent his wife and five children to Rwanda and they were about to be reunited.
"After I arrived here (Mutobo), my wife came to visit me, and I was also given a three-day permission to visit my mother," he said.
Ndayambaje said he found the country completely different from what they had always been told.
"We were told that we would be killed once we set foot on Rwandan soil. But here, we are being taken care of. We are given food and clothes. We can move freely."
