FDLR “General” tied to killing Queen Gicanda caught in DR Congo and sent back to his home country

A man believed to have participated in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which included the assassination of Rwanda’s last queen, Rosalie Gicanda, was turned over by the M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Brig Gen Ezechiel Gakwerere, 61, of the FDLR militia was returned from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) along with 13 other individuals who were taken prisoner by the M23 rebels during the conflict with the Congolese government coalition, which consists of Burundian troops, Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops, and Wazalendo local militias.

Since the FDLR murderous army is now backed by the Congolese government and is part of the FARDC, we have repeatedly warned western nations that they pose a constant threat to Rwanda and have done so for the past 30 years.

The indictment of Captain Ildephonse Nizeyimana, the former commandant of the military academy Ecole des Sous-Officiers (ESO Butare), by the UN tribunal (ICTR), has twelve references to Gakwerere. Nizeyimana was found guilty of Genocide, including ordering the death of Queen Gicanda.

Notoriety as the “Butcher of Butare,” Nizeyimana was given a life sentence in 2012, which was then lowered to 35 years in 2014. He was convicted of ordering Queen Gicanda and thousands of other Tutsis to be killed in Butare.

Gakwerere, a Sous-Lieutenant, commanded the first company in Nouvelle Formule at ESO in April 1994. According to reports, he taught members of the Interahamwe militia and the former Rwandan army (FAR), who participated in the Butare killing campaign.

Read more: ICTR gives Nizeyimana a life sentence for Genocide

As stated in Nizeyimana’s 2010 indictment, the UN prosecutor said that Gakwerere “used a number of subordinate FAR soldiers and students from ESO to facilitate the training and cooperation with Interahamwe.”

“The Interahamwe received training and weapons distribution in order to further the goals of this joint criminal enterprise.”

Under several names, the FDLR, a UN-sanctioned terrorist organization, has operated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for thirty years. It was established by the remains of the former Rwandan army and Interahamwe militia, who carried out the Genocide against the Tutsi. For years, the Rwandan government has voiced its fears about the threat presented by the Congolese government-backed murderous force.

In order to combat the M23 rebels, the group was incorporated into the Congolese armed forces (FARDC), which is accused of propagating hate speech and persecuting the Tutsi communities in the country.

The link between the Congolese government and the FDLR was reportedly Peter Cirimwami, a military general and governor of North Kivu province who was slain on the battlefield in January. It has also been alleged that Pacifique “Omega” Ntawunguka, the FDLR’s general leader, was killed in fighting in late January.

Assassination of Queen Gicanda.

Capt. Nizeyimana, a commander in the then-Rwandan army, ordered the assassination of Queen Gicanda on April 20, 1994, in the former Butare Prefecture.

Gicanda was 66 years old and the widow of King Mutara III Rudahigwa.
Her humiliation at the hands of Belgium and the murderous government culminated in Gicanda’s murder.

When Queen Gicanda needed ongoing medical care in 1994, only weeks before the Genocide against the Tutsi started, the Belgian government ordered her to leave the country.

While her visa was still valid, in February 1994, Belgian officials wrote to Queen Gicanda, who was undergoing medical treatment in the city of Nivelle, requesting her to leave despite their knowledge of a murderous plan by the Rwandan government.

In a letter to Gicanda, the mayor of Nivelle promised to punish her if she disobeyed the ruling and told her not to travel to Luxembourg or the Netherlands. Deportation threats were also made against her.

An extremist named Sylvain Nsabimana, appointed by then-interim President Theodore Sindikubwabo to expedite the Genocide in the prefecture, succeeded Jean Baptiste Habyarimana of Butare, the sole Tutsi prefect at the time, and the last Queen of Rwanda was assassinated a day later.

In Nyanza District, Gicanda is buried at the Mwima Mausoleum.