SUMMARY

The Lendu/Ngiti militia FRPI (Forces de Résistance Patriotique d'Ituri, Patriotic Force of Resistance in Ituri) was a rebel group active in the context of the Hema - Lendu conflict in Ituri district in the DR Congo. The group killed mostly Hema civilians in looting attacks or as they burned down villages.

In 2006, the Congolese government signed a ceasefire with the FRPI and other rebel groups active in Ituri. Though 15 000 FRPI soldiers were demobilized as part of the peace process and many commanders integrated into the FARDC as a result the number of attacks in the area decreased. A small portion of the group however refused to demobilize and continued to attack civilians in the area. Germain Katanga was arrested in 2007 on an ICC warrant and sent to The Hague more FRPI soldier defected from the army. Therefore violent FRPI attacks against Ituri villages returned on a larger scale. The FRPI has continued to resist new disarmament and demobilization campaigns. In June 2010 Cobra Matata defected the army and rejoined FRPI he managed to consolidate the group. In the same time period more attacks against civilians in looting incidents were reported.

FRPI first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2002, when the one-sided violence resulted in more than 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 13 September 2002, elements of the FRPI from Gety killed 150 Hema civilians, in the lakeside groupement of Bandikado in Irumu, Ituri of DR Congo.