SUMMARY
The RMDC (Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change), an alliance of Rwandan opposition groups including the Conseil National pour le Renouveau et la Démocratie (CNRD) and its military wing, the Front de libération nationale (FLN), has been implicated in repeated acts of one-sided violence against civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and northwestern Burundi. The violence stems from the group’s opposition to the Rwandan government, and its efforts to weaken its influence in the border regions. The emergence of the CNRD in 2016, following a split from the FDLR, was partly driven by internal disagreements within the Rwandan exile community, including debates over refugee management. However, in practice, its military operations, especially under the FLN, have increasingly targeted civilians, particularly in areas perceived to harbor state loyalists or as part of efforts to control territory and local populations in strategic forest and mining zones.
CNRD and FLN spokespeople have occasionally tried to frame their attacks as part of a legitimate armed struggle against what they describe as the repressive Rwandan regime. However, in practice, civilian targets have regularly included farmers, bus passengers, and community members unaffiliated with military structures. Public statements by FLN leaders, such as Callixte Nsabimana before his 2019 arrest, have admitted to ordering attacks in Rwanda and South Kivu, DRC. In court proceedings and propaganda, FLN members have attempted to rationalize some attacks on the basis that they were targeting Rwandan government collaborators or suppressing informants.
Overall, the one-sided violence perpetrated by the RMDC’s CNRD-FLN wing has been characterized by brutal, close-range killings of unarmed civilians in rural areas, often involving small arms or bladed weapons. The FLN’s violent tactics have included ambushes, armed raids, executions, and machete killings. The group has been linked to house raids and summary executions of civilians suspected of being informants or aligned with rival militia groups. In the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and surrounding zones (Bunyakiri, Kalehe), civilians have been beheaded while farming, reportedly as intimidation or punishment for failing to cooperate with the group involved in illegal mining. In Rwanda, FLN combatants have carried out cross-border raids from bases in Burundi and South Kivu, DRC. These targeted for example public transportation, several bus attacks in Rwanda’s Nyamagabe and Nyamasheke districts left civilians dead or wounded. Testimonies collected from survivors indicate a sustained campaign of terror aimed at both demonstrating operational capacity and undermining the perception of government control in border regions.
The violence associated with the RMDC has been spread across multiple regions. Within the DRC, the group has operated in both North and South Kivu provinces, notably in Masisi, Walikale, and Kalehe territories, and within the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. In Rwanda, attacks have concentrated in the Southern Province—especially the Kitabi sector of Nyamagabe district and Nyamasheke district. In Burundi, violence has been centered in the forested regions of Cibitoke province, with the FLN using these areas as rear bases for operations and as sites of internal repression and terror.
