{"id":2000121120,"date":"2026-07-31T13:43:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000121120"},"modified":"2026-07-31T13:43:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:43:34","slug":"former-fdlr-child-recruit-recounts-years-of-forced-service-abuse-in-armed-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/former-fdlr-child-recruit-recounts-years-of-forced-service-abuse-in-armed-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Former FDLR child recruit recounts years of forced service, abuse in armed group"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Uwimana, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said he spent three years with the FDLR, an armed group formed by perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who fled to eastern DR Congo following the genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shared his experience after being reunited with his family on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, following a rehabilitation programme by the Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC). He was among 22 children who were reunited with their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uwimana told IGIHE that he was abducted in Masisi Territory, in the Ironga area where his family lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had gone to visit relatives when FDLR soldiers who were heading to Pinga airfield to collect ammunition captured me. They forced me to carry the ammunition. After we delivered it, we arrived at their military camp, but they refused to allow us to return home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said they were later taken to the battlefield after spending three days at the camp, where they were forced to support the group\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhenever we asked why we could not go home, they told us we would only leave after the ammunition we had carried had been used up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uwimana said that once they reached the battlefield, they were given weapons and forced to participate in fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience separated him from his family, who later fled and eventually settled in Rwanda\u2019s Nyabihu District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He revealed that he was unable to continue his education beyond Primary Three because of the conflict, adding that during his time with FDLR, he was subjected to training aimed at carrying out violent acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe would go to the battlefield like other fighters. We were also sent to steal food, including cassava and beans, from civilians. They trained us to attack people, destroy property, rape and kill,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uwimana said that at one point, as hunger worsened, FDLR members directed them to steal livestock from communities near Goma. However, they were attacked upon arrival, forcing them to flee, and he eventually found himself inside a national park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He later decided to surrender after communicating with a former FDLR member who had already left the group and completed rehabilitation at the Mutobo Demobilisation Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former colleague encouraged him to surrender, after which Uwimana was taken through the La Corniche border crossing and transferred to Mutobo, where he underwent a three-month reintegration programme before being reunited with his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uwimana said FDLR leaders had repeatedly warned them against returning to Rwanda, claiming they would either be killed or imprisoned if they did so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were given false information by our leaders, and at times we believed what they said. But I was surprised by the way I was received in Rwanda. We were given clothes, food, and lessons that helped us return to normal life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now reunited with his family, Uwimana said he hopes to return to school and build a better future, noting that education provides opportunities that are difficult to access for those who cannot read and write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also called on other young people still in armed groups in the forests of DR Congo to surrender, saying many of the messages they receive from their leaders are based on falsehoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valerie Nyirahabineza, Chairperson of the Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC), said 22 of the 24 children who completed the rehabilitation programme had been reunited with their families, while efforts were ongoing to trace the families of the remaining two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The children reunited with their families are aged between 16 and 18 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its establishment, the commission has helped reintegrate 1,029 children who were previously associated with armed groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
David Uwimana, who spent three years with the FDLR, said he hopes to return to school and build a better future for himself.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Valerie Nyirahabineza, Chairperson of the Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC), said 22 of the 24 children who completed the rehabilitation programme had been reunited with their families.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Uwimana, a 17-year-old former FDLR child recruit, has described how he was forced into the armed group at the age of 14 and trained to commit violent acts, including killing and rape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000121122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[151,99],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000121120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-editors-choice","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000121122,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/14-32883-1.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":563,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/14-32883-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":563},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/14-32883-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":563},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/14-32883-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":563},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/14-32883-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":563},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/14-32883-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":563}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000121120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000121123,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121120\/revisions\/2000121123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000121122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000121120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000121120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000121120"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000121120"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000121120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}