Journalist Colette Braeckman said that people surrounding DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi embrace the same genocidal ideology that led to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. She added that anyone who believes Rwandan President Paul Kagame is unaware of this is “a fool” who is choosing to ignore the reality.
In an interview conducted at her home in Belgium, Colette Braeckman, a journalist who closely follows politics in the Great Lakes region, said it is mistaken to believe that members of the FDLR—many of whom fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo after participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda—no longer pose a threat simply because they have grown old.
She said that many of those who fled to the DRC after the genocide have since had children, and that these younger generations have inherited what she described as their parents’ genocidal ideology.
Braeckman further claimed that FDLR fighters now operate under the name CRAP (Commandos de Recherche et d’Action dans la Profondeur), alleging that the group received military training from France, which she said hoped to remove President Paul Kagame from power and restore figures from Rwanda’s former government.
She added: “The descendants of those people are still in Kivu. What is tragic is that Tshisekedi and those around him are listening to them.”
Braeckman continued: “That is a very serious mistake. Among the people surrounding Tshisekedi are individuals who hold the same genocidal ideology that led to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Anyone who thinks Kagame is unaware of this is a fool. And anyone who believes Kagame will not take measures to protect himself is blind. Inevitably, Kagame will defend himself. This is a profound human error, and it is one of Tshisekedi’s greatest mistakes.”
She added: “The fact that Tshisekedi has aligned himself with people who hold genocidal ideology—some of whom may be too young to have participated in the genocide, but whose ideology remains the same—is a fatal mistake. Because of that, he will never be regarded as legitimate while maintaining such alliances.”
Braeckman went on to question why Tshisekedi had chosen what she described as the wrong path, saying: “Why did he take that direction? Was it simply out of ignorance? In any case, when the genocide occurred, he was not a primary school child—he knew what was happening. Moreover, he has been to Kigali. He understands the fears of Rwandans and the reasons for their vigilance. That is something everyone must take into account, even today.”
Turning to the shooting down of former Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane, Braeckman argued that the operation was too sophisticated to have been carried out by people from the region alone, claiming it was instead conducted by Europeans.
She specifically pointed to French personnel, alleging that they had initially left Rwanda before returning under what was presented as a short-term mission at the end of March.
