From the shadowy forests of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo—long a haven for terrorists and fugitives—emerged a letter that stunned observers of African geopolitics. On July 2, 2025, a leader of terrorist organization Lieutenant General Victor Byiringiro, the self-proclaimed “Acting President” of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), addressed a formal letter to U.S. President Donald J. Trump. The communication, filled with diplomatic flattery and calculated misinformation, marked a chilling escalation in the FDLR’s decades-long effort to sanitize its genocidal past and rebrand itself as a legitimate political actor.
More than its contents, the mere existence of the letter is alarming. Byiringiro—an indicted war criminal and leader of a militia with roots in the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda—presents himself not as a fugitive but as a statesman. This is not a plea for peace. It is a sophisticated propaganda maneuver, designed to manipulate international perceptions while sowing further instability across the Great Lakes region.
From the Jungle to Washington’s Inbox
In the letter, Byiringiro offers effusive praise to President Trump for his role in the June 27, 2025, Washington Peace Accord between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He then presents the FDLR—an armed insurgent group linked to mass atrocities—as a credible stakeholder in future regional peace initiatives.
The letter descends into absurdity when Byiringiro includes his personal Congolese mobile number—an almost farcical gesture suggesting that a presidential callback might be expected. Far from signaling a desire for reconciliation, this overture exemplifies the audacity with which genocidaires now attempt to recast themselves as arbiters of peace.
Aided by State Complicity
This boldness is not accidental. It is facilitated by the Congolese government under President Félix Tshisekedi, which has allowed the FDLR to operate openly within DRC territory and continues to kill Congolese Tutsi people especially in east of DRC. Instead of facing prosecution, FDLR operatives have been absorbed into the national army (FARDC), rewarded with military ranks, and granted both political cover and media exposure.
Far from marginalizing the FDLR, the Congolese state has provided the group with space to pursue its ideological campaign—including ongoing violence against Congolese Tutsi communities.
Mainstreaming Extremism: The BBC’s Misstep
On July 7, the BBC Kinyarwanda/Kirundi service published an article covering the FDLR letter as if it were a routine diplomatic communication. Missing from the report was any meaningful reference to the group’s criminal origins or violent history. The BBC’s failure to contextualize the FDLR’s past—and its ongoing atrocities—amounted to an unintentional endorsement of genocidal revisionism.
Such coverage dangerously misleads the public and helps normalize the idea that extremist actors can be reintroduced into legitimate political dialogue without reckoning with their crimes.
Rewriting History Through Lies
The letter is saturated with historical distortions. It praises Trump’s diplomacy and claims the FDLR has never posed a threat to Rwanda. It recycles long-debunked statistics, including the false assertion that over 10 million people have died in DRC due to foreign interventions—a number weaponized to fabricate victimhood.
More insidiously, the letter denies the FDLR’s well-documented involvement in genocide, despite overwhelming evidence from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), United Nations reports, and decades of human rights investigations.
Turning Victims into Villains
Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the letter is its attempt to recast the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)—the force that stopped the 1994 genocide—as aggressors. Meanwhile, it portrays the FDLR as guardians of refugees and regional peace.
This is not merely historical denialism. It is an ideological campaign to rehabilitate Hutu Power extremism, which fueled the genocide and remains the foundation of the FDLR’s agenda. Their stated goal of securing the “safe return” of Rwandan refugees is a euphemism for restoring a genocidal regime in Kigali.
Propaganda Wrapped in Peace Language
The letter also denies the FDLR’s connection to the 2021 assassination of Italian Ambassador Luca Attanasio, an attack that occurred within their stronghold. While evidence suggested FDLR involvement, Congolese authorities quietly let the case go cold—further illustrating how impunity shields the group from accountability.
Equally troubling is the letter’s accusation that operations aimed at neutralizing the FDLR are in fact attempts to “exterminate Rwandan refugees.” This tactic of hiding behind civilian populations while accusing others of genocide is a long-standing FDLR strategy.
Colonial Myths Recycled for Modern Hate
Toward the end of the letter, the FDLR dredges up a toxic colonial-era narrative—portraying Tutsi Rwandans as foreign invaders and positioning themselves as protectors of Bantu identity. This pseudoscientific racial categorization, introduced by Belgian colonialists, has fueled ethnic violence for over a century.
The reality is clear: all Rwandans, including both Hutu and Tutsi, share Bantu linguistic and cultural roots. This divisive rhetoric is not only factually incorrect but also a dangerous revival of the ideological spine of previous genocides.
A Call for Vigilance, Not Negotiation
The FDLR’s letter to President Trump is not a diplomatic breakthrough. It is a calculated act of deception, designed to sanitize genocide denial and recast war criminals as peace brokers.
Engaging with the FDLR does not advance peace. It dignifies impunity. Dialogue with a group that has never acknowledged its crimes, nor disavowed its genocidal ideology, is not reconciliation. It is betrayal.
The international community—especially global powers like the United States—must reject such overtures. Because when mass murderers start addressing world leaders as peers, and when media outlets fail to label them accurately, the risk is not only to truth, but to justice itself.
This is not a ghost from the past. This is a living threat, cloaked in suits of diplomacy, armed by silence, and emboldened by negligence.
Let history not be rewritten. Let it be remembered—and upheld.
