The National Forces of Liberation (french: Forces nationales de libération, or FNL) is a political party and former rebel group in

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

. An ethnic Hutu group, the party was previously known as the Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People (''Parti pour la libération du peuple Hutu'', or PALIPEHUTU) and adhered to a radical

Hutu Power Hutu Power is a racial and ethnosupremacist ideology that asserts the ethnic superiority of Hutu, often in the context of being superior to Tutsi and Twa, and that therefore they are entitled to dominate and murder these two groups and other mino ...

ideology, but since the mid- to late-2000s has moderated its stance and cooperated with the Tutsi-supported Union for National Progress party in opposition to the rule of Pierre Nkurunziza and the CNDD-FDD. PALIPEHUTU was a participant in the Burundian Civil War. Its armed wing was the National Forces of Liberation (''Forces nationales de libération'', or FNL). It was led by Agathon Rwasa and was estimated to have around 3,000 combatants.AU Peace & Security Council Report
, ''

Peace and Security Council The Peace and Security Council (PSC) is the organ of the African Union in charge of enforcing union decisions. It is patterned somewhat after the United Nations Security Council. The PSC is also the main pillar of the African Peace and Security A ...

'', 2006-11-09 A dissident wing is led by Jean Bosco Sindayigaya.

Formation

PALIPEHUTU was founded in 1980 in refugee camps in Tanzania, where Hutus had fled following persecution by the Tutsi-led government.Palipehutu-FNL Conflict Database
'' Uppsala University'' PALIPEHUTU advocated armed struggle and established its armed wing, the FNL, in 1985. The National Liberation Front (FROLINA) split from PALIPEHUTU in 1990, and the armed wing PALIPEHUTU-FNL, led by Cossan Kabura split from the political wing of PALIPEHUTU in 1991. The political wing of PALIPEHUTU was renamed the

Party for the Liberation of People-Agakiza A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

and is led by Etienne Karatasi. In 2002 PALIPEHUTU-FNL split into two factions, one led by Kabura and one by Agathon Rwasa. Generally, PALIPEHUTU's support comes more from the central region of Muramvya and

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...

, whereas the main Hutu political party CNDD derives its support from the southern Bururi region.

Civil war

During the civil war, PALIPEHUTU-FNL was linked to the killing of Monsignor Michael Courtney, the Catholic Church's chief representative in Burundi, the Titanic Express massacre and the Gatumba massacre in which over 150

Banyamulenge Banyamulenge, also referred to as nyamurenge and banyamurenge (literally 'those who live in Mulenge') is the name that they adopted in the 80’s describes a Tutsi community in the southern part of Kivu who migrated from Rwanda and seek refuge in ...

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

refugees were killed. PALIPEHUTU also fought in the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...

alongside the Congolese army, the

Army for the Liberation of Rwanda The Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (french: Armée pour la Libération du Rwanda, ALiR) was a rebel group largely composed of members of the Interahamwe and Armed Forces of Rwanda. Operating mostly in the eastern regions of the Democratic ...

and the Mai-Mai against the Burundian army. Following the Gatumba massacre, the Great Lakes Peace Initiativedeclared PALIPEHUTU-FNL to be a terrorist organisation, and the South African President, Thabo Mbeki called on the International Criminal Court to prosecute. PALIPEHUTU-FNL was the last Hutu rebel group to sign an agreement with the Burundi government, which it did in September 2006 Further agreements led to a final agreement in December 2008, according to which it also changed its name to remove "PALIPEHUTU" to leave only "FNL" as its name (as Burundian political parties may not refer to ethnicities in their names). On May 15, 2009, UNICEF reported that 136 ex-FNL

child soldier Children (defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as people under the age of 18) have been recruited for participation in military operations and campaigns throughout history and in many cultures. Children in the military, includ ...

s returned to their communities in Burundi.

Party emblem

The party's emblem a bent bow and an arrow placed between a hoe and a hammer. The party's flag is red with the centre inscribed with the emblem of the party in black. Red symbolizes the suffering endured by the people of Burundi. The bent bow and the arrow symbolize the struggle for the fundamental rights and liberties. The hoe and the hammer, whose handles converges, symbolize the commitment in unity to agricultural and industrial development, respectively. Green symbolizes the hope to set up peace, justice and democracy in Burundi.Political flags of Burundi
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References

External links

Forces Nationales de Liberation (FNL)
at the Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides {{DEFAULTSORT:National Forces Of Liberation Rebel groups in Burundi Political parties in Burundi Burundian Civil War 1980 establishments in Burundi Military units and formations established in 1980 Hutu