The Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (french: Force de résistance patriotique d’Ituri; FRPI) is a Bunia-based armed militia and political party primarily active in the south of the Ituri Province of northeastern

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(formerly the

Orientale Province Orientale Province ( French: ''Province orientale'', "Eastern province") is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary ...

History

Origin

The FRPI was established in November 2002 from the Ngiti ethnolinguistic group, a subgroup of Lendu, as an ally to the Lendu-dominated Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI). The Ngiti, organized under traditional leaders, thus formed a counterweight to the

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

-backed and Hema-dominated Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) in the

Ituri conflict The Ituri conflict (french: Guerre d'Ituri) is an ongoing conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While the two groups had ...

. The FRPI was supported by the

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

-backed Forces for Renewal faction of the

Rally for Congolese Democracy The Congolese Rally for Democracy (french: Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie; abbreviated RCD), also known as the Rally for Congolese Democracy, is a political party and a former rebel group that operated in the eastern region of the ...

. In 2002–2003, the FRPI received support from both the

Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: Forces armées de la république démocratique du Congo ARDC is the state organisation responsible for defending the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FARDC was rebuilt pat ...

(FARDC) and

Uganda People's Defence Force The Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), previously known as the National Resistance Army, is the armed forces of Uganda. From 2007 to 2011, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the UPDF had a total strength of 40,000–4 ...

(UPDF) in fighting against the UPC. Both the DRC and Uganda had also assisted in the initial creation of the FRPI and FNI, though neither group ever established full control over Lendu fighters in Ituri.

Operations

In May 2003, the FRPI reportedly had 9,000 combatants and be closely linked to the FNI. By 2015, this number was estimated to have declined to 1,000. In February 2003, the FRPI participated in the Bogoro massacre with the FNI. The FRPI joined the UPDF in a successful March 2003 offensive against the UPC and jointly occupied the town with the FNI in May 2003."Ituri: Bloodiest Corner of Congo -- Who is Who - Armed Political Groups in Ituri" (May 2003)

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

In 2006, the Congolese government signed a ceasefire with the FRPI and other rebel groups active in the northeast of the country. Though 15,000 FRPI soldiers were demobilized as part of the peace process and many commanders integrated into the FARDC, violent FRPI activity returned in 2008 with attacks by residual FRPI forces against Ituri villages and FARDC camps. In September 2008, FRPI commanders splintered off to form the Popular Front for Justice in Congo (FPJC). Whereas its ally the FNI largely transformed into a political party in 2005, the FPRI has resisted disarmament and demobilization campaigns. In the 2010s, the FARDC launched search operations against the FRPI, deemed the most successful government operations since the 2013 defeat of the March 23 Movement by

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

envoy Martin Kobler. Initially led by Germain Katanga, FRPI leadership switched in 2005 to Baudouin Adirodo. Katanga was arrested and flown to the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to pro ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

in October 2007 to face charges of war crimes and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

, including the use of

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, inclu ...

s and promotion of

sexual slavery Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a ...

. He was found guilty in March 2014."Congo warlord flown to The Hague"
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

'', 18 October 2007Germain Katanga: Guilty of war crimes, the brutal warlord who terrorised the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

, 07 March, 2014. Accessed 08 March, 2014 He was released from prison in March 2020 after International Criminal Court reduced his sentence from 12 to 6 years. FRPI signed a peace accord on February 28, 2020 with the government of DRC in presence of the UN. The accord provided the integration of FRPI fighters into the army and a ceasefire. Rebel fighters who haven't committed war crimes or

were provided amnesty by the accord. Despite the peace deal signed in March 2020, fighting between government of DRC and FRPI happened on overnight of 30 December. Six FRPI fighters, three government soldiers, and two civilians were killed in the fighting.

References

{{Democratic Republic of the Congo political parties Factions of the Second Congo War Paramilitary organisations based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Political parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Military units and factions of the Ituri conflict Rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Political parties established in 2002 2002 establishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo