Resistance for Rule of Law in Burundi ( French: Résistance pour un État de Droit au Burundi, Abbreviation: RED-Tabara) is a Burundian rebel militia that was formed in 2015 in the wake of the political crisis in the country. [1] [2] The group opposes the political control of the National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy and former president Pierre Nkurunziza and is allied with a number of other opposition groups, including the Popular Forces of Burundi.
Since February 12, 2016, Melchiade Biremba has been the leader of the group. [3] In an interview to Jeune Afrique, Biremba explained the goals of the organization:
[T]he motives which pushed us to take up arms are the same as those which pushed Nkurunziza himself to enter into rebellion in 1994: absence of democracy and justice, no rule of law.
— Melchiade Biremba, Burundi – Melchiade Biremba : « On ne peut pas défendre la démocratie avec des belles paroles », [4]
While many members of the group were former members of Alexis Sinduhije's Movement for Solidarity and Democracy, both Sinduhije and Biremba deny any connection between RED-Tabara and the party. [3] [5] [6]
According to reports from the UN Group of Experts, RED-Tabara was the recipient of logistical support from Rwanda, after recruits for the group were captured in South Kivu. [7] The combatants claimed that they had been recruited from refugee camps in Rwanda and received training by people in Rwandan military uniforms. [7]
During the 2015 Burundian unrest, the group engaged in attacks against the NCDD-FDD, and its youth wing, the Imbonerakure.
In November 2016, according to observers, RED-Tabara was the largest movement in terms of combattants, but the least operational. [8]
However, by the end of 2016, support for the group appeared to decline. In August 2017, reports from the UN Group of Experts and Radio France Internationale that several RED-Tabara fighters had left the group and joined the Popular Forces of Burundi., [9] [7] On August 27, 2017, leader Melchiade Biremba was captured in the Congolese village of Rurambo and detained in Kinshasa. [10]
Despite these issues, the National Defence Force (Burundi) and the Imbonerakure conducted several incursions into the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2021 and 2022 aimed at attacking the group., [11] [12]
On December 23, 2023, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on the village of Vugizo which killed 20 people and wounded nine others. [13]
In January 2024, Burundi closed all its land borders with Rwanda, for an indefinite period after Rwanda was accused of supporting the RED-Tabara. [14]
Les Red Tabara sont les plus nombreux, ils bénéficient d'un soutien populaire, mais ils ont très peu de capacités opérationnelles.