They later formed the armed group Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALiR), which evolved into the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). The group included former Rwandan Armed Forces (Ex-FAR) soldiers and Interahamwe militia members and continued its activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including attacks against Congolese Tutsi communities.
In 1997, ALiR fighters infiltrated Rwanda and carried out attacks in several areas, including Ngororero. They looted communities, abducted girls, subjected them to sexual violence, recruited them into their ranks and forced young men to join them.
One of the women abducted during that period is Mukagasana (not real name). Now 43, she is among former members of groups such as the FDLR who recently completed reintegration training at the Mutobo Demobilisation and Reintegration Centre in Musanze District.
Mukagasana was 14 when the infiltrators reached her family home in the former Kanama Commune in 1997. They killed her father and cousin, abducted her and took her to an area controlled by the group.
'They took my father and killed a visitor who was there, my cousin. They beheaded my father and took him to the area where the FDLR was operating. They hung him from a tree so that everyone could see,' she said.
The fighters also stole 10 cows from the family before taking Mukagasana to the former Ramba Commune.
She said she was sexually assaulted while still on the journey.
'They raped me because I was a young child. I was 14. I could no longer walk, so they left me along the way and later came back for me when I was able to walk,' she said.
She was later forced to undergo military training. According to her, the fighters gave her cannabis to make her less fearful of the activities they forced her to undertake.
She said the sexual abuse continued during her time with the group, including by commanders such as Colonel Nkundiye, making it impossible for her to determine how many men assaulted her.
Forced to participate in attacks
Mukagasana said she was also taken to areas where the group attacked communities sheltering Tutsi refugees, including Karumbi.
During one attack in 1997, she said, fighters killed a man, a woman and three girls aged 12, 13 and 14.
She was later ordered to look after children who had been abducted.
Mukagasana decided to help some of them escape.
'I told them, 'I am going to help you. I will show you where to pass. Go and follow the route we came from,'' she said.
The fighters punished her with 150 strokes of the cane. The beating left her unable to walk properly and, she says, caused a disability that still prevents her from doing physically demanding work.
She was later taken to Mukura forest in the former Kibuye area, where the fighters left her with a large stone placed on her back to prevent her from escaping. She remained there for four days before they returned for her.
They subsequently continued using her knowledge of the area to identify households where they could obtain food.
Taking part in Nyange school attack
Mukagasana says she was among the fighters involved in the attack on students at Nyange Secondary School in the former Kibuye area on the night of March 18, 1997.
She said the operation was planned in the evening, with some fighters sent ahead to gather information about the area and security arrangements.
'We carried out the attack and asked them to separate, Tutsi on one side and Hutu on the other,' she said.
According to her account, the students refused to separate.
She said the fighters had expected to identify and abduct Hutu students and kill Tutsi students, but their refusal to separate disrupted that plan.
'The Tutsi could not separate and the Hutu could not separate, so we killed all of them and left,' she said.
She said the incident discouraged the attackers because they realised that distinguishing between the students was not possible.
Mukagasana also recalls taking part in other attacks, including one in which she says she shot and killed two soldiers.
FDLR fighters received support from the DRC
After arriving in the DRC, Mukagasana said, the fighters initially looted government facilities and health centres.
She said this later changed when Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who led the DRC from 1997 to 2001, began using the fighters in the conflict against Rwanda.
According to Mukagasana, the fighters received clothing, shoes and salaries from the Congolese government.
She held the rank of corporal in the FDLR.
She also recalls attacks in areas around Rubaya, where fighters looted cattle belonging to Congolese communities, including Banyamulenge.
'We killed them, took their cattle and ate them. We also abducted girls. Many died and others were raped,' she said.
Women were also used for intelligence gathering
Mukagasana said women and girls abducted by the group were subjected to sexual violence and were often assigned tasks such as gathering intelligence.
Some were selected because they were tall or could pass as members of Tutsi communities. They would enter areas inhabited by Congolese Tutsi communities to collect information without raising suspicion.
'During the day, her work was to gather information. Those who were not gathering information were raped or sent to loot and look for food,' she said.
Some women were also sent back into Rwanda to collect information before returning to report to the fighters.
Mukagasana said many did not perform these tasks willingly, but were controlled through threats and violence.
Returning home
She eventually escaped the FDLR and returned to Rwanda in 2003, but initially concealed her past because of fear.
She said fighters had told them that anyone who returned to Rwanda would be killed, creating fear among those who wanted to escape.
Mukagasana was pregnant when she returned to Rwanda as a result of sexual violence and did not know the identity of the father of her first child.
She later married a soldier in the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), after first telling him about her past.
'He comforted me and told me that what happened was not something he would use against me or something that would make him stop loving me,' she said.
The couple now have four children.
Mukagasana says the stigma and trauma associated with her past made her fear that neighbours would label her an Interahamwe or an enemy of the country. She eventually asked her husband to move to another district.
She says her recent reintegration training at Mutobo has helped her overcome some of that fear after hearing the experiences of other former fighters.
Mukagasana also expressed gratitude to the Rwandan government for allowing her to rebuild her life, saying that much of what she experienced happened after she was abducted at the age of 14 and forced to participate in the group's activities.
