The Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (French: ''Mouvement Rwandais pour le Changement Démocratique'', normally abbreviated MRCD or MRCD/FLN), is a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

n opposition groups who mostly reside in the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

or in

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

. The movement is led by

Paul Rusesabagina Paul Rusesabagina (;
(13 November 2013), by Patt Morrison, ''Los Ang ...

, a notable Rwandan

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

, whose story forms the basis of the critically-acclaimed

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

film ''

Hotel Rwanda ''Hotel Rwanda'' is a 2004 biographical historical drama film co-written and directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and h ...

''.

History

The National Liberation Front (FLN) is the armed wing of

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

PDR-Ihumure and the MRCD. In 2018, the group claimed responsibility for two

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

attacks in Nyabimata, South-West

, near the border with

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

. The FLN was also suspected by Rwandan security forces of carrying out a fatal attack on a bus in June 2022. Many of its attacks have been carried out from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

2021 trial

Rusesabagina was arrested in 2020 by the Rwandan government, a move considered controversial. In 2021, 21 members of the MRCD/FLN, including Rusesabagina and former spokesperson Callixte Nsabimana (also known as "Sankara"), were put on trial in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

in relation to the Nyabimata attacks. The trial received widespread international attention as a result of the high profile of Rusesabagina and the dubious circumstances leading to his arrest. On 20 September 2021, the judge

convicted In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...

all of the 21

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...

s. Rusesabagina received the longest sentence, of 25 years. Eight members, including Nsabimana received sentences of 20 years, while other defendants were all sentenced to at least 3 years of prison time. It is unclear whether the MRCD is resuming operations as a political coalition.

References

{{Rwandan political parties 2012 establishments in Rwanda Political opposition alliances Political parties established in 2012 Political party alliances in Rwanda Terrorism in Rwanda