The United States welcomes the October 11, 2010 arrest by French authorities of Callixte Mbarushimana, indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2009. As a top official of the FDLR, Mbarushimana had also been listed in 2008 for targeted UN and U.S. sanctions.

Mbarushimana's arrest sends an important signal that the international community will not tolerate the FDLR's continuing efforts to destabilize the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the recent mass rapes in Walikale territory in which FDLR forces are believed to have participated. The United States continues to encourage FDLR soldiers and their dependents to demobilize and repatriate to Rwanda.

The United States supports the International Criminal Court's ongoing investigations into atrocities that have been committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2002, as well as the steps taken by the Congolese government to pursue accountability. Ending the cycle of impunity is indispensable to establishing a lasting peace in the Congo.