The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda have vowed not to surrender even as the deadline to disarm and peacefully repatriate draws closer.

The rebels, accused of committing atrocities in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, have instead made a set of demands and appealed to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the Southern African Development Community to intervene on their behalf.

Just over three months remain of the six-month ultimatum given to the rebels, who have been fighting inside the DRC for the past 20 years, by the United Nations Security Council. But the group says its members’ security is not guaranteed by the United Nations and the governments of DRC and Rwanda.

The declaration by the rebels could deal a heavy blow to peace as Rwanda continues to put pressure on the international community to start military operations against them.

In a letter addressed to President Mugabe, the rebels claim the current peace process is compromised and that they cannot trust the UN force, Monusco, the government of Rwanda, or that of DRC.

The rebels claim their security while moving to the camp sent up in Kisangani, almost 900km from their bases, is not guaranteed. The letter is signed by the FDLR president Maj Gen Victor Byiringiro.

The letter notes that in 2001, the FDLR had laid down its weapons and handed them over to a third party, and 2,500 of its combatants were quartered in Kamina Military Base in DRC.

However, the rebels say, “The efforts were betrayed by the group’s counterparts, namely Monuc, DRC and Rwanda, as some of FDLR’s quartered combatants were cruelly attacked and killed, including their respective leading officers, while others were forcibly repatriated.”

Turning down the call to disarm, the rebels, who described themselves as “freedom fighters,” say they want talks with the Rwandan government and they urge President Mugabe and SADC to push for negotiations to enable them to return in a “dignified manner.”

READ: Kigali wants military action to neutralise FDLR in Congo

However, Kigali has remained firm that there will be no talks with the rebels, or any political deals for them, insisting that they can only be repatriated through the existing channels facilitated by the UN after denouncing the genocide ideology.

Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo on Wednesday affirmed her country’s position that the FDLR rebels must disarm and repatriate voluntarily or face military action.

She said that the FDLR problem is one that can easily be resolved but there is “lack of political will.”

“What has to be put forth in a more visible and serious manner is the political will to get rid of the group,” Mushikiwabo said, adding that there are “invisible hands” frustrating the effort to eliminate the FDLR.

Rwanda has on many occasions accused the international community of failing to act decisively on the rebels and that even giving the rebels a six-month ultimatum is an attempt to sanitise a group that has yet to denounce the genocide ideology.

“Some people in the region have gone as far as saying that it is a freedom fighting group, which is outrageous,” Ms Mushikiwabo told the media shortly after a meeting between President Paul Kagame and Smail Chergui, the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security and Said Djinnit, the new UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region.

The two officials were in Kigali to discuss regional security issues, particularly the situation in DRC and the issue of FDLR. Mr Djinnit told the media in Kigali that his talks with President Kagame focused on the threat posed by the FDLR and also followed up on the Luanda declarations.

“The Luanda meeting gave a deadline at the end of the year with a midterm review at the end of which the military option will be invoked,” Mr Djinnit said.

“That is the decision of the region, the ICGLR presidential statements said the same thing, I have said the same thing in DR Congo, so we will be operating under that framework,” he added.

The deadline will expire at the end of January next year. The head of Monusco, Martin Kobler, earlier this week said that the UN force is ready to take action, but has to respect the ICGLR resolutions.