The Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri is a Beni

Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Beni is a town in north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, lying immediately west of the Virunga National Park and the Rwenzori Mountains, on the edge of the Ituri Forest.-Overview:...

-based armed militia and political party in the Ituri Province of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

. The FRPI was established in November 2002 from the Ngiti

Ngiti

The Ngiti, or South Lendu, is an ethnolinguistic group located in the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ngiti speakers call their language Ndruna. As of 1991, the Ngiti numbered 100,000 located in the Irumu territory south of Bunia...

 ethnic group as an ally to the Lendu

Lendu

The Lendu, or Balendru, are an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, in particular the Ituri region of Orientale province. Their language is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages...

 Nationalist and Integrationist Front

Nationalist and Integrationist Front

The Nationalist and Integrationist Front is a Lendu rebel group active in the Ituri conflict in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FNI has fought against the Hema tribe and is blamed for the ambush and murder of nine MONUC peacekeepers near the town of Kafe in February 2005...

 (FNI). The Ngiti, organized under traditional leaders, thus formed a counterweight to the Union of Congolese Patriots

Union of Congolese Patriots

The Union of Congolese Patriots is an armed group in Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were in 2003 said to be 15000 soldiers . It has carried out numerous attacks upon civilians and other serious human rights abuses in pursuit of its policies...

 in the Ituri conflict

Ituri Conflict

The Ituri conflict is a conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo . While there have been many phases to the conflict, the most recent armed clashes ran from 1999 to 2003, with a low-level...

 and was supported by the Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

-backed Movement for Liberation

Forces for Renewal

The Forces for Renewal is a political party in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The party originated as a breakaway faction of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy and was previously known as the RCD-Kisangani-Movement for Liberation....

 faction of the Rally for Congolese Democracy

Rally for Congolese Democracy

The Congolese Rally for Democracy, sometimes Rally for Congolese Democracy, was a rebel group operating in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Assisted by the government of Rwanda, it was a major factor in the Second Congo War . It became a political party in 2003...

. In May 2003, it was reported to have 9000 combatants and some considered it to be the armed wing of the FNI. The FRPI joined the Ugandans in successful March 2003 offensive against the UPC, and jointly occupied the town with the FNI in May 2003. Initially led by Germain Katanga

Germain Katanga

Germain Katanga , also known as Simba, is a former leader of the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri . On 17 October 2007, the Congolese authorities surrendered him to the International Criminal Court to stand trial on six counts of war crimes and three counts of crimes against humanity...

, by 2005 its leader changed to Dr. Adirodo (full name apparently unknown). In 2006 15,000 FRPI soldiers were demobilized as part of the peace process. Germain Katanga was arrested and flown to the International Criminal Court

International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...

 at The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

 in October 2007 to face charges of war crime

War crime

War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...

s and crimes against humanity

Crime against humanity

Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...

.