RED-Tabara

Resistance for Rule of Law in Burundi (French: Résistance pour un État de Droit au Burundi, Abbreviation: RED-Tabara) is a Burundian rebel militia that was formed in 2015 in the wake of the political crisis in the country.^[1][2] The group opposes the political control of the National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy and former president Pierre Nkurunziza and is allied with a number of other opposition groups, including the Popular Forces of Burundi.

Since February 12, 2016, Melchiade Biremba has been the leader of the group.^[3] In an interview to Jeune Afrique, Biremba explained the goals of the organization:

[T]he motives which pushed us to take up arms are the same as those which pushed Nkurunziza himself to enter into rebellion in 1994: absence of democracy and justice, no rule of law.

— Melchiade Biremba, Burundi – Melchiade Biremba : « On ne peut pas défendre la démocratie avec des belles paroles », ^[4]

While many members of the group were former members of Alexis Sinduhije's Movement for Solidarity and Democracy, both Sinduhije and Biremba deny any connection between RED-Tabara and the party. ^[3][5][6]