The group was the primarily supported by Uganda during the war, while the rival Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) was dominated by Rwanda.
[1] The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo is the main suspect for perpetrating Effacer le tableau, an ethnic cleansing against Pygmy peoples.
[2] The MLC was found guilty by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing war crimes during fighting in the Central African Republic between 2002 and 2003 in General François Bozizé's attempted coup against the government of then-President Ange-Félix Patassé.
[8] On April 8, the MLC released a statement in which it said that its headquarters had been occupied by government forces since the fighting and that it was being persecuted through arbitrary arrests and intimidation.
On August 25, 2018, Bemba was barred from running for the presidency in the 2018 general election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) as a result of a then-ongoing appeal before the ICC regarding charges of witness tampering.
[16] These charges alleged that there was a conspiracy to influence 14 witnesses through the provision of money as an incentive to ensure false testimony before the ICC during Bemba's first trial.
[17][18] As a result of Bemba's disqualification by CENI, the MLC and Bemba joined the Lamuka alliance on November 12, uniting with Moïse Katumbi of Together for Change, Adolphe Muzito of Nouvel Elan, and Freddy Matungulu of Congo Na Biso to contest the 2018 general election under a joint banner with Martin Fayulu as their nominee for the presidential election.
[22] On June 13, 2019, the MLC, as part of the Lamuka alliance, suspended its participation in parliament, citing a Constitutional Court decision which invalidated the 2018 victories of 23 of its candidates.