Holmes, G (Forthcoming, 2014) ‘Negotiating narratives of human rights abuses: image management in conflicts in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’, in Julia Gallagher (ed.) The Image of Africa, Manchester: University Manchester Press. 8 Negotiating narratives of human rights abuses: image management in conflicts in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Georgina Holmes While there is recognition that non-state armed groups operating in Africa attempt to manage their reputation internationally, the reasons for their engagement with the international community and the approaches taken by these groups deserves more attention. Over the last decade, the new media environment and Web 2.0 technologies have provided armed groups in the east of Congo such as the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), former-National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) and Movement 23 (M23) with increased access to a range of audiences, allowing them to engage with members of the international community directly and with greater speed. Web 2.0 technologies serve to amplify the voices of non-state armed groups at the international level. Yet, these actors are required to work within the discursive power structures that define African subjects within the international system, as well as negotiate narratives about conflict and insecurity in Africa produced externally by states, intergovernmental organisations and human rights interest groups. This chapter considers the image management strategy of one armed group operating at the sub- state level: the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), which has been active in the region for nearly two decades and has operated via an international network. The chapter explores how image