|
RALLY FOR THE RETURN OF | |
|---|---|
|
4, RUE A. CLUYSENAAR 1060 BRUXELLES BELGIQUE Tél: 32-2-5348035 Fax: 32-2-5348053 |
7, RESIDENCE MONTESQUIEU 49000 ANGERS FRANCE Tél/Fax: 33-41489987 |
Nairobi, 4 June 1996
On May 22nd 1996, Mr John Shattuck, Assistant Secretary for democracy, human rights and labour, at the US Department of State, testified before the sub committee on Africa, in the US House of Representatives, on the Human rights situation in Africa.
With regard to Rwanda, Mr John Shattuck declared among others, that the "Rwandan justice system had progressed significantly" in a year since his last visit to Rwanda. Since RPF took over power violently, Mr John SHATTUCK has visited Rwanda 4 times.
He went on to say that Hutu militants in eastern Zaïre, had carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against zairian Tutsi.
This statement from the US highest official dealing with human rights issues world-wide, is to say the least far from the truth and very unfortunate.
The yardstick to judge any justice system is the independence of the judiciary and its record in the promotion of the respect of human rights and of the rule of law.The justice system in Rwanda is far from responding to these criteria.
Indeed, all reports from independent and unbiased sources such as international organisations, human rights observers and governments indicate that the judicial system in Rwanda is not functioning. Amnesty International in its report of February 1996 uses the term "paralysis" to describe the situation. Nonetheless they point out that a well functioning justice system would be a solid base for national reconciliation, implying that the reconciliation process is up to now a mirage.
The only indicator cited in every report showing a semblance of an improvement in the rwandese justice system is the appointment of members of the Supreme Court in October 1995 and the recent establishment of a Judicial Council.
The most striking feature of the new policy in rehabilitating the two institutions i.e the suprem court and the judicial council, has been to weed out any element which has not been allied to RPF and to put the control of the judicial system into the hands of RPF supporters as a reward for their past services in RPF’s bid to take over state power in Rwanda. Many well educated and experienced judges and magistrates who had given a benefit of doubt to RPF's declared commitment to national reconciliation and stayed in Rwanda are being humiliated, molested and at worst are being arrested under fictitious charges of having participated in or abetted genocide.
Today, out of 7 members of the Supreme Court, 5 are die-hard and founder members of RPF. The sixth is a member of the former Rwandan Army now in exile, who defected to RPF during the war . The seventh had to be introduced by some political heavyweights in order to qualify. The recently set up Judicial Council is made up by more than 80% of RPF members. Decisions in the Ministry of Justice are influenced by two RPF military officers appointed as Cabinet Director and Director General in the Ministry.
With fresh memories of the history of Rwanda and emotions still running high in all government decisions, one can hardly expect the new line up of judges and magistrates of the Supreme court and Judicial Council to act independently from their political bosses.
Indeed few magistrates who have tried to act independently have been victimised. Thus the Chief Prosecutor of KIBUYE Magistrate’s Court, Mr MAKOMBE Fidèle was beaten up in the night of 1st to 2nd May 1996 by RPF soldiers for having declined to arrest people as directed by the local District Administrator without convincing evidence. His counterpart in BUTARE District suffered the same fate for refusing to withdraw charges against a prominent businessman, supporter of RPF, accused of having massacred people in MUKINGI Commune.
Mr RUBADUKA J. escaped two assassination attempts. Working with the Constitutional Court, he had opposed some legislation judged to be anti-constitutional. A member of Parliament had publicly threatened him before the attempts were made on RUBADUKA's life.
Two foreign human rights observers including a lady were roughed up by RPF soldiers allegedly for being too inquisitive in their investigations about human rights violations. Almost 40 NGO’s were chased out of Rwanda under flimsy charges, because in reality they were making revelations about human rights abuses in Rwanda.
The interference of the military and other RPF political officials in the judicial system has been well documented by both local and foreign human rights organisations, including ARDHO (local) and AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.
As Mr John Shattuck points out the conditions in the detention centres are "horrendous"and the "overcrowding is continuing". While arrests are continuing, nearly 2 years since RPF took power no, detainee has been brought before the courts of law.
The excuse that it is due to lack of funds and manpower cannot stand. The RPF government refused foreign assistance in the form of judges and magistrates, to expedite a process of discongesting prisons. Indeed, in May 1995, the UN offered to fund that program of foreign magistrates but the self-styled National Assembly, dominated by RPF hard-liners, rejected the adhoc draft bill.
Gross violations of human rights are still a main feature of the justice system in Rwanda.In order to enable the public to draw their own conclusions, here are some examples just for the last two months.
1. On April 6 1996, RPA soldiers sprayed bullets in a crowd of mourners in Rutsiro commune, Kibuye district. Many people died on the spot, while a number of others were wounded. The RPF mouth piece i.e Radio Rwanda later on claimed that RPA had shot back in retaliation against a shot from the crowd. Although all the people were massacred, no indication was given about any firearm found among the crowd.
2. In the night of 8th April 1996, an unidentified number of people were killed by RPA in the communes of MWENDO and RUTSIRO in the district of KIBUYE. Radio Rwanda broadcast that the victims were "interahamwe" without anymore detail. Even if they were "Interahamwe" do they deserve such an extra-judicial killings ?
3. On April 12, 1996, two people were killed by RPA in the communes of MUKO and NYAMUTERA in the districts of GIKONGORO and RUHENGERI respectively. No explanation was given about the motive behind their execution.
4. During the night of 16th to 17th April 1996, three people were killed once again by RPF in the commune of NYAMUTERA.
5. On 26th April 1996, an unidentified number of people were killed by RPA soldiers in the communes of MWENDO, RWAMATAMU and RUTOBWE. According to Radio Rwanda, Kinyarwanda bulletin, no indication was given about the motive of their murder.
6. On April 28, 1996, a businessman was gunned down by RPA soldiers in NYAMABUYE commune simply because he was heading towards the residence of the area RPA division commander . No warning or attempt to arrest the victim were made, as is the practice under normal circumstances.
7. On April 28, 1996, 86 to 100 people were butchered in the sub-district of NGORORERO, GISENYI district. All the victims were from a detention camp at MURAMBA, SATINSKYI commune. RPF claimed two weeks later that there had been an attempted evasion, but reports from reliable sources on the spot indicate that some of the victims met their death well outside the detention centre. Moreover, if it was an evasion attempt as claimed by RPF, why was the incident kept secret, until it was blown up by local villagers and F.H.R observers?
8. On May 12, 1996, 16 people were killed and 4 seriously wounded, in the communal jail of KIVUMU Commune. Radio Rwanda reported that the victims perished when a disagreement erupted between prisoners over the issue of escaping. Given the prevailing detention conditions in Rwanda, who can miss the opportunity to escape (to the extent of fighting those trying to do so) if given a chance ?
Furthermore, why didn't prison wardens intervene to quell the riot in time since, according to the government version of events, the stampede went on throughout the night ? Was any prison warden arrested for investigations ?
9. On May 19,1996, 46 prisoners were killed in the communal jail of Bugarama, CYANGUGU district. RPF claimed that they were killed in a crossfire with hutu militiamen.
According to Radio Rwanda, the hutu militiamen attacked with long range shellings and indicating that they were some distance away from the prison. However invistigations on the spot indicate that all the victims died of hand grenades and small arms. And the agenda of the hutu militiamen was to flee the prisoners, could they have shelled their prison ? Why should they finish off even the agonizing wounded?
10. The incident of Bugarama occurred two days after a similar incident in NYAKABUYE commune and Karengera. According to Radio Rwanda, there were 120 prisoners at the time of the incident and out of 120, 70 were rearrested. In the 1st instance how can one dare squeeze 120 people squeeze in a communal jail of less than 5 m2 ?
With such a picture of a judicial system and human rights records, it is a contradiction in terms to speak about "significant progress in the justice system".
What is true that there has been significant progress in the manipulation of public opinion by RPF and its lobby and PR firms that can successfully cover up its record in human rights violation.
The situation in MASISI is indeed pathetic and each one should sympathise with all the victims irrespective of their tribes. Surely something should be done to end the plight of those people.
But once again the situation in MASISI has brought out the biased position of Mr SHATTUCK on the Hutu-Tutsi issue. In his submission before the congress, Mr SHATTUCK declared that "Hutu militants" in eastern Zaïre have carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against zairian Tutsi. He did not indicate whether the "hutu militants are zairian or rwandese, but given the ongoing propaganda around that crisis, and given his source of information.i.e zairian Tutsi". interviewed in Rwanda", I can guess that this mission is deliberate.
While it is praiseworthy of Mr SHATTUCK to visit tutsi refugees from Zaïre, it is worth pointing out that the same personality did not spare a second in his programme while in Rwanda in April 1995 to visit survivors of KIBEHO holocaust in which RPF soldiers massacred 2000 innocent hutu civilians according to the UN figures, but 8000 according to human rights organisations. Such double standards cannot inspire confidence in the fairplay of the US government position on Rwanda.
A day after Mr SHATTUCK's statement in the congress, the embassy of Rwanda in New York, launched a sinister campaign, accusing rwandan refugees in Zaïre of massacring tutsi in Masisi.
In a "News Alert" faxed to all news agencies, by "Agenda International", the Rwandese ambassador to the United Nations called for an emergency meeting of the Security council to take appropriate steps necessary to stop ... further genocide in the region" and accused rwandan refugees of surrounding "at least 3000 tutsi".
Without meddling in zairean internal affairs, one can say that the conflict in Masisi is more complex than it may appear and" an interview with tutsi refugees" most probably doctored by Kigali officials may surely give a completely wrong picture.
Open conflict in Northern KIVU between those who call themselves indigenous zaireans and other with those related to Banyarwanda in Rwanda is very old even if open conflict dates back to 1965, and reemerged in 1991 and in 1993 when President MOBUTU went himself to Nord KIVU to settle the crisis.
Since 1993, an armed conflict opposes the bahutu zaireans and the HUNDE tribe over land. The latter are supported by small tribes like the NYANGA, TEMBO and KOGO. The NANDE tribe, majority in the region are now supporting materially the HUNDE tribe against the Hutu. It is reported that the RPF is providing training and arms to the coalition against hutu.
After many attempts to establish law and order in Masisi, the zairean government launched an operation baptised "operation KIMYA" in mid March 1996 with an aim of disarming belligerents.
Before and after launching the operation, HUNDE combattants (Bangilima) attacked hutu in the zone of KAREHE (Sud-Kivu) attacked both hutu and tutsi of the collectivity of BWITO (RUTSHURU Zone) and of REBERO. Both Hutu and Tutsi fled to RUTSHURU.
Hutu were welcomed by their kin and kith of BWISHA while some tutsi decided to go to Goma and finally cross over to Rwanda. Many others are still in RUTSHURU where they get assistance from Bishop Faustin NGARU alleged to be a tutsi also and supporter of RPF in its war to take power in Rwanda. Others are being assisted in the localities of JOMBA and BWERA. It is important to note that many hutu and hunde have also been displaced and receive no assistance from the diocese of NGABU or publicity about their plight.
While it is true that there has been some misendurstanding between hutu and tutsi in KIVU the present crisis is not a hutu/tutsi conflict.
Traditionally, the HUNDE and NANDI were pastoralist, like TUTSI, whereas HUTU are agriculturalist. Naturally TUTSI became closer to their fellow pastoralist HUNDE and NANDI, thereby isolating HUTU.
As the agriculturalist HUTU became more economically aggressive in early seventies, a conflict erupted over the use of land, each side trying to grab as much land as it could.
Since the HUNDE and NANDI were more in the local administration, the Hutu kept on being marginalised.
In 1976, when Tutsi activists started agitating from Uganda, the Tutsi of Masisi felt duty bound to help their tribesmans regain control of power in Rwanda and when Idi Amin, who was their first mentor was overthrown in 1979, some of the Tutsi activists from Uganda took refuge in Masisi and the surrounding areas.
Towards 1982, when the Tutsi activists revised their plan, thanks to Museveni's rebellion, Masisi became again a recruitment base, thus exacerbating the Hutu-Tutsi tension, because Hutu, were opposed to turning Masisi into a real base of the RPF (then RANU). The tension culminated in sporadic skirmishes between the two communities.
Eventually, when the war broke out in October 1990, Tutsi of Masisi openly sent their children to fight and raised funds which deepened further the rift between Hutu and Tutsi.
And when RPF took over in July 1994, some of the prominent Tutsi of Masisi and the neighbourhood simply packed up and went back to Rwanda, as did most of other so called zairean Tutsi. The most prominent are the current chief justice in Rwanda as well as the former Managing Director of BDGL, a regional Investment bank based in Goma.
With the 1994 influx of rwandese refugees into Zaire, indeed some of the refugees who had farms in Masisi (they were many) or relatives went straight there. But in September 1995, the zairean army mounted a crackdown on them and more than 80.000 were arrested and brought back to Goma. Since then, no more refugees went to Masisi, and the crackdown had been so violent that those who could afford even left Zaire at once.
It is alleged that the majority of tutsi refugees are rwandans who went to Zaire following military expeditions and successive political upheavals in Rwanda, (Rucunshu 1894, 1959, 1960-1967, 1973...). They are the same groups as those now leaving from Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi to resettle in Rwanda after the RPF take over.
Their involvment in Rwandan politics has alienated them from Zaireans who considered them integrated once for all.
So the current clash are pitching Zairean Tutsi against zairean Hutu and not zairean Tutsi against Hutu refugees as erroneously reported.
What is puzzling observers is how Hutu, who used to be the underdogs, and who used to flee whenever there was a clash (is most of them fled to Gisenyi in 1991 but did not get any media coverage as is the case for Tutsi).
First of all zairians, who had all along considered those Tutsi as true zairean, got shocked by their open involvement in RPF war. later on, they were astonished to see some of them, even with zairean diplomatic passport, relinquishing their posts and joining RPF administration in Kigali. People in Goma could for instance not believe their eyes, when they learnt that RPF had appointed as Managing Director of the region BDGL bank, a well known zairean Tutsi hailing from Goma.
Later on, indigenous zairean learnt that most of the zairean Tutsi had their children in senior position in RPF army, who had kept their zairean citizenship. Matters were made worst. when mines explosions rocked Goma region, and when securities forces scarched the area, they found scores of "cache d'armes" at the homes of some zairean Tutsi and even in a tabaco factory belonging to a Tutsi living in Burundi.
This alienated zairean Tutsi from other indigenous zairean.
The present involvment by the Kigali government into the Zairean internal matters does not help the situation.
By internationalising the issue of tutsi in Zaire the Kigali governmeny hopes to reach the following objectives:
¨ To demonize further hutu refugees with a view to exacerbate animosity against hutu refugees with a possibility of reducing humanitarian assistance to them at the international level.
¨ To divert attention from the atrocities being committed by the RPF government in Rwanda.
¨ To arouse the international solidarity among tutsi
¨ To pay a moral debt among tutsi in Zaire who financed the RPF war and whose sons are serving in the RPF army
¨ To cover up its destabilisation policy in Eastern Zaire to create problems to the Zairean government accused of helping hutu refugees in Zaire.
¨ To create insecurity and thus cut food and other humanitarian supplies to refugees.
After the failure of the repatriation of refugees in 1995, RPF hatched a plan of destabilising Eastern Zaire, so that once the region is set ablaze, refugees could have no alternative, but to go home.
RPF started reorganising the Masisi based zairean rebellion of BANGILIMA-MAYIMAYI and stepped up training centres in Ruhengeri and Gisenyi.
This added oil to the fire and Tutsi Zairean lost once for all the sympathy of indigenous zairean, except their allies HUNDE and NANDI.
rather than a basis for national reconciliation.
Unconditional support to the military dictatorship in Kigali and tolerance of gross violations of human rights in Rwanda by some well known champions of democracy and the human rights undermines their credibility of the US administration as an honest broker in the rwandan conflict. Violent overthrow of regimes in Rwanda has always been partly caused by unqualified support by foreign forces of one ethnic group against the other.
At the end of his last visit in 1995, Mr John SHATTUCK declared at a press conference in Nairobi-Kenya, that his meeting in Rwanda had focused on :
(1) Making the procedures and criteria for legal arrest clear and transparent, with arresting officials to be accountable to civilian prosecutors and the justice Ministry.
(2) Reducing prison over crowding through a review of prisoners cases.
(3) Appointing and training magistrates, with the potential use of foreign magistrates by the Rwandan government on an emergency basis. One year later, has RPF government taken any concrete step towards reviewing these areas as it had promised ? To answer that question the following must be answered :
¨ Has the army and RPF cadres stopped arbitrarily arresting people
¨ Are prisons no longer overcrowded ?
¨ Has the screenning of prisoners taken off since his latest visit ?
¨ Has RPF rescinded its decision to reject foreign magistrates ?
The answer is a categorical no.
If the US administration is sincerely committed to "the process of ending impunity and restore justice in Rwanda so that a national reconciliation can begin ; the US should favour sending more magistrates and human rights observers to Rwanda, than sending demining dogs.
With regard to the legislation, it would have been interesting to avail the Assistant Secretary with a copy of the draft bill introduced recently by RPF in the parliament through back doors, and which seeks to review the existing remand laws.
According to the above draft law, that will most likely sail through given the overwhelming majority that RPF enjoys in the self styled parliament, the remand period will be extended from 30 days to 18 months, and the provision of appealing against such a decision will be scrapped.
If enacted, that law will authorise even a private police officer, to keep a person behind bars for a period of up 30 days, without file. It is suggested that this law will not be reviewed, until the end of RPF interim period in 1999. Even during the communist era, no regime has been so arrogant to the extent of promulgating such a repressive law. Is therefore the RPF justice system going forward or backward?
With regard to the situation in Masisi, it should be examined in a cool manner, fully analysing the Kigali government's objectives, so as to avoid being dragged into RPF war against Hutu.
