December 24, 1995

PRESS RELEASE Nº 41

Since December 17,1995, rwandese refugees in Zaire are going through yet another nightmare, following a wave of arrests of opinion leaders in camps in northern Kivu province.

According to reliable sources, so far ten refugees have been arrested for unknown reasons, most of them in KATALE camp.

It is feared that this wave of arrests could spread to other camps, to get rid of all opinion leaders under the disguise of arresting socalled "intimidators".

This crackdown follows the recent meeting in Geneva at the end of which UNHCR decided to accelerate the repatriation of rwandese refugees no matter the security conditions in Rwanda, where according to a latest UN report a second genocide is likely to occur.

RDR is very much concerned about this new strong arm in dealing with the problem of rwandese refugees without tackling the root causes behind their reluctancy to go home voluntarily.

Any level minded person is aware that the real intimidator is the KIGALI government which has refused to create the necessary conducive atmosphere for the return of refugees .

RDR is hereby challenging UNHCR to make public the charge against the people arrested so far and produce evidence.

Lastly RDR calls upon all Human Rights Organisations to condemn in the strongest term possible this gross violation of international conventions pertaining to the protection of refugees worldwide.

For RDR

CHRIS NZABANDORA

DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION