September 29, 1996

According to press reports, the South African government may have decided to sell large amounts of arms, mostly long range artillery and explosives to the minority government of RPF.

Bearing in mind the suffering that the people of South Africa went through during the apartheid regime, it would be a disappointing U turn for the ANC government to boost the repressive machine of a regime that is in no way different from the apartheid regime.

Although the United Nations has been misled into lifting the arms embargo on Rwanda, the RPF human rights record during the 2 years of its tenure of office, its terrorist and war mongering policy that has been underlined by recent assassinations plots against rwandese refugees in Kenya and attempts to destabilise neighbouring Zaïre, militate against any more off loading of arms in the hand of such a government.

Using the lack of arms embargo as an excuse to ignore the plea of millions of rwandese should not hold water, because in neighbouring Burundi the decision by East african countries to impose a de facto embargo has never been endorsed by the United Nations, yet it is in force for the sake of security in the sub-region.

Justifying the decision to sell those arms to RPF, the South African deputy Foreign Minister alleged that the RPF government "has very little capacity to defend itself".

First of all, this is absolutely in contradiction with statements by RPF top military brass, including major general Kagame Paul himself , who is on record boosting that his government has the necessary military power to counter any incursion from outside and even carry out hot pursuit or pre-emptive attacks outside the national borders.

Under this disguise such attacks were made in rwandese refugee camps in Zaïre and Burundi, a reminiscence of the coward raids of the former South African apartheid regime in neighbouring countries that were accommodating South African refugees.

Two weeks ago, during the recent clash between zaïrean and RPA troops in South Kivu in Eastern Zaïre, the RPA area military commander, Lt Col Caesar Kayizari boosted that they had intensively and accurately shelled Zaïreans. Does this statement denote a "very little capacity to defend oneself" or a clear war mongering policy?

Recent development in the sub-region , especially in the Estern Zaïre areas of UVIIRA and MASISI, as well as recent revelations by Amnesty International (see AI.Index:AFR47/13/96) about RPF involvement in the killings in the Burundian province of CIBITOKE, have proved beyond any doubt that the RPF government is a destabilising factor in the sub-region. Indeed, RPF is an aggressor and not a victim. Supplying it with arms is nothing but to encourage it in its policy of exporting the rwandese crisis outside the national borders.

As everybody knows, the current rwandese crisis that was triggered off by the RPF invasion in october 1990, arises from a political mismanagement. Therefore, stock piling arms will just compound further the situation.

No amount of weaponry will deter thousands and thousands of rwandese victims of RPF repression from claiming their inalienable rights to a democratic governance. South african know better than any body else how freedom is so dear.

After two years in power, RPF has proved that it carries within itself seeds of self destruction, the same way the military mighty of the apartheid regime did not prevent it from collapsing.

Like in South Africa, Rwanda need a democratically elected government and a truly national army. The present militaristic government backed by a monolithic and factional army will just exacerbate the tension.