EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE	RDR Rassemblement pour le Retour des Réfugiés et la Démocratie au Rwanda Rally for the Return of Refugees and Democracy in Rwanda Ihuliro Liharanira Itahuka ry’Impunzi na Demokarasi mu Rwanda Pour un Peuple Reconcilié dans un Etat de droit - For a Reconcilied People in a Rule of Law Duharanire Ubwiyunge bw'Abanyarwanda mu Gihugu cyubahiriza Amategeko
info@rdrwanda.org http://www.rdrwanda.org	Victoire Ingabire, President Postbus 3124 2280 GC, Rijswijk, Netherlands Phone/Fax : 00-31-180633822	Emmanuel Nyemera, Vice-President P.O. Box 5352, Postal Station B Montreal, Canada, H3B 4P1	RDR is member of the Union of Democratic Rwandese Forces (UDRF)

PRESS RELEASE NO. 11/2001

RDR APPEALS TO OAU, AFRICAN HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT FOR SUPPORT TO RESTORE DURABLE PEACE IN RWANDA

RDR (Rally for the Return of Refugees and Democracy in Rwanda), a political organization opposed to the current oligarchy in Rwanda, welcomes the launching of the African Union (AU) by the heads of state and government of the 52 countries member of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU) attending the 37^th OAU summit in Lusaka, Zambia, from 9 to 11 July 2001. The African Union is modeled on the European Union with an executive commission, a parliament, a court of justice, a single currency and a central bank. By launching the African Union, African leaders are making a promise of peace, freedom and sustainable development to all Africa’s peoples. However, for this dream to come true, Africans have to find ourselves durable solutions to on-going devastating wars creating millions of internally displaced people and refugees, fight relentlessly against the spread of infectious and non-infectious diseases (AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, etc. ) robbing the continent of its working force and youth, commit ourselves to build a future of democratic governance and the rule of law and create a stable environment for the profitability of long-term investments. On this important moment of the launching of a new pan-African organization, RDR appeals to OAU/AU and to each head of state and government for support to restore durable peace in Rwanda and in the whole of the African Great Lakes region.

Rwanda is at war since 1^st October 1990 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) backed by Uganda invaded Rwanda in violation of the OAU charter at the time the Ugandan leader, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was himself President of the OAU. This war culminated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the seizure of power by the RPF in July 1994. Preliminary report S/1994/1125 and final report S/1994/1405 of the impartial U.N. Commission of Experts on the 1994 Rwandan genocide accuse RPF leaders, now ruling Rwanda, of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Two years later, in November 1996, Rwanda and Uganda violated again the OAU charter and the United Nations (U.N.) charter by invading Zaire/Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where they participated in the overthrow of the government in Kinshasa in May 1997. During its military campaign against Mobutu’s regime, the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), the RPF’s armed wing, massacred more than 200, 000 Rwandan refugees. The report S/1998/581 of the U.N. Secretary-General’s Investigative Team accuse the RPA of having committed crimes against humanity, war crimes and possible acts of genocide in Eastern Congo in 1996-1997. One year later, in August 1998, Rwanda and Uganda violated again OAU and U.N. charters by invading the DRC. The report S/2001/357 of the U.N. Expert Panel on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the DRC accuses Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Congolese rebel groups of plundering DRC’s wealth to finance war. The Congolese war has cost the lives of more than 2.5 million Congolese civilians since August 1998. RDR calls on African leaders to take all necessary measures and steps to bring to international justice the perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes, acts of genocide and other grave violations of international law now controlling the current RPF-led Rwandan government.

The Rwandan conflict is fundamentally political and must be settled by a political solution. Since its foundation, RDR has appealed many times to General Paul Kagame and his RPF-led government for dialogue with the political opposition in order to put an end to dictatorship, oppression and ethnic discrimination. However, instead of meeting the legitimate aspirations of the Rwandan people to freedom, justice and advancement of their welfare, General Paul Kagame has always resorted to guns, all kind of weaponry and jail keys to silence any political opposition to his tyrannical rule. He maintains his power by terror and continuous massacres. He continues to be impervious to democratic processes of discussion, persuasion, consultation and negotiation for the settlement of the Rwandan conflict by peaceful means. He has banned all political activities for other political organizations and muzzled all forms of political expression by legal and peaceful means. The Rwandan people has no say in the actions of the government nor in the choosing of those who make them. The people refuse and will always refuse to accept the RPF-led government’s oppression as God-given and to submit to tyranny. With time, if Gen. Paul Kagame continues to harden his heart against all appeals for peaceful settlement of the Rwandan conflict and the policy of non-violence starts to appear to yield no tangible result to the Rwandan ordinary man, the only option left for some people may be to resort to other methods to achieve their freedom. Maximum pressure must be put on the current RPF-led government to engage it into dialogue with its opposition.

The RPF-led government has extended its violence to the people of the DRC living in territories controlled by the Rwandan-backed Goma-based RCD(Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie) rebels where RPA is plundering Congolese natural resources and other forms of wealth. Now, an all-party dialogue is planned in DRC with the hope of restoring long-lasting peace in that country. However, durable peace in DRC cannot be achieved if the dictatorial government of Rwanda continue to be at war against its own people, to invade neighbouring countries in complete impunity and flooding them with refugees and internally displaced people. The internationalisation of the conflicts in the African Great Lakes region calls for a global approach to restore durable peace in this sub-region. For durable peace in DRC, the Rwandan conflict must be solved once for all. Democratic governance, a true national army and the rule of law have to be established in Rwanda. For this to happen, an all inclusive inter-Rwandan dialogue is necessary. For this purpose, RDR appeals on the Organization of African Unity/African Union, the United Nations and individual heads of state and government to use their influence and power in order to bring the RPF-led dictatorial government on the negotiating table and to support the idea of an international conference on peace and security in the African Great Lakes region where governments and their political opposition groups will be invited.

Done in Montreal on 10 July 2001

For the RDR,

Emmanuel Nyemera, Ph.D.

Vice-President