Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice

UN urged to take its responsibilities in regard to Kagame’s army genocide crimes

By Eugene Ndahayo
President, The Support Committee for UDF-Inkingi
August 28, 2010

Genocide and crimes against humanity committed against Rwandan Hutu Refugees

The Support Committee for United Democratic Forces (UDF-Inkingi) received a draft of the forthcoming report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) entitled “Report of the Mapping Exercise documenting the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between March 1993 and June 2003”.

The report is very detailed and extremely well documented. It covers 617 incidents encompassing the most serious violations of humanitarian law including more than 100 cases with emphasis on large-scale massacres of Hutu refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This report has been made possible due to the cooperation of 1280 crucial witnesses including more than 200 NGOs representatives and a compilation and analysis of more than 1,500 documents.

Even though the report accuses other national armies and/or irregular armed groups, it is very damning with regard to the current Rwandan regime and its army, the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), which are accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Hutu refugees.

With regard to crimes against humanity, the report Mapping Exercise says: “The information gathered to date makes it possible to confirm quite clearly that these were indeed crimes against humanity: the very high number of serious crimes listed, committed by the AFDL/APR against Hutu refugees, indicates the widespread nature of these attacks. The systematic, planned and widespread nature of these attacks is also demonstrated by the hunting-down of refugees that took place from east to west throughout the whole of the DRC…” Paragraph 494.

The report also reinforces the conclusions from previous reports of both the United Nations and the joint mission mandated by the Commission on Human Rights which in 1997 investigated whether or not crimes of genocide against the Hutu refugees or others have been committed in the DRC. It had been reported to the United Nations General Assembly that: “One cannot deny that massacres of ethnic character were committed, whose victims are mainly Hutus, Rwandans, Burundians and Zairians. According to the preliminary view of the joint mission, some of these allegations [some of these alleged massacres] could constitute acts of genocide. However, it remains that the information currently available to the joint mission does not allow drawing a precise and definitive statement. A thorough investigation on the territory of the DRC could clarify this situation”.

The Report Mapping Exercise clearly attests the perpetration of the crime of genocide by the Rwandan army in these words: “The systematic and widespread attacks described in this report, which targeted very large numbers of Rwandan Hutu refugees and members of the Hutu civilian population, resulting in their death, reveal a number of damning elements that, if they were proven before a competent court, could be classified as crimes of genocide. The behavior of certain elements of the AFDL/APR in respect of the Hutu refugees and Hutu populations settled in Zaire at this time seems to equate to “a manifest pattern of similar conduct directed against that group”, from which a court could even deduce the existence of a genocidal plan.” Paragraph 517.

The report continues: “Nonetheless, neither the fact that only men were targeted during the massacres, nor the fact that part of the group were allowed to leave the country or that their movement was facilitated for various reasons, are sufficient in themselves to entirely remove the intention of certain people to partially destroy an ethnic group as such. In this respect, it seems possible to infer a specific intention on the part of certain AFDL/APR commanders to partially destroy the Hutus in the DRC, and therefore to commit a crime of genocide, based on their conduct, words and the damning circumstances of the acts of violence committed by the men under their command. It will be for a court with proper jurisdiction to rule on this question.” Paragraph 518.

The Support Committee for UDF-Inkingi unreservedly condemns the grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by national armies and irregular armed groups on the Congolese territory between 1993 and 2003. It specifically condemns the crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide perpetrated by the Rwandan army led by the President of the Republic, Paul Kagame.

Given the seriousness and magnitude of the crimes, the Support Committee for UDF-Inkingi believes that President Paul Kagame does no longer qualify to lead the country and that he should face international justice for the crimes committed. This is especially relevant that the advertisement of such crimes is taking place following the presidential elections which were marked by terror, imprisonment and murder of political opponents and independent journalists as well as total exclusion of the political opposition from the electoral process.

The Support Committee for UDF-Inkingi urges the international community, particularly the members of the Security Council, to take their responsibilities, namely the obligation to prosecute the crime of genocide, now that such a crime is well established and that it has been committed.

Done in Lyon, on August 28, 2010

For the Support Committee for UDF-Inkingi

Eugene Ndahayo
President

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 11:38 AM