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RWANDA ASSESSMENT Version 4 September 1999 Country Information and Policy Unit |
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CONTENTS |
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I |
1.1 - 1.4 |
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II A B C |
2.1 - 2.3 2.4 - 2.6 2.7 |
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III A B C D E F G |
Independence and Hutu Rule, 1962-1990 |
3.1 - 3.2 3.3 - 3.4 3.5 - 3.6 3.7 - 3.10 3.11 - 3.15 3.16 - 3.32 3.33 - 3.40 |
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IV A B C D E |
4.1 - 4.7 4.8 - 4.14 4.15 - 4.18 4.19 - 4.25 4.26 - 4.27 |
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V |
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A |
5.1 - 5.6 |
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B |
5.7 - 5.10 5.11 - 5.12 5.13 - 5.18 5.19 - 5.22 |
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C |
5.23 - 5.32 5.33 - 5.39 5.40 - 5.41 |
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VI |
ANNEXES |
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A B C D E |
CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR EVENTS, 1899-1998 |
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1.1 This assessment has been produced by the Country Information and Policy Unit, Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office, from information obtained from a variety of sources.
1.2 The assessment has been prepared for background purposes for those involved in the asylum determination process. The information it contains is not exhaustive, nor is it intended to catalogue all human rights violations. It concentrates on the issues most commonly raised in asylum claims made in the United Kingdom. It represents the current assessment by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the general socio-political and human rights situation in Rwanda.
1.3 The assessment is sourced throughout. It is intended to be used by caseworkers as a signpost to the source material, which has been made available to them. The vast majority of the source material is readily available in the public domain.
1.4 It is intended to revise the assessment on a six-monthly basis, while the country remains within the top 35 asylum producing countries in the United Kingdom. The assessment will be placed on the Internet (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/cipu1.htm). An electronic copy of the assessment has been made available to the following organisations:
Amnesty International UK
Immigration Advisory Service
Immigration Appellate Authority
Immigration Law Practitioners' Association
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants
JUSTICE
Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture
Refugee Council
Refugee Legal Centre
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
2.1 The Republic of Rwanda is a land-locked country in east-central Africa, just south of the Equator, bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) to the west, by Uganda to the north, by Tanzania to the east and by Burundi to the south. Like Burundi, Rwanda is distinctive for the small size of its territory. Covering an area of only 26,338 square kilometres (10,169 square miles), it is just one-fifth the size of England.[3b]
2.2 The climate is tropical, although affected by altitude, being hot and humid in the lowlands but cooler in the highlands. The main rainy season is between February and May.[3a] Although the land supports a high population density, physical conditions are not very favourable. The land mass is very rugged and fragmented, with a series of sharply defined hills, deep valleys and marshy plains, whilst the north is dominated by a chain of volcanoes, the Virunga.[3b]
2.3 Following its announcement at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit on 1st July 1999, Rwanda has left the Central Africa regional grouping, (to which it had belonged), to join that of the East Africa group.[43a]
2.4 The population of Rwanda is composed of three ethnic groups; prior to independence in 1962, about 85% were estimated to be Hutu, 14% Tutsi, and 1% Batwa. At the census of 15 August 1991, Rwanda had a population of 7,142,755, with a density of 271 inhabitants per square kilometre. However, the genocide of 1994 is estimated to have resulted in the death or external displacement of between 35% and 40% of the total population.[3b]
2.5 Over a million refugees had returned to Rwanda by the end of 1996, [12b] and by January 1998, there were estimated to be 72,310 Rwandan refugees in surrounding African states, with 37,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 11,200 in Congo-Brazzaville, 10,000 in Uganda, 7,700 in Kenya, 2,000 in Angola, 1,400 in the Central African Republic, and around three thousand scattered in Burundi, Zambia, Togo, Malawi, Cameroon and Benin. At that time, Rwanda was itself host to 31,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and another 3,000 from Burundi.[30b]
2.6 Kigali is the capital of Rwanda, which is divided into eleven prefectures, or regions, and subdivided into 145 communes or municipalities, each administered by a governor, appointed by the head of state, the president, and assisted by an elected council of local inhabitants. In theory, executive power is exercised by the president, assisted by an appointed council of ministers. Legislative power is held by the president, in conjunction with a seventy-member transitional national assembly.[3a] (see also IV.A)
2.7 The official languages are French, English (spoken widely by the Tutsi), and the native Kinyarwanda, a Bantu language with close similarities to Kirundi, the main vernacular language of Burundi.[3b] Whilst not an official language, Kiswahili is also widely spoken.[3a]
3.1 Rwanda's pre-history is a matter of some anthropological and political debate. The country's first inhabitants are thought to have been hunter-gatherers, whose modern-day descendants are the small minority of the Batwa. It is believed that later, successive migrations from the north and east brought farmers and then cattle-herders. Eventually, one clan of cattle-herders, the Nyiginya, members of what is now called the Tutsi group, arrived and came to dominate much of the centre of the country. As the centuries advanced, it consolidated its power, whilst absorbing much of the culture of the Hutu farmers it dominated. This is today reflected in the common language and cultural heritage of the Tutsi and the Hutu.[5]
3.2 It is thought that before the nineteenth century, the separation of the Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi largely corresponded to the occupational categories within a single differentiated group, the Banyarwanda. The vast majority of Batwa remained the marginalised hunter-gatherers of the north-western mountains or potters elsewhere, and were sometimes mistreated by both Tutsi and Hutu.[1a] However, Tutsi and Hutu were less sharply distinct, and as time progressed many Hutus brought cattle, a sign of wealth, and were assimilated into the Tutsi aristocracy, whilst some Tutsis lost their wealth and the privileged position that went with it. Intermarriage between the Hutu and the Tutsi was also not uncommon and contributed to the blurring of tribal distinction between the two. However, there can be little doubt that with time there evolved a sense of second-class citizenship amongst the Hutu, which crystallised as the nineteenth century progressed and the Rwandan state became more centralised and authoritarian under the Tutsi monarchy.[5]
3.3 By the time of the arrival of the Europeans, Nyiginya Tutsi dominance was a reality for most of central and southern Rwanda, but power was concentrated in hands of a few and there were independent Hutu principalities in the north.[1a] Unlike most African states, Rwanda and its southern neighbour, Burundi, were not artificial creations of colonial rule. Germany was the first to colonise them in 1899, but they had been established kingdoms for several centuries. In 1916, during the First World War, the area was occupied by Belgian forces, and in 1919 [6a] Rwanda became part of Ruanda-Urundi, administered by Belgium under a League of Nations mandate and later, following the Second World War, as a UN Trust Territory.[3b]
3.4 It suited the interests of the colonialists to rule through the existing Tutsi elite, who indicated a willingness to comply, to ensure the preservation of their wealth and position of privilege. In return, the Tutsi overlords were given extended powers over the lives of the Hutus, which allowed many minor Tutsi chiefs to exploit the Hutus and demand a higher contribution of their crops and longer working hours. In 1926, the Belgians introduced a system of ethnic identity cards, differentiating Tutsi from Hutu, which was made mandatory in 1933. This deepened social divisions and removed the possibility of changing one's ethnic identity.[5] Colonial encouragement of the notion of Tutsi racial superiority, apparent in the administrative favouring of Tutsi over Hutu and supported by then-fashionable but spurious arguments in European intellectual circles, raised to dangerous new levels existing tensions between Hutu and Tutsi.[6a] Dissension between the two existed for many years and in 1959, following the death of the Tutsi king, Mwaami Rudahigwa, led to a rebellion which killed between 10,000 and 100,000 Tutsis.[5]
C. Independence and Hutu Rule, 1962-1990
3.5 In September 1961, it was decided by referendum to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. Internal autonomy was granted in 1961, followed by full independence on 1 July 1962.[3a] The further wave of killings that followed left as many as 200,000 Tutsi refugees in Uganda, whose absence helped the Hutu-led Parmehutu to follow its path to a corrupt one-party state. Discrimination against the Tutsi became widespread and systematic, and there were occasional violent attacks throughout the 1960s and beyond, for example in 1963, when Hutus killed an estimated 10,000 Tutsis, again in 1967, and in 1973, when there was also a large-scale purge of Tutsis from the universities.[5]
3.6 In July 1973, the minster of defence and head of the national guard, Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana, under the pretext of restoring order, led a bloodless coup against President Kayibanda, proclaimed a second republic and established a military administration under his presidency. The normal legislative processes were suspended and all political activity was banned until July 1975, when a new ruling party, the MRND, was formed.[3b] The murder of Tutsis declined somewhat during the regime of Habyarimana,[5] who even appears to have made moves to lessen ethnic tensions by bringing a few Tutsis into his government and allowing some Tutsis to prosper in business. However, he also pursued a policy of discrimination, limiting Tutsi access to employment and education through a quota system based on census figures that understated the Tutsi population.[6a] The scapegoating that increasingly accompanied the discrimination reached its peak when guerrillas of the Tutsi-dominated RPF invaded Rwanda from Uganda in October 1990. Habyarimana seized the opportunity to divert criticism from the government to the Tutsis, whom he blamed for the economic discontent that had increased with the collapse of the coffee price in 1989, which had led to severe hardship for hundreds of thousands of farmers.[5]
D. Military and Political Conflict, 1990-1994
3.7 With the help of French and Belgian troops, the Rwandan army managed to keep the RPF from reaching Kigali, but subsequent attempts to broker an effective ceasefire were largely unsuccessful.[3a] Meanwhile, many Tutsis were killed and more than 8,000 detained, on account of their ethnicity, political views, or family connection with government opponents, rather than because of any evidence that they had supported the RPF invasion.[7a] In late 1990, the Rwandan army began to train and arm civilian militias known as the Interahamwe. During the next three years, thousands of Tutsis were killed in separate massacres around the country, whilst opposition politicians and journalists were also the targets of persecution.[5]
3.8 Between 1991 and 1994, the principal political power struggle was between the northern-based MRND(D) and a Hutu-led political opposition, based in the centre and south, which sharpened following Habyarimana's reluctant opening up to political parties in 1991. In doing so, he not only faced the prospect of military defeat by the RPF, but also that of electoral loss at the hands of those new parties.[1a] Throughout this period, Habyarimana delayed on the establishment of a multi-party system with power-sharing, to which he had agreed in principle under pressure from western aid donors in July 1990.[5] However, some progress was made with the establishment in April 1992 of a broadly-based coalition government, incorporating the MDR, PSD, PL, and PCD, together with the ruling MRNDD.[3b]
3.9 Meanwhile, the conflict with the RPF, which launched frequent forays into Rwanda, continued throughout 1991 and 1992, resulting in thousands of casualties on both sides, killing and displacing many civilians, particularly in the border area.[3b] In February 1993, it launched a fresh offensive and guerrillas reached the outskirts of Kigali. French forces were again called in to assist the government, but fighting continued for several months. In August 1993, at Arusha in Tanzania, following months of negotiations, Habyarimana agreed to greater power-sharing with the Hutu opposition and also with the RPF. He also agreed to integrate its military wing, the RPA, into a new Rwandan army and to merge the presidential guard with elite RPF troops in a smaller republican guard. In December 1993, UNAMIR was established, with 2,500 UN troops deployed in Kigali, to oversee the implementation of the Arusha Accord.[5]
3.10 Between September 1993 and March 1994, Habyarimana delayed on the implementation of the Arusha Accord,[5] with ongoing disputes over the proposed composition of the new government and accusations of obstruction directed at Habyarimana, by the RPF and members of the Hutu parties in the transitional government.[3b] Meanwhile, the training of militias intensified and the extremist radio station, Radio Mille Collines, stepped up its propaganda campaign by broadcasting exhortations to attack the Tutsis.[11a] For a number of years prior to the genocide, Hutus throughout Rwanda had been exposed to a persistent campaign of anti-Tutsi indoctrination, through newspapers, radio and frequent public speeches. The main targets of the propaganda were the RPF, but the nature of the campaign was designed to instil a deep mistrust of the entire Tutsi population, all of whom were branded with the same accusation, namely that they were intent on renewing their domination of the Hutu. Human rights groups warned the international community of impending calamity, and in March 1994, many of their members began to evacuate their families from Kigali in the belief that widespread massacres were imminent.[5]
3.11 On 6 April 1994, Habyarimana and the president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, were killed when Habyarimana's aeroplane was shot down near Kigali airport. Extremists, opposed to the Arusha Accord which they suspect was about to be implemented, were believed to be responsible. On the same day, Radio Mille Collines told its audience that "Tutsis needed to be killed." That night, the killing began, and by the following day, the Rwandan armed forces and the Interahamwe had set up roadblocks and were going from house to house, killing Tutsis and moderate Hutu opposition politicians.[5] Any resistance, including joint resistance by Hutus and Tutsis, was soon overcome in most cases, whilst those who sought refuge in hospitals, schools or churches did not escape massacre either. Journalists, clergy, human rights activists, and senior civil servants, particularly those involved in the judicial system, were also targeted.[1a] Thousands died on the first day as UN troops were forbidden to intervene, on the grounds that this would breach their monitoring mandate.[5]
3.12 On 8 April, the establishment of a new interim government was announced, whose members were drawn largely from the MRNDD, and which soon fled to the town Gitarama to escape escalating violence in the capital. The legitimacy of the new government was immediately rejected by factions of the MDR, PL, PCD, PSD, and of course by the RPF[3b] which on 8 April launched a major offensive to end the killings and rescue 600 of its troops surrounded in Kigali, where they had been based as part of the Arusha Accord. On 21 April, the UN voted to reduce its number of forces from 2,500 to 250, following the murder of ten Belgian soldiers who had been assigned to guard the prime minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, who was also killed. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of refugees escaped into Tanzania, Burundi and Zaire, including Hutus fleeing the advance of the RPF.[5]
3.13 On 17 May, as the killing of Tutsis continued, the UN agreed to send 6,800 troops and policemen to Rwanda with powers to defend civilians.[5] In early June, the government was forced to flee from Gitarama to Kibuye in the west, as the RPF made significant territorial gains in the south.[3b] By 22 June, the deployment of mainly African UN forces had still not taken place, as a result of which the UN Security Council authorised the deployment of some 2,000 French forces in south-western Rwanda. There, under 'Operation Turquoise', they created a 'safe area' in territory controlled by the government. Whilst some were protected by the French, the killing of Tutsis continued in the 'safe area'.[5]
3.14 The genocide is estimated to have left up to one million dead, and vast numbers wounded, raped, terrorised, orphaned and separated from their families.[5] In May 1998, following further research, the Rwandan Ministry of Education put the number of those killed at over 1.3 million.[34a] The targets were not only Tutsis but also those moderate Hutus who did not oppose a power-sharing arrangement. It has been well-documented that the genocide was not caused simply by inter-ethnic conflict, but as a result of careful planning by a clique close to Habyarimana, who were opposed to the prospect of power-sharing with the Tutsi minority. The principal instruments of genocide included the presidential guard, the army, the police, the civil administration and the Interahamwe militia, which, as it entered areas, also forced local civilians to kill neighbours or even members of their own families.[1a] It is not known whether Habyarimana had intended the killing to reach the scale that it did after his death, but it can be said that he had encouraged the most virulent anti-Tutsi propaganda, and did nothing to stem the violence that was being instigated by the army and militia.[5]
3.15 In July, the Rwandan army was defeated and the government fled to Zaire, followed by thousands more refugees, many of whom were subsequently killed by a cholera epidemic soon after their arrival. The French departed between July and August and were replaced by Ethiopian UN troops.[5] On 19 July, the RPF set up an interim government of national unity in Kigali, with a Hutu, Pasteur Bizimungu, as president, but with a majority of cabinet posts assigned to members of the RPF.[3b] Meanwhile, there were conflicting UN reports of a series of reprisal killings, involving the RPF. Several hundred civilians were said to have been executed, and the killing of Tutsis continued in refugee camps.[5] Whilst there is large-scale evidence of human rights abuses committed by the RPF, including reprisal killings,[7b] it does not appear to have participated in the systematic killing of civilians, that characterised the genocide.[1a]
3.16 The new Hutu prime minister, Faustin Twagiramungu, identified the immediate aims of the government as the restoration of peace and democracy, the reactivation of the economy and the repatriation of refugees. In November 1994, a multi-party protocol of understanding was concluded, providing for a number of amendments to the terms of the 1993 Arusha Accord, relating to the establishment of a transitional legislature. The most significant of the new provisions was the exclusion from the legislative process of members of those parties implicated in alleged acts of genocide during 1994, most notably the MRNDD and the CDR. A seventy-member transitional national assembly was installed on 12 December 1994. On 5 May 1995, the new legislature announced its adoption of a new constitution,[3b] also known as the fundamental law,[14b] based on selected articles of the 1991 constitution, the terms of the 1993 Arusha Accord, the RPF's victory declaration of July 1994 and the November 1994 multi-party protocol of understanding.[3b] (see also 5.2)
3.17 The deterioration of conditions in refugee camps in Zaire, where hunger and cholera were estimated to have killed more than 20,000 by the end of July 1994, continued to give cause for concern. By late 1994, Hutu displaced persons and refugees were continuing to resist the exhortations of the UN and the new Rwandan government to return to their homes.[3b] The reason for their reluctance to do so can be attributed largely to the Hutu militias' assumption of control in several camps in Zaire, most notably in Bukavu and Goma,[11b] and also in Tanzania, where Hutu civilians intending to return home were subject to violent intimidation, and some were undergoing enforced military training in anticipation of renewed armed conflict.[3b]
3.18 Another reason for the reluctance of refugees to return to their homes is likely to have been the allegations that the RPF's armed forces were conducting a systematic campaign of reprisals against returning Hutu civilians. The Rwandan government was quick to dispel these rumours, pointing out that it should not be held responsible for the frequent but individual acts of retaliation, many of whose perpetrators, including 50-70 RPF members, were awaiting trial, and two of whom had been executed in August 1994. Meanwhile, preliminary hearings against some 35,000 Rwandan nationals, imprisoned in Kigali on charges of direct involvement in the genocide, began in early 1995, but were soon suspended due to lack of funds. Lack of finance and personnel had led to the virtual collapse of Rwanda's judicial system, whilst it was estimated that the majority of suspects had been imprisoned without formal charge. The prosecutor's office in Kigali also estimated that as many as 20% of prisoners could be innocent individuals, denounced by others who intended to acquire their land or property. In October 1995, the supreme court was established by the transitional national assembly.[3b]
3.19 In June 1995, the UN established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha for a four-year term, to investigate allegations made against some 400 individuals of direct involvement in the genocide. Formal proceedings began in late November 1995, but due to their slow pace, the Rwandan government announced the creation of special courts within its existing judicial system in February 1996. Under these arrangements, Rwanda's chief supreme court prosecutor was to oversee investigations in each of the country's regions. By early 1997, the ICTR had indicted only 21 people and started just one trial, whilst the Rwandan courts had tried more than 120 cases, of which more than 40 had resulted in death sentences.[3b]
3.20 In August 1995, the UN agreed to suspend the arms embargo of Rwanda, which had been imposed against the previous administration in May 1994 for one year, in order to allow the new government to safeguard against the threat of an armed offensive by Hutu extremists encamped in neighbouring countries. In April 1996, the UN urged all central African states to observe an arms embargo against former FAR troops and to ensure that their territories were not used as a base for armed groups to launch cross-border raids into Rwanda. Despite President Mobutu's authorisation of the deployment of UN monitors in eastern Zaire to record any violations of the arms embargo, western observers remained convinced that Zaire would continue to be a major source of weapons for them.[3b]
3.21 Refugees and displaced persons continued to experience problems both outside and within Rwanda. The Rwandan government embarked on a series of uncompromising initiatives to encourage returns, including the interruption of food supplies to camps, culminating in their forcible closure, through military intervention. In one of the worst instances, in late April 1995, RPA troops fired on displaced persons during an attempt to dismantle the Kibeho camp in southern Rwanda, amidst confusion arising from the activities of some hostile elements within the camp and a sudden attempt by large numbers to break through the military cordon. The incident was estimated to have resulted in as many as 5,000 deaths. Outside of Rwanda, following a widely criticised attempt to repatriate forcibly some 15,000 Rwandans from Zaire in August 1995, its government agreed to entrust the repatriation process to the UNHCR.[3b]
3.22 During 1995, the UNHCR assisted in the repatriation of 240,388 Rwandan refugees from neighbouring countries, but in March 1996, estimated that there were still some 1,684,645 scattered throughout several countries in the region, including 1,057,350 in Zaire, 531,016 in Tanzania, 92,279 in Burundi and 4,000 in Uganda. Concern regarding the security situation in Rwanda was cited as the single most important factor preventing the return of these refugees. Reports at the end of February 1996, that violent acts of reprisal by the RPF against returning and fleeing refugees had claimed the lives of some 100,000 Hutus since April 1994, did little to assuage fears.[3b] Concern increased with reports that there had been a sharp escalation of killings both by the RPA and by armed opposition groups in the first half of 1996,[7e] which were to continue throughout that year,[12a] and during 1997.[12c] (see also IV-D)
3.23 Whilst the UNHCR was unable to deny or confirm the alleged scale of the killings, the Rwandan authorities are believed to have detained a number of returnees on suspicion of having participated in the 1994 genocide or having committed other related crimes.[3b] In January 1997, the UNHCR indicated that the number was quite substantial, with 500 returning Hutus having been arrested for alleged participation in the genocide in just a few weeks. The UNHCR also indicated that people were notifying the authorities of refugees whom they suspected, as they returned.[21b] Notwithstanding the risks, by the end of 1996, more than 1.3 million refugees had been repatriated, the vast majority between 15 November and 31 December,[12b] leaving the number of Rwandan refugees in neighbouring countries at the dramatically reduced figure of 257,000. As a result of the mass influx of refugees, the Rwandan government, together with the UN World Food Programme and other relief agencies, distributed food aid to the returnees in an attempt to avert a humanitarian crisis.[3b] In January 1999 approximately 2,200 Rwandans returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where they had been since the intensification of the insurgecy in early 1998.[38a]
3.24 The courts in Rwanda continued to try and sentence genocide suspects throughout 1998 and early 1999. According to the independent Rwanda News Agency about 900 genocide suspects were convicted and tried in 1998 in the Rwandan courts.[24h] The justice system continues to try cases, although progress is slow.[24g] Death sentences continue to be passed on many of those found guilty.[24f]
3.25 The killings by both the RPA and the insurgents continued in 1998. However following the Rwandan intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo in August 1998 security in the North-West improved significantly.[14d] In early December 1998 the RPA claimed to have killed more than 250 Hutu insurgents during a two week operation.[35e] (see also 5.41)
3.26 On 30th April 1999 Fulgence Niyonteze, former mayor of Mushubati, became the first Rwandan war crime suspect to be convicted and sentenced by a European court. A Swiss military court sentenced him to life imprisonment for war crimes. Also in April the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) sentenced a medical doctor to life imprisonment and a businessman to 25 years imprisonment after they were found guilty of inciting Hutus to kill Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.[21f]
3.27 On 2nd July 1999 a criminal court in Western Rwanda sentenced nine people to death and sixteen others to life imprisonment for participation in the massacres of Tutsis in Kibuye Prefecture (western Rwanda).[23j] On 28th July it was announced that a Belgian lawyer would help defend Bernard Ntuyahaga, a former army officer. Both Rwanda and Belgium want him extradicted for his role in the murder of ten Belgian peacekeepers during the first hours of the 1994 genocide. If extradicted Ntuyahaga would be tried in a military court and could face the death penalty.[38c][42a] On 17th August 1999 a genocide court in southwestern Cyangugu Prefecture sentenced two people to death and gave ten others prison terms for their involvement in the genocide. Four were acquitted and released.[23l]
3.28 On 3rd August 1999 three former Rwanda Ministers were transferred from Cameroon to Tanzania, to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on genocide charges. They are accused of promoting massacres in parts of the country where the killings were slow to start.[38f][35h] On 18th August all three appeared before the ICTR, together with a fourth former minister, who is jointly charged with the three. Each pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.[38j] The ICTR, having been criticised for lack of progress of trial proceedings, aims to speed up prosecutions by grouping several suspects together in a single trial and charging them jointly with conspiracy to commit genocide. In the five years since the ITCR was set up it has secured only seven convictions. The tribunal's maximum penalty is life imprisonment.[39a] Prosecutors at the tribunal want "mega trials" in an attempt to conclude the tribunals work before its mandate expires in 2003. They want Theoneste Bagosora, the former Rwandan Army's chief of staff and the tribunal's most important suspect, tried with three others.[35i]
3.29 On 10th August 1999 former Rwandan Minister for Family and Women's Affairs, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, the only woman so far charged with genocide by the tribunal, had additional charges brought against her. She has now been accused of being responsible for rape under a special rule allowing leaders to be prosecuted for crimes committed by their subordinates. This is the first time in history that a woman has been charged with rape as a crime against humanity. Nyiramasuhuko stands jointly charged with her son Arsene Shalom Ntahobali, a former businessman and leader of a local militia.[35j][38i][40a]
3.30 On 11th August 1999 the U.N. Security Council appointed Carla Del Ponte, as the new Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Del Ponte replaces Louise Arbour, U.N. Prosecutor since October 1996, who she stepped down on 15th September 1999, to take up an appointment as a judge in Canada's Supreme Court.[35k] Prosecutors normally serve a four-year term and are eligible for re-election. Louise Arbour's final visit to the ICTR revealed difficulties in getting those countries which still have genocide suspects, to extradite them to the ICTR.[24o] A US court on 18th August 1999 ruled that a genocide suspect should be extradited to stand trial at the ICTR. He was arrested in Texas on 26th September 1996 and had up to now been successful against extradition.[42b]
3.31 On 19th August 1999 the Ruhengri court in northwest Rwanda sentenced two people to death for genocide and other crimes against humanity in 1994.[24p]
3.32 On 20th August the trial against Catholic Bishop Augustin Misago began at the Kigali magistrates court. Misago stands charged with genocide and other crimes against humanity and faces the death penalty if found guilty. The Vatican sharply criticised the arrest and called for the bishop's release.[35l] Misago is the first Catholic bishop to be charged with genocide and is being detained at Kigali Central Prison.[43b]
3.33 Rwanda's economic development has been hampered first by its high level of population density, secondly, by its remoteness from the sea, and thirdly, by its turbulent political and ethnic history. As a result, it has traditionally relied heavily on foreign aid, and in recent years a decline in exports and a massive debt burden have resulted in increased reliance on foreign assistance. Agricultural production in many areas of Rwanda has diminished, because of erosion and over-intensive farming methods. Price instability on world markets for Rwanda's most lucrative cash crop, coffee, also resulted in reduced production, prompting attempts at crop diversification, including the cultivation of cotton, tobacco and tea.[3a]
3.34 Economic prospects were further undermined by the violent political events of 1994 and the overwhelming population displacement and environmental damage.[3a] This resulted in the neglect and widespread destruction of much of the country's economic infrastructure, including utilities, roads and hospitals. Most citizens are subsistence farmers and food production even before the war had barely kept pace with population growth.[14b] Dislocation led to disruption of the crop cycle and widespread food shortages.[14a] In August 1994, Twagiramungu stressed that economic recovery could only be achieved following the return of the displaced population to their farms and workplaces.[3b]
3.35 By 1996, the agriculture sector was still in crisis, with inefficient concentrations of livestock, and of rural workers in small holdings, although total agricultural production in that year was estimated to be some 67% of that in 1993. By mid-1996, an estimated 60% of pre-war industrial enterprises had recommenced activity, albeit at low levels of productivity.[3a] The government's three-year programme of rehabilitation and reconciliation aimed to restore the economy to the level of its achievements for 1990, by 1998.[3b] However, by the end of 1997, whilst small-scale commercial activities were on the increase, the industrial base remained neglected.[14c] Furthermore, whilst two-thirds of Rwanda's 1997 budget was said to come from foreign aid, 50% was appropriated by the army.[6b]
3.36 Meanwhile, severe food shortages towards the end of 1997 led to a government announcement of famine in four regions of Rwanda: Butare, Kibuye, Gikongoro and Umutare. Late rains in 1997 meant that the January 1998 harvest was insufficient for domestic needs. Food prices have increased sharply across Rwanda, in some cases doubling and trebling, resulting in rising malnutrition rates, which the government and international agencies have attempted to resolve by emergency measures, including the cultivation of available marshes and valleys, and food-for-work programmes. In October 1997, the World Food Programme said that estimates indicated that 29% of Rwandans were in need of assistance, as a result of which it increased food distribution, but at levels the Food and Agriculture Organisation reported as far below what was actually needed, primarily because of funding shortages and the late rains.[8a] Between December 1997 and April 1998, 400 people were reported to have died as a result of food shortages in the southern region of Gikongoro, while in the nearby Butare region there was said to be severe malnutrition, particularly amongst children.[24c] By mid-1998, over 70% of the entire Rwandan population were said to be living below the poverty line, while life expectancy was put at just 39 years.[36a]
3.37 In June 1999 Prime Minister, Pierre Celestin Rwigema, announced the government was to privatize the state-owned tea board by the year 2000. He said the tea sector was of considerable strategic importance to the country's economic development.[23i]
3.38 The contribution of the wider international community is essential for a resolution of Rwanda's problems, not least its reconstruction after several years of upheaval.[27b] The government still lacks the necessary human and financial resources for the level of reconstruction that is required, and as the immediate post-genocide period recedes, there is a need to replace emergency assistance with durable development programmes.[29a]
3.39 In June 1999 Government officials said Rwanda was moving towards the replacement of the current sales tax with value added tax (VAT). It is hoped that this change will have an impact on the Rwandan economy, notably in reducing the deficit and tax evasion. The business community has been encouraged to keep records, receipts and invoices to avoid double taxation. A date when this change officially took effect from was not given.[23h]
3.40 In July 1999 Oxfam said that an initiative was signed in Cologne, during June, which aimed to grant swifter and deeper debt relief to enable deserving countries to tackle poverty. The initiative envisages writing off $70 billion in third-world loans. Rwanda would not however qualify for relief on its $1 billion debt before 2003.[35g]
4.1 The Tutsi-dominated RPF, which took power following the genocide in July 1994, is the principal political force and remains in control of the government of national unity. The Hutu president, Pasteur Bizimungu, and Tutsi vice-president and minister of defence, General Paul Kagame, are both members of the RPF. The Hutu prime minister, Pierre-Célestin Rwigyema, a member of the Hutu-dominated MDR, is responsible for relations with the national assembly.[14c]
4.2 The RPF has a minority of cabinet seats and assembly places, but it continues to dominate the government's policies.[9a] Whilst the coalition government appears to be fairly inclusive, with the participation of the MDR, PSD, PL and PCD, in addition to the RPF, it merely implements policies under the current system. Responsibility for defining policy appears to be concentrated in the hands of a few, and all the key positions in the power structure are occupied by RPA officers or former RPA officers, who came to Rwanda from Uganda, where they were based until 1994.[6b]
4.3 Two major problems for the Rwandan government remain the reintegration of returned refugees into society, including the sharing out of scant housing and land, and the security situation, particularly in the north-west of the country. The problem of refugee reintegration is exacerbated by the fact that the refugees include former members of the FAR and Interahamwe, who seem intent on causing instability. Their insurgency activity has raised Tutsi-Hutu tensions, particularly amongst survivors of the genocide,[9a] and provoked increasingly repressive security measures by the authorities.[14c] It remains to be seen whether the Rwandan government can effectively balance the two concerns of ensuring the smooth reintegration of the refugees, whilst preserving security.[9a] The deteriorating security situation during 1997 and into 1998, together with the increased segregation of Hutu and Tutsi, and of rural Tutsi genocide survivors and the urban Tutsi newcomers, suggests that it is not yet capable of doing so, and the current situation does not inspire much optimism for the remainder of 1998. In the circumstances of increased insecurity, ethnic separation and economic disparity, the government's proclaimed aim of ethnic reconciliation and an integrated society appears a long way from realisation.[6b]
4.4 The government has admitted that the important challenges it faced in the aftermath of the genocide, not least that of achieving national unity and ethnic reconciliation, have yet to be met.[23a] It has dismissed the possibility of elections in the near future, and has stated that the transitional government's five-year term, due to come to an end in 1999, would be extended until at least the beginning of 2002.[31a] As for the people of Rwanda, the government has no perceived legitimacy among the Hutu masses, whilst the rural Tutsi survivors of the genocide are alienated from those in power, most of whom came to Rwanda after tens of years in exile, following the genocide. Meanwhile, all sectors of the Tutsi population, including those in government, are highly defensive, with the memory of genocide still very much present.[6b] The feeling of insecurity is enhanced by the apparently growing strength of the Hutu rebellion, primarily in the north-west of Rwanda and increasingly in more central areas.[25a] In such a climate, it seems unlikely that the Tutsi-dominated government, already on the defensive, will reduce its harsh security measures,[6b] or that it will feel secure enough to contemplate power-sharing with the majority group in the foreseeable future.[19a]
4.5 In March 1998 it was announced that local elections would be held at the end of the month, both at sector and at cell level. These were conducted using the queue voting method rather than the secret ballot.[24i]
4.6 On 2 July 1999 the cabinet met to discuss the proposed revision of the Fundamental Law (Article 5) of the Republic of Rwanda, concerning the period of office of the transitional government. It was decided that the transitional government period should be extended for a further four-year period effective from 20 July 1999.[24i](see also 5.8)
4.7 On 7th July 1999 President Pasteur Bizimungu replaced Foreign Minister Amri Sued Ismael with Dr Augustin Iyamuremye.[24k] An unnamed government official stated that Ismael had not been defending the interests of the country in his declarations to the media and foreigners. He also said Ismael had been charged with embezzlement.[23k]
4.8 The Rwandan judicial system collapsed during the war and genocide of 1994. In 1996, it began to function on a limited basis, whilst the government, with the help of the international community, attempted to rebuild its institutions, with the appointment of lower court officials.[14c] The government will not countenance mass amnesty for those suspected of involvement in the genocide, but the numbers currently in detention are beyond its capability to deal with in an internationally acceptable manner. With this in mind, the UN established the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania, in June 1995, to investigate individuals suspected of direct involvement in the genocide.[9a]
4.9 Whilst Rwanda has progressed slowly in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the genocide within its borders,[11c] the government has made efforts to utilise its domestic legal system to try those accused of involvement. In February 1996, due to the slow pace of ICTR proceedings, the Rwandan government announced the creation of special courts within its existing judicial system. Under these arrangements, Rwanda's chief supreme court prosecutor was to oversee investigations in each of the country's regions, where three-member judicial panels would be established to consider cases. They were to be drawn from 250 lay magistrates who were to receive a four-month legal training course. Genocide trials began in December 1996,[7g] and by early 1997, whereas the ICTR had indicted 21 people and started only one trial, the Rwandan courts had tried more than 120 cases, of which more than 40 had resulted in death sentences.[3b]
4.10 On 30 August 1996, a new law was adopted, establishing procedures for punishing those guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.[7g] It divides perpetrators into four categories: first, those who planned, organised, instigated and led the genocide, as well as those who killed with particular malice or brutality; second, those who killed or committed assaults resulting in death; third, those who committed assaults that resulted in serious injury; and fourth, those who committed offences against property. Under the law, those accused are assigned to categories by prosecutors, whose decision cannot be appealed. Those convicted in the first category face death by firing squad, whilst those found guilty in the other categories face prison terms which may be reduced in exchange for full confessions.[11d] This law has been criticised, in particular for failing to provide adequate appeal rights.[7g] By the end of 1998 2,777 people had confessed and more than 8,000 had expressed an interest in confessing.[14d]
4.11 The judicial system in Rwanda continued to function on a limited basis during 1997, but in the circumstances of an overburdened system, the government has little capacity to ensure due process rights, including the right to a defence, provided for in Rwanda's constitution. Whilst arrest procedures improved during 1997, there were many cases where formal requirements were not met,[14c] for example, in some areas unauthorised persons, including soldiers and local officials, made arrests often during military search-and-cordon operations, sometimes without subsequently informing the judicial authorities.[11d] Rwandan government sources have admitted that arbitrary arrests are still a serious problem, but point to the justice ministry's introduction of a new investigative system, whereby after preliminary investigation, case files are opened on those detainees without them. However, investigators have been accused of using torture to extract confessions and of even straying from their mandate by arresting people themselves.[8a] During 1997, the authorities were arresting genocide suspects at the rate of some 800 per week, although this rate diminished somewhat towards the end of the year.[14c] Whilst these figures suggest that the Rwandan government is serious about bringing to justice those responsible for the genocide, there are many who participated who have managed to avoid arrest, both within and outside of Rwanda, whilst a significant proportion of those who have been detained and are facing genocide charges are believed to be innocent.[7g] Arrests are frequently based on oral complaints and, at times, on false accusations.[7c] The genocide suspects are primarily Hutu, and they amount to about 10% of the adult male Hutu population.[14c] International observers have criticised the conditions in which suspects are being held without prospect of imminent trial,[9a] as well as the conduct of trials that have been held, including a lack of legal representation for defendants,[7g] in contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.[27d] By the end of 1997, approximately 200 genocide cases had been completed by Rwanda's courts. Of these, around 100 resulted in death sentences,[14c] of which twenty-two were carried out in public on 24 April 1998.[8c]
4.12 On 3rd July 1999 Parliamentarians in the National Assembly approved the voluntary resignations of top senior officials in the Supreme Court. They also welcomed the government proposal to sack the vice-president of the Supreme Court. The Minister of Justice said the resignations would not affect the general working of the judicial system and the court structure within the country.[24j]
4.13 On 10th July 1999 a court in Rushashi, Kigali sentenced four people to death in the first trial of suspects accused of playing a role in a two-year insurgency that killed thousands in the country's northwest. Six people were given life sentences, seven others jail terms ranging between one and twenty years, whilst seven others were set free.[35f]
4.14 The Fundamental Law provides for an independent judiciary. However the government does not always respect this. In March 1998 the President of the Court of Appeals was suspended after a disagreement with the President of the Supreme Court. There is reason to believe that members of the executive were not satisfied with the rulings made by the suspended judge.[14d]
4.15 In August 1999 Rwanda's overcrowded prisons were accommodating more than 130,000 prisoners, mostly genocide suspects,[38h] compared to 120,000 in January 1998. Those detained include men, women and children. Conditions are harsh and even life-threatening.[14d] Local courts have tried around 1,500 cases since genocide trials began in late 1996. More than 300 people have been sentenced to death for genocide crimes. Twenty two were publicly executed in April of 1998.[2] (see also 4.6) During 1998 more than 3,300 prisoners died.[14d] Furthermore, whilst due process rights, provided for in Rwanda's constitution, are not assured, genocide trials continue at such a slow pace that trials for every accused person now held by the authorities are expected to take many years to complete.[14c]
4.16 Measures taken to relieve the pressure on the prisons have proved largely ineffectual. One of these was the provision in the new genocide law of August 1996, designed to elicit confessions in exchange for reduced sentences for the vast majority of those involved in the genocide. Whilst few confessions had been made under the plea bargaining provision of that law by the end of 1997,[14c] the public executions in April 1998 resulted in a sharp increase in the number of applications for plea bargaining from people charged with genocide.[8c] Throughout 1997, the government released small numbers of suspects who had incomplete files, or were ill or elderly, and by the end of the year approximately 3,000 had been released. However, some of these were subsequently rearrested following intense opposition from genocide survivors' groups, whilst there were reports of revenge killings of others who had been released. Meanwhile, the government has undertaken work on new detention centres, which remain under construction.[14c] In a fresh attempt to relieve pressure on the prisons, in October 1998 the government announced plans to release around 10,000 genocide suspects who have no concrete evidence against them.[24e]
4.17 In July 1999 thirty armed bandits were arrested in Kigali, following a massive police operation to catch those responsible for persistent attacks and robberies in the city suburbs. It is believed that about 2,000 bandits have been put into Kigali Central prison and other detention facilities between 1995 and 1998.[38b] Due to financial constraints and the increasing numbers of genocide suspects in jails, the Rwandan government has opted for the use of traditional village courts, locally known as "Gacaca", to deal with the backlog of genocide related cases.[38h] (see also IV.B) Minister for Justice, Jean de Dieu Mucyo visited Kigali prison in July to explain the "Gacaca" courts system to the genocide suspects. He said the courts would operate in revealing the truth about the killings in the 1994 genocide, so that the guilty are punished and the innocent set free. Prisoners expressed their support of these courts. In July, Kigali Central Prison had around 7,800 male and 650 female prisoners.[24n] (see also 4.15)
4.18 In August 1999 it was announced that more than 1.5 billion RF (4.435 million US dollars) would be spent on feeding those in Rwanda's overcrowded prisons this year, more than the actual Ministry's budget. This is down on the 2 billion RF used in 1998, which Jean de Dieu Mucyo said had been insufficient and had been supplemented by the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC). Whilst the government realise the burden on prison authorities to feed prisoners, it remains under pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to cut down on government spending.[38h]
4.19 The security apparatus consists of the RPA and the gendarmerie, which is largely made up of RPA soldiers. In addition, civilian police with limited powers of arrest operate throughout the country.[14c] The primary concerns of the security forces during 1997 were the threat of incursions by soldiers and militias of the former regime along the north-western border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the threat of insurgency within Rwanda's borders.[11d] In dealing with these threats, members of the security forces continued to commit numerous serious human rights abuses throughout the year. The RPA were responsible for thousands of killings, many of whom were unarmed civilians, in security sweeps and in revenge for earlier killings by insurgent militias. The RPA used particularly excessive methods to suppress the insurgency along the north-western border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in which over two thousand were killed, many of them civilians, in May and June 1997 alone.[14c] At least 6,000 people, the majority unarmed civilians, are estimated to have been killed between January and August 1997, and the RPA is accused of responsibility for most of these deaths.[7h] RPA troops are also believed to have been responsible for the killing of Hutu refugees in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the early to middle part of the year.[14c] Between 150,000 and 180,000 are estimated to have been killed there by the then rebel forces of Laurent Kabila, with the support of the RPF, between October 1996 and May 1997. The Rwandan government has denied the accusations.[32c]
4.20 Throughout 1997, intense fighting continued in the north-west of Rwanda, between the RPA and armed opposition groups, believed to include former members of the FAR and Interahamwe militia who participated in the 1994 genocide. Casualties of attacks by both sides have included large numbers of unarmed civilians residing in the affected areas, who live in fear of both the RPA and the armed opposition groups, and who have complained that the RPA does not intervene to protect them when they request help. In most cases, the local civilian authorities appear unable to intervene, whilst numerous local officials have been killed[12d] or arrested and not replaced. Many residents of the areas affected have fled their homes and there is an increasingly large population of displaced persons, constantly on the move.[7i] In addition, there have been many disappearances, with families not knowing whether relatives are alive or dead.[7h] During the last three months of 1997, the killing of unarmed civilians by the RPA and armed opposition groups increased, with possibly thousands of deaths in that period. These killings occurred mainly in the context of intensified armed conflict in the north-west of Rwanda, in the regions of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri, but towards the end of 1997, they increasingly took place in the more central regions of Gitarama and rural Kigali. During their searches for insurgents, RPA soldiers have burned houses, crops and carried out looting, resulting in severe shortages of food and medical supplies.[7i] The civil war continued to claim thousands of lives during 1998,[7j] primarily in north-western Rwanda, but increasingly in more central regions.[8c] Meanwhile, disappearances were reported to be increasing alongside continuing killings of unarmed civilians by both the RPA and insurgents.[7j]
4.21 The insurgent militias, consisting largely of returned refugees, among them former members of the FAR and Interahamwe, were responsible for hundreds of killings, for political reasons and in pursuit of the aim to eliminate Rwanda's Tutsis by violence.[14c] Potential witnesses, whom it is feared will testify against the killers of the 1994 genocide, have been at particular risk of murder and intimidation,[1b] including Tutsi genocide survivors, Tutsi refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and local Hutu politicians. Attacks against them have increased friction between the security forces and the Hutu population, as well as created insecurity on the roads.[14c] In the autumn of 1997, insurgents staged several attacks on local communal jails, attempting to free Hutu prisoners, and in the process killed hundreds of individuals.[15a] Most of these attacks occurred in November and December, in the Gisenyi and Gitarama regions,[7i] and continued with increasing successes during 1998.[35d] The insurgent militias have also attacked hospitals, schools and refugee camps, indiscriminately killing their victims, whether they be men, women or children, whilst expatriate human rights monitors and aid workers have been killed as well.[14c] The attacks occurred with increasing brutality towards the end of 1997 and into 1998,[19a] spreading beyond the north-west into more central areas of Rwanda.[23d] This convinced many observers, including the UN, that security and state control had badly deteriorated in these areas and prompted speculation that a major, potentially genocidal crisis was brewing in Rwanda once more.[8b]
4.22 Throughout 1998 the Rwandan Patriotic Army killed hundreds of civilians in the course of fighting the rebels or insurgents in the northwest of the country. Some killings were for political reasons, some were acts of revenge and some were committed during security sweeps. The number of killings in the northwest declined towards the end of 1998 with improved security in the area.[14d]
4.23 The actions by the RPA in the northwest in the course of their activities to control the insurgents increased friction between the security forces and the Hutu population.[14d] (see also 3.25)
4.24 On 3 August 1999 the United Nations Development Program and donor partners announced a $5.5 million programme aimed at strengthening police security in rural areas of Rwanda. The programme would provide training and accommodation for local police.[38e]
4.25 The government accepted that a radical solution was needed to restore the rule of law. As part of this process the creation of a national police force was approved on 21 August 1999.[24q]
E. International Instruments and General Practice
4.26 Rwanda is a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. It has also acceded to the following UN international instruments:
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid; the International Convention against Apartheid in Sports; the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.[26a]
4.27 The conflict in Rwanda since 1990, has meant that in practice there have been numerous breaches of the provisions contained in these international instruments, most notably during the 1994 genocide (see also III.E). The RPF-dominated government, in power since then, has also demonstrated scant attention to its international obligations, under these instruments (see also V.A). Whilst Rwanda's judicial system began to function on a limited basis in 1996, and continued to do so during 1997, its judicial institutions still demonstrate a lack of knowledge and application of human rights aspects of domestic legislation and of international human rights laws and instruments to which Rwanda is party.[29a]
5.1 The human rights situation in Rwanda continues to be affected by the repercussions of the armed conflict of October 1990 to July 1994, which culminated in the genocide that is believed to have taken up to a million lives. The vast majority of those in positions of authority at that time were killed or, having participated in the genocide, either fled the country in the aftermath or found themselves placed under pre-trial detention in the numerous prisons and local detention centres throughout Rwanda. Whilst the justice system had completely ceased to function and the capacity of the prison system had been seriously eroded, tens of thousands of men, women and children of all ages were also arrested and detained in overcrowded prisons and communal detention centres, on suspicion of direct involvement in the genocide or in other crimes against humanity, including massacres, perpetrated since October 1990. The nature and magnitude of the crimes, the methods employed and the brutality with which they were committed, clearly demonstrate an overwhelming and widespread disregard for human rights in Rwanda.[29a]
5.2 Reports indicate that the current Rwandan government has continued to commit numerous serious human rights abuses since it took power in July 1994, beginning with the reprisal killings of hundreds of civilians by the RPA in the aftermath of the genocide.[14b] Although reports of such killings temporarily diminished following the return of some 1.3 million refugees by the end of 1996,[3b] the security situation in Rwanda deteriorated rapidly in the first few months of 1997,[30a] which proved to be a year of further widespread human rights abuses by the authorities.[14c] There were a series of killings and attacks on unarmed civilians, linked to search operations conducted by the army in order to identify infiltrating former members of the Interahamwe and FAR.[30a] The RPA used brutal tactics and killed thousands, including civilians, for political and security reasons, but also simply as a revenge tactic. By the end of 1997, the authorities were believed to be holding more than 120,000 people, the majority on suspicion of participation in the genocide, in overcrowded prisons where conditions are harsh and even life-threatening. The authorities have also harassed and threatened journalists, whilst political activity and freedom of movement are restricted. Whilst various observers have accused local authorities of using excessive force in arrests and interrogation, there have been no reports of systematic torture.[14c]
5.3 It has also been reported that former personnel of the FAR and Interahamwe, both principal instruments of the 1994 genocide, have continued to be responsible for serious human rights violations. In early 1997, they began a campaign of political assassinations,[3b] which were to continue throughout 1997 and were directed at Tutsi survivors of the genocide and Tutsi refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[14c] They also killed a number of aid workers and UN monitors, which prompted aid agencies to reduce the size of their operations and to confine these to Kigali. In addition, the militias have attacked schools, missionaries and witnesses to the ICTR. In response, the RPA have carried out retaliatory attacks, resulting in the deaths of up to 3,000 civilians in just three months during 1997.[3b] Whilst the return of over a million Hutu refugees by the end of 1996 and the continued return of refugees from the former Zaire during 1997 removed a major external threat to the stability of the RPF-dominated government, the return of so many Hutus, among them former members of the FAR and Interahamwe, also exacerbated tension between Hutu and Tutsi within Rwanda. In particular, there is considerable disagreement over how to punish those guilty of involvement in the genocide, which led to increased inter-ethnic violence in some areas of the west during 1997.[9a]
5.4 Human rights violations have largely taken place in six of Rwanda's regions, namely, Ruhengeri, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Byumba, Kibuye and Kigali. In view of the seriousness of the incidents, the UN has placed a number of these areas under its highest security phase short of evacuation. Meanwhile, in the wake of attacks against expatriate and local staff members of humanitarian organisations and aid agencies, the UNHCR and other international organisations can function in their roles of monitoring the return of and conditions for refugees, and the general human rights conditions in Rwanda, only under armed military escort in many areas. In these circumstances, the UNHCR has suspended its promotion of voluntary repatriation of refugees to Rwanda.[30a] In December 1997, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights blamed both the RPA and Hutu rebels for a dramatic increase in violence and serious human rights abuses towards the end of that year, and criticised the government for its failure to promote reconciliation.[32a]
5.5 The human rights situation in Rwanda continued to deteriorate during 1998, as the Hutu insurgency gathered strength, spreading from the north-western regions of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri to the central region of Gitarama. There was an increase in the number of disappearances and killings at the hands of the RPA and the insurgentsat the beginning of the year. However killings by the RPA appeared to have decreased by the end of 1998.[7j][14d] Further escalation of the conflict within Rwanda's borders was threatened by events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998. President Laurent Kabila accused Rwanda of backing the rebellion there, which appeared to be spearheaded by Tutsis, both from the Congolese Tutsi community known as the Banyamulenge, and from Rwanda and Burundi.[18a] Meanwhile, the Rwandan government accused Kabila of instigating genocide against Tutsis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,[32d] and of providing military training for 10,000 Rwandan Hutu rebels, which it warned might compel it to intervene there in the interests of state security.[33a]
5.6 By the end of 1998 it was estimated that the insurgent militias had committed hundreds of killings over the year.[14d]
5.7 Citizens do not have the right to change their government by democratic means. The power-sharing agreement, ratified by the Arusha Accord of 1993, was not fully implemented prior to President Habyarimana's death in April 1994, but it remains the basis of planning. After its military victory in 1994, the RPF brought representatives of four opposition parties into the government (MDR, PSD, PL and PCD), but none of these officials were elected. An appointed multi-party national assembly is functioning, with nine political parties represented, including the RPF.[14c] However, whilst the RPF has a minority of cabinet seats and assembly places, it continues to dominate the government's policies.[9a] Power appears to be concentrated in the hands of a few, all of whom are RPA officers or former RPA officers, and any dissent from their authority is not tolerated.[6b]
5.8 The constitution provides for freedom of peaceful assembly, but the authorities may legally require advance notice for outdoor rallies, demonstrations and meetings. However, political activity below the level of the executive committees of political parties has been suspended with the agreement of the parties. The MRNDD and the CDR, both implicated in the planning and execution of the 1994 genocide, have been banned by law.(see also 4.6) As part of the Arusha Accord, the remaining political parties agreed to refrain from partisan public debate during the five-year transitional period, due to end in 1999. Whilst the constitution provides for freedom of the press, the government has at times harassed the media, including journalists whose reporting was contrary to official views. There are several privately-owned newspapers, the government-owned Radio Rwanda, and a sporadically operating television station.[14c]
5.9 Political killings by both the insurgents and the RPA increased in 1997. At the beginning of the year, the insurgent militias (believed to then number some 15,000)[16a] began a campaign of political assassinations [3b] and were subsequently responsible for hundreds of killings.[14c] Those whom it is feared will testify against the killers of the 1994 genocide have been at particular risk,[1b] and these potential witnesses include Tutsis survivors of the genocide, Tutsi refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and local Hutu politicians, all of whom have been the targets of murder and intimidation. During 1997, the RPA was also responsible for thousands of deaths, including that of many unarmed civilians, in security sweeps and in revenge for earlier killings by the insurgent militias, especially along the north-western border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it took particularly repressive measures.[14c] During early 1998, political killings by both the RPA and the insurgents escalated, with those suspected of collaboration with either side being targeted by the other, but with high numbers of innocent and unarmed civilians being caught in the middle.[7j]
5.10 The RPA continued to use brutal tactics throughout 1998 and killed hundreds of civilians in the course of fighting the insurgents in the northwest. However the overall number of killings in the northwest declined towards the end of 1998. There were however continued reports of the security services beating suspects, as well as continuing to use arbitrary arrest and detention.[14d]
5.11 Approximately half of the population adhere to traditional animist beliefs, and most of the remainder are Roman Catholics, who are estimated to constitute 48% of the total population. There are Protestant and Muslim minorities.[3a] The 1991 constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice.[14c] However, priests and nuns have continued to be targeted by insurgents since the 1994 genocide. For example, in early January 1998, Hutu rebels were reported to have killed nine nuns in north-western Rwanda, three of them Rwandan Tutsis, three Rwandan Hutus and three from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which suggests an indiscriminate attack directed at the Church.[15b] In March 1998, rebels kidnapped two Spanish nuns for a week, but this seems to have been more of an attempt to warn the international community against support for the government.[8c] In July 1998, two Belgian priests were kidnapped for three days by around 150 rebels, again in north-western Rwanda. Whilst this appears to have been primarily a publicity stunt, it was also the latest in a number of such incidents since 1994, in which expatriate and local religious workers have been killed or kidnapped.[35c]
5.12 Such attacks are reminiscent of the 1994 genocide, during which numerous churches were attacked in order to destroy the notion that people could be protected there, and also precisely because people tended to congregate there in great numbers, in order to escape the killers. The ranks of the priesthood were decimated, with Tutsi priests and nuns being particular targets, and with all denominations affected. Whilst the Church was criticised for not taking a firmer stand against the mass killing, in which some of its clergy have also been accused of collaboration, many priests were known as critics of human rights abuses, whilst some were conspicuous in their efforts to resist the killers and protect the hunted.[1a] Before the civil war, there had been nine Roman Catholic bishops and 370 priests in Rwanda, but by the end of 1994, three bishops and 106 priests had been killed, whilst 130 priests had sought refuge abroad.[4]
5.13 Before the 1994 genocide, an estimated 85% of citizens were Hutu, 14% were Tutsi, and 1% were Batwa. The subsequent mass killings and migrations affected the ethnic composition of the population, but the extent of the changes is unknown. The government has called for ethnic reconciliation and committed itself to abolishing the policies of the former government that had created and deepened ethnic divisions. It has eliminated references to ethnic origin from the national identity card, in accordance with the 1993 Arusha Accord. The government has not statutorily addressed the issue of ethnic quotas in education, training and government employment, but it has integrated more than 2,000 former government soldiers into the RPA. Tutsi clergy and businessmen, who were well-represented in these sectors of society, were killed in great numbers during the genocide. Following the RPF's 1994 victory, Tutsis returning from long years in exile took over many of the business and professional positions, formerly held by Hutus and Tutsis.[14c]
5.14 However, those Tutsis who survived the genocide face a very different situation to that of those returned Tutsi exiles, who have managed to secure privileged positions in the towns. The genocide had almost completely destroyed the rural Tutsi community, and survivors now live in overcrowded resettlement plots, consisting of prefabricated rural slums in areas isolated from urban services and where there is little land to cultivate and an insufficient economic base to support their needs. Whilst the government is described as a Tutsi regime, the disparity between the urban and rural dwellers is striking, and the new power elite of the towns has little to do with the poor rural Tutsi.[6b] Meanwhile, the insurgent militias, many of whose members were responsible for the 1994 genocide, have pursued their aim to eliminate Rwanda's Tutsis by violence. Whilst they appeared to be operating with military tactics and objectives in the first part of 1997, by late summer their efforts had degenerated into a pattern similar to that existing during the genocide.[14c] (see also 4.19) In October 1997, it was reported that Tutsi genocide survivors in the north-western regions of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri were fleeing their homes to escape attacks and seeking refuge in churches and public buildings.[8a]
5.15 During 1998, Hutu rebels continued to direct their attacks primarily at Tutsis, and in particular at those who lived through the genocide period.[8c] The insurgents were said to be better-organised than previously thought, and appeared to be continuing the genocide, with the aim of exterminating all Tutsis and restoring power to the previous regime.[15c] During 1998, attacks increasingly spread from the north-western regions of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri to the central region of Gitarama,[20b] even reaching rural Kigali, where 110 people were killed in August 1998.[16d] Attacks have also occurred in the western region of Kibuye,[23f] and even in the south-eastern region of Kibungo.[23e]
5.16 Hutus have also been attacked indiscriminately. Despite the government's public commitment to ethnic reconciliation, the precarious security situation, particularly in north-western Rwanda, has led many Tutsis, especially in the RPA, to attack Hutus indiscriminately in any repressive operation after an insurgent attack. Even Hutu civilian administrators, chosen by the present government, have been threatened or dismissed from their posts as suspected accomplices in attacks. Meanwhile, returning Hutu refugees appear to have been branded with a collective guilt for the genocide. Most of the urbanised Hutu had fled either because they were among the leaders of the genocide or because they feared the RPF, to a greater extent than did the Hutu in more rural and remote areas.[6b] The Hutu insurgents, meanwhile, are reported to have pressed-ganged hundreds of their own ethnic group into death squads, killing those who refuse to join, which underlines the overriding political motivation of the insurgency.[20d]
5.17 Hutu returnees are subject to a high level of control and the reintegration process seems to be proceeding very slowly, if at all. Educated and qualified returnees who try to obtain salaried jobs have encountered many problems and some have taken up basic agricultural work instead. Others have found their homes to be occupied by Tutsis, particularly in the towns which seem to have become almost exclusively Tutsi preserves, where the majority of those 700,000 Tutsis who returned to Rwanda following the RPF victory in July 1994, have settled. Most of those returnees were either born or brought up abroad, tend to be educated and are therefore in a more advantageous position with regard to employment, whereas there is a strong tendency to keep the Hutus on the land. It is now highly unlikely that any Tutsis occupying Hutu homes would give up these properties, particularly as many claim that the homes were built on land that had previously belonged to them and which the Hutu had stolen during the violent years of 1959 until 1964. Since the Hutus remain fearful of the Tutsi security forces, they tend not to press too much for the restitution of their properties.[6b] Despite government declarations to the contrary, by early 1998 these properties were still being occupied, whilst some of the rightful owners had been subject to arbitrary arrest, designed to ensure that the illegal occupants of their properties were not disturbed.[27e] In such circumstances of increased segregation, there seems little hope of ethnic reconciliation and an integrated society.[6b]
5.18 The Batwa ethnic minority, indigenous survivors of the Pygmy (Twa) tribes of the mountainous forest areas bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo, remain marginalised and treated as inferior citizens by both Hutus and Tutsis. The Batwa have been unable to protect their interests, particularly regarding access to land and housing. Meanwhile, few Batwa have gained access to the educational system, resulting in minimal representation in government institutions.[14c] Amounting to no more than 120,000 people in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it has been estimated that during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, some 10,000 Batwa were killed and another 3,000 imprisoned.[27c] However, there is no reliable information on specific human rights abuses perpetrated against the Batwa population since the 1994 upheaval.[14c]
5.19 Violence against women has continued since the 1994 genocide.[14c] At that time, many of the women who survived did so only at the price of being abducted and raped by their captors. The Interahamwe regarded Tutsi women as the spoils of the killing, and many who were abducted and raped, were subsequently killed.[1a] Violence continued well after the events of 1994. In September 1996, a report compiled by international human rights groups accused Hutu extremists of engaging in the systematic abuse of Tutsi women. The report urged the ICTR to investigate the allegations and prosecute those responsible, but by July 1997, only one such case had been brought.[3b] Meanwhile, wife-beating and domestic violence are normally handled within the context of the extended family and rarely come before the courts. Despite constitutional provisions, women also continue to face serious discrimination. They have only limited opportunities for education, employment and promotion, whilst the absence of succession laws limits a woman's right to property, thus jeopardising her status and ability to provide for her family should she survive her husband. This omission has been particularly burdensome since the genocide, as widows are very numerous and surviving male relatives, who would normally inherit and provide for them, are relatively few.[14c]
5.20 More than 50,000 children were separated from their parents during the 1994 genocide and national upheaval.[14c] Few children in Rwanda escaped unscathed: research indicates that almost 80% lost relatives, 40% lost both parents and 55% their siblings, whilst almost 70% witnessed murder.[16c] Many Tutsi children were also killed, whilst others were seriously wounded in the massacres or at roadblocks. Schools, children's homes and orphanages were attacked, and there are many orphans, physically handicapped and psychologically traumatised children in Rwanda.[1a] Many who are still children remain in the care of strangers or international organisations.[14c] Boys as young as ten years of age, whose fathers were members of the Interahamwe, directly participated in the massacres themselves, attacking children and even adults, whilst others were forced to kill. School teachers and others employed in education have also been accused of complicity in the killings.[1a] Although the penal code prohibits the imprisonment of children with adults, there are hundreds of children incarcerated with adults throughout the prison system, in conditions which are said to be harsh and even life-threatening.[14c] (see also IV.C)
5.21 Children have also been affected by ongoing hostilities primarily in the north-west of Rwanda, which escalated during 1997 and 1998, and included attacks on schools in which Hutu and Tutsi children were killed together when they refused to separate.[15c] Women and children are also believed to be among the Hutu militia responsible for these atrocities.[20c] The Rwandan government has accused the rebels of press-ganging children into operating their complex propaganda and courier system, thereby exploiting the children's knowledge of particular areas and their ability to avoid government lines.[35a]
5.22 On 18th August 1999 university students who conducted their studies abroad in English-speaking countries, protested strongly against the education in French provided in Rwandan schools. (The students returned following the Rwandan Patriotic Front's (RPF) conquest of the country.) When the students tried to present their grievances at the Prime Minister's office in Kigali, police allegedly reacted by beating them with sticks and arresting six of the most outspoken of the demonstrators.[41a]
Refugees, Freedom of Movement, Exit and Return
5.23 The constitution provides for freedom of movement, foreign travel, emigration and repatriation, and the government has generally respected these in practice.[14c] However, insurgent warfare and ethnic violence since 1990, which again intensified during 1997, particularly in the north-western area of Rwanda, exacerbated the problem of displaced persons and refugees, and made whole regions there virtually inaccessible.[7h] The refugee problem is not new to Rwanda. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsi fled the country during the 1950s and 1960s and remained refugees for more than thirty years, one of the longest exiles in modern African history. Throughout the 1980s, the Hutu-dominated government refused to allow the Tutsi refugees to return en masse, arguing that Rwanda was already overpopulated, to which the RPF responded with its armed invasion of October 1990.[13a] Then began the first major phase of internal displacement in Rwanda. By the end of 1993, approximately one million people from the northern part of the country had been displaced as a result of the civil war, although some of these later returned to their areas of origin.[27a] The second major phase of internal displacement occurred during the genocide of April to July 1994, when a further two million,[14b] mainly Hutus in the south, fled the advance of the RPA.[13a]
5.24 During the genocide, approximately two-thirds of the population were uprooted. In addition to the two million people who were internally displaced, more than 1.7 million, including many of those who had organised and participated in the killings, fled to neighbouring countries.[14b] By the end of 1995, most of the internally displaced had returned to their homes,[13a] whilst an estimated 1.3 million refugees returned to Rwanda during 1996,[13a] the majority from Zaire in November and December, in the wake of the outbreak of civil war there and ensuing rebellion in North and South Kivu,[14b] in which the camps were surrounded and the militias that effectively controlled them dislodged.[21d] At the end of 1996, there were estimated to be approximately 257,000 Rwandan refugees in neighbouring countries, with about 200,000 in Zaire, 50,000 in Tanzania, 5,000 in Uganda and 2,000 in Burundi.[13a] In addition, there were said to be Rwandans scattered in seven other central African countries.[28a] At that time, Rwanda was itself host to some 20,000 refugees, including 15,000 from Zaire and 5,000 from Burundi. Malnutrition and poor sanitation in a number of refugee camps, for Rwandans and other nationals within Rwanda, were said to be serious problems.[13a]
5.25 Whilst the return of the vast majority of Rwandan refugees in late 1996 was officially welcomed by the Rwandan government and many in the international community, the size and suddenness of the repatriation posed enormous resettlement and reintegration challenges in a society where ethnic tensions have lingered in the aftermath of genocide.[13a] Among the refugees also came armed militias which, given the magnitude of the return, were able to cross the border with their weapons and subsequently intensify their campaign to destabilise the regime.[21d] As a consequence, violence in Rwanda increased dramatically during 1997.[16a]
5.26 Some refugees and international observers insisted that repatriation conditions in Rwanda were dubious.[7f] It was claimed that many Rwandan officials were not fully committed to the return of refugees, that government-sponsored radio broadcasts sometimes characterised refugees as murderers, and that many returnees were unable to reclaim their homes and properties (mostly occupied by Tutsi refugees who had returned in 1994 and 1995)[30a], despite proclaimed government policy that assured them of their ability to reoccupy their homes within fifteen days.(see also 5.15) In addition, conditions in Rwanda were said to be unfit for repatriation on such a large scale, with a judicial system that was not fully functioning, continuing military attacks on civilians, and several hundred arrests and subsequent detentions of the new returnees from Zaire by the end of 1996.[13a] Since then, there has also been an increase in killings and attacks against genocide survivors and those associated with them, by returnees, possibly out of fear of denunciation for acts committed during the genocide.[12b] (see also 5.12-13) In such circumstances, the UNHCR had by July 1997 ceased its promotion of voluntary repatriation to Rwanda.[30a]
5.27 By the beginning of 1998, there were estimated to be 72,310 Rwandan refugees in surrounding African states, with 37,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 11,200 in Congo-Brazzaville, 10,000 in Uganda, 7,700 in Kenya, 2,000 in Angola, 1,400 in the Central African Republic, 600 in Burundi, 700 in Zambia, 400 in Togo, 260 in Malawi, 650 in Cameroon, and 800 in Benin. At that time, Rwanda was itself host to 31,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and another 3,000 from Burundi.[30b] In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is thought that many Rwandan refugees had been killed in the eastern region of that country by Laurent Kabila's rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), in its attempt to counter ex-FAR and Interahamwe operations. There have been allegations of massacres and widespread serious human rights violations in the region, including by the RPA, who have been accused of the systematic murder of refugees there.[9a] (see also 4.11) Between October and December 1997, the Democratic Republic of the Congo forcibly expelled around 4,500 Rwandan refugees, many of whom had recently fled Rwanda to escape the persistent violence in the north-west of the country.[7i] This followed the Democratic Republic of the Congo's announcement in early October that the border between Kivu and Rwanda was being closed and that all international agencies dealing with refugees had to leave the region. Although the Rwanda-Congo border was partially reopened in late October for diplomatic and economic purposes only, it remained firmly closed to potential refugees from Rwanda, and Kabila has stated that the presence of Rwandan refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will not be tolerated.[8a]
5.28 Meanwhile, Tanzania had expelled the majority of its Rwandan refugees by the end of 1997, including several hundred who had lived there since the 1950s, most of whom had no property or land in Rwanda.[8a] However, the Tanzanian government subsequently stated that those individuals of Rwandan origin who were in possession of Tanzanian citizenship cards or spouses of Tanzanian citizens, including those who may have been wrongfully expelled, would be allowed to stay.[24a] Uganda and Burundi had also closed their borders to Rwandan refugees by the end of the year, which meant that for the first time since 1994, Rwandan Hutus were effectively trapped within Rwanda's borders, leaving them particularly vulnerable to the RPA and the insurgents.[8a] The vulnerability of refugees in Rwanda was underlined in December 1997, when insurgents killed up to one thousand Tutsis and wounded a further thousand at Mudende refugee camp in the north-western region of Gisenyi.[23b] Earlier reports had put the death toll at 230, and those killed are believed to have been Rwandan refugees who had returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[20a] It was the second attack on Mudende refugee camp, the first having occurred in August 1997, when more than 130 were killed.[16a]
5.29 During 1998, the continuing insurgency within Rwanda, together with the new rebellion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, exacerbated the problems of refugees and displaced people. Thousands of Rwandans were displaced as a result of the insurgency within Rwanda's borders, with 4,000 affected in the central region of Gitarama in April alone.[8c] Meanwhile, the outbreak of rebellion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998 brought a fresh influx of Congolese refugees to western Rwanda.[23g] A further development during 1998 was the reported refusal of the Rwandan government to issue its newly devised passport to some citizens, or to allow some citizens to leave the country, in contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Rwanda has ratified.[27e]
5.30 By late summer 1998 the RPA appeared to have gained the upper hand against the insurgents. Intense operations by the RPA combined with dissillusionment with the insurgency drove thousands of people who had abandoned their homes to return to the relatively safer areas controlled by the RPA.[14d]
5.31 From late May 1998 onwards almost 300,000 people who had been living or hiding in the forest areas with the insurgents returned to their homes in the northwest. A significant proportion of people who had allegedly disappeared were believed to have been amongst the returnees. It is uncertain how many of these people had been forced to go with the insurgents.[14d]
5.32 The Government encouraged some of these returnees to settle temporarily in makeshift camps and centres where their security could be better assured. In December 1998 the UN Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator estimated that there were 625,713 displaced people in Ruhengeri and Gisenyi Prefectures. The Governement began relocating these people in Government selected village sites in the latter part of 1998.[14d]
5.33 The role of the international community with regard to Rwanda, has been the subject of harsh criticism since the genocide of 1994. France and Belgium have been accused of playing a prominent role in sowing the seeds of ethnic hatred during the colonial years, and of ignoring repeated massacres of Tutsis, which culminated in the genocide.[23c] France is further criticised for its support of the Habyarimana regime, and its offer of sanctuary to Hutus responsible for the genocide when the French established their 'safe area' in south-western Rwanda during and after the genocide, between June and August 1994.[22a] France faced renewed harsh criticism in January 1998, when reports emerged that it had exported arms to the former Hutu regime in Rwanda even after the genocide had started and after France itself had voted for the UN arms embargo in May 1994.[16b] Other countries accused of providing arms and other forms of military assistance, including training, to the perpetrators of the genocide even whilst they subsequently worked to rebuild their military infrastructure, largely in Zaire in 1995, include Zaire itself, China and South Africa.[11e]
5.34 Meanwhile, the UN and the wider international community have been accused of failing to take measures to halt the genocide,[2] of being unwilling to devote the necessary political and financial resources for a regional solution,[27b] and of turning a blind eye to the fact that many refugee camps on Rwanda's borders were for over two years becoming the military training ground for forces to renew their acts of genocide in 1997.[23c] In November 1997, the UNHCR agreed with the Rwandan government's analysis that the root problem was the failure of the international community to separate former members of the Interahamwe and FAR from genuine refugees in the camps of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.[8a] They argued that only then would it have been possible to allow the genuine refugees to return home without risk of further violence and to bring more speedily to justice those responsible for the genocide.[21d] The US, whilst also acknowledging that such separation was necessary, has been accused of refusing to perform this task itself and of failing to encourage other states that were willing to do so.[8a] During his visit to Rwanda in March 1998, President Clinton publicly apologised for the failure to recognise the genocide early enough, or to act quickly enough to prevent it, and for allowing the refugee camps on Rwanda's borders to be used by the former Rwandan army and militia as recuperation and training grounds.[8c]
5.35 In March 1996, a four-volume international report, sponsored by governments and non-governmental organisations from thirty-seven countries, as well as UN agencies, concluded that the international community's response had been a political failure, and that had appropriate political decisions been taken early on in the crisis, much of the humanitarian work that was subsequently required would have been unnecessary.[21a] The Rwandan government, whilst insisting that it is capable of dealing with the military situation itself, has appealed to the international community to shoulder some of the responsibility for preventing what it described at the end of 1997 as a continuation of the genocide.[16a] However, several governments, including those of South Africa and the US, have been criticised for providing military equipment and training, respectively, to Rwanda during 1996 and 1997, in view of the current government's own poor human rights record both before and during this period.[7h]
5.36 Despite the inadequacy of international political efforts to halt the violence in Rwanda, there has been a very positive degree of humanitarian support by many countries.[2] Between 1994 and 1997, the UK,[9a] France, South Africa, Israel, and the US all made substantial contributions towards national reconstruction in Rwanda, particularly in the judicial, health, educational and agricultural spheres, including financial aid to various UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and international bodies administering relief programmes there.[3b] Meanwhile, between 1994 and 1996, the UNHCR assisted over 1.5 million Rwandans living in camps in Tanzania and the former Zaire. Whilst a UNHCR request at the end of 1996 for an international military force to assist in rescuing refugees caught up in the conflict in former Zaire was not met, rescue operations were subsequently conducted by UNHCR itself in co-operation with other UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other non-governmental organisations, which had allowed some 250,000 Rwandans to return at the time of the mass repatriation.[28a] However, human rights observers claimed that the return of 1.3 million refugees at that time was not followed by the necessary monitoring and assistance to ensure permanent reintegration, and that those relatively few refugees remaining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania appeared to have been forgotten.[27b]
5.37 Within its borders, the UN Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda (HRFOR) had a mandate to carry out activities related to the promotion and protection of human rights and the investigation of the human rights situation there. Whilst the HRFOR was initially hindered by confusion, delays and lack of personnel and resources, by the end of 1995 it was said to be playing a useful role in the protection of human rights.[7d] Together with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights/Centre for Human Rights (UNHC/CHR), it contributed significantly to the international response to the Rwandan government's appeal for assistance in its national reconstruction efforts.[29a] In addition to other international as well as local human rights groups, the ICRC has also been active within Rwanda's borders, most notably in its work to improve conditions for prisoners.[14c] However, the increase in violence during 1997, including the killing of foreign and Rwandan nationals working for international organisations, forced virtually all humanitarian and human rights organisations to withdraw their personnel from the north-western regions and to severely cut back or abandon their programmes. In humanitarian terms, the result has been devastating, with those most in need of assistance, including returnees, being deprived of access to basic food and medical facilities.[7h] In July 1998, the HRFOR finally withdrew from Rwanda altogether because of the Rwandan government's increasing dissatisfaction with its monitoring role.[35b]
5.38 There has also been some international involvement in the work of bringing to justice those who participated in the 1994 genocide. In June 1995, the UN established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha for a four-year term, to investigate allegations made against some 400 individuals of direct involvement in the genocide. Formal proceedings began in late November 1995, but the ICTR has had many problems to overcome, including matters involving the safety of witnesses and arrangements for defence representation.[3b] At the end of 1997, there had been some administrative improvements,[21e] and the ICTR did appear to be pursuing a more effective arrest policy during that year.[14c] This was evident in July 1997, when it announced that seven prominent people, including the former prime minister, Jean Kambanda, and the former senior military commander, Gratien Kabiligi, had been arrested in Nairobi for their part in the genocide. All were subsequently transferred to Arusha for investigation by the ICTR.[21c] In September 1998, Kambanda was sentenced to life imprisonment for six counts of genocide and crimes against humanity,[9b] and in October, Jean-Paul Akayesu, former teacher and mayor, was also sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the genocide.[18b] The UK government attaches great importance to the work of the ICTR, to which it has committed its support.[10a]
5.39 In July 1999 an agreement was reached between the governments of Rwanda and the USA to allow planes from either country to have unrestricted access to each other's skies.[24m] On 4th August both sides lifted visa restrictions, effective immediately.[38g]
5.40 Concerning Rwanda's neighbours, the government maintains close relations with President Museveni's administration in Uganda, home to the RPF until 1994. Rwanda also has close relations with Tanzania, the anglophone African states[9a] and, until July 1998,[9b] the new government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which came to power with Rwandan military assistance,[9a] and was formally recognised by Rwanda in May 1997.[3b] The previous regime, under President Mobutu, had been a staunch supporter of the Habyarimana administration, had subsequently offered a place of refuge to those responsible for the 1994 genocide, and played a pivotal role in facilitating their re-emergence as a powerful military force.[11e] In January 1998, Rwanda's defence minister and vice-president, Paul Kagame, indicated that the Democratic Republic of the Congo was collaborating with Rwanda, in dealing with the state of insecurity in its north-western regions, by helping to control the movement of insurgents between the two countries.[24b] However, by August 1998, Rwandan relations with the Democratic Republic of the Congo had deteriorated dramatically, with President Laurent Kabila accusing Rwanda of launching an invasion of his country.[9b] As far as Burundi is concerned, the Rwandan government has maintained cool relations in public with the Tutsi government, led by Pierre Buyoya, who took power by coup in July 1996.[9a] In 1985, Rwanda and Burundi had signed an accord of co-operation, covering political, economic, commercial, technical, scientific, social and cultural affairs, but in recent years bi-lateral relations have been undermined frequently by the problems arising from the regular flow of large numbers of refugees between the two countries as a result of ethnic and political violence.[3a] On 29th July 1999 Rwanda and Burundi officials met and agreed to improve their bilateral relations. The aims are to allow free trade, free movement of goods and people in both countries. The sanctions imposed upon Burundi in July 1996 were lifted earlier this year.[38d]
5.41 The regional dimension to the Rwandan situation is of particular importance in view of the fact that the Banyarwanda peoples, comprising Hutu, Tutsi and Twa,[1a] and regarded as a single differentiated group by their neighbours, are present in substantial numbers in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, south-western Uganda, and western Tanzania, in addition to Rwanda and Burundi. This encourages the view that a lasting solution to Rwanda's political problems must be found in a regional context and will therefore have to involve all the countries of the area.[21a] The effects of recent instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Rwanda and vice-versa demonstrate vividly the close connection between these countries and the importance for each of regional stability.[27b] President Kabila's forces in the east had worked closely with Rwanda and Uganda, but relations deteriorated by mid-1998. In late July 1998 all foreign troops were given a week to leave. Congolese rebels, supported by Rwanda and Uganda, seized major towns in the east in early August. Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Chad intervened at Kabila's request. Chad withdrew its forces in late May. By June 1999 the rebels controlled large areas in the north and east. Africa led efforts to find a negotiated settlement, with President Chiluba of Zambia chairing a series of summits under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community. A ceasefire agreement was signed by Heads of State (or their representatives) in Lusaka on 10 July. Following further negotiations the MLC rebels signed on 1 August and the RCD on 31 August.[9c]
ANNEX A - CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR EVENTS, 1899-1998
1899 Germany colonises Rwanda, which is thereby absorbed into German East Africa.[3b]
1919 Under the Treaty of Versailles, the former German colony of Ruanda-Urundi is made a League of Nations protectorate to be governed by Belgium.[6a] The two territories, later to become known as Rwanda and Burundi, are administered separately under two different Tutsi monarchs.[5]
1926 The Belgians introduce a system of ethnic identity cards, differentiating Hutus from Tutsis.[5]
1933 A census of the Rwandan population is carried out by the Belgian authorities, and mandatory identity cards stating the ethnic identity of the bearer are extended.[5]
1957 Parmehutu is formed while Rwanda is still under Belgian rule.[5]
1959 The Tutsi king, Mwaami Rudahigwa, dies. Hutus rise up against the Tutsi nobility and kill thousands. Many others flee to Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Zaire.[5]
1962 Rwanda gains independence from Belgium. There is widespread killing of Tutsis and a further massive exodus of refugees, many to Uganda. The Hutu nationalist government of Grégoire Kayibanda's Parmehutu comes to power.[5]
1963 Further massacres of Tutsis occur, this time in response to a military attack by exiled Tutsis in Burundi. More refugees leave the country and it is estimated that by the mid-1960s, as many as half the Tutsi population is living outside of Rwanda.[5]
1967 Massacres of Tutsis are renewed, following a further unsuccessful attempt by exiles to return by force.[2]
1973 Tutsis are purged from the universities, whilst there is a further outbreak of killings directed at the Tutsi community. The chief of staff of the army, General Juvénal Habyarimana, seizes power and pledges to restore order. He installs a one-party state and introduces a policy of ethnic quotas in all public service employment, whereby Tutsis are restricted to 9% of available jobs.[5]
1975 Habyarimana's political party, the MRND, is formed. Hutus from the president's home area of northern Rwanda are given overwhelming preference in public service and military jobs. This pattern and the exclusion of the Tutsis continues throughout the 1970s and 1980s.[5]
1988 The exiles then form the RPF, a Tutsi-dominated organisation, with a minority of Hutu dissidents.[2]
1989 Coffee prices collapse, causing severe economic hardship in Rwanda.[5]
1990 On 1 October, the RPF invade Rwanda from Uganda, and after heavy fighting in which French, Belgian and Zairean troops are called upon to assist the government, a ceasefire is signed on 29 March 1991.[5]
90-91 The Rwandan army begins to train and arm civilian militias known as the Interahamwe. For the next three years, Habyarimana delays on the establishment of a multi-party system with power-sharing, to which he had agreed in principle, under pressure form Western aid donors, in July 1990. Also throughout this period, thousands of Tutsis are killed in separate massacres around the country, whilst opposition politicians and newspapers are also targeted.[5]
1991 In July, assent is given to the creation of the first opposition parties, and the PCD, PL and PSD are subsequently formed.[2]
1992 In November, prominent Hutu activist, Dr Leon Mugusera, appeals to Hutus to send the Tutsis "back to Ethiopia" via the rivers.[5]
1993 In February, the RPF launches a fresh offensive and guerrillas reach the outskirts of Kigali. French forces are again called in to assist the government and fighting continues for several months.[5]
In August, at Arusha in Tanzania, following months of negotiations, Habyarimana agrees to greater power-sharing with the Hutu opposition and also with the RPF. He also agrees to integrate the RPF's armed wing, the RPA, into a new Rwandan army and to merge the presidential guard with elite RPF troops into a smaller republican guard. 2,500 UN troops (UNAMIR) are subsequently deployed in Kigali to oversee the implementation of the accord.[5]
On 28 December, a contingent of the RPF arrives in Kigali in accordance with the Arusha Accord.[2]
93-94 Between September and March, Habyarimana delays the implementation of the Arusha Accord, whilst the training of militias intensifies and the extremist radio station, Radio Mille Collines, begins to broadcast exhortations to attack the Tutsis. Human rights groups warn the international community of impending calamity.[5]
1994 In March, numerous human rights activists evacuate their families from Kigali, in the belief that massacres are imminent.[5]
On 6 April, Habyarimana and the president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, are killed when Habyarimana's aeroplane is shot down near Kigali airport. Extremists, opposed to the Arusha Accord which they suspect is about to be implemented, are believed to be responsible. That night, the killing begins.[5]
On 7 April, the Rwandan armed forces and the Interahamwe set up roadblocks and go from house to house, killing Tutsis and moderate Hutu politicians,[5] including the prime minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana.[3b] Thousands die on the first day as UN troops are forbidden to intervene, on the grounds that this would breach their monitoring mandate.[5]
On 8 April, the RPF launches a major offensive to end the killings and rescue 600 of its troops surrounded in Kigali, where they had been based as part of the Arusha Accord.[5]
On 21 April, the UN votes to reduce its number of forces from 2,500 to 250, following the murder of ten Belgian soldiers who had been assigned to guard the Hutu prime minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana,[5] who was also killed on 7 April.[3b] Meanwhile, tens of thousands of refugees escape into Tanzania, Burundi and Zaire, including Hutus fleeing the advance of the RPF.[5]
On 17 May, as the killing of Tutsis continues, the UN agrees to send 6,800 troops and policemen to Rwanda, with powers to defend civilians. A further UN Security Council resolution states that "acts of genocide may have been committed".[5]
Also on 17 May, the UN imposes an arms embargo on Rwanda for a period of one year.[11e]
By 22 June, the deployment of mainly African UN forces has still not taken place, as a result of which the UN Security Council authorises the deployment of French forces in south-western Rwanda. There, they create a 'safe area' in territory controlled by the government, but the killing of Tutsis continues there, although some are protected by the French.[5]
On 17 July, the Rwandan army is defeated and the government flees to Zaire, followed by many more thousands of refugees. The majority of the French depart and are replaced by Ethiopian UN troops.[5]
On 19 July, the RPF sets up an interim government of national unity in Kigali.[3b] A cholera epidemic kills thousands of refugees in the camps in Zaire. There are conflicting UN reports regarding a series of reprisal killings said to have been carried out by the RPF. Several hundred civilians are said to have been executed, whilst the killing of Tutsis continues in the refugee camps.[5] On 21 August, the last French troops leave the 'safe area', causing further population movements. By the end of August, the security situation within the camps in Zaire has deteriorated due to the activities of ex-government army troops.[2]
In November, a multi-party protocol of understanding is concluded, providing for a number of amendments to terms of the 1993 Arusha Accord, relating to the establishment of a transitional legislature. The most significant of the new provisions is the exclusion from the legislative process of members of those parties implicated in alleged acts of genocide during 1994.[3b]
On 12 December, a seventy-member transitional national assembly, whose membership includes five representatives of the armed forces and one member of the national police force, is installed.[3b]
1995 In late April, RPA troops fire on displaced persons during an attempt to dismantle the Kibeho camp in southern Rwanda, amidst confusion arising from the activities of some hostile elements within the camp and a sudden attempt by large numbers to break through the military cordon, which is estimated to have resulted in as many as 5,000 deaths.[3b]
On 5 May, the new legislature announces its adoption of a new constitution, based on selected articles of the 1991 constitution, the terms of the 1993 Arusha Accord, the RPF's victory declaration of July 1994 and the November 1994 multi-party protocol of understanding.[3b]
In June, the UN establishes the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha for a four-year term, to investigate allegations made against some 400 individuals of direct involvement in the genocide of 1994.
In August, the UN agrees to suspend the arms embargo of Rwanda, which had been imposed against the previous administration in May 1994, for one year, in order to allow the government to safeguard against the threat of an armed offensive by Hutu extremists encamped in neighbouring countries.[3b]
Also in August, following a widely criticised attempt to repatriate forcibly some 15,000 Rwandans from Zaire, its government agrees to entrust the repatriation process to the UNHCR.[3b]
In late November, the ICTR begins formal proceedings.[3b]
1996 In February, due to the slow pace of ICTR proceedings, the Rwandan government announces the creation of special courts within its existing judicial system.[3b]
At the end of February, reports emerge that violent acts of reprisal by the RPF against returning and fleeing refugees have claimed the lives of some 100,000 Hutus since April 1994.[3b]
In March, the UNHCR estimates that there are 1,684,645 Rwandan refugees scattered throughout several countries in the region, including 1,057,350 in Zaire, 531,016 in Tanzania, 92,279 in Burundi and 4,000 in Uganda. However, during 1996, more than 1.3 million refugees are repatriated and by the end of the year, the number of Rwandan refugees in neighbouring countries has fallen to 257,000.[3b]
In April, the UN urges all central African states to observe an arms embargo against former FAR troops and to ensure that their territories are not used as bases for armed groups to launch cross-border raids into Rwanda.[3b]
On 30 August, a new law is adopted, establishing procedures for punishing those guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.[7g]
Between 15 November and 31 December,[12b] more than 1.3 million refugees are repatriated, whilst the number of Rwandan refugees in neighbouring countries falls to 257,000. As a result of the mass influx of refugees, the Rwandan government, together with the UN World Food Programme and other relief agencies, distribute food aid to the returnees in an attempt to avert a humanitarian crisis.[3b]
1997 Between January and August, at least 6,000 people, the majority unarmed civilians, are estimated to have been killed,[7h] by armed insurgents and by the RPA, in particular in the north-western regions of Rwanda, where conflict between the two intensifies.[14c]
In July, the ICTR announces that seven prominent people, including the former prime minister, Jean Kambanda, and the former senior military commander, Gratien Kabiligi, have been arrested in Nairobi for their part in the 1994 genocide.[21c]
In October, between 5,000 and 8,000 unarmed civilians are killed by the RPA at a large cave at Nyakimana in Gisenyi region.[7i]
Between October and December, the killing of unarmed civilians by the RPA and armed opposition groups increases, with possibly thousands of deaths in that period. The killings occur mainly in the context of intensified armed conflict in the north-west of Rwanda, in the regions of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri, but towards the end of 1997, they increasingly take place in the more central regions of Gitarama and rural Kigali.[7i]
Also between October and December, the Democratic Republic of the Congo forcibly expels around 4,500 Rwandan refugees, many of whom had recently fled Rwanda to escape the persistent violence in the north-west of the country.[7i] This follows the Democratic Republic of the Congo's announcement in early October that the border between Kivu and Rwanda is being closed and that all international agencies dealing with refugees have to leave the region.[8a]
In November and December, insurgents stage several attacks on local communal jails, attempting to free Hutu prisoners, and in the process kill hundreds of individuals.[15a]
In December, up to one thousand Tutsis are killed and a further thousand are wounded at Mudende refugee camp in the north-western region of Gisenyi.[23b] In retaliation, several hundred Hutu civilians in the area are killed by Tutsi civilians, assisted by the RPA.[7i] By the end of December, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi have all closed their borders to Rwandan refugees, which means that for the first time since 1994, Rwandan Hutus are effectively trapped within Rwanda's borders, leaving them particularly vulnerable to the RPA and armed insurgents.[8a]
1998 In March, President Clinton publicly apologises for the failure to recognise the genocide early enough, or to act quickly enough to prevent it, and for allowing the refugee camps on Rwanda's borders to be used by the former Rwandan army and militia as recuperation and training grounds.[8c]
On 24 April, twenty-two people convicted of genocide are publicly executed.[8c] Meanwhile, rebel attacks increasingly spread from the north-western regions of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri to the central region of Gitarama.[20b]
In May, the Rwandan Ministry of Education puts the revised number of those killed during the genocide at over 1.3 million.[34a]
By June, the civil war has claimed thousands more lives, whilst disappearances are also said to be increasing.[7j]
In July, the HRFOR is compelled to withdraw from Rwanda because of the Rwandan government's hostility and subsequent refusal to allow it to continue in its monitoring role.[35b]
In August, President Laurent Kabila accuses Rwanda of backing the new rebellion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[18a] Meanwhile, the Rwandan government accuses Kabila of instigating genocide against Tutsis there,[32d] and of providing military training for 10,000 Rwandan Hutu rebels, which it warns might compel it to intervene in the interests of state security.[33a] Meanwhile, rebels strike in rural Kigali, where 110 are killed in a single attack.[16d]
In September, former prime minister, Jean Kambanda, is sentenced by the ICTR to life imprisonment for six counts of genocide and crimes against humanity.[[9b]
In October, Jean-Paul Akayesu, former teacher and mayor, is also sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the genocide.[18b] Also in October, the government announces plans to set free 10,000 genocide suspects with no concrete evidence against them.[24e]
In December it was announced that 76 genocide suspects were released from prisons in Rwanda for lack of evidence.[24g] Also in December more than 250 Hutu rebles were killed by the Rwandan army during a two week operation in the northwest.[24g]
1999 In January more than 2,200 Rwandans who had crossed in the the Democratic Republic of Congo at the beginning of the armed Hutu insurgency at the beginning of 1998 have started to return to Rwanda.[38a] Also in January it was announced by Rwandan radio that about 900 genocide suspects had been convicted and sentenced by the Rwandan courts in 1998.[24h]
In was announced that local elections would be held in March 1999.[24i]
In April the first Rwandan war crime suspect was sentenced by a European court.[21f]
In June the government announced the planned introduction of VAT.[23h]
In July Rwanda decided to leave the Central African region and join East Africa.[43a] Nine people were sentenced to death by a court in Western Rwanda.[23j] Four people are sentenced to death in Rushashi, Kigali [24j] Foreign Minister, Amri Sued Ismael is replaced by Dr Augustin Iyamuremye.[24k]
In August the trial of a bishop charged with genocide began in Kigali.[43b] Prisons in Rwanda were thought to be holding around 130,000 prisoners, mostly genocide suspects.[38h] Students clashed with police over protests against the education in French provided by Rwandan schools.[41a]
Jean-Paul Akayesu
A former teacher and mayor of the central village of Taba, who in October 1998 was sentenced by the ICTR to life imprisonment for his part in the genocide.[18b]
Vincent Biruta
One of the leaders of the PSD, formed in Kigali in 1991 by a breakaway faction of the MRND.[3b] Current minister of health.[8a]
Augustin Bizimungu
Army chief of staff during the genocide between April and July 1994, following which he, along with others in the government and army, fled to Zaire.[11b]
Pasteur Bizimungu
Head of state and president of Rwanda,[8a] appointed by the RPF on 17 July 1994, for a period of five years.[3b] A Hutu[[14c] and vice-chairman of the RPF.[8c]
Martin Bucyana
Leader of the CDR, who was murdered in apparent retaliation for the murder of the PSD's Félicien Gatabazi in late February 1994, provoking a series of violent confrontations resulting in some 30-40 deaths.[3a]
Félicien Gatabazi
Member of the PSD and minister of public works and energy, who was a prominent supporter of the Arusha Accord, and who was murdered in late February 1994.[3a]
Vincent Gwabukwisi
President of the UDPR, formed in Kigali in 1992.[3b]
Juvénal Habyarimana
Army chief of staff, who seized power and set up a one-party state in 1973. He subsequently introduced a policy of ethnic quotas in all public service employment and formed the MRND in 1975. In the early 1990s, he came under pressure to establish a multi-party system, and eventually agreed to power-sharing with the Hutu opposition and RPF in August 1993, but subsequently delayed implementation. On 6 April 1994, he was killed along with the president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, when Habyarimana's aeroplane was shot down at Kigali airport. Extremists, suspecting that the president was about to implement the Arusha Accord, were believed to have been responsible.[5]
André Hakizimana
Leader of the PPJR, formed in Kigali in 1991.[3b]
Prosper Higiro
One of the leaders of the PL, formed in 1991, which split into two factions between late 1993 and early 1994: the pro-MRNDD faction, led by Justin Mugenzi and Agnès Ntambyariro; and the anti-MRNDD faction, led by Higiro, Esdra Kayiranga and Joseph Nsengimana, who is the government's current minister of civil service and labour.[3b]
Sylvestre Hubi
Vice-president of the UDPR, formed in Kigali in 1992.[3b]
Augustine Iyamuremye
One of the leaders of the PSD, formed in Kigali in 1991 by a breakaway faction of the MRND.[3b] Current minister of agriculture, environment and rural development.[8a]
Gratien Kabiligi
Former senior military commander of the Rwandan army, arrested in Nairobi in July 1997 for his part in the 1994 genocide, and subsequently transferred to Arusha, Tanzania, to be investigated by the ICTR.[21c]
Robert Kadjuga
Leader of the Interahamwe, the 30,000 strong[3b] youth wing of the MRND, comprising civilian militias, trained and armed by the Rwandan army from 1990, to carry out a campaign of intimidation and terrorism against the Tutsis and moderate Hutus who supported democracy and negotiations with the RPF.[2] Kadjuga's father is known to have been a Tutsi who managed to change his ethnic identity to Hutu. Together with the Rwandan army, the Interahamwe was a principal instrument of the genocide between April and July 1994.[1a]
Paul Kagame
Vice-president, minister of defence and chairman of the RPF.[8c]
Jean Kambanda
Prime minister during the genocide of 1994, who was arrested for his involvement, in Nairobi in July 1997, and was subsequently transferred to Arusha, Tanzania, to be investigated by the ICTR.[21c] After subsequently pleading guilty to the charges, was sentenced to life imprisonment for six counts of genocide and crimes against humanity in September 1998.[9b]
Froduald Karamira
Leader of the pro-MRNDD faction of the MDR (formerly known as Parmehutu), which between late 1993 and early 1994, split into two factions: the pro-MRNDD faction, led by Karamira, with mainly Hutu support, and the anti-MRNDD faction, led by Faustin Twagiramungu, with multi-ethnic support.[3b] Karamira is the most senior politician to be tried for genocide crimes by Rwanda's courts, which found him guilty and sentenced him to death on 14 February 1997. His appeal was rejected on 13 September 1997,[8a] and the sentence was carried out in public on 24 April 1998.[8c]
Grégoire Kayibanda
Leader of Parmehutu, the Hutu nationalist party which was formed under Belgian rule in 1957 and came to power following independence in 1962.[5] He was overthrown in a bloodless coup led by Juvénal Habyarimana in July 1973.[3a]
Esdra Kayiranga
One of the leaders of the PL, formed in 1991, which split into two factions between late 1993 and early 1994: the pro-MRNDD faction, led by Justin Mugenzi and Agnès Ntambyariro; and the anti-MRNDD faction, led by Prosper Higiro, Kayiranga and Joseph Nsengimana, who is the government's current minister of civil service and labour.[3b]
Silas Majyambere
President of the UPR, formed by Hutu exiles in 1990 in Belgium, where it has since been based.[3b]
Justin Mugenzi
One of the leaders of the PL, formed in 1991, which split into two factions between late 1993 and early 1994: the pro-MRNDD faction, led by Mugenzi and Agnès Ntambyariro; and the anti-MRNDD faction, led by Prosper Higiro, Esdra Kayiranga and Joseph Nsengimana, who is the government's current minister of civil service and labour.[3b]
Augustin Mutamba
Leader of Parerwa, formed in Kigali in 1992.[3b]
Jean N Nayinzira
Leader of the PCD, formed in 1990, and the government's current minister of information.[3b]
Mathieu Ngirumpatse
Chairman of the MRNDD, banned by the RPF in 1994 from participation in transitional government and legislature.[3b]
Emmanuel Nizeyimana
Leader of the RTD, formed in Kigali in 1991.[3b]
François Nsabahimana
Chairman of the RDR, formed in 1995 by exiled former supporters of Habyarimana, which has drawn support from refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.[3b]
Joseph Nsengimana
Leader of the PL, formed in 1991, which split into two factions between late 1993 and early 1994: the pro-MRNDD faction, led by Justin Mugenzi and Agnès Ntambyariro; and the anti-MRNDD faction, led by Prosper Higiro, Esdra Kayiranga and Nsengimana.[3b] The government's current minister of civil service and labour.[8a]
Dismas Nsengiyaremye
Member of the MDR and prime minister of the transitional coalition government between April 1992 and July 1993, when he was replaced by Agathe Uwilingiyimana, because of his insistence that the government include RPF representatives.[3b]
Jean Ntagungira
Leader of Pader, formed in Kigali in 1992.[3b]
Charles Ntakirutinka
One of the leaders of the PSD, formed in Kigali in 1991 by a breakaway faction of the MRND.[3b] Current minister of communications.[8a]
Agnès Ntambyariro
One of the leaders of the PL, formed in 1991, which split into two factions between late 1993 and early 1994: the pro-MRNDD faction, led by Justin Mugenzi and Ntambyariro; and the anti-MRNDD faction, led by Prosper Higiro, Esdra Kayiranga and Joseph Nsengimana, who is the government's current minister of civil service and labour.[3b]
Théogène Rudasingwa
Secretary-general of the RPF, which dominates the current coalition government.[3b]
Marc Rugenera
One of the leaders of the PSD, formed in Kigali in 1991 by a breakaway faction of the MRND.[3b] Current minister of tourism.[8a]
Pierre-Célestin Rwigyema
Prime minister since August 1995, and leader of the Hutu-dominated MDR.[8a]
Seth Sendashonga
Minister of the interior and communal development between July 1994 and August 1995, when he was replaced following his criticism of the security forces' handling of the refugee crisis. In 1996 became leader, together with Faustin Twagiramungu, of the newly-formed FRD, based in Belgium.[3b] In May 1998, was assassinated in Nairobi, and whilst the Rwandan government is suspected of involvement, it has denied the allegations.[24d]
Théodore Sindikubwabo
Speaker of the CND prior to the genocide, who on 8 April 1994, announced that he had assumed the office of interim president of the republic, in the wake of Habyarimana's death.[3b]
Emmanuel Twagilimana
Secretary-general of the UPR, formed by Hutu exiles in 1990 in Belgium, where it has since been based.[3b]
Faustin Twagiramungu
Former leader of the anti-MRNDD faction of the MDR (formerly known as Parmehutu), which split into two between late 1993 and early 1994. He was prime minister between July 1994 and August 1995, when he was replaced due to his criticism of the government's lack of adherence to the Arusha Accord with regard to power-sharing, and of the security forces' use of violence in their management of the refugee crisis. Currently leader of the FRD, formed in Belgium in 1996 with other Hutu moderates living in exile, which advocates the return of Rwanda to UN Trust Territory status, pending the resolution of its internal security difficulties.[3b]
Agathe Uwilingiyimana
Member of the MDR and prime minister between July 1993 and 7 April 1994, the first day of the genocide, when she, along with other prominent Hutu politicians, was murdered.[3b]
ANNEX C - COMMON ABBREVIATIONS/POLITICAL GROUPS
L'Armée de Libération du Rwanda (Rwandan Liberation Army), emerged in 1998 as the armed wing of PALIR (see PALIR), comprising Hutu rebels of the former FAR and Interahamwe (see FAR and Interahamwe), which subsequently claimed responsibility for ongoing massacres in Rwanda, primarily in north-western regions.[32b]
Coalition pour la Défense de la République (Coalition for the Defence of the Republic), formed in Kigali in 1992.[3b] Extremist Hutu organisation, allied to the MRNDD (see MRNDD), it operates an unofficial militia known as Impuzamugambi (see Impuzamugambi), which together with the Interahamwe (see Interahamwe) participated in the genocide.[1a] Participation in transitional government and legislature was proscribed by the RPF-led administration in 1994.[3b]
Conseil National du Développement (National Council for Development), the national assembly under the Habyarimana regime.[6a]
Forces Armées Rwandais (Rwandan Armed Forces), the Hutu army of President Habyarimana's regime, which attempted to halt the invasion of the RPF (see RPF) in October 1990. When stalemate ensued, Habyarimana came under pressure to agree to a power-sharing agreement which was eventually signed at Arusha, Tanzania, in August 1993. Following Habyarimana's death in April 1994, the new extremist Hutu government began the genocide against the Tutsis and those Hutu moderates who opposed them, with the backing of the FAR, which was eventually defeated by the RPF in July 1994.[1b] It then became based across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), together with members of the former Hutu extremist government, where they threatened to renew the civil war.[[14a] Cross-border incidents continue to exacerbate the troubled security situation in Rwanda, particularly in the north-west.[14c]
Forces de Resistance pour la Démocratie (Forces of Resistance for Democracy), formed in 1996 by Hutu moderates in exile in Belgium, where it has since been based; advocates the return of Rwanda to UN Trust Territory status, pending the resolution of its internal security difficulties. Led by Faustin Twagiramungu.[3b]
Front de Résistance Intérieure (Interior Resistance Front), an armed front operating within Rwanda, whose creation was announced by PALIR (see PALIR), in June 1996.[7e]
OAU-sponsored Military Observer Group, established in July 1992, comprising representatives from the RPF and the transitional government of Rwanda, together with officers drawn from the armed forces of Nigeria, Senegal, Zimbabwe and Mali, to contain the RPF frontline. Was incorporated into UNAMIR in December 1993.[3b]
UN-sponsored Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda, following the genocide was given a mandate to carry out activities related to the promotion and protection of human rights and the investigation of the human rights situation in Rwanda. Whilst the HRFOR was initially hindered by confusion, delays, lack of expert personnel and resources, by the end of 1995 it was said to be playing a useful role in the protection of human rights.[7d] In July 1998, the HRFOR finally decided to withdraw from Rwanda because of government hostility and the subsequent refusal to allow it to continue in its monitoring role.[35b]
UN-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, comprising six members and headed by a Senegalese lawyer, Laity Kama, established in June 1995 for a four-year term. Based in Arusha, Tanzania, the tribunal intended to investigate allegations made against some 400 individuals of direct involvement in the planning and execution of the 1994 genocide, and started proceedings in late November 1995.[3b] By September 1998, it had issued a total of 35 indictments, and sentenced former prime minister, Jean Kambanda, to life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty.[37a]
Impuzamugambi = 'Those who have only one aim.'
The youth wing of the CDR (see CDR) and its civilian militia, which joined with the Interahamwe (see Interahamwe) in carrying out intimidation raids against the Tutsi population and Hutus who supported the implementation of democracy.[2] During the genocide, the two militias became indistinguishable.[1a]
Interahamwe = 'Those who stand together.'
The youth wing of the MRNDD (see MRNDD), comprising civilian militias, trained and armed by the Rwandan army (see FAR) from 1990, to carry out a campaign of intimidation and terrorism against the Tutsis and moderate Hutus who supported democracy and negotiations with the RPF (see RPF).[2] Together with the Rwandan army, it was a principal instrument of the Rwandan genocide between April and July 1994.[1a] It is estimated to have numbered around 30,000 at that time.[3b]
Mouvement Démocatique Républicain (Democratic Republican Movement), formerly known as Parmehutu (see Parmehutu). Between late 1993 and early 1994, it split into two factions: the pro-MRNDD faction, led by Froduald Karamira, with mainly Hutu support, and the anti-MRNDD faction, led by Faustin Twagiramungu, with multi-ethnic support.[3b] It was the main opposition party and, since July 1994, has been the main coalition partner.[6a] Its current leader, Pierre-Célestin Rwigyema, is also prime minister.[8a]
Mouvement Révolutionnaire National pour la Démocratie et le Développement (National Revolutionary Movement for Democracy and Development, until April 1991 the National Revolutionary Movement for Development, MRND),[3b] formed by Juvénal Habyarimana in 1975, and remained in power until his death in 1994.[5] Sole legal party until 1991; draws support from hardline Hutu elements and operates the unofficial militia known as the Interahamwe.[3b] Many of its leaders were among the main organisers of the genocide.[6a] Chaired by Mathieu Ngirumpatse. Banned by the RPF in 1994 from participation in transitional government and legislature.[3b]
Organisation of African Unity, formed in 1963, to promote unity and solidarity among African states, 52 of which are members, including Rwanda.[3b]
Parti Démocratique Rwandais (Rwandan Democratic Party), formed in Kigali in 1992, has a central committee of four members, whose secretary is Jean Ntagungira.[3b]
Peuple en Armes pour la Libération du Rwanda (People in Arms for the Liberation of Rwanda), emerged in June 1996, when it announced the creation of an armed front within Rwanda, called FRI (see FRI).[7e] In June 1998, its armed wing appeared to have been renamed, ALIR (see ALIR).[32b]
Parti Républicain Rwandais (Rwandan Republican Party), formed in Kigali in 1992, and led by Augustin Mutamba.[3b]
Parti de l'Emancipation du Peuple Hutu (Party for the Emancipation of the Hutus), formed in 1957 during Belgian rule, and came to power under the leadership of Grégoire Kayibanda following independence in 1962.[5] It was the dominant party between 1962 and 1973, and was later renamed the MDR (see MDR).[3b]
Parti Chrétien Démocrate (Christian Democrat Party), formed in 1991[2] and led by Jean Nepomucène Nayinzira.[3b] The smallest of the four main opposition parties [6a] and current coalition partner.[8a]
Parti Démocratique Islamique (Democratic Islamic Party), formed in Kigali in 1992.[3b] Represents the small Rwandan Muslim community.[6a]
Parti Ecologiste (Ecologist Party), formed in Kigali in 1992.[3b] Closely allied with the MRNDD and later with the interim government in power during the genocide.[6a]
Parti Libéral (Liberal Party), formed in 1991, and split into two factions between late 1993 and early 1994: the pro-MRNDD faction, led by Justin Mugenzi and Agnès Ntambyariro; and the anti-MRNDD faction, led by Prosper Higiro, Joseph Nsengimana and Esdra Kayiranga.[3b] Ranked third among the opposition parties,[6a] and current coalition partner.[8a]
Parti Progressiste de la Jeunesse Rwandaise (Rwandan Progressive Youth Party), formed in Kigali in 1991 and led by André Hakizimana.[3b] Pro-MRNDD before and during the genocide.[6a]
Parti Social Démocrate (Social Democrat Party), formed in Kigali in 1991 by a breakaway faction of the MRND (see MRNDD).[3b] The second largest of the main opposition parties,[6a] and current coalition partner.[8a]
Parti Socialiste Rwandaise (Rwandan Socialist Party), formed in Kigali in 1991, concerned with the rights of workers.[3b]
Rassemblement pour le Retour des Réfugiés et la Démocratie au Rwanda (Association for the Return of Refugees and Democracy in Rwanda), formed in 1995 by exiled former supporters of Habyarimana; has drawn support from refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Chaired by François Nsabahimana.[3b] In June 1997, it announced that it intended to transform itself into a political party.[17a]
Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (Rwandan Patriotic Army), the RPF army (see RPF).
Front Patriotique Rwandais (Rwandan Patriotic Front), also known as Inkotanyi, it comprises mainly Tutsi exiles, but claims multi-ethnic support.[3b] Formed by exiles in Uganda in 1988,[2] following their participation in the victory of Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army against the Ugandan dictator, Milton Obote. In October 1990, its armed wing, the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), invaded Rwanda from Uganda and after heavy fighting in which French and Zairean troops were called upon to assist the government, a ceasefire was signed on 29 March 1991.[5] However, conflict continued and subsequent attempts to broker an effective ceasefire were largely unsuccessful.[3a] In February 1993, the RPF launched a fresh offensive and reached the outskirts of Kigali. The fighting continued for several months until the Arusha Accord of August 1993, whereby Habyarimana agreed to the integration of RPF troops into a new Rwandan army, which was not to take place. On 8 April 1994, the RPF launched a major offensive to end the genocide and to rescue its 600 troops in Kigali, where they had been stationed under the terms of the Arusha Accord. Following the defeat of the Rwandan army, the FAR (see FAR), in July 1994, the RPF set up an interim government of national unity in Kigali, amidst reports that its own troops were carrying out a series of reprisal killings throughout the country.[5] It has remained in power since, and although it currently has a minority of cabinet and assembly seats, it continues to dominate the government's policies.[9a]
Rassemblement Travailliste pour la Démocratie (Workers' Association for Democracy), formed in Kigali in 1991, and led by Emmanuel Nizeyimana.[3b] Pro-MRNDD before and during the genocide.[6a]
Union Démocratique du Peuple Rwandais (Democratic Union of Rwandan People), formed in Kigali in 1992, and led by Vincent Gwabukwisi (president) and Sylvestre Hubi (vice-president).[3b] Pro-MRNDD before the genocide, but then joined the opposition.[6a]
United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda (incorporating GOM and UNOMUR), despatched to Rwanda in December 1993 for an initial period of six months, as a result of the Arusha Accord of August 1993, to guarantee the transition to peace and democracy.[1a] On 21 April 1994, its numbers were reduced from 2,500 to 250, following the murder of ten of its Belgian soldiers.[5] However, in June 1994, its mandate was extended for a further six months (UNAMIR II), with a view to expanding its numbers to 5,500. Its mandate was subsequently extended until March 1996, and by the end of the following month its last members had left Rwanda.[3b]
Union Nationale Rwandaise (National Rwandan Union), formed towards the end of the period of Belgian rule in the 1950s, by Tutsis who wished to distance themselves from their colonial rulers, in anticipation of a post-independence battle for power with the Hutus.[5]
United Nations Observer Mission Uganda-Rwanda, deployed on the Ugandan side of the border in June 1993, in order to ensure that no military supply lines would be maintained for the RPF. In December 1993, it was incorporated into UNAMIR (see UNAMIR), and its mandate was formally terminated in September 1994.[3b]
United Nations Office for Rwanda, established following the departure of UNAMIR (see UNAMIR) in April 1996, and comprising a special representative, five officials and twelve local staff. Its mandate is to serve as a small co-ordinating, advocacy and advisory office, whilst the special representative is tasked with co-ordinating UN activities in Rwanda, including the repatriation of Rwandan refugees.[3b]
Union du Peuple Rwandais (Union of Rwandan People), formed in 1990 by Hutu exiles in Belgium, where it has since been based. Led by Silas Majyambere (president) and Emmanuel Twagilimana (secretary-general).[3b]
ANNEX D - POLITICAL STRUCTURE [8c]
Official name
République Rwandaise (Republic of Rwanda).
Form of state
Unitary republic.
Legal system
Based on Belgian law, the June 1991 constitution and the Arusha Accord of August 1993.
National legislature
Assemblée nationale (national assembly), with 70 members, appointed by the government in consultation with party leaders.
National elections
December 1988 (presidential and legislative); next elections: no date has yet been set.
Head of state
President, Pasteur Bizimungu, appointed by the RPF on 17 July 1994.
National government
Self-appointed in July 1994 and consisting of ministers from the RPF, MDR, PSD, PL and PCD; last reshuffle, March 1997.
Government as of February 1999
President Pasteur Bizimungu (RPF)
Prime minister Pierre-Célestin Rwigyema (MDR)
Vice-president Paul Kagame (RPF), also minister of defence
Key ministers:
Agriculture, Animal Resources and Forestry: Ephraim Kabaija ((RPF)
Civil service & labour: Jean Damascene Nayinzira (PDC)
Commerce: Marc Rugenera (PSD)
Communications: Vincent Biruta (PSD)
Education: Emmanu el Mudidi (RPF)
Gender and Women in Development: Angeline Muganza (RPF)
Finance: Donald Kaberuka (RPF)
Foreign affairs: Amri Sued (independent) - replaced on 7th July 1999
by Dr Augustin Iyamuremye
Health: Ezechias Rwabuhihi (RPF)
Information: Augustin Iyamuremye (PSD)
Justice: Jean de Dieu Mucyo (independent)
President's office: Patrick Hazimpaka (RPF)
Public works: Vicent Biruta (PSD)
[1] AFRICAN RIGHTS
(a) 1995 (b) April 1996
[2] RWANDA AND GENOCIDE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, ALAIN DESTEXHE, Pluto Press, London, 1995.
[3] EUROPA YEARBOOK PUBLICATIONS
(a) Europa World Year Book, Volume II - 1997
(b) Africa: South of the Sahara - 1998
[4] STATESMAN'S YEAR BOOK: 1995-1996, BRIAN HUNTER (Ed), Macmillan, London, 1996.
[5] SEASON OF BLOOD: A RWANDAN JOURNEY, FERGAL KEANE, Viking,
London, 1995.
[6] GÉRARD PRUNIER
(a) The Rwanda Crisis 1959-1994: History of a Genocide, Hurst & Co, London,1995
(b) Rwanda: The Social, Political and Economic Situation in June 1997,
WRITENET (UK), July 1997.
[7] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
(a) May 92 (d) Sept 95 (g) 08/04/97 (j) 23/06/98
(b) 20/10/94 (e) 12/08/96 (h) 25/09/97
(c) 06/04/95 (f) Jan 97 (i) 19/12/97
[8] EIU (ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT) REPORTS
(a) 4th Quarter 1997 (b) 1st Quarter 1998 (c) 2nd Quarter 1998
[9] FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE - Background Brief
(a) October 1997 (b) September 1998 (c) July 1999
[10] FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE / DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT - Annual Report on Human Rights
(a) April 1998
[11] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH/AFRICA
(a) May 94 (c) April 1995 (e) May 1995
(b) December 1994 (d) World Report 1997
[12] UN HUMAN RIGHTS FIELD OPERATION IN RWANDA (HRFOR)
(a) 24/01/97 (b) 27/02/97 (c) Mar/Apr 97 (d) 28/08/97
[13] US COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES
(a) World Refugee Survey 1997
[14] US DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Rwanda
(a) Issued March 1996 - covering 1995 (c) Issued Jan 1998 - covering 1997
(b) Issued Jan 1997 - covering 1996 (d) Issued Feb 1999 - covering 1998
[15] THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER
(a) 05/12/97 (b) 13/01/98 (c) 25/09/98
[16] THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
(a) 16/12/97 (b) 13/01/98 (c) 23/05/98 (d) 03/08/98
[17] KEESING'S RECORD OF WORLD EVENTS
(a) June 97
[18] DAILY TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER
(a) 07/08/98 (b) 03/10/98
[19] SUNDAY TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER
(a) 18/01/98
[20] THE TIMES NEWSPAPER
(a) 12/12/97 (b) 10/04/98 (c) 11/06/98 (d) 22/09/98
[21] WEST AFRICA MAGAZINE
(a) 25-31/03/96 (c) 28/07-03/08/97 (e) 08-14/12/97
(b) 06-12/01/97 (d) 22-28/09/97 (f) May 99
[22] BBC WORLD MONITORING SERVICE - 'Le Figaro', French Newspaper
(a) 22/11/97
[23] BBC WORLD MONITORING SERVICE - Rwandan News Agency (RNA), Kigali
(a) 26/11/97 (e) 12/03/98 (i) 30/06/99
(b) 11/12/97 (f) 23/06/98 (j) 02/07/99
(c) 15/12/97 (g) 04/08/98 (k) 08/07/99
(d) 07/01/98 (h) 24/06/99 (l) 18/08/99
[24] BBC WORLD MONTORING SERVICE - Radio Rwanda, Kigali
(a) 08/12/97 (f) 25/11/98 (j) 03/07/99 (n) 20/07/99
(b) 22/01/98 (g) 01/12/98 (k) 07/07/99 (o) 11/08/99
(c) 12/04/98 (h) 19/01/99 (l) 14/07/99 (p) 19/08/99
(d) 18/05/98 (i) 04/03/99 (m) 17/07/99 (q) 21/08/99
(e) 09/10/98
[25] BBC WORLD MONITORING SERVICE - Gabonese Africa No 1 radio, Libreville
(a) 01/02/98
[26] UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS - Chart of Ratifications (a) 31 December 1996
[27] UN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, commission on Human Rights
(a) 16/02/95 (c) 15/08/97 (e) 09/02/98
(b) 17/03/97 (d) 19/12/97
[28] UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY - Executive Committee of the
Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(a) 17/10/97
[29] UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS/CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - Project Document: Technical Co-operation Agreement with the Government of Rwanda, (for implementation from) 1 September 1997
(a) 01/09/97
[30] UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
(a) 11/07/97 (b) Jan 98
[31] BBC WORLD MONITORING SERVICE - Radio France Internationale (RFI), Paris
(a) 22/01/98
[32] BBC WORLD MONITORING SERVICE - Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency, Paris
(a) 07/12/97 (b) 13/06/98 (c) 01/07/98 (d) 27/08/98
[33] SAPA (South African) news agency, Johannesburg
(a) 30/08/98
[34] ALL AFRICA NEWS AGENCY (AANA), Kigali
(a) 18/05/98
[35] REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
(a) 26/05/98 (e) 04/12/98 (i) 09/08/99
(b) 16/07/98 (f) 10/07/99 (j) 10/08/99
(c) 24/07/98 (g) 21/07/99 (k) 11/08/99
(d) 05/09/98 (h) 03/08/99 (l) 20/08/99
[36] INTER PRESS SERVICE (IPS)
(a) 04/06/98
[37] AFRICA NEWS SERVICE (ANS), London
(a) 14/09/98
[38] XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
(a) 11/01/99 (d) 29/07/99 (g) 04/08/99 (j) 18/08/99
(b) 22/07/99 (e) 03/08/99 (h) 10/08/99
(c) 28/07/99 (f) 03/08/99 (i) 11/08/99
[39] THE ECONOMIST
(a) 14/08/99
[40] THE CANBERRA TIMES
(a) 14/08/99
[41] MISSIONARY SERVICE NEWS AGENCY (MISNA), ITALY
(a) 18/08/99
[42] HIRONDELLE INDEPENDENT PRESS, NEWS AGENCY
(a) 30/07/99 (b) 17/08/99
[43] PAN AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY (PANA)
(a) 09/07/99 (b) 20/08/99