Having asserted that the Rwandan government is a harmonous and multi- ethnic one, Leo suddenly wants to draw a close to the discussion.
Below is Amnesty's damning report on Kagame's repressive regime.
Not surprising that Leo is retreating from his defence of Rwanda's military dictatorship. In March of this year, the last Hutu in the RPF dominated government was forced out.
Pasteur Bizimungu is the third Hutu prime minister forced out of office since the new regime came to power in 1994, following the resignation and exile of Pierre Celestin Rwigema in February 2000 and of Faustin Twagiramungu in 1995.
This is what Human Rights Watch had to say:
'"The final step of removing Bizimungu is the end of that hope of a multiethnic government," says Alison Des Forges, consultant for Human Rights Watch and author of a book on the Rwandan genocide. She says Bizimungu was the last remaining Hutu in the inner circle of power.' (quote in Christian Science Monitor, MARCH 27, 2000)
"The strongman intervened and made it clear to Bizimungu that his job was just pure illusion," Twagiramungu. "The Rwandan state exists only to symbolise the power of one single man who has taken it hostage" . (The Monitor Monday, March 27, 2000)
On March 25, Faustin Twagiramungu, prime minister between July 1994 and August 1995, accused Kagame of "holding the goverment to ransom."
Twagiramungu, a Hutu like Bizimungu, claims that Hutus in government have successively had their loyalty tested and serve mainly to offer a facade of multi-ethnicity.
"When Bizimungu resigned, the masks fell," he added. (Daily Mail and Guardian, April 4 2000)
Nor can Twagiramungu be dismissed as an embittered critic. Amnestiy International has roundly denounced the vicious assault on human rights in Kagame's Rwanda, with kangaroo courts and death sentences of questionable validity.
The report is at
http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/aireport/ar98/afr47.htm
These are some extracts:
AI REPORT 1998: RWANDA
Trials of people accused of participating in the 1994 genocide continued (see Amnesty International Report 1997). At least 320 people were tried of whom at least 111 were sentenced to death. Many of the earlier trials were grossly unfair; some defendants were denied defence lawyers and many were denied adequate time to prepare their defence. The conduct of trials improved in some respects during the year; a greater number of defendants had access to lawyers, requests for adjournments were granted more frequently, and witnesses began appearing in the courts. However, in at least one trial a defence witness failed to return to court after being threatened following her initial appearance. Other defence witnesses asked to submit their testimonies in writing as they were afraid of appearing in court, but their requests were rejected. Most defendants in trials in the western regions did not have access to legal counsel as widespread insecurity prevented lawyers from travelling there.
The trials of four individuals accused of participating in the genocide began at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. By the end of the year the ICTR had issued 22 indictments against 35 individuals and was holding 23 detainees at its detention centre in Arusha, but no trials had been completed. Despite some changes in personnel, there were continued concerns about delays in proceedings, weaknesses in the protection of witnesses and lack of experienced staff. The first ever charges relating to sexual violence were laid against a defendant at the ICTR. The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women visited Rwanda and Arusha in October to study gender issues relating to the ICTR.
Detainees in Rwanda were frequently beaten with sticks during arrest or soon after while held in detention centres. Scores of deaths in detention as a result of torture or ill-treatment were reported. In February, 12 detainees died in Rusumo detention centre, Kibungo; they had allegedly been beaten and then denied water and medical care. Many detention centres and prisons were seriously overcrowded and lacked basic hygiene and medical facilities. Many deaths in custody as a result of conditions which amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment were reported.
Scores of people were reported to have “disappeared”. In January around 20 people, including refugees who had returned from Tanzania, “disappeared” in Rusumo, Kibungo, after being arrested by a local government official. Innocent Murengezi, a lawyer, “disappeared” in Kigali in January. He had reportedly been threatened several times because of his work defending some of those accused in genocide trials. His whereabouts were unknown at the end of the year and he was feared dead. Many refugees who had returned from the former Zaire in late 1996 were reported “disappeared” or missing.
At least 111 people were sentenced to death. The Court of Appeal rejected several appeals, including those of Deogratias Bizimana and Egide Gatanazi, the first two people to be tried for participating in the genocide (see Amnesty International Report 1997); their sentences were confirmed. No judicial executions were carried out.
Hundreds of refugees returned to Burundi, where their lives were at grave risk. Many appeared to have returned under duress. Refugees in Musange transit centre in Butare were reportedly threatened by Rwandese security officials to make them leave. Many of the more than 1,700 refugees in Kigeme, Gikongoro, who returned to Burundi in late August and early September were reportedly coerced into returning.
Throughout the year, Amnesty International appealed to the authorities to ensure respect for human rights. In January Amnesty International published Rwanda: Human rights overlooked in mass repatriation, which called for long-term monitoring of the human rights situation in Rwanda and an end to forcible repatriations until the country was safe.
In April it published a report analysing the genocide trials, Rwanda: Unfair trials _ justice denied, to which the Ministry of Justice issued a public response. Amnesty International published Rwanda: Ending the silence, documenting the escalation of killings and other human rights abuses, and appealing for action by the Rwandese authorities, armed opposition groups, foreign governments and the international community, in September; and Rwanda: civilians trapped in armed conflict, which documented the further increase in killings of unarmed civilians, in December.
Amnesty International delegates undertook research in Rwanda and observed trials of those accused of participation in the genocide.
In July Amnesty International called on the South African Government not to resume the supply of light weapons and related military equipment to Rwanda, as such equipment would be likely to contribute to further human rights abuses. Amnesty International repeatedly appealed to the Rwandese Government not to forcibly return refugees to Burundi where their lives would be at grave risk.
Annual Report UPDATE:
>From January to June 1998
The public execution of 22 people in Rwanda on 24 April has further damaged hopes of peace and reconciliation in the country. Instead of eradicating the culture of violence, the government is perpetuating it.
Among those executed in front of large crowds were several people whose trials were grossly unfair. Déogratias Bizimana and Egide Gatanazi, the two first people to be tried for participation in the genocide in Rwanda, did not even have access to a defence lawyer. They were executed in Kibungo. Silas Munyagishali, former assistant prosecutor, and Virginie Mukankusi, the first woman to be tried for participation in the genocide, were executed in Kigali.
Amnesty International appealed again to leaders around the world to intervene to save the lives of more than 100 other people already sentenced to death -- and possibly thousands of others across Rwanda who could face the same fate.
The organization continues to campaign for those responsible for the deaths of as many as one million people during the genocide in 1994 to be brought to justice. It is also calling on the international community to assist Rwanda in providing trials which are prompt and fair and which exclude inhuman punishments.
Amnesty International delegates who returned from a visit to Rwanda reported a steep rise in the number of “disappearances” across the country, including in the capital, Kigali.
The first few months of 1998 were also marked by continuing massacres of unarmed civilians by soldiers of the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA) and armed opposition groups, in the context of the escalating armed conflict in the northwest. Hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed in January and February alone.
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-- James Heartfield
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