Great Lakes Human Rights Link

(Sena y’u Rwanda igiye gukora ubushakashatsi bwimbitse ku ipfobya n’ihakana rya Jenoside yakorewe Abatutsi rikorerwa mu mahanga rikagira ingaruka zikomeye ku Rwanda, ikazifashisha impuguke mpuzamahanga kugira ngo intego y’ubushakashatsi izagerweho neza)

SENATE

The Great Lakes Human Rights Link is seriously concerned that the Rwandan Senate under the instructions of President Kagame is proposing a commission of genocide denial inquiry.  The Rwandan government’s inquiry into the genocide denial is fundamentally flawed and provides no accountability, legitimacy, credibility, because it is seen as RPF political continuation of covering up of the atrocities, committed by the RPF officials during and after genocide.

 

When will the people who were murdered by RPF get justice? We advise the Rwandan government to establish an independent commission of inquiry in the Genocide denial composed of independent respected personalities irrespective of their political affiliations.

Other commissions of inquiry have lost credibility because they have been political, biased and an RPF tool to solicit money from the International community. They did not expose the shortcomings of the inquiry, the Lessons Learnt from Rwanda Reconciliation Commission (RRC) Rwanda Human Rights Commission which don’t function independently, they have been hijacked by RPF.

All the above commissions have failed to properly pursue allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity leveled against the RPF led forces during and after genocide.  The Rwandan government has, for almost 20 years, used similar commissions as its trump card in lobbying against an international credibility.  RPF spin doctors described them as a credible accountability mechanism, able to deliver justice and promote reconciliation.

In reality they were flawed at every level: in mandate, composition and practice. Would the Rwandan Senate be different? Of course not because since the BBC Documentary that exposed the untold crimes of RPF in general and Kagame in particular, Kagame has gone on the defensive and using his old tactics of lies in the name of commissions.

From BBC Probe Commission, to Senate Commission, both commissions mandate fall far short of international standards for such inquiries. The Great Lakes Human Rights Link analysis of the former commissions and most probably the senator one, the available information obtained by the Great Lakes Human Rights Link found that they failed to appropriately investigate credible allegations of systematic violations by RPF Forces during and after genocide, including illegal killings and enforced disappearances, widespread killing of civilian targets in what might constitute ethnic cleansing.

Commissions like the BBC Probe Commission headed by RPF Former Prosecutor or MUCYO Commission who was the RPF Justice Minister, both Commissioners have publicly defended the RPF government against allegations of war crimes. Indeed, the Great Lakes Human Rights Link regards the continued establishment of commissions that  are RPF based as a  missed opportunity, negligence and politically unreasonable , because unless they investigate the crucial questions about the role of  RPF forces in war crimes and crimes against humanity, the outcome of the investigations is likely not achieve its objective.

As I have mentioned above, for more than two decades, numerous national commissions of inquiry have failed to effectively deliver justice to victims of human rights abuses in Rwanda. The Senate Inquiry is the latest in a long line of failed domestic inquiries. Impunity has been the rule rather than the exception, now exacerbated by the RPF triumphalism that rejects all responsibility for abuses carried out by its forces.

A UN Mapping Report and Experts’ report have found credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the RPF forces and the International Community has failed to recommend establishing an independent international mechanism to try all the suspects in the above allegations. The Great Lakes Human Rights Link calls on the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council to support the establishing  of an independent  mechanism  in order to pursue justice for victims and their families.

 

The international community must not be deceived into viewing the Senate Inquiry as a credible; Kagame uses all these commissions as delaying tactics and masking the international community so that his role in the Rwandan genocide is covered up. If Kagame succeeds this would allow war crimes and crimes against humanity to go unchallenged. If Kagame and RPF want credible commissions of Inquiry they must be apolitical, independent and free of any influences by allowing the respectable independent minded personalities. Without the Independent Inquiries, and the commission of inquiry in the role of RPF and Kagame during and after genocide, we don’t expect justice could be delivered to the thousands of victims of RPF brutal massacre of innocent civilians.  Indeed if the Independent inquiries are established, only then will the voices of victims really be heard. And only then can the process of post-genocide reconciliation begin to move forward.

Noble Marara

Secretary Great Lakes Human Rights Link