Twenty years after the pivotal events of 1994, it is time that Western media ‘news’ consumers – scholars, peace workers, academics, clergy, politicians, humanitarian aid workers, everyone – took responsibility for their own participation in the ‘Rwanda Genocide’ hysteria or, as it is, industry.
Media war
The New York Times led the charge into Rwanda, and the Western media continued to beat the ‘Tutsis as victims’ drum roll. There was, after all, a lot of money to be made. Wall Street vultures began drooling. Military and intelligence operatives like David Kimche (Israel) and Roger Winter (USA) jockeyed for position – organizing logistics, maintaining supply chains, arranging weapons shipments – to support ‘our’ man Kagame and our proxy guerrilla army, the RPF. The Washington Post, Boston Globe, CNN, the Observer all described the RPF guerrillas as a highly ‘disciplined’ army: if any woman was raped or civilian massacred, it was an accident, a rogue soldier, and said soldier would be duly punished (of course, they never were).
Paul Kagame put into practice what his teachers, the military strategists at the US Army Command and Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (USA), taught him: psychological operations and how to overthrow a country.
In Rwanda, the country report notes that “the Government’s human rights record remains poor” and “citizens do not have the right to change their government.” In addition, the State Department notes that “the security forces carry out extrajudicial killings within the country” and that there were “many reports, some of which were credible, that Rwandan army units operating across the country carry out deliberate extrajudicial killings and other serious abuses.”
(Nairobi) – An increasing number of people have been forcibly disappeared or have been reported missing inRwanda since March 2014. Many of the cases occurred in Rubavu district, in Western Province.
In some cases, the whereabouts of the people involved are still unknown several weeks later. Human Rights Watch has received information that some of the people who were forcibly disappeared were detained by Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) soldiers and believes they may be in military custody.
“Enforced disappearances are a heinous crime, not least because of the anguish and suffering they cause to family and friends,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Rwandan police and judicial authorities have strict and absolute obligations to thoroughly investigate any case of enforced disappearance.”
If the people who have been forcibly disappeared have been arrested, the authorities should immediately acknowledge their detention, reveal their whereabouts, and allow them access to their families and to a lawyer, Human Rights Watch said. The authorities should either release those being held or inform them of the charges against them and bring them before a court.
Human Rights Watch collected detailed accounts of 14 people who have been forcibly disappeared or who have been reported missing in Rubavu since March and has received credible accounts of several more cases in Rubavu and Musanze districts, as well as in the capital, Kigali. In at least eight of the Rubavu cases, there were indications of involvement of state agents in the disappearances. Several witnesses said they saw the executive secretary of Gisenyi sector, Honoré Mugisha, taking part in arrests of people who were forcibly disappeared.
Rwandan officials told Human Rights Watch that they were investigating the cases, but have not provided any information on the progress or results of their investigations.
The families of many of those who have been forcibly disappeared or gone missing have written to local and national authorities, asking that their loved ones’ location be made public so that they can visit them. One received a response from the office of the mayor of Rubavu, acknowledging receipt of the letter and saying they were looking into the case. The other family members who spoke to Human Rights Watch have not received any response. One woman said she had searched for her husband in vain and was giving up hope. “I have no idea where he is, I really don’t,” she told Human Rights Watch. “He is gone without a trace.”
Information gathered by Human Rights Watch indicates that some of the people who have been forcibly disappeared may have been detained on suspicion of being members of, or working with, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda,FDLR). The predominantly Rwandan armed opposition group, based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, consists in part of people who participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Several of those who have been forcibly disappeared used to visit relatives or conduct business in Congo, and these movements appear to have attracted the suspicion of Rwandan authorities.
Rubavu’s proximity to the Congolese town of Goma, just across the border, means that many Rwandans frequently cross the border for commercial activities. Others have relatives living in Congo.
Since 2010, Human Rights Watch has documented a number of cases of people accused of being FDLR members or collaborators, or charged with state security offenses, and who were detained incommunicado by the military and forced to confess to crimes, or implicate others, sometimes under torture. When they were eventually brought to trial, some of the defendants told the judges that their confessions had been extracted under torture. However, in many cases, the judges disregarded their claims and proceeded to convict them in the absence of any other evidence.
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| Nsengimana Alfred in handcuffs gunned down by Kagame’s police in public outside the prison alleging that he was trying to escape |
In view of the sensitivity of being associated with people suspected of links with the FDLR, the Rwandan government and police should ensure that relatives of the disappeared are not threatened or harmed for inquiring about their cases, Human Rights Watch said.
Civilians should not be detained in military custody, and all victims of enforced disappearances have a right to a remedy, Human Rights Watch said.
An enforced disappearance occurs when someone is deprived of their liberty by agents of the state or those acting with its acquiescence, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person.
| You cannot escape from the prison while in handcuffs and heavy chains |
“We are concerned that some of the people who have disappeared could face a similar fate to those accused of FDLR involvement or state security offenses in the past,” Bekele said. “The Rwandan authorities should make every effort to locate these people.”
For details about the circumstances of the disappearances, recommendations, and a summary of some of the cases Human Rights Watch investigated, please see below.
Involvement of Military and Local Government Officials
Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that they saw a local government official and RDF soldiers detaining some of those who have disappeared.
On April 16, two village chiefs, Elie Semajeri and Shamusi Umubyeyi, and a traditional doctor, Jean-Bosco Bizimungu, were detained in the Kabuga, Majengo, and Ihuriro neighborhoods of Gisenyi sector. Local residents said that soldiers, together with the executive secretary of Gisenyi sector, Honoré Mugisha, detained these people near their homes. Witnesses also cited Mugisha in connection with other disappearances.
Mugisha told Human Rights Watch on May 8 that he had heard rumors of these accusations against him but said he did not understand them. He maintained that on April 16, he was in Ruhengeri, a town more than an hour away, visiting his sick mother, and said he did not learn that the two village chiefs had disappeared until April 18.
Yet six witnesses separately confirmed to Human Rights Watch that Mugisha was personally involved in the detentions on April 16. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that when local residents questioned the detention of Umubyeyi, Mugisha said he took responsibility for it and said: “We are going to ask her some questions and then we will release her.” Similarly, Mugisha told a person close to Semajeri: “He has questions to answer and then we will release him.”
The Rwandan Penal Code prohibits kidnapping and unlawful detention and specifies that it is an offense for public servants to be involved in acts violating individual liberty. Failure by public servants who are aware of an illegal deprivation of an individual’s liberty to assist or to seek assistance from a competent authority to end it also constitutes an offense.
The Rwandan Penal Code states that any civil servant who puts or retains a person in detention without a legal order shall be liable to a term of imprisonment equivalent to the term incurred by the illegally detained person. An act of enforced disappearance is not yet defined as a crime under national law, although the Penal Code recognizes enforced disappearances as one of the acts that can constitute a crime against humanity.
Official Response
He disputed a list of 14 names presented by Human Rights Watch saying, “I really don’t think this can be right. This is too many people.” He said: “We are next to the DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo]. Some people can leave for the DRC for days or weeks or even months and not tell others.”
“If a soldier arrests a civilian, then he [the civilian] should immediately be sent to me,” he said. “The military can never arrest a civilian.”
On May 9, local and provincial officials held a public meeting at the football stadium in Gisenyi sector. Before this meeting, a rumor was circulating that the people who had been subject to enforced disappearance or were missing would be presented to the crowd.
This did not happen, but officials, including the governor of Western Province and the mayor of Rubavu, urged the population to reinforce local security efforts. A senior military official, Major General Mubarak Muganga, reportedly told the crowd that the RDF was detaining people who would later be presented to the public. He said these people had been detained because they collaborated with the FDLR and had confessed to this voluntarily.
Human Rights Watch raised cases of the disappeared and missing people with Brigadier General Joseph Nzabamwita, the spokesman for the RDF, on May 13. Responding to concerns that RDF soldiers may have been involved in unlawful detention, Nzabamwita said, “The RDF does not engage in such.” He questioned the relevance of Major General Muganga’s statement that the RDF was detaining people to reports of people subject to enforced disappearance.
Human Rights Watch also raised these cases with Justice Minister Johnston Busingye in an email on May 12. On May 13 Human Rights Watch met with Busingye, who said he would look into them.
The Law on Disappearances and Recommendations
Although a discrete crime in and of itself, the act of enforced disappearance has also long been recognized as simultaneously violating multiple human rights protections, including the prohibition of torture and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. An enforced disappearance is also a “continuing crime:” it continues to take place so long as the disappeared person remains missing, and information about his or her fate or whereabouts has not been provided.
An enforced disappearance has multiple victims. Those close to a disappeared person suffer anguish from not knowing the fate of the disappeared person, which amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment. They may also be further treated in an inhuman and degrading manner by authorities who fail to investigate or provide information on the whereabouts and fate of the disappeared person. These aspects make disappearances a particularly pernicious form of violation, and highlight the seriousness with which the authorities should take their obligations to prevent and remedy the crime.
The Rwandan government should ensure that:
A witness told Human Rights Watch:
A relative inquired about her case in April at a regular district security meeting at which a member of the RDF addressed the local population. The RDF official responded: “If it is the enemy who took her, we will look for her. If she is with us, it is because there are things we need to ask her. We need to ask her questions and then we will release her.”
Although the men described as detaining Murekatete were dressed as civilians, the white vehicle into which she was forced matches the description of other vehicles allegedly used by government forces and civilians to detain other disappeared people.
Elie Semajeri – Disappeared on April 16, 2014
An individual close to Semajeri who was near his home told Human Rights Watch:
The next day, a relative of Semajeri went to Gisenyi police station to look for him. The police told her he was not there, and advised her that if he had been arrested by the military, she should check at the military camp.
On May 2 Semajeri’s relatives dropped letters at local government offices explaining how he was arrested by soldiers in the presence of Mugisha. They have not received a response.
Shamusi Umubyeyi – Disappeared on April 16, 2014
A local resident told Human Rights Watch:
On April 25 relatives of Umubyeyi dropped off letters at local government offices explaining how she was arrested and requesting help in finding her. They have not received a response. When a person close to Umubyeyi inquired about her at the Division III military headquarters in Gisenyi, commonly known as “CEPGL,” a military official told him, “If you continue to insist on following this case, you too could become a victim.”
Hassani Bizimana – Disappeared on April 16, 2014
An individual close to Bizimana went to the police station the same night to look for him, but the police told him that those arrested by the military were taken to a military base commonly known as the “gendarmerie,” near the border with Congo.
The next morning he went to the “gendarmerie.” Soldiers there asked him, “Who said he was arrested by the military? Is everyone in a uniform a soldier?”
On May 2 a relative of Bizimana dropped off letters to local government and police offices reporting Bizimana’s detention by a soldier and requesting that his location be revealed. There has been no response.
Jean-Bosco Bizimungu – Disappeared on April 16, 2014
The next morning a relative of Bizimungu’s went to the village chief to explain what had happened. The chief said, “You were not the only one with this problem last night. You should go look at the police.” The relative was not able to find Bizimungu at the police station.
Alphonse Butsitsi – Disappeared on April 22, 2014
A witness told Human Rights Watch:
The day he disappeared, Butsitsi’s relatives checked the local police cells but he was not there. On April 23 and 25, his relatives dropped letters at local government offices explaining how Butsitsi was detained and requesting assistance in finding him. They later received a letter from the office of the mayor of Rubavu, acknowledging receipt of their letter and saying they were looking into the case.
Individuals close to Butsitsi also inquired about him at the Division III military headquarters. They were not able to make direct inquiries to officers, but soldiers at the base asked them, “Does [Butsitsi] go to the DRC often?”
Virginie Uwamahoro – Disappeared on April 23, 2014
On April 23 Uwamahoro was returning from a meeting in Kigali. Before arriving in Gisenyi, she called an individual close to her and said that Mugisha was looking for her, so she had to see him first. She never returned home.
An individual close to Uwamahoro asked Mugisha where she was. He said: “I asked [Mugisha] ‘Where is she and how can I see her?’ He said, ‘No, stay calm.’ But I insisted. I wanted to know where she was and he said, ‘I can’t tell you because if I reveal secrets, I risk consequences.’ He did tell me, though, that she had been arrested at the bus station in Gisenyi.” The person inquired at the police but the police simply told him to wait.
On April 25, April 29, and May 2, a relative of Uwamahoro wrote letters explaining to local officials that she was missing and asking them to reveal her location. There has been no response.
Selemane Harerimana – Disappeared on April 30, 2014
Selemane Harerimana, 38, works as a mason in Rubavu district and in the town of Goma, eastern Congo. He lives in the Amahoro neighborhood in Gisenyi sector.
On April 30 Harerimana left his home in the morning as usual. Later that morning he called a friend and told him he was being detained. He said he was going to be taken to the “gendarmerie” in the vehicle of the executive secretary. His friend went directly to the “gendarmerie” to look for him. He told Human Rights Watch:
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a “time”, yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
