Rwanda: Update to RWA28849.F of 2 March 1998 on the risk incurred by Tutsis in denouncing Hutus who participated in the 1994 genocide and the ability of authorities to protect them

The following information was provided during a telephone interview on 2 September 1999 with a person responsible for legal aid services in IBUKA [Remember], an umbrella group of Rwandan non-governmental organizations that are advocates for the survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. IBUKA, whose head office is in Kigali, is made up of 19 other associations of genocide survivors throughout the country.

The main problems faced by the survivors of the 1994 genocide are the following: the first is a fear of the people who were accused of having taken part in the genocide and imprisoned but who have since been released under the government's new policy of "unclogging" the prisons. Genocide survivors are afraid of these people returning to the hills where they have to live together. Some survivors are so afraid that they prefer to take refuge in the cities or even to leave the country if they have the means.

Furthermore, certain administrative and judicial officials, who are corrupt or who are related to the persons accused of participating in the 1994 genocide, are using every possible means including intimidation and harassment to discourage survivors from denouncing, or from taking legal action against, those who killed members of their families during the genocide.

Lastly, for genocide survivors, the threat comes from people who have not yet been accused, who sometimes hold important positions in the new government and who are afraid of being denounced by survivors. In this latter case, survivors are under enormous pressure, including physical or psychological aggression, aimed at forcing them to move and live in remote regions.

The legal aid official in IBUKA gave two examples. In one case, a woman named Mujawamariya Godèrive was killed on 21 July 1999 in the Rushashi commune in rural Kigali for having denounced people who participated in the 1994 genocide. In another case, a child was recently poisoned by neighbours in Kimisagara, a district of Kigali, because he recognized them as the people who had killed members of his family and he was about to denounce them to the authorities.

As for the protection of the genocide survivors, the IBUKA legal aid official stated that authorities have been successful in combating "infiltrators" [people who came from outside to attack the population], who targetted in particular the survivors of the genocide. However, he added that it is difficult for the authorities to protect survivors where the threat is no longer coming from "infiltrators" but from neighbours or representatives of the authorities themselves.

A representative of Human Rights Watch (HRW) who is responsible for monitoring the situation in the African Great Lakes region and who has published several documents on Rwanda (since 1972), provided the following information during a telephone conversation on 9 September 1999.

Given the horrors experienced, survivors of the 1994 genocide and massacres (Tutsis and moderate Hutus) are still living, in general, with a feeling of insecurity. Although authorities have succeeded in pacifying the northern and north-western regions which, a year ago, were still very dangerous, the HRW representative pointed out that, based on her observations and discussions with survivors, they do not feel reassured. They continue to be haunted by the possibility that the genocide might begin again. In addition to these psychological problems, genocide survivors are often subject to various types of pressure, intimidation and threats. Indeed, certain administrative and judicial officials who are sometimes corrupt are putting a great deal of pressure on survivors so that they do not denounce certain persons who were involved in the genocide. Other officials, either because they are "extremists" or for unstated reasons (jealousy, illegal expropriation, etc.), are pressuring survivors to give false testimony against people by wrongly accusing them of having participated in the 1994 genocide and massacres.

In some Hutu – dominated areas, the feeling of insecurity among Tutsis is reinforced by the release of Hutus who were arrested for participating in the genocide but who have been freed following international pressure on the Rwandan government. The fact that Hutu refugees who had escaped abroad after the victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in July 1994 are gradually returning – especially from the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the rebellion that has broken out in that country – further reinforces this feeling of insecurity among survivors.

Information to corroborate these claims could not be found within the time constraints of this Response.

For information on witnesses appearing before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha and on their protection, please consult the attached copy of a 3 February 1999 letter from the head of the witness and victim assistance section.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Human Rights Watch (HRW). 9 September 1999. Telephone interview with a person who is responsible for monitoring the situation in the African Great Lakes.

IBUKA, Kigali. 2 September 1999. Telephone interview with a person responsible for legal aid services.

Attachment

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Arusha. 3 February 1999. Letter received by the Research Directorate.

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Confidential [London]. 1999.

Amnesty International.

Amnesty International. Annual Report. 1999.

L'Autre Afrique [Paris]. 1999.

Country Reports. 1999.

Resource Centre Country File: Rwanda. 1999.

FIDH.

La Lettre hebdomadaire de la FIDH [Paris]. 1999.

Human Rights Watch (HRW/Africa).

Human Rights Watch (HRW). Annual Report. 1999.

Jeune Afrique [Paris]. 1999.

Missionary Service News Agency (MISNA).

Electronic Sources : IRB Databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, World News Connection (WNC).

One oral source did not provide information on the subject.