[2] AI: New Report On Rwanda

Text:

Subject:

AI: New report on Rwanda
Date:
Thu, 25 Jun 1998 18:13:11 +0200
From:
sdv <sdivita@skyol.it>
To:
congosol@skyol.it




Public Amnesty International


RWANDA
The hidden violence:
"disappearances" and
killings continue

23 June 1998

SUMMARY AI INDEX: AFR 47/23/98

DISTR: SC/CC/CO/GR

Between December 1997 and May 1998, hundreds and possibly thousands of people "disappeared" across Rwanda. Thousands of others were killed by members of the Rwandese security forces and by armed opposition groups. The most vulnerable sectors of the population are continuing to suffer, unnoticed by most of the international community, as the armed conflict in the northwest of Rwanda rages on. Soldiers of the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA) as well as members of armed opposition groups - the latter believed to include members of the former Rwandese army and interahamwe militia responsible for many massacres during the 1994 genocide - are deliberately targeting unarmed civilians - men, women and children, often without discrimination. By early 1998, reports of killings and "disappearances" had become so routine that many Rwandese seemed resigned to this violence as an inevitable part of their lives. Yet steps can be taken by those with power and influence to stop these atrocities.

This report provides an overview of some of the grave human rights abuses carried out in Rwanda from December 1997 to May 1998, with a particular focus on the patterns of "disappearances", extrajudicial executions by members of the Rwandese security forces - particularly by RPA soldiers - and deliberate and arbitrary killings by armed opposition groups. The examples of human rights abuses contained in this report represent only a small fraction of those gathered during this period.

In February 1998, Amnesty International delegates visited different regions of Rwanda, including the northwestern region of Gisenyi. Despite the inaccessibility of certain areas due to widespread insecurity, they were able to gather detailed testimonies on killings, "disappearances" and other human rights abuses, from victims, relatives of victims, witnesses and other sources. This report is based in part on those testimonies, and in part on subsequent confirmation, as well as fresh evidence, gathered since March 1998 from sources inside and outside Rwanda.

While in Rwanda, Amnesty International delegates also held talks with senior representatives of the Rwandese Government and security forces. The authorities' response to the human rights concerns raised is summarized in this report.

This report includes a set of recommendations to the Rwandese authorities and armed opposition groups operating in Rwanda, aimed at preventing further "disappearances", extrajudicial executions and deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians. It also includes recommendations to foreign governments and intergovernmental organizations who have a critical role to play in impressing upon the Rwandese authorities and leaders of armed opposition groups that the deliberate targeting of the civilian population will never succeed in bringing peace and reconciliation to the country.

This report summarizes a 50-page document (18,909 words) : RWANDA - The hidden violence: "disappearances" and killings continue (AI Index: AFR 47/23/98) issued by Amnesty International on 23 June 1998. Anyone wishing further details or to take action on this issue should consult the full document.

INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT, 1 EASTON STREET, LONDON WC1X 8DJ, UNITED KINGDOM



---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comitato di solidarieta' con il Congo-Kinshasa congosol@skyol.it
http://www.peacelink.it/users/bukavu/zhome.html


Prev | Next | Contents