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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
RWANDA: Rebel leader released after three-week detention
AMSTERDAM, 27 Apr 2006 (IRIN) - The leader of the Hutu rebel movement, the Forces democratiques pour la liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), Ignace Murwanashyaka, has been released from the immigration jail in the western German city of Mannheim, where he had been detained pending his deportation.
"My arrest was motivated by the [November 2005] UN travel ban on FDLR leaders", Murwanashyaka told IRIN on Wednesday from Mannheim. He was released on Monday.
The UN had imposed the ban and financial sanctions on warlords and rebel leaders - among them Murwanashyaka - operating in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He was arrested on 7 April in Mannheim as he returned from a trip to eastern DRC via Uganda and Belgium.
Murwanashyaka said his refugee status was withdrawn on his return to Germany and he has to report twice a week to the police.
Created in May 2000 and based in eastern DRC, the FDLR comprises fighters believed to be members of Rwanda's "Interahamwe" militia and the former Rwandan army, largely believed to have carried out most of the killings during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Rwandan government figures show that at least 937,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed over a 100-day period.
The Rwandan government, which had announced its willingness to have Murwanashyaka brought to trial either in Germany, the DRC, Rwanda or by the Hague-based International Criminal Court, has not yet officially reacted to his release. A senior Foreign Affairs Ministry official said from Kigali that a reaction was being prepared but his colleague, who requested anonymity, said: "It is scandalous that somebody like Murwanashyaka is released without even being tried."
Murwanashyaka said he owed his release to his lawyer who convinced the judges that proceedings could go on with his client outside jail. Murwanashyaka recognises that his release meant nothing as the proceedings could end in deportation to Rwanda. He continues to coordinate FDLR activities.
"I am not afraid to go to any court because my conscience is clean", Murwanashyaka said.
In March 2005, the FDLR signed a declaration in Rome committing itself to voluntarily disarm and return home its members if measures such as integration into the army or resettlement as civilians were in place for them in Rwanda. So far, only small groups or isolated FDLR fighters have returned to Rwanda, among them Gen Paul Rwarakabije, former FDLR commander-in-chief now serving in Rwanda's national army.
Murwanashyaka accused the DRC, which was represented in the March 2005 Rome talks mediated by San Egidio Foundation, of reneging on its commitment to mobilise the international community on accompanying measures.
"The DRC and the international community asked that we send a first batch of 1,000 fighters as a sign of goodwill before they discuss accompanying measures, which I refused," Murwanashyaka said.
He also denied having violated the UN arms embargo, saying the guns in the possession of the FDLR were provided by the DRC government when it was fighting the rebels supported by Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. He sees in this a strong argument that would push the DRC to negotiate the conditions and accompanying measures before the return of these guns.
Murwanashyaka was released a day before ICC prosecutor Luis Ocampo-Moreno announced at a media briefing at The Hague, Netherlands, that he was gathering information about the FDLR and Murwanashyaka before he takes any action.
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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