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RWANDA: Make justice a reality for genocide survivors, urges rights group

NAIROBI, 19 December 2008 (IRIN) - Justice, more than reconciliation, plays a fundamental role for the survivors of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and much more needs to be done to make justice a reality for them, a report by African Rights, a human rights think-tank, recommends.

“We need to listen to their concerns, help to protect them from reprisals and further trauma and support those in need of psychological and financial assistance,” Rakiya Omaar, the African Rights director, said in a statement.

The African Rights report was issued on 10 December, days before the Tanzania-based UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) handed down a life sentence on Theoneste Bagosora, accused of masterminding the killings.

The report, Survivors and Post-Genocide Justice in Rwanda: Their Experiences, Perspectives and Hopes, offers new insights into the meaning of justice after genocide by examining various objectives of the policy-makers from the viewpoint of the survivors.

The report is based on at least 100 interviews with genocide survivors in Rwanda and Europe and took eight months to research and document.

"Justice is a fundamental human value and a central component of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Carla Ferstman, director of REDRESS - an organisation that seeks reparation for torture survivors - said in the statement jointly issued with African Rights. "Yet, for survivors of genocide in Rwanda, justice remains elusive."

According to the government of Rwanda, an estimated 937,000 people - mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus - were killed during the genocide.

Handing down the sentence to Bagosora and two others, ICTR judge Erik Mose said the former army colonel was guilty of the 1994 killings and held the highest authority in the Ministry of Defence.

Bagosora was director of the cabinet in the Ministry of Defence and a high-ranking officer of the Rwandan Armed Forces during the genocide.

The judge said Bagosora was responsible for the organised killings by soldiers and militiamen during the genocide.

The court also sentenced Maj Aloys Ntabakuze and Col Anatole Nsengiyumva to life in prison but acquitted Gen Gratian Kabiligi.

Bagosora, 67, has been described as an anti-Tutsi extremist. He spoke openly about “extermination” of Tutsis and distributed weapons to Interahamwe militiamen during the genocide.

He was arrested in Cameroon in March 1996 and his trial at the ICTR began in April 2002. He had been accused of three counts of genocide, six counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes.

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Theme(s): (IRIN) Human Rights

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