By Charles Kambanda
1. On April 6th, 1994, Kagame committed a crime that sparked off the 1994 massacres. Kagame knew or he had reasons to know that assassination of then Hutu president in the middle of an ethnic war ( Predominatly Tutsi rebels vs Predominantly Hutu government) would trigger the massacres that actuall occurred.
A similar crime, assassination of the Hutu president in Burundi – in October, 1993 – had triggered terrible massacres in Burundi; ethnic Tutsi in Burundi exterminated the Hutu following assassination of the Hutu president.
Kagame and some of his RPA rebels are believed to have been involved in the assassination of the Hutu president in Burundi and the subsquent massacres.
The 1994 massacres started immediately after Kagame assassinated then Hutu president of Rwanda.
Going by then national population statistics, more Hutu than the Tutsi probably perished in the massacres we are told were perpetrated by the Hutu against the Tutsi.
2. When the massacres started, then Hutu government rushed to the UNSC to ask for neutral UN troops to protect civilians in Rwanda. Kagame, who had an upper hand in the war at that time, stopped the UNSC from sending troops to Rwanda because, according to the letter Kagame and his RPA wrote to the UNSC,
( i) by April 30th, 1994, the massacres had ended. Therefore there was no need for foreign troops
( ii) RPA was strong enough to protect civilians that time and, RPA was ready to fight UN troops if the UN deployed against RPA/F interests.
Interestingly,
( a) Kagame and his RPF say they are not criminaly liable for the 1994 massacres ,
( b) the massacres were planned and executed by the Hutu government for 100 days from April 6th, 1994
( c) the international community did not intervine to stop the 1994 massacres
Who makes Kagame’s claims in ( a), ( b) and ( c), in legal and/or rational terms?
