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Nsanzuwera, Francois-Xavier --- "Contribution of the ICTR for Rwandans" [2016] ELECD 1526; in de Brouwer, Anne-Marie; Smeulers, Alette (eds), "The Elgar Companion to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) 488

Book Title: The Elgar Companion to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Editor(s): de Brouwer, Anne-Marie; Smeulers, Alette

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784711696

Section: Chapter 16

Section Title: Contribution of the ICTR for Rwandans

Author(s): Nsanzuwera, Francois-Xavier

Number of pages: 15

Abstract/Description:

The genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda was planned at the highest levels of the Rwandan government. The prime minister of the interim government, ministers, prefects, bourgmestres, senior army officers, gendarmerie and priests participated in the genocide with militiamen and extremist Hutus. Contrary to what the interim government said, the killings were not spontaneous. Rather, they were planned and well organized. The genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda happened whilst the international community stood by and watched. When the killings of Tutsis and Hutus opposed to Habyarimana’s regime started on the morning of 7 April 1994, there were more than 2,500 UNAMIR peacekeepers in Kigali and in other areas of the country. The reaction of the international community was, however, to withdraw the majority of the UNAMIR peacekeepers. The exact number of the victims killed during the genocide against the Tutsis will never be known. Credible international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and the International Federation of Human Rights, estimate that the number of victims of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda are between 500,000 and 1,000,000. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (Tribunal) prosecution team, in Bizimungu et al., placed the figure at 1,250,000. While a number of mass graves were located after the genocide, it is impossible to tell how many graves remain undiscovered. Moreover, during the genocide, a large number of victims were burned in their houses; others were dumped in rivers, lakes and swamps, as was the case in the Cyugaro and Ntarama swamps in Bugesera.