Rwanda: Top Genocide Arrest an 'important step'

For Immediate Release:

Rwanda: Top Genocidaire Arrest an "Important Step"

(New York, August 15, 2002) - The arrest of General Augustin Bizimungu,
chief of staff of the former Rwandan army, marks an important step in
delivering justice for the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, Human
Rights Watch said today. The military officer, discovered in Angola
among a number of demobilized rebels of National Union for the Total
Independence of Angola (UNITA), will be transferred to the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for prosecution.

During the genocide, soldiers and national policemen under Bizimungu's
command directed the massacre of tens of thousands of Tutsi civilians
who had taken refuge in churches, hospitals and schools. Soldiers and
policemen also ordered civilian officials and ordinary citizens to join
in hunting down and killing the Tutsi and punished them if they failed
to do so.

"Delivering justice for a genocide is a slow and enormous undertaking,"
said Alison Des Forges, senior adviser to the Africa division of Human
Rights Watch. "That was true for the Holocaust and it is true for
Rwanda. What's important is to persist-both in tracking the accused and
in ensuring their prosecution."

Commenting on the conflict between the current Rwandan government and
the ICTR, which has blocked the work of the tribunal, Des Forges said,
"It's essential for the U.N. Security Council to resolve this issue.
There's no point in arresting people unless you know you can bring them
to trial."

As a relatively young military officer, Augustin Bizimungu was proposed
as chief of staff by Col. Theoneste Bagosora, a major decision-maker in
Rwandan military circles at the start of the genocide. Initially
rejected by other officers, Bizimungu was subsequently named to replace
another officer who was deemed not rigorous enough in exterminating the
Tutsi minority.

Col. Bagosora is also in the hands of the ICTR and will be tried in
early September.

For more information, please contact:

In Boston, Alison DesForges: +1-508-349-3986
In London, Steve Crawshaw: +44-20-7713-2766

--
Jeff Scott
Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
Phone: +1-212-216-1834
Fax: +1-212-736-1300
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php
en français, http://www.hrw.org/french/africa/