Chapter 13 the Start of the Genocide

CHAPTER 13 THE START OF THE GENOCIDE 13.1 INDIFFERENCE AS TO WHO SHOT THE PLANE DOWN On April 6, at 8:23 in the evening, the plane carrying President Habyarimana was shot down. Habyarimana had been returning from Dar es Salaam where he had attended a meeting ofthe heads ofstate about the installment ofthe Rwandan transitional government. l All passengers were killed. People who had been on board besides Habyarimana were Cyprien Ntaryamira, the President ofBurundi, Deogratias Nsabimana, the chiefofstaffofthe Rwandan army and three French crew members.2 The attack, which led to the outbreak of the Rwandan genocide, remains largely uninvestigated. To this day, the killers have still not been identified.3 Reyntjens, describing the first three days ofthe genocide, set out four hypothe ses in his book:4 (1) Reyntjens' first hypothesis consists ofthe theory that the extrem ists ofHabyarimana's own circle committed the attack. A variant to this hypothesis is that the French shot down the plane on behalf ofthe extremists. (2) The second hypothesis is that the Burundian President was the tar get ofthe attack. This option seems very unlikely, however, because the Burundian President decided only at the very last moment to get on board. (3) The third hypothesis entails the story of a failed Coup d'Etat by the Prime Minister and several officers. Their plan would have Filip Reyntjens, L'Afrique des Grands Lacs, en crise: Rwanda, Burundi: 1988-1994, pp. 44-45 (1994) (hereinafter Reyntjens). 2 Reyntjens, pp. 44-45; NRC, Le Monde onthult Frans onderzoek: President Rwanda doodde voorganger, (Translated: NRC, Le Monde exposes French research: President Rwanda killed predecessor), March 10, 2004; NRC, Een explosiefRwanda rapport (Translated: An Explosive Rwanda Report), March 11,2004. 3 Reyntjens, pp. 44-45; Liberation, Stephen Smith, Deux missiles abattent l'avion du president Habyarimana, April 6-7, 1994. 4 Reyntjens, pp. 44--45. 153 154 The Failure to Prevent Genocide in Rwanda been to kill the President to create more leeway for an interim gov ernment and the implementation ofArusha. (4) Reyntjens' last hypothesis consists of the theory that the attack was committed by the RPF. A variant to this theory is that the attack was committed with help from the Belgians.5 It is highly remarkable that there has never been any interest in starting an inquiry into the question ofwho committed the attack, although it was the plane crash that instigated or at least stimulated the eruption of the genocide. In Chapter 1 we called the plane crash the "trigger" for the genocidal develop ments but not the cause of the genocide. According to Reyntjens, the smoke screen about who shot the plane down seemed to suit all parties. At the national level, nobody was interested in investigating the issue; the RPF was not inter ested, nor was the MRND, nor were the other political parties. At the interna tionallevel, nobody was interested either; the United Nations was not interested, nor were Belgium and France. This lack of interest is highly remarkable. The most widely believed theory is the first hypothesis, that the Hutu extremists shot down the airplane to prevent the Arusha Accords from being implemented and to use Habyarimana's assassination as a pretext to start their planned genocide.6 Controversially, Reyntjens argued on the basis of "unfais ceau d'indices " (a bundle of indicators) in his investigation of 1994 that the attack was committed by the RPF.7 Ten years later, Reyntjens' theory received endorsement from the French anti-terror division, DNAT. The research by the DNAT was conducted over a period of six years. This long research was made at the request ofrelatives ofthe French crew killed in the plane.8 In March 2004 a DNAT investigation report, which dealt with the issue, was leaked to the press. The report argued that Major General Paul Kagame himself had ordered the attack. According to the French investigation report, it was an elite-group of ten RPF officers who received direct orders from Kagame.9 The French report Reyntjens, pp. 44--45. The question ofwho shot the plane down became even more intriguing when Reyntjens tried to find out who had been able to possess the two Russian SAM rockets. According to Reyntjens, none of the parties involved was able to do so. 6 Reyntjens, pp. 44-45; Alison Des Forges, Leave None to Tell the Story, Genocide in Rwanda p. 185 (1999) (hereinafter Des Forges). 7 Reyntjens, pp. 44--45. NRC, Le Monde onthult Frans onderzoek: President Rwanda doodde voor ganger, March 10, 2004. 9 Id.; NRC, Een explosiejRwanda-rapport, March 11, 2004. Despite the fact that it was a French airplane that had crashed and that three Frenchmen had been killed, France was not interested in investigating the issue. The investigation that became pub lic in 2004 was done after repeated requests by the families ofthe French crew who had been on board the plane..

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