DOCSLIB.ORG

Rwanda Assessment

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Rwanda Assessment Rwanda, Country Information http://194.203.40.90/ppage.asp?section=191&title=Rwanda%2C%20Country%20Information RWANDA ASSESSMENT October 2001 Country Information and Policy Unit The Country Information and Policy Unit conducted a fact-finding mission to Rwanda between 5-27 March 2002. The purpose of the mission was to verify and update information contained in the October 2001 assessment and to collect additional information to assist in the determination of asylum applications from Rwandan nationals in the United Kingdom. The report of the fact-finding mission, which will also reflect other material that has been available in the meanwhile, will be published on this site as soon as it is finalised. A comprehensive country assessment incorporating this material will be produced in the normal way in October 2002. I SCOPE OF DOCUMENT II GEOGRAPHY III HISTORY IV INSTRUMENTS OF THE STATE V HUMAN RIGHTS ANNEX A: CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR EVENTS 1899-2001 ANNEX B: PROMINENT PEOPLE ANNEX C: COMMON ABBREVIATIONS/POLITICAL GROUPS BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. SCOPE OF DOCUMENT 1.1 This assessment has been produced by the Country Information and Policy Unit, Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office, from information obtained from a variety of sources. 1.2 The assessment has been prepared for background purposes for those involved in the asylum determination process. The information it contains is not exhaustive, nor is it intended to catalogue all human rights violations. It concentrates on the issues most commonly raised in asylum claims made in the United Kingdom. 1.3 The assessment is sourced throughout. It is intended to be used by caseworkers as a signpost to the source material, which has been made available to them. The vast majority of the source material is readily available in the public domain. 1 of 76 07/11/2002 5:39 PM Rwanda, Country Information http://194.203.40.90/ppage.asp?section=191&title=Rwanda%2C%20Country%20Information 1.4 It is intended to revise the assessment on a six-monthly basis, while the country remains within the top 35 asylum producing countries in the United Kingdom. An electronic copy of the assessment has been made available to the following organisations: Amnesty International UK Immigration Advisory Service Immigration Appellate Authority Immigration Law Practitioners' Association Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants JUSTICE Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture Refugee Council Refugee Legal Centre UN High Commissioner for Refugees II. GEOGRAPHY A. Location and climate 2.1 The Republic of Rwanda is a land-locked country in east-central Africa, just south of the Equator, bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) to the west, by Uganda to the north, by Tanzania to the east and by Burundi to the south.[3a] Like Burundi, Rwanda is distinctive for the small size of its territory. Covering an area of only 26,338 square kilometres (10,169 square miles).[3b] The capital is Kigali.[3a] 2.2 The climate is tropical, although affected by altitude, being hot and humid in the lowlands but cooler in the highlands. The main rainy season is from February to May.[3a] Although the land supports a high population density, physical conditions are not very favourable. The land mass is very rugged and fragmented, with a series of sharply defined hills, deep valleys and marshy plains, whilst the north is dominated by a chain of volcanoes, the Virunga. [3b] 2.3 Following an announcement at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit on 1 July 1999, Rwanda left the Central Africa regional grouping, (to which it had belonged), to join that of the East Africa group.[43a] 2.4 On 1 October 1999 the Rwandan government decided on a change to the country's national flag and motto. The new flag will be coloured blue and green and feature a sunrise in 2 of 76 07/11/2002 5:39 PM Rwanda, Country Information http://194.203.40.90/ppage.asp?section=191&title=Rwanda%2C%20Country%20Information the middle. The new motto will be 'unity, work, patriotism' to replace 'liberty, co-operation, progress', which has been used in Rwanda since its independence from Belgium in 1962. The government has requested that contests be held to create a new national anthem, with suitable words, inspired by the new motto. Changing the flag, motto, anthem, names of streets and public places is a bid by the government to build national reconciliation. It has not been announced when these new elements will become effective from . [38q] 2.5 On 14 August 2000 a draft law was put to parliament to consider changes to the country's administrative divisions. The proposal includes changing "prefecture" to "region" and "commune" to "district". "Sector" and "cellule" would remain unchanged. The urban structures proposed are "city", "municipality", "town" and "trading centre".[46k] B. Population 2.6 The population of Rwanda is composed of three ethnic groups; about 85% is estimated to be Hutu, 14% Tutsi, and 1% Twa. The census of 15 August 1991, estimated Rwanda's population at 7,142,755. The genocide of 1994 was estimated to have resulted in the death or external displacement of between 35% and 40% of the total population.[3b] On 31 January 2000, Rwanda's total population was estimated at 7.9 million, with the majority (94%) living in the rural areas. Rwanda reportedly remains the least urbanised country in Africa. [38x] 2.7 Over a million refugees had returned to Rwanda by the end of 1996, [12b] and by January 1998, there were estimated to be 72,310 Rwandan refugees in surrounding African states, with the majority, around 37,000, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). At that time, Rwanda was itself host to 31,000 refugees from the DRC and another 3,000 from Burundi.[30b] 2.8 There were reports in March 1999 that the Congolese rebel movement, Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie (RCD), would expel Rwandans from some regions in the DRC, on accusation that they were causing insecurity there. No mass expulsion occurred. After a rate of return of Rwandan refugees from northeast DRC, of over 3,000 per month through May, the weekly rate of return fluctuated between 200 and 760. Whilst it was thought likely that the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) and the RCD had put pressure on some of the refugees to return to Rwanda, those returnees interviewed by the UNHCR said that their return was voluntary. [14a] On 17 June 2000 the UNHCR said there were still around 60,000 Rwandan refugees in the DRC. Around 45,000 refugees had been repatriated in 1999.[46c] C. Language 2.9 The official languages are French, English (spoken widely by the Tutsi), and the native Kinyarwanda, a Bantu language with close similarities to Kirundi, the main vernacular language of Burundi.[3b] Whilst not an official language, Kiswahili is also widely spoken.[3a] III. HISTORY 3 of 76 07/11/2002 5:39 PM Rwanda, Country Information http://194.203.40.90/ppage.asp?section=191&title=Rwanda%2C%20Country%20Information A. Pre-Colonial Rwanda 3.1 Rwanda's pre-history is a matter of some anthropological and political debate. The country's first inhabitants are thought to have been hunter-gatherers, whose modern-day descendants are the small minority of the Batwa. It is believed that later, successive migrations from the north and east brought farmers and then cattle-herders. Eventually, one clan of cattle-herders, the Nyiginya, members of what is now called the Tutsi group, arrived and came to dominate much of the centre of the country. As the centuries advanced, it consolidated its power, whilst absorbing much of the culture of the Hutu farmers it dominated. This is today reflected in the common language and cultural heritage of the Tutsi and the Hutu.[5] 3.2 It is thought that before the nineteenth century, the separation of the Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi largely corresponded to the occupational categories within a single differentiated group, the Banyarwanda. The vast majority of Batwa remained the marginalised hunter-gatherers of the north-western mountains or potters elsewhere, and were sometimes mistreated by both Tutsi and Hutu. [1a] However, Tutsi and Hutu were less sharply distinct, and as time progressed many Hutus brought cattle, a sign of wealth, and were assimilated into the Tutsi aristocracy, whilst some Tutsis lost their wealth and the privileged position that went with it. Intermarriage between the Hutu and the Tutsi was also not uncommon and contributed to the blurring of tribal distinction between the two. However, there can be little doubt that with time there evolved a sense of second-class citizenship amongst the Hutu, which crystallised as the nineteenth century progressed and the Rwandan state became more centralised and authoritarian under the Tutsi monarchy.[5] B. Colonial Rule, 1899-1962 3.3 By the time of the arrival of the Europeans, Nyiginya Tutsi dominance was a reality for most of central and southern Rwanda, but power was concentrated in hands of a few and there were independent Hutu principalities in the north. [1a] Unlike most African states, Rwanda and its southern neighbour, Burundi, were not artificial creations of colonial rule. Germany was the first to colonise them in 1899, but they had been established kingdoms for several centuries. In 1916, during the First World War, the area was occupied by Belgian forces, and in 1919 [6a] Rwanda became part of Ruanda-Urundi, administered by Belgium under a League of Nations mandate and later, following the Second World War, as a UN Trust Territory.[3b] 3.4 It suited the interests of the colonialists to rule through the existing Tutsi elite, who indicated a willingness to comply, to ensure the preservation of their wealth and position of privilege.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Dispute Over U.N. Report Evokes Rwandan Déjà Vu by HOWARD W
    September 30, 2010 Dispute Over U.N. Report Evokes Rwandan Déjà Vu By HOWARD W. FRENCH and JEFFREY GETTLEMAN When drafts of a United Nations study recently surfaced accusing Rwandan forces of committing atrocities against Hutu refugees in Congo in the 1990s — crimes that could constitute acts of genocide — the Rwandan government protested vociferously. It even threatened to withdraw its peacekeepers from Sudan and elsewhere if the report was published. The dispute immediately raised some pointed questions. Would the United Nations stand its ground, or would it suppress or alter a report about the past for the sake of the present? But often lost in the debate was a salient déjà vu: The two sides had been in a similar standoff years before. In the fall of 1994, just after nearly a million people had been killed in the Rwandan genocide, a team of United Nations investigators concluded that the Rwandan rebels who finally stopped the genocide had killed tens of thousands of people themselves. But after strong pressure from both Rwanda and Washington and intense debate within the United Nations, the report was never published. Sixteen years later, a 14-page official summary of that investigation paints a disturbing picture of the victorious rebel forces who would form the new Rwandan government. The findings in the 1994 report tell of soldiers rounding up civilians and methodically killing unarmed men, women and children. Several of the allegations are uncannily similar to the scale and tactics depicted in the new United Nations report, expected to be released on Friday, which says that these same Rwandan forces systematically hunted down tens of thousands of refugees fleeing across the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as attacking local Congolese Hutu.
    [Show full text]
  • Out of Africa
    Out of Africa Chris McGreal The Guardian, March 27, 2009 Chris McGreal began repor- the infection spread across Africa. ting from Africa at a time of pro- But running in parallel were the found change. He witnessed both worst of times. Weeks after watching the unbridled optimism of Nelson Mandela vote, I was standing at a Mandela’s release and the hor- church among thousands of corpses ri- rors of the Rwandan genocide. sing from the ground. It was about 3am Two decades later, in his final and I had just listened to a small group dispatch, he relives the moments of nuns in the Rwandan town of Kibuye that affected him most deeply, describe the massacre of thousands of and asks what the future holds for Tutsis in the Roman Catholic church. this great continent Eleven thousand died there in a single “”hey were the best of times in day. Another 10,000 were murdered in Africa, and the worst. They were the the football stadium the next. years when South Africa was swept The bodies were swiftly buried away by the belief that it was a na- around the church but rains washed tion blessed, a moral beacon to the the soil away, and everywhere the re- world, symbolised by a single moment mains of people frozen in futile de- as Nelson Mandela stood outside a fence against bullets and machetes small KwaZulu school in April 1994, were emerging from the soil. Women, dropped his vote into the ballot box children, old men - no one was spared, with a cross next to his own name, and not even the priest.
    [Show full text]
  • ICTR-00-56-A AUGUSTIN NDINDILIYIMANA APPEALS CHAMBER FRANÇOIS-XAVIER NZUWONEMEYE INNOCENT SAGAHUTU V
    THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA CASE NO.: ICTR-00-56-A AUGUSTIN NDINDILIYIMANA APPEALS CHAMBER FRANÇOIS-XAVIER NZUWONEMEYE INNOCENT SAGAHUTU v. THE PROSECUTOR OF THE TRIBUNAL TUESDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2014 1402H APPEAL JUDGEMENT Before the Judges: Judge Theodor Meron, Presiding Judge Liu Daqun Judge Carmel Agius Judge Khalida Rachid Khan Judge Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov For the Registry: Mr. Douglass Hansen Mr. John Tumati For the Prosecution: Mr. Hassan Bubacar Jallow Mr. James Arguin Mr. Abubacarr Tambadou Ms. Thembile M. Segoete Mr. Takeh Sendze Ms. Christiana Fomenky Ms. Sunkarie Ballah-Conteh Ms. Betty Mbabazi Mr. Deo Mbuto For the Accused Augustin Ndindiliyimana: Mr. Christopher Black Mr. Vincent Lurquin For the Accused François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye: Mr. Charles Taku Ms. Beth Lyons For the Accused Innocent Sagahutu: Mr. Fabien Segatwa Mr. Scott Martin Court Reporter: Deirdre O'Mahony NDINDILIYIMANA ET AL TUESDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2014 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 3 MR. PRESIDENT: 4 Good afternoon to everybody. 5 6 Registrar, would you please call the case. 7 MR HANSEN: 8 Thank you, Your Honour. 9 10 The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, composed of Judge Meron, 11 presiding; Judge Liu, Judge Agius, Judge Khan, and Judge Tuzmukhamedov is now sitting in open 12 session today, Tuesday, the 11th of February 2014 for the delivery of the appeal judgement in the 13 matter of Augustin Ndindiliyimana, François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye and Innocent Sagahutu verses the 14 Prosecutor, Case No. ICTR-00-56-A. 15 MR. PRESIDENT: 16 Mr. Ndindiliyimana, can you follow the proceedings in a language you understand? 17 APPELLANT NDINDILIMANA: 18 Yes, sir, I can follow the proceedings in French.
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents
    TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Achievements and vital role of Tribunal .......................................................... 3 1.2 Strengthening the Tribunal .............................................................................. 4 1.3 Response of Tribunal officials ......................................................................... 7 1.4 Trials in the Rwandese Courts ......................................................................... 8 2. CREATION OF THE TRIBUNAL .............................................................................. 8 2.1 Statute of the Tribunal ................................................................................. 10 2.2 The first prosecutions .................................................................................... 12 3. DELAY OF TRIALS ................................................................................................... 12 4. PROSECUTION STRATEGY..................................................................................... 14 4.1 Relations with the Rwandese Government .................................................. 15 4.2 Prosecuting RPF abuses ................................................................................. 16 4.3 Investigation and prosecution of sexual violence crimes ............................... 17 5. WITNESS PROTECTION ..........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Press Clippings
    SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE OUTREACH AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE A downtown view of central Freetown from above Hill Cot Road. PRESS CLIPPINGS Enclosed are clippings of local and international press on the Special Court and related issues obtained by the Outreach and Public Affairs Office as at: Friday, 20 May 2011 Press clips are produced Monday through Friday. Any omission, comment or suggestion, please contact Martin Royston-Wright Ext 7217 2 International News Ouattara Asks ICC to Investigate Post-Poll Violence / RFI Page 3 ICTR Prosecutor Welcomes Ex-Army Chief's Sentence / The New Times Page 4 Military Officers Convicted of Killing of Premier / Hirondelle News Agency Page 5 State Seeks to Reply to Ocampo's Claims / The Standard Page 6 3 Thursday, 19 May 2011 Ouattara Asks ICC to Investigate Post-Poll Violence Côte d'Ivoire's President Alassane Ouattara has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation into the violence that swept the country following the disputed November election. Ouattara sent a letter, dated 3 May, to ICC President Luis Moreno-Ocampo asking the court to investigate "the most serious crimes committed since 28 November 2010 throughout the Ivorian territory". ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said his office is preparing to launch a formal investigation into mass killings which allegedly took place in the west African country. There were reports of a massacre of several hundred people in Duékoué, in the west of the country, in the fighting that followed November's presidential election. The UN, the African Union and the European Union all recognised Ouattara as the rightful winner.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Happening to Women in Transitional Justice? Analysing the Crime of Rape and Its Reconciliation in the ICTR Bilge Şahin
    Yayınlayan: Ankara Üniversitesi KASAUM Adres: Kadın Sorunları Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi, Cebeci 06590 Ankara Fe Dergi: Feminist Eleştiri Cilt 6, Sayı 2 Erişim bilgileri, makale sunumu ve ayrıntılar için: http://cins.ankara.edu.tr/ What is happening to women in transitional justice? Analysing the crime of rape and its reconciliation in the ICTR Bilge Şahin Çevrimiçi yayına başlama tarihi: 22 Aralık 2014 Bu makaleyi alıntılamak için Bilge Şahin, “What is happening to women in transitional justice? Analysing the crime of rape and its reconciliation in the ICTR” Fe Dergi 6, no. 2 (2014), 1-13. URL: http://cins.ankara.edu.tr/12_1.pdf Bu eser akademik faaliyetlerde ve referans verilerek kullanılabilir. Hiçbir şekilde izin alınmaksızın çoğaltılamaz. 1 Şahin What is happening to women in transitional justice? Analysing the crime of rape and its reconciliation in the ICTR1 Bilge Şahin* International law is dominated by the reproduction of gendered structures originating in the masculine nature of law. In respect of rape in armed conflicts the prescribed roles of men and women and the respective experiences they make severely limit subtantial reconciliation. In armed conflicts, men are considered decision-makers and fighters whereas women are regularly regarded as victims. Hence, their respective roles and experiences in post-conflict societies have constrained effective legal efforts. I will exemplify this by examining the masculine nature of the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). I propose that the ICTR case law illustrates the lack luster reconciliation efforts of the international community in response to rape crimes in armed conflicts and reproduces gender norms.
    [Show full text]
  • Hotel Rwanda - 1
    Hotel Rwanda - 1 HOTEL RWANDA Hollywood and the Holocaust in Central Africa keith harmon snow Reprinting permitted with proper attribution to: <http://www.allthingspass.com> Text corrected, 1 November 2007 (see note [36-a]). What happened in Rwanda in 1994? The standard line is that a calculated genocide occurred because of deep-seated tribal animosity between the majority Hutu tribe in power and the minority Tutsis. According to this story, at least 500,000 and perhaps 1.2 million Tutsis—and some ‘moderate’ Hutus—were ruthlessly eliminated in a few months, and most of them were killed with machetes. The killers in this story were Hutu hard-liners from the Forces Armees Rwandais, the Hutu army, backed by the more ominous and inhuman civilian militias—the Interahamwe—“those who kill together.” “In three short, cruel months, between April and July 1994,” wrote genocide expert Samantha Power on the 10th anniversary of the genocide, “Rwanda experienced a genocide more efficient than that carried out by the Nazis in World War II. The killers were a varied bunch: drunk extremists chanting ‘Hutu power, Hutu power’; uniformed soldiers and militia men intent on wiping out the Tutsi Inyenzi, or ‘cockroaches’; ordinary villagers who had never themselves contemplated killing before but who decided to join the frenzy.” [1] The award-winning film Hotel Rwanda offers a Hollywood version and the latest depiction of this cataclysm. Is the film accurate? It is billed as a true story. Did genocide occur in Rwanda as it is widely portrayed and universally imagined? With thousands of Hutus fleeing Rwanda in 2005, in fear of the Tutsi government and its now operational village genocide courts, is another reading of events needed? [2] Hotel Rwanda - 2 Is Samantha Power—a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist—telling it straight? [3] Is it possible, as evidence confirms, that the now canonized United Nations peacekeeper Lt.
    [Show full text]
  • Summary of the Judgement 1. Mr. Rutaganda Was Tried by Trial
    Summary of the Judgement 1. Mr. Rutaganda was tried by Trial Chamber I of this Tribunal on the basis of an Indictment presented on 13 February 1996, and confirmed on 16 February 1996. The Indicment contained eight counts. The Trial opened on 18 March 1997 and ended on 17 June 1999, and the Trial Chamber Judgement and Sentence were delivered on 6 December 1999. The Trial Chamber convicted Mr. Rutaganda on the basis of Article 6(1) of the Statute of the Tribunal on three counts: Count 1, genocide; Count 2, extermination as a crime against humanity; and Count 7, murder as a crime against humanity. The convictions under Counts 1 and 2 rested on his distributing weapons and ordering or encouraging the recipients to kill Tutsis in Nyarugenge on 8, 15, and 24 April 1994; overseeing the detention and shooting of 14 people behind the Amgar garage in April 1994; participating in the killings at the Ecole Technique Officielle (“ETO school”) on 11 April and then the killing of many of the survivors of that attack at Nyanza; and his personally murdering Emanuel Kayitare on 28 April. The conviction under Count 7 rested on the murder of Emanuel Kayitare. The Trial Chamber acquitted Rutaganda of the other five counts. 2. The Trial Chamber sentenced Mr. Rutaganda to a single sentence of life imprisonment. He and the Prosecution filed appeals on 5 and 6 January 2000, respectively. 3. During the pre-appeal proceedings, the Appeals Chamber was seized of numerous motions by the parties. In addition, on 5 January 2001, the Registrar granted a request by then Lead Defence Counsel, Ms.
    [Show full text]
  • Rwanda | No 4| July to August 2007
    Rwanda | No 4| July to August 2007 RWANDA | Trends in Conflict and Cooperation As in previous years the government of Rwanda placed little emphasis on 1 July (the 45th anniversary of Independence) but focused more on 4 July that marks the 13th anniversary of the fall of Kigali and the end of the genocide. The event was highlighted with medals of merit awarded by the Rwandan army, with President Paul Kagame receiving the highest distinction. On 20 August, Kagame attended the sixth Summit of the EAC Heads of States, which discussed options to strengthen the regional structure and potential future cooperation with the EU. Rwanda’s consolidated anchorage Eastward is further highlighted by anti-global terrorism training workshops for National Police, Army and Airforce officers, as well as the planned participation as an observer in the forthcoming Commonwealth meeting in Kampala. As a response to the President’s encouragement, diverse groups of people such as students, MPs, Muslim followers and businessmen, Rwandan and other, have displayed empathy with the victims of the genocide by visiting and making monetary contributions to the national genocide Memorial of Gisozi, in the district of Gasabo. However, such ‘acts of patriotism’ are often organized institutionally, thus do not necessarily represent spontaneous demonstrations of empathy. The finding on 31 July, of a mass grave of 136 Tutsi victims in Nyagatovu, district of Huye, after a repenting genocide perpetrator admitted his role in the killings 13 years after the events, demonstrates the slowness of the process of remorse and reconciliation in the country. Another case is that of 70-year-old Nyagahutu of the district of Musanze who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for genocide ideology as he was found with leaflets which conveyed disapproval of genocide memorials.
    [Show full text]
  • We Are Going to Rape You and Taste Tutsi Women”: Rape During the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by OpenSIUC “We are going to rape you and taste Tutsi women”: Rape During the 1994 Rwandan Genocide Christopher W. Mullins Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency and Corrections Southern Illinois University Carbondale Word count: 8883 This paper was made possible by the author’s receipt of the Charles Hill Research Excellence Award given by the University of Northern Iowa’s College of Social and Behavioral Science. I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Jessica Braccio for helping organize the data and Robin M. Cardwell-Mullins for helpful comments on an earlier draft. Please direct all correspondence to Christopher W. Mullins, Faner Hall 4226 Mail Code 4504 Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale IL 62901 USA, 618-453-6368, fax 618-453-6377, email: [email protected] Abstract Over the past decades, scholars have paid greater attention to sexual violence, in both theorization and empirical analysis. One area which has been largely ignored, however, is the sexual violence during times of armed conflict. This paper examines the nature and dynamics of sexual violence as it occurred during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Drawing upon testimonies given to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), descriptions of rapes--both singular and mass—were qualitatively analyzed. In general, three broad types of assaults were identified: opportunistic, assaults which seemed to be a product of the disorder inherent within the conflict; episodes of sexual enslavement; and genocidal rapes, which were framed by the broader genocidal endeavors occurring at the time.
    [Show full text]
  • „Kobieta, Która Zatraciła Człowieczeństwo – Sprawa Pauline
    Aleksandra Spychalska (Uniwersytet Wrocławski) „Kobieta, Która zatraciła człowieczeństwo” – sprawa paUline nyiramasUhuko abstract a women who lost her hUmanity: the case of paUline nyiramasUhuko This article presents the case of Pauline Nyiramasuhuko – Rwandan Minister for Family Welfare and the Advancement of Women – who was tried at the Interna- tional Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for genocide, public and direct incitement to commit genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The trial of Ny- iramasuhuko was unprecedented. It was the longest and most expensive trial the ICTR has ever held. It was also the first trial before an international criminal court in which the accused was a woman. Furthermore, among the charges that were brought against her – for which she was sentenced in the first instance to life im- prisonment – was rape as a crime against humanity. KEYWORDS: genocide, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, ICTR, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Rwanda SłOWA KLUCZOWE: ludobójstwo, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, MTKR, Międzynaro- dowy Trybunał Karny dla Rwandy, Rwanda A woman from the Rwandan society, a woman who is a minis- ter, who is a member of parliament. A woman who lost all her civil nature: People being raped before their parents; watching their children being raped. She had lost her civil nature be- cause in her presence, the most serious rape under the cruelest conditions were applauded. She encouraged even her son to do 266 ��������������������������� aleKsandra spychalsKa as much. She put everything she had to the point that she was dressed in military gear to play her role of a militant minister. A woman who had lost every sense of feeling, Pauline Nyira- masuhuko1.
    [Show full text]
  • Fourth Annual Report of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
    UNITED NATIONS AS General Assembly Distr. Security Council GENERAL A/54/315 S/1999/943 7 September 1999 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH GENERAL ASSEMBLY SECURITY COUNCIL Fifty-fourth session Fifty-fourth year Item 51 of the provisional agenda* REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE PROSECUTION OF PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR GENOCIDE AND OTHER SERIOUS VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW COMMITTED IN THE TERRITORY OF RWANDA AND RWANDAN CITIZENS RESPONSIBLE FOR GENOCIDE AND OTHER SUCH VIOLATIONS COMMITTED IN THE TERRITORY OF NEIGHBOURING STATES BETWEEN 1 JANUARY AND 31 DECEMBER 1994 Note by the Secretary-General The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the General Assembly and to the members of the Security Council the fourth annual report of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in the Territory of Neighbouring States between 1 January and 31 December 1994, submitted by the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in accordance with article 32 of its statute (see Security Council resolution 955 (1994), annex), which states: "The President of the International Tribunal for Rwanda shall submit an annual report of the International Tribunal for Rwanda to the Security Council and to the General Assembly." * A/54/150. 99-25571 (E) 181099 /... A/54/315 S/1999/943 English Page 2 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE PROSECUTION OF PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR GENOCIDE AND OTHER SERIOUS VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW COMMITTED IN THE TERRITORY OF RWANDA AND RWANDAN CITIZENS RESPONSIBLE FOR GENOCIDE AND OTHER SUCH VIOLATIONS COMMITTED IN THE TERRITORY OF NEIGHBOURING STATES BETWEEN 1 JANUARY AND 31 DECEMBER 1994 For the period 1 July 1998-30 June 1999 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page I.
    [Show full text]