RWANDA The arrest of father Guy Theunis An investigation of the charges, the legal action and possible reasons

November 2005 Reporters Without Borders International Secretariat 5, rue Geoffroy Marie 75009 Paris-France Tél. (33) 1 44 83 84 84 Fax (33) 1 45 23 11 51 E-mail : [email protected] Web : www.rsf.org RWANDA The arrest of father Guy Theunis: An investigation of the charges, the legal action and possible reasons (1) turn toRwanda. turn its publishers,ASBLDialogue (seebox)tore- man rightsleaders. foreign religious journalists, offi of histwolawyersandtodiplomats,local Reporters WithoutBorders alsotalkedtoone or inciter). declared aprimegenocidesuspect(aplanner court, whichon11September, whenhewas September hearingbefore agrassroots gacaca the mainprosecution witnessesfrom his11 team wasabletoseehiminprisonandmeet lived inRwandafrom 1970until1994.The B FPR offi Antoine Mugesera,aformer late afternoon, to seenewneighbourhoodsinKigali.Inthe thers’ superiorinRwanda,FrHenriBlanchard, around thecityandwentwithWhiteFa- Fathers live.Thenextday, hevisitedfriends rican Languages(CELA),where theWhite the nightatCentre fortheTeaching ofAf- He gottoKigalilateon5Septemberandspent a planebacktoBelgium. returning toKinshasa,hewentKigaliget there wasashortageofaircraft, soinsteadof eral planecrashesduringthesummermeant go, where heledasimilardiscussion.Butsev- Con- leagues togoKalemie,insoutheastern Congo, inAugust,andwasthenaskedbycol- lent communication”inKinshasa,Democratic Theunis tookpartinaconference on“non-vio- A chance arrest Theunis andtoldhimhewanted is nowanFPRsenator, cametoCELAsee editor oftheRwandanmagazine known astheWhiteFathers),whoisformer ber oftheMissionariesAfricaSociety(also investigate thecaseof60-year-old mem- country from 30Septemberto7October A ReportersWithoutBorders teamvisitedthe the rulingRwandanPatrioticFront (FPR). prison forexposinghumanrightsviolationsby try’s genocide.Hisdefenderssayheisreally in inciting ethnichatred anddenyingthecoun- prison forthepasttwomonthssupposedly Fr. GuyTheunishasbeenheldinKigali’s main Conversationwith Reporters Without Borders atKigaliprisonon4October2005 elgian Catholicpriestandformereditor cialwhousedtoworkon cials andhu- Dialogue Dialogue Dialogue and and and mosquitos,” hesaid lice. “Icouldn’t sleepbecauseofworryandthe a restless nightafterbeingroughed upbypo- taken toRemerapolicestation,where hespent held bysecurityoffi aged tophoneBlanchard tosay hewasbeing to genocide”wasservedonhim.Theunisman- offi to comewithhisthingstheairportsecurity and Theunispresented himself.Hewas asked around 19:00ahostesscalledoutfor“MrGuy” immigration andwenttotheboarding area. At Theunis checkedinhisbags,passedthrough airport tocatchhisfl Blanchard, whowantedtodriveTheunisthe Brussels. Theconversationwasinterruptedby pass onthemessagetomagazine’s staff in the magazinefornineyearsbutpromised to Theunis reminded himhehadnotworkedfor “the 1930”). taken insteadtoKigali’s mainprison(PCKor ing tobetakenbefore acourt,butwassimply He wastoldon8Septemberthathego- Kangura Dialogue however, isdifferent. layout –havebeenappearing. Their content, and oneinKigali,eachwithexactlythesame two versionsof A secondissueappearedinJuly. Sincethen, sion ofthemagazinewaslaunchedinKigali. April 2004,10yearsafterthegenocide,aver- has been Sen. Antoine Mugeseraworkedfor countries. and senttosubscribersinRwandaother sels, whereithasbeenproducedeversince the country, relaunchedthemagazineinBrus- Dialogue the magazine curity reasons. The FPRsenatorthenseized decided itwasnotpossibletoreturn,forse- get themagazinereturnedtoRwanda.Itsstaff printing extractsfromtheextremistmagazine until 1995,whenheresigned,accusingitof did notappear, itsstaff, mostofwhomhad After thegenocideandafewmonthswhenit without beinganorgan oftheChurch.” and seesthemfromaChristianperspective, other problemsofspecialconcerntoRwanda cial, economic,political,cultural,religiousand months anddescribesitselfasdealingwith“so- about 2,000copies,comesouteverytwo 1967 byapriest,JeanMassion. Today itprints ce, where anarrest warrantfor“incitement initsissueno.182.Sincethen,he , aRwandan-Belgianmagazine wasfoundedinRwandaMarch fi ghting throughof ʼ s publishing Dialogue cials. Around 23:00,hewas (1) ight toBrusselsat19:50. . –oneinBrussels fi rm, ASBL, andin fi cial channelsto Dialogue 2 fl ed

RWANDA The arrest of father Guy Theunis: An investigation of the charges, the legal action and possible reasons (4) (3) (2) extracts. Mugeserasaidagainon 20 August thathedisagreed. gura, inapressroundupputout by theDialoguegroup. Theunis repliedon14June,sayingwhyhe hadprintedthe nalists present were notallowedtoseeit. present. Theunis,DesForges andforeign jour- a fi ness, Jean-DamascèneBizimana,handedout Before thehearingbegan,oneprosecution wit- with HumanRightsWatch. court, wasAlisonDesForges, aspecialadviser ness, whoseevidencewasnotrecorded by the in RwandaApril1994.Theonlydefencewit- of theoffences andmostwere notevenliving nesses were notlivinginRugengeat thetime hatred anddeniedthegenocide.Thewit- witnesses whoclaimedTheunishadincited hearing, whichfeatured adozenprosecution and about600peoplewatchedtheseven-hour The priestwasaccompaniedbytwopolicemen ing thecaseagainstTheunison11September. over byJudgeRaymondKalisa,beganhear- The Rugenge(Kigali)districtgacaca,president against him andThe gacaca charges the court ily eachdayandhavelotsofvisitors.” Reporters WithoutBorders. “Iwritetomyfam- that’s what the otherprisonersthink,”hetold here becauseIhaveanewmission.Anyway, says. “Adifferent kindofone,butmaybeI’m release. “Ifeelabitlikeinparishhere,” he campaignforhis hears abouttheinternational prisoners. Helistenstotheradio,where he day praying,reading andtalkingwithother guage, Kinyarwanda,fl are helpedbecausehespeaksthelocallan- him food.Relationswiththeotherprisoners is visiteddailybytheWhiteFathers,whobring a pinkprisoner’s uniform,hashisowncelland conditions byRwandanstandards andwears Theunis isbeingheldinreasonable physical ConversationwithReporters Without BordersatKigaliprison on4October2005 Conversation with Reporters Without Borders, inKigali,3October2005. Mugesera accused Theunis inaletterspring1995ofpublishingextractsfromanextremist Hutupaper, Kan- le tothenine judgesandtosenioroffi Two rival versionsofDialogueareproduced

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cials Theunis wellfrom workingon One ofthemwasAntoineMugesera,whoknew in thehearing. since thearrest ofTheunis,playedakeypart other andsomeofwhommetseveraltimes Five prosecution witnesses,whokneweach who didnotevenknowTheunis. the gacacasdepartmentofjusticeministry the witnessesasacommunicationsoffi place. Oneforeign observerrecognised oneof had leftthecountrybefore theseeventstook Sainte-Famille parish,inKigali.ButTheunis offi been seeninApril1994withRwandanarmy had takenpartingenocide.Onesaidhe Several witnessesgaveevidencethatTheunis do soafterwards. HesaidTheunisusedthe Kangura lishing extractsfrom theextremist Hutupaper own evidence fi dence againstTheunisandsaidheonlytesti- He deniedattendingthehearingtogiveevi- ning strongly opposedTheunis,whowasthenrun- fending survivorsofthegenocide.In1995,he member”), agovernment-sponsored group de- now anFPRsenatorafterheadingIbuka(“Re- toRwandaafterthegenocideandis turned political offi broke out,hejoinedtheFPRandbecamea leaving Rwandain1990,justbefore thewar related associationofthesamename.After ed becauseTheunishadcriticisedhiminhis GuyTheunisathisgacacatrialon11 September2005

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RWANDA The arrest of father Guy Theunis: An investigation of the charges, the legal action and possible reasons (7) (6) (5) concoct acaseagainst Theunis, saying thathesupposedtheprosecutor in Kigali2004,andhastaken overtheDialoguegroup gue inKigaliandgiventothejudges. MugeseraiscurrentlyeditorofthenewDialoguemagazine, whichappeared Conversation withReporters Without Borders,Kigali,3October 2005. and foreign wantedtoseeorhavea journalists At theendofhearing,severalRwandan as.” to printandhechosespread genocidalide- good andbad,butitwashewhochosewhat press roundup thecontentsofmanypapers, promote genocide.“Theunissummarisedina nalist on the government daily nalist onthegovernment Another witness,Tom Ndahiro, aformerjour- Dialogue Tutsi station by theauthorities,termsoftenusedanti- they mentioned“thejob”andthe“cleansing” strongly enoughaboutthegenocide.Hesaid community theinternational that didnotwarn by theirthen-superiorinRwanda,JefVleugels, and June1994more thanadozenfaxessigned of theWhiteFathersinRomebetweenApril Ndahiro alsosaidTheunissenttotopoffi and revisionist material.” accuses involved inthegenocide.TheGouteuxbook the booksproved thatCatholicoffi humanrightsgroups.ternational Ndahiro said military, the Catholic Church ingeneralandin- Gouteux, knownforhiscriticismofFrance,its in thecentury’s lastgenocide),byJean-Paul (The Rwandandarkness:France’s involvement genocidedusiècle” française dansledernier the other“Lanuitrwandaise:l’implication tifi Gérard Prunier, oftheFrench NationalScien- Genocide,” theEnglisheditionofabookby One was“TheRwandaCrisis:Historyofa mission, basedhisevidenceontwobooks. a memberofthenationalhumanrightscom- lines c Research Institute(CNRS)inParis,and ConversationwithReporters Without Borders,inKigali,3October 2005. Conversation with Reporters Without Borders, Kigali,6October2005. Reporters Without Borderslearnsthatthefaxespresented atthehearingweretakenfromarchivesofDialo- ( (5) RTLM publishingfi Dialogue ) todescribethemassacres. Radio-télévision libre des mille col- mille des libre Radio-télévision ofpublishing“ethno-centric rm ASBLDialogueto Imvaho Tom Ndahiro

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ʼ s property, includingthearchives.Hedenieshelpingto the arrest ofinnocentpeople.” time hadlinkswiththeFPRandsojustifi yarimana regime, saidallthosejailedatthat Fathers didn’t criticisetheabusesofHab- racist anti-Tutsi attitude,”hesaid.“TheWhite “I havebelievedsince1990thatTheunishasa Fathers ofbeinginvolvedinthegenocide. that accusetheCatholicChurch andtheWhite He isclosetoGouteuxandactiveingroups es refused. copy ofthesefaxes,butNdahiro andthejudg- rights research centre atKigaliFree University. lawatthebasic He alsoteachesinternational and Démocratie(foundedinOctober1994). and joinedthepro-justice group RCNJustice gian inFrance.HethenlefttheCatholicChurch years inMalibefore beingtrainedasatheolo- narian whostudiedphilosophyandspenttwo cène Bizimana,isaformerWhiteFatherssemi- The third prosecution witness,Jean-Damas- ponsible forallthesociety each weekandaccusedthe Tutsis ofbeingres- dozen publicationsspoutedxenophobicpoison hatred andsayingwarwastheonlysolution. A tremist newspapershadbeenstirringupethnic Months, evenyears,beforethegenocide,ex- The hatemedia owned hiding, manyofthemjournalists. The state- broadcasting namesandaddressesofpeoplein ment troopsandtheInterahamwemilitia,even med) encouraged,guidedandincitedgovern- dio-Télé-la-Mort” (asthestationwasnickna- Every day, between April andJuly1994,“Ra- Melchior Ndadaye,aHutu,inOctober1993. after theassassinationofBurundianPresident lar. Itseditoriallinebecameevenmoreradical extreme propagandaandwasalsoverypopu- since itbeganbroadcasting.Itputoutvery eve ofthegenocideandhadworriedpeople ( Radio-télévision libre desmillecollines ble” answertothecountry believe thatkillingall Tutsis wastheonly“via- extreme. These papersgraduallygotpeopleto gazine, editedbyHassanNgeze,wasthemost mes verysimilartothoseof three monthsmanyofitsstaff putoutprogram- Rwandan armyon7 April andoverthenext da RTLM ʼ s onlyprivately-ownedradiostationonthe ), foundedon8 April 1993,wasRwan- Radio Rwanda ʼ s of (6) fi ce hadgiventhefaxestogacaca. washandedovertothe ʼ ʼ s ills. s problems. RTLM (7) Kangura . Duringthe ma- 4 ed

RWANDA The arrest of father Guy Theunis: An investigation of the charges, the legal action and possible reasons of humanrightsadviserDesForges. genocide andstrongly attackedtheevidence He criticisedtheChurch’s responsibility inthe others haveproved tomethatTheunisisguilty.” post-genocide traumaandsaid“Ndahiro and been takenfrom themagazine Kinyarwanda. Thischarge appearstohave Power” since1989. Theunis hadalsospread theideology of“Hutu tional CriminalTribunal forRwanda.Hesaid sentenced tolifeimprisonmentbytheInterna- and theextremist CDRmilitias,whowere both is guiltyofbias,”hesaid. the genocide.Itwasn’t innocentandTheunis “This showedsolidaritywiththeperpetratorsof with thesameideasandexpressions. es, Theunisusedthelanguageof gacaca hearing,Bizimanasaidthatinthefax- RTLM Pristl, oftranslatingHitler’s He accusedaGermanWhiteFather, Johan by racial hatred inhispress roundup, published rights leader. SheaccusedTheunisofinciting supervisory councilandformerlyawomen’s bire, vice-president ofthegovernment’s media Another witnesswasMarie-ImmaculéeInga- Hutu extremist paper of Ferdinand Nahimana,one ofthefounders the endofOctoberthatTheuniswasafriend Scherrer toldReporters Without Borders at ders foundnotraceofsuchatranslation. must havehelpedhim.ReportersWithoutBor- an entire book.Scherrer thensaidthatTheunis Kinyarwanda wasnotgoodenoughtotranslate Gouteux writesfor. Theunisreplied thatPristl’s The fi and howoften. up tothepublicbutdidnotsaywhere, when said hehandedoutphotocopiesoftheround- (9) (8) Inane-mailexchange withReporters Without Borders,Scherrersaidheonlyspoke tocounterherstand. Conversation withReporters Without Borders,Kigali,6October 2005. Dialogue ChristianScherrer fth keywitnesswasChristianScherrer, a

C , andHassanNgeze,founderof h r i s t i a n , whichincludedextractsfrom the

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Kangura he wasaspecialistin his evidence.Hesaid hearing endedafter region experts.The to andGreat Lakes Borders teamspoke Reporters Without the Rwandans was unknowntoall stitute inJapan,who Hiroshima PeaceIn- Swiss teacheratthe (8) Mein Kampf Mein (seebox).She Golias (9) Kangura , which RTLM into ,

And if,assomewitnessesclaimed, ing racialhatred. way beseenasdenyingthegenocideorincit- country’s history. Theseremarks cannotinany had always“comefrom thesameside” inthe sis tendedto“spoilthings”andthatviolence tjens. TheunissaidinthedebatethatTut- Colette BraeckmanandacademicFilipReyn- Belgian newspaperbetweenTheunis,journalist (three yearsafterthegenocide)organised bya out Borders areport ofapublicdebatein1997 As evidence,BizimanagaveReportersWith- this charge. public orprivatestatementbyhimbacksup traumatised bythegenocide,butnoarticleor which mighthaveshockedRwandansdeeply Theunis wasknownforhisstridentviews, press roundup had incitedracialhatred through No witnesspresented evidencethatTheunis Incitement toracialhatredin 1994, sixdaysafterthemassacres began. ocide inanyway. HeleftRwandaon13April mass accusedhimofbeinginvolvedinthegen- neighbourhoods where Theunislivedorheld began tobecollected.NobodyintheKigali tioned atgacacameetingswheninformation dence. Theunis’s namewasalsonevermen- back overwhatmustbeseenasimaginaryevi- names. Noneofthemajorwitnesseshavegone ing concrete, suchasexactplaces,datesor the genocideisveryvagueandcontainsnoth- Theunis inSainte-Familleparishatthetimeof The evidenceofthosewhosaidtheyhasseen Theunis’ presenceinSainte-Famille parish accusations: tothese responds WithoutReporters Borders 1994 andthenceasedforgood in1995. It didnotappearbetween April andOctober mats andNGOpeopleinRwanda andabroad. About 200copiesofitwere distributed todiplo- main articlesinallregularly-published papers. da. Itgavemaximum10-linesummariesofthe the request ofEuropean embassiesinRwan- local Kinyarwanda-languagepress in1991at Dialogue begandoingaweeklyroundup ofthe Inclusion ofextracts from in Kigali? ideas, whywasitfreely onsaleinbookshops was spreading genocidalandethnocentric Kangura Dialogue inthe magazine Dialogue Dialogue Dialogue 5 .

RWANDA The arrest of father Guy Theunis: An investigation of the charges, the legal action and possible reasons ously wedon’t share pretending toignore somepublications.Obvi- the December1990issueof ple is‘The10CommandmentsofBahutu,’in the countryunbearable.Onenotoriousexam- sidious, are regrettable andcouldmakelifein said that“racistorseparatistarticles,oftenin- Rwandan media.ItsissueofJuly-August1991 the promotion ofracialhatred bysomeofthe one ofthefi international andprofessionalinternational standards. conduct foritsmembersthatcompliedwithall the Associationmanagedtoproduce acodeof of somemediaoutlets.Althoughitdidnotlast, andthepropagandaguish betweenjournalism sociation, oneofwhosegoalswastodistin- As- André Sibomana)theRwandaJournalists great thathefounded,shortlybefore that(with tremist localmedia.Hisknowledgewasso and regularly alertedusofexcessesintheex- correspondent inRwandafrom 1992to1993 Theunis wastheReportersWithoutBorders mainly withpriests killedorinhidingbut also between 7Apriland24August 1994.Theydeal by TheunisandVleugelsduring thegenocide, (in RwandaandinBelgium) of all23faxessent Reporters WithoutBorders hasobtainedcopies The faxes sentafterthegenocidebegan Far from spreading racistideas, roundup. owned mediafrom 1991thankstothispress in theRwandanstatemediaandthenprivately- work. We were abletocondemnracistideas dom organisation, wasveryinterested inits roundup forseveralyearsand,asapress free- ers WithoutBorders subscribedtothepress Like otherhumanrightsgroups, Report- roundup.” But wecan’t takeastandonthisinthepress and are stillcampaigningforittobebanned. as humanrightsactivists,wehavecampaigned The

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their beds.”On8April,theysaid said soldiershadkilled“woundedTutsis in Lwanga deNyamirambochurch inKigaliand acts” hadbeencommittedintheSaintCharles Kigali. Thenextday, Theunissaid“barbaric of “massacres andlooting”insomepartsof facts astheyknewthem.On7April,spoke Vleugels triedasbesttheycouldtorelay the religious hatred orseparatism.Theunisand Nothing inthemcanbeseenasincitementto job” inreference towhat He indeedusedthewords “cleansing”and“the ously accusedofcomplicitywiththesekillers? cres bythesoldiers.HowcanTheunisbeseri- spared. Thefaxdescribeskillingsandmassa- says BelgianslivingamongTutsis hadnotbeen tion, nottomakepropaganda. Later, Theunis in quotestoemphasisethehorror ofthesitua- were termscurrent atthetimeandwere placed ‘the job.’”Thewords “cleansing”and“thejob” gendarmes havegone,leavingpeopletodo ues insomepartsofKigali”andthenthat“the A faxon9Aprilsaidthat“’cleansing’contin- where theywere. nated FPR]hidingamongthemandtellsoldiers to huntforInkotanyi[fi begun callingonpeopletokillandurging them per the worldandtoFrench Catholicdailypa- rope, tootherreligious congregations around ters inRome,severalprovincial missionsinEu- They were senttotheWhiteFathersheadquar- with conditionsoflifeandthemassacres. fi Theunis andhiscolleagueswere among the any waywhatwasgoingon.Onthecontrary, the WhiteFatherssupportedorapproved in why theywere inquotes.Thisdoesnot means rst togivedetailsofthemassacres. La Croix La senttohissuperiors inRomeApril1994

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RWANDA The arrest of father Guy Theunis: An investigation of the charges, the legal action and possible reasons of the1994massacres. years later)orwitharmyoffi suggestion. ders, whichfoundnoevidencetobackupthe Theunis deniedthistoReportersWithoutBor- Rwandan armysoldiersandHuturefugees. comprising formergenocideperpetrators,ex- Rwanda DemocraticLiberationForces (FDLR), to helpmediateinfavourofmembersthe This theorysayshewasinDemocraticCongo He wasasecretnegotiatorfortheFDLR. Four reasons havebeensuggested: Why was Theunisarrested? offi information na, thenheadofthegovernment showing GuyTheuniswithFerdinand Nahima- photo takenthree yearsbefore thegenocide, The onlyevidencepresented forthiswasa “Theunis associatedwithkillers” The faxes,likethe ously anylonger. two motives,whichnobody seems totakeseri- The Belgianauthoritieshave discountedthese Freighters, whichcarriesmineral ore toEurope. ban ontheRwandanairlineSilverbackCargo in Belgiumoraspressure toendtheBelgian get holdofformergenocideperpetratorsliving Theunis couldbeusedasabargaining chipto He isabargainingchip. thised with photo innowayproves thatTheunissympa- sion orindividualassignmentbyTheunis.The were notinthephoto.Itwasaprivateocca- alongwithmanyotherreportersjournalist, who himana, waspresent. Theuniswasthere asa ganised byOrinfor, whichiswhyitshead,Na- been killed.” and that“manypeople,mainlyTutsis, have April saidmassacres were continuing inKigali The lastfaxTheunissentfrom Rwandaon11 way havestirred uphatred inthecountry. to Rwandansingeneralandsocannotany were foralimitedaudienceandnotdistributed journalists visitedthewarzone journalists was takenon30May1991,whenRwandan Karthala andReportersWithoutBorders) and du génocide”(putoutbytheFrench publisher fi caca hearing. (10) rst appeared inthebook“Rwanda,lesmédias ce Orinfor, andRwandanarmyoffi The photoappearedinthe pro-governmentpaper The New Times on12September, thedayafter Theunis RTLM (whichwasonlysetuptwo Dialogue cers laterconvicted press roundup, (10) onatripor- cers. It

does nothavekeyinformationinthecase. is notonthelistofwitnessesduetoappearand Theunis’ absencewouldbeveryimportant.He next fewmonths.Butitseemsunlikelythat dence atthehearing,whichisexpectedin Theunis’ arrest wastoprevent himgivingevi- victims’ families,Jordi Palou-Loverdos, think the case.Some,includinglawyerfor the Spanishsupreme courtsaiditwouldhear groups were co-complainants.InearlyApril, NGOs. Theirfamiliesandseveralhumanrights ing Vallmajó, andthree Spanishmembersof FPR fi the Great Lakes RegionofAfricaagainst10top ForumforTruththe International andJusticein In February2005,alegalcomplaintwasfi provincenorthern ofByumba)andlaterkilled. FPR soldierson26April1994inKageyo(inthe Joaquín Vallmajó Sala,whowaskidnappedby Another clueisthecaseofSpanishpriestFr. Evidence againstFPRsoldiersinSpain. paper istry offi anonymous articlewrittenbyatopjusticemin- ing partlyresponsible for thegenocide.One Theunis’ arrest haveaccusedtheChurch ofbe- a spateofarticlesintheRwandanpress since olic Church forbeingfanatically anti-Tutsi and Some criticisetheWhiteFathersandCath- violations orsimplytosettlepersonalscores. stands, hiscriticismoftheFPRforhumanrights Theunis arrested topunishhimforhis religious vendetta byagroup ofregime fi The mostlikelyreason isapersonalpolitical A vendettabythoseinpower. ian andoneofTheunis’accusers athisgacaca Bizimana, theformerWhite Fathersseminar- Fathers stillinRwandaof “segregationism.” passages, includingsomeaccusing theWhite ence inRwanda”),leavingoutthemostvirulent (under theheading“EndofWhiteFathers’Infl gures forkilling sixmissionaries,includ- Umuseso cial wassentinlateSeptembertothe , whichprintedonlypartofit «Rwanda, lesmédiasdugénocide»

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RWANDA The arrest of father Guy Theunis: An investigation of the charges, the legal action and possible reasons es againsthim,intotalviolationoftherules prosecutor’s offi Theunis’ prosecution isfulloflegalfl A dubiouslegal action Brussels ofitsdeterminationtogetcontrol. and astrong signaltothemagazine’s editorsin group anditsmagazinecouldberevenge editorial andfi arrest isagodsendtothegroup tryingtowin and seehimasablocktotheirambitions.His those whohaveknownTheunisformanyyears There were alsoperhapspersonalmotives,by assigned toguarding them.” and 10priestshadbeenkilledby“FPRsoldiers wrote on9Junethatyearthree bishops grant humanrightsviolations”oftheFPR.He unis stressed inafaxtohissuperiorsthe“fl dared toquestionthedeedsofFPR,The- Three yearslater, inMay1994,whennobody President JuvenalHabyarimanaandtheFPR. denounced theabusesofbothregime of Freedoms (ADL),whichsince1991hasstrongly tion fortheRightsofIndividualandPublic of thepromoters oftheRwandanAssocia- ing party’s humanrightsabuses.He wasone still notgotoverTheunis’exposure oftherul- Other people,suchasFPRactivists,have say whohadtoldhimTheunisarrived. heard TheuniswasinRwanda.Herefused to fi hearing, toldReportersWithoutBorders hehad led acomplainton6Septemberassoonhe the FPR. 1991 andalsocondemnedbloody attacksby de” (of Tutsis innorthernRwanda) inJanuary for example,toexpose“theBagogwe genoci- all violenceitlearnedabout. Itwasthe tical partiesandtheorganisation condemned founder-members camefrom a rangeofpoli- Juvenal HabyarimanaandbyFDRsoldiers.Its report, onabusesbytheregimeofPresident civilians. InDecember1992,itissuedits media theviolencebeingcommittedagainst The ADL veryquicklybeganexposingtothe cabinet ministerJosephNsengimana. li, ex-ambassadortoCanada,andformerFPR da along withJosephBonesha,currentlyRwan- lier. Theunis wasoneits79founder-members, the countrysincestartofwarayearear- ponse tonumeroushumanrightsviolationsin founded on11 September1991inKigalires- Individual andPublicFreedoms(ADL)was The Rwandan Association fortheRightsof Theunis andhumanrights ʼ s ambassadortoBelgium,LaurentNkongo- nancial control oftheDialogue ce hasstillnotstatedthecharg- aws. The fi fi rst, rst a-

immigration. Theunis’ namemusthavebeenonthelistat rangements fastenough.Thistime,shesaid, country in2004,butjudgescouldnotmakear- ple toldlegaloffi dia supervisorycouncil,saysunidentifi Marie-Immaculée Ingabire, ofthenationalme- Nobody challengedhispresence inRwanda. DemocraticCongo. tend workshopsineastern there, crossing theborder severaltimestoat- reconciliation andspentmore thanamonth in spring2004totakepartseminarsabout gating Theunis.Hehadalready visitedRwanda Legal offi all decisionsare beingmadebyregime offi case, apartfrom issuingthearrest warrant,and The legalsystemhasnoreal involvementinthe awaited. formally thatadecision“bytheauthorities”is not responded butanoffi on 14September. Theprosecutor’s offi té Mutembe,requested hisconditionalrelease to beheldincustody. Oneofhislawyers,Pro- been exceededandnojudgehasordered him the accusedtobebrought before acourthas Rwandan legalprocedure. Thesix-daylimitfor development andsetupsocialfacilities. ries buildclinicsandschools,encouragerural founder. Apart frompreaching,themissiona- ple do”arethebasicprinciplesofSociety food andwearthesameclothesaslocalpeo- “You willspeakthelocallanguage,eat now workthereoverseeing133parishes. February 1900andabout20orsomissionaries countries. The SocietyarrivedinRwandaon2 ries of36nationalitiesworkingin42 African archbishop of Algiers. Ithas1,733missiona- in Algeria in1868byMgrCharlesLavigerie, called The Missionariesof Africa) wasfounded The White FathersMissionarySociety(now Fathers The White cials haveapparently notbeeninvesti- cials ofhispresence inthe cial hastoldhimin- ed peo- ed ce has ce cials. 8 ʼ s

RWANDA The arrest of father Guy Theunis: An investigation of the charges, the legal action and possible reasons against him. or politicalmotives,hastilyconcoctedacase zine. Ahandfulofpeople,drivenbypersonal gium quickly. to makeeveryeffort toseehereturns toBel- It alsourges BelgiumandtheEuropean Union again callsonRwandatofree Theunisatonce. Reporters WithoutBorders therefore once Soir Le he saidinaninterviewwiththeBelgiandaily side oftheperpetratorsgenocide.”But gium hadalready “showeditwasnotonthe would “seriously”studytherequest sinceBel- dan counterpart,CharlesMurigande,saidhe versal jurisdiction.Afewdayslater, hisRwan- be transferred toBelgiumunderthelawofuni- formal request on26Septemberforthecaseto Belgian foreign ministerKarel de Guchtfi Conclusion andrecommendations from ortaken theInternet at thelastminuteusingmaterialdownloaded accusations were almostcertainlytrumpedup and sincehisgacacahearing,isbaseless.The evidence presented againsthimbefore, during Theunis isinnocentofthecharges andthe matter. if theRwandansare draggingtheirfeetonthe solution tothecaseismostlikelyoneeven tions hadbeen“constructive.”Adiplomatic from Kigalion16Octoberandsaidnegotia- Two Belgianforeign ministryoffi prisoner Rwandawouldtransfer”inthisway. Belgium, hesaid,thenwouldbe“thelast tried inBelgium.”Ifthecasewasdismissed wanted toensure thatTheunis“really wouldbe cedures hadtobefollowed.HesaidRwanda be transferred immediatelybecauselegalpro- Bizimana wereseen togetherataKigalihotelexchanging documentsafewdays before thegacacatrial. (10) Reporters Without BorderslearnsthatprosecutorEmmanuel Rukangira, Tom Ndahiroand Jean-Damascène on10Octoberthatthecasecouldnot (10) cas returned cials Golias maga- led a led

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