African Rights Working for Justice RWANDA Broken Bodies, Torn Spirits Living with Genocide, Rape and HIV/AIDS April 2004 PO Box 3836, Kigali, Rwanda Tel: 00 250 501007 Fax: 00 250 501008 [email protected] [email protected] RWANDA Broken Bodies, Torn Spirits Living with Genocide, Rape and HIV/AIDS A Publication of African Rights April 2004 ISBN: 1 899477 45 4 B.P 3836, Kigali, Rwanda Telephone (250) 501007 Fax: (250) 501008 Email: [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms 1. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………..6 2. RECORDS OF RAPE: VIOLATION UPON VIOLATION…..…………………………….………...9 Repeated Violations ………………………………….10 Gang Raped ………………………………………………………13 Raped by Soldiers ……………………….16 Raped by a Neighbour or Relative ………………………………………... .18 Deliberate Infection ………………………..............19 Raped in Front of Family Members ………………………………...20 Sexual Slavery ………………………. ……….22 Prolonged Suffering in the Camps ……………………………......24 Raped as a Child ……………………………………………….....25 Raped in Burundi…………………………………………………………………......28 3. BROKEN BODIES: THE PHYSICAL IMPACT OF RAPE ……………………………..30 4. FACING A DEMON …………………………………………………………32 Helpless …………………………………………………….........33 A Daily Battle ………………………………………………………….....38 5. IN THE DARK: FEAR AND POWERLESSNESS…………………………………………….47 6. FRAGILE HEALTH………………………………………………………….51 7. TORN SPIRITS: THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT……………………………………………….55 Mental Distress…………………………………………………………………………58 8. THE PRIMARY CONCERN: THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN………………………………………………60 A Home of Their Own………………………………………………………………... ..63 Children in Need of Special Care……………………………………………………..65 9. ON THE MARGINS: THE PRICE OF ISOLATION…………………………………………………67 A Sense of Unease: The Distance from Neighbour………………………………..67 The Fear of Stigma……………………………………………………………68 The Divisive Issue of Justice ………………………………………………..69 A Painful Rejection: Disowned by Family ……………………………………. … .70 Damaged Relationships …………………………………………………………. …. 71 When the Child of the Rape Becomes a Problem …………………….....74 Warding Off the Loneliness: The Longing for a Child ………………………. …75 10. ELUSIVE JUSTICE…………………………………………………………..76 Demanding Justice………………………………………………………………. …. ..76 Anger at Releases…………………………………………………………… ….. ….. 78 Trauma in the Process………………………………………………………….. … .. 80 Distress in Court: Experiences in the ICTR……………………………… …. … ..82 Giving Up…………………………………………………………………………. … ..85 Contrasts in Burundi……………………………………………………………. ….. .86 11. PATCHING WOUNDS: ASSISTANCE FOR RAPE SURVIVORS……………………………………88 Basic Assistance: Turning to the FARG……………………………………….. …. ..89 Seeking Shelter: An Elementary Need……………………………………….............90 12. CREATING COMMUNITIES: THE CRITICAL SUPPORT OF WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS………..93 Avega: Strength in Numbers……………………………………………........... …….93 Building Morale...................................................................................…94 Poverty and Illness: Undermining Economic Recovery…………….....................96 Abasa: Solidarity in Suffering………………………………………….....................99 SWAA: Vital Care for Some…………………………………………….....................99 13. FUTURE HOPES………………………………………………………….......101 ACRONYMS ABUBEF Burundian Association for Family Well-Being ARBEF Rwandese Association for Family Well-Being AVEGA Association of the Widows of the Genocide of April CHK Kigali Central Hospital CNLS National Commission to Fight AIDS DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo FAR Rwandese Armed Forces FARG Fund to Assist Survivors of the Genocide ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda PLWAs People Living With HIV/Aids RPA Rwandese Patriotic Army RPF Rwandese Patriotic Front STIs Sexually Transmitted Infections SWAA Society of Women Againts Aids in Africa 1 INTRODUCTION For some victims, there is no life after rape; they lose their health and happiness. Women raped during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda lead a uniquely troubled existence and many feel their survival is its own form of torture. They are desperately impoverished, commonly infected with HIV/AIDS and are responsible for several children. They see their lives as “finished” or “another form of martyrdom”; one woman described herself as “a living dead person.” The suffering of “rape survivors” interviewed for this report is extreme; many see no prospect of recovery. No one can revive the millions killed in genocide and conflict over the past decade in this region, but it is surely not beyond the capacity of governments, international agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), working together, to restore quality of life to these women. Broken Bodies, Torn Spirits identifies their problems and some possibilities for addressing them. Researched in the course of a year across 11 of Rwanda’s 12 provinces, this study is intended as a contribution to the many ongoing efforts to improve responses to rape, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the Great Lakes region and more widely in Africa. It addresses an issue confronting all post-conflict and conflict-ridden societies, particularly on this turbulent continent—the rapid spread of infections in the context of sexual violence. In accounts of rape during the 1994 genocide and their experiences since, 185 Rwandese and 16 Burundian citizens, two of them male, reach out beyond their own dire circumstances as informants and advocates on a critical wider problem. They speak of extreme cruelty compounded by missed medical opportunities and humanitarian failures. HIV/AIDS is steadily draining the life out of millions of African men, women and children. Awareness of the extent of the pandemic is now high and, increasingly, positive action is being taken across the continent to address the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS and to prevent infections. African governments cannot address this crisis alone and need the full backing of the international community.1 This report provides yet more evidence to back the campaign to ensure supplies of cheap anti-retroviral drugs in Africa. Only a handful of the women interviewed had taken anti-retrovirals and none had done so consistently. Maintaining the status quo, where the majority of those infected with HIV/AIDS cannot access effective treatment for the condition, constitutes a daily human rights violation. Recent estimates suggest that some 500,000 people in Rwanda are infected with HIV/AIDS; these statistics may not be totally reliable.2 But what is beyond doubt is that the disease represents a national disaster, now and for the future. The Government of Rwanda has made 1 The United States Government in particular must urgently recognize the extent of its humanitarian responsibilities as the major economic and political power and home to the major pharmaceutical manufacturers of anti-retroviral drugs. For a discussion of the US government response to the crisis of HIV/AIDS in Africa see www.africaaction.org US/Africa: Broken Promises & Betrayals, Africa Action, Africa Policy E-Journal, September 20, 2003 (030920). 2 These figures are given in the UNAIDS Epidemiological Fact Sheet, 2002 Update, which states: “calculations are based on the previously published estimates for 1997 and 1999 and recent trends in HIV/AIDS surveillance in various populations. A methodology developed in collaboration with an international group of experts was used to calculate the new estimates on prevalence and incidence of HIV and AIDS deaths, as well as the number of children infected through mother-to-child transmission of HIV.” The general difficulty of compiling reliable statistics about HIV/AIDS, including the stigma associated with the disease, and particularly weak surveillance systems in Rwanda, should be noted. apparent its awareness and concern, but—as in most African nations struggling to meet this unprecedented challenge—provision for prevention of HIV/AIDS and the care, treatment and support of sufferers remains inadequate. All People Living with HIV/AIDS (PWLAs) urgently need appropriate and consistent information, treatment and care.3 Genocide rape victims are a minority within this group—although exactly how many there are remains to be established—but this report emphasises that they have particular requirements and cannot simply be integrated within wider programmes aimed at PWLAs. This is not the first report concerned with rape in this region and sadly it will not be the last. Rape is a standard weapon of war and tyranny, perpetrated with impunity across Africa, from Algeria to Zimbabwe. The reluctance of some victims and communities to speak out about this crime is understandable but is frequently a barrier to action. In Rwanda, genocide survivors who were raped are reluctant to come forward, but many have been prepared to tell their stories and to testify against their persecutors—partly it seems because they have nothing left to lose. In a brief research trip to Burundi, African Rights interviewed 16 witnesses. Their accounts emphasize that conflict and instability continue to fuel the incidence of rape in the Great Lakes region and the prospects for all survivors remain grim. Rather than the systematic programme of rape implemented in 1994 in Rwanda, women in Burundi fall victim to attack in various contexts. Their experiences illustrate the vulnerability of women of all ages in conflict-ridden societies. Their persecutors range from soldiers and militia to neighbours and thugs. In many respects their everyday predicament resembles that of victims in Rwanda. These women are usually profoundly isolated, have already experienced social rejection or have