Tribunals only 'stir ethnic hatred'
2005-05-13 20:22
Nairobi - Rwandan Hutu rebels exiled in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday called for the scrapping of traditional courts trying genocide suspects in the country's 1994 genocide.
The Rwandan Democratic Liberation Forces (FDLR) asked the international community for immediate intervention to solve a dispute between them and Kigali over their return to Rwanda.
We urge "the international community to immediately press on Kigali authorities and to ask them to abolish the tribunals because they only serve to terrorise and stir ethnic hatred between Rwandans, who are already battered by fear," they said.
Late March, the insurgents, estimated at between 8 000 and 15 000, agreed to lay down weapons and declared their willingness to peacefully return to Rwanda after 11 years in the DRC, but up to now no repatriation has begun.
"The FDLR calls on the attention of the international community that right now as it offers a peaceful gesture, the Kigali regime has created a new exodus of refugees caused by the so-called Gacaca to intimidate refugees who want to return to their country," they said.
In April, thousands of Rwandan Hutus fled the country for fear of standing trial before the country's gacaca courts, (pronounced gachacha), which were set up to try genocide cases and to ease crippling congestion in Rwandan prisons.
The 1994 Rwanda slaughter, orchestrated by Hutu extremists, killed about 800 000 people mostly of Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus.
Rebels allied to the FDLR are mostly Hutus opposed to Rwanda's current regime dominated by the Tutsis. They are suspected of playing active roles during the genocide and can be arraigned before the gacaca courts.