Regional
Genocide survivors push for appeal of Belgian soldiers’ case
The
Umbrella organisation of the survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi,
IBUKA, is pushing for the appeal of a court case in which Belgian troops are
accused of abandoning Tutsis to the men with machetes.
Specifically,
2,000 Tutsis were murdered by Interahamwe militias at the former École
Technique Officielle (ETO) Kicukiro just hours after the Belgian UN
peacekeepers who were tasked to guard them pulled out on April 11, 1994.
During
the commemoration of ETO Kicukiro victims on Monday, Egide Nkuranga, the
President of IBUKA, said that several years ago the civil society lodged a
court case accusing the Belgian government of abandoning people who were
hiding there.
However,
court did not rule in their favour, instead shifting blame to the UN, Nkuranga
said.
The
civil society accused the Belgian government of having forced the UN to
withdraw its troops.
The
government based the decision on the fact that their soldiers were being blamed
for the shooting down of President Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane, and that ten
Belgian soldiers were captured and hacked to death by Hutu extremists at the
outset of the genocide on April 7.
Nkuranga
told mourners on Monday at Nyanza Genocide Memorial that the group of experts
in the civil society were not satisfied by the court decision and are currently
making in-depth research to support their appeal.
As
part of the research, he disclosed, the Belgian experts came to Rwanda in the
first quarter of 2022, visited ETO Kicukiro and other genocide memorials and
interviewed more genocide survivors among other research activities.
They
were led by Professor Joel Kotek, a Belgian-Jewish anti-genocide activist who
doubles as an academician.
He
has appeared in several publications tackling the role of the international
community during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis.
Upon
conclusion of their findings, according to Nkuranga, the experts will appeal
the case and ask for the compensation of the victims’ families.
The
Speaker of Parliament, Donatille Mukabalisa, appealed for Rwandans to remain
resilient.
“We
were abandoned by the international community, but the sons of Rwanda came to
our rescue, stopped the genocide and crashed the enemy at once,” she said at
the commemoration event at Nyanza Genocide Memorial.
We
should draw a lesson from this, she added, that the development, security and
unity of Rwanda shall be guaranteed by Rwandans.
About
ETO Kicukiro massacres
ETO
Kicukiro holds a strong chapter in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi due to
the memory of the victims murdered in cold blood after UN troops abandoned
them.
In
1994, over 2,000 Tutsis camped at ETO Kicukiro under the protection of the
Belgian UN troops. The Belgian contingent formed the backbone of the United
Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).
The troops, however, pulled out of Rwanda on April 11, 1994, following the murder of ten Belgian soldiers by government forces. A total of 97 Belgian peacekeepers based at ETO Kicukiro were ordered to fly back home, leaving Tutsi refugees at the mercy of the marauding militia.