I took liberty to republish the Rudasingwa's confession,
because this man seems to be the one of rare tutsis on who the rwandans
can rely ! People like Kayumba Nyamwasa would have to follow this way
before Kagame kills him. Dr Theogene Rudasingwa, on my side you are
forgiven!
Confession
PAUL KAGAME
KILLED PRESIDENT JUVENAL HABYARIMANA, PRESIDENT CYPRIEN NTARYAMIRA OF
BURUNDI, DEOGRATIAS NSABIMANA, ELIE SAGATWA, THADDEE BAGARAGAZA, JUVENAL
RENZAHO, EMMANUEL AKINGENEYE, BERNARD CIZA, CYRIAQUE SIMBIZI, JACKY
HERAUD, JEAN PIERRE MINABERRY AND JEAN-MICHEL PERRINE
On
August 4, 1993, in Arusha, Tanzania, the Government of Rwanda and the
Rwandese Patriotic Front signed the Arusha Peace Agreement. The
provisions of the agreement included a commitment to principles of the
rule of law, democracy, national unity, pluralism, the respect of
fundamental freedoms and the rights of the individual. The agreement
further had provisions on power-sharing, formation of one and single
National Army and a new National Gendarmerie from forces of the two
warring parties; and a definitive solution to the problem of Rwandan
refugees. On April 6, 1994, at 8:25 p.m., the Falcon 50 jet of the
President of the Republic of Rwanda, registration number “9XR-NN”, on
its return from a summit meeting in DAR-ES-SALAAM,Tanzania, as it was on
approach to Kanombe International Airport in KIGALI, Rwanda, was shot
down. All on board, including President Juvenal Habyarimana , President
Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi, their entire entourage and flight crew
died.
The death of President Juvenal Habyarimana triggered the
start of genocide that targeted Tutsi and Hutu moderates, and the
resumption of civil war between RPF and the Government of Rwanda. The
RPF’s sad and false narrative from that time on has been that Hutu
extremists within President Habyarimana’s camp shot down the plane to
derail the implementation of the Arusha Peace Agreement, and to find a
pretext to start the genocide in which over 800,000 Rwandans died in
just 100 days. This narrative has become a predominant one in some
international circles, among scholars, and in some human rights
organizations.
The truth must now be told. Paul Kagame, then
overall commander of the Rwandese Patriotic Army, the armed wing of the
Rwandese Patriotic Front, was personally responsible for the shooting
down of the plane. In July, 1994, Paul Kagame himself, with
characteristic callousness and much glee, told me that he was
responsible for shooting down the plane. Despite public denials, the
fact of Kagame’s culpability in this
crime
is also a public “secret” within RPF and RDF circles. Like many others
in the RPF leadership, I enthusiastically sold this deceptive story
line, especially to foreigners who by and large came to believe it, even
when I knew that Kagame was the culprit in this crime. The political
and social atmosphere during the period from the signing of the Arusha
Accords in August 1993 was highly explosive, and the nation was on edge.
By killing President Habyarimana, Paul Kagame introduced a wild card in
an already fragile ceasefire and dangerous situation. This created a
powerful trigger, escalating to a tipping point towards resumption of
the civil war, genocide, and the region-wide destabilization that has
devastated the Great Lakes region since then.
Paul Kagame has to be immediately brought to account for this
crime
and its consequences. First, there is absolutely nothing honorable or
heroic in reaching an agreement for peace with a partner, and then
stabbing him in the back. Kagame and Habyarimana did not meet on the
battlefield on April 6, 1994. If they had, and one of them or both had
died, it would have been tragic, but understandable, as a product of the
logic of war. President Habyarimana was returning from a peace summit,
and by killing him, Kagame demonstrated the highest form of treachery.
Second, Kagame, a Tutsi himself, callously gambled away the lives of
innocent Tutsi and moderate Hutu who perished in the genocide. While the
killing of President Habyarimana, a Hutu, was not a direct cause of the
genocide, it provided a powerful motivation and trigger to those who
organized, mobilized and executed the genocide against Tutsi and Hutu
moderates. Third, by killing President Habyarimana, Kagame permanently
derailed the already fragile Arusha peace process in a dangerous pursuit
of absolute power in Rwanda. Kagame feared the letter and spirit of the
Arusha Peace Agreement. As the subsequent turn of events has now shown,
Kagame does not believe in the unity of Rwandans, democracy, respect of
human rights and other fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, power
sharing, integrated and accountable security institutions with a
national character, and resolving the problem of refugees once and for
all. This is what the Arusha Peace Agreement was all about. That is what
is lacking in Rwanda today. Last, but not least, Kagame’s and RPF’s
false narrative, denials, and deceptions have led to partial justice in
Rwanda and at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, thereby
undermining prospects for justice for all Rwandan people, reconciliation
and healing. The international community has, knowingly or unknowingly,
become an accomplice in Kagame’s systematic and shameful game of
deception.
I was never party to the conspiracy to commit this heinous
crime
.
In fact, I first heard about it on BBC around 1:00 am on April 7, 1994,
while I was in Kampala where I had been attending the Pan African
Movement conference. I believe the majority of members of RPF and RPA
civilians and combatants, like me, were not party to this murderous
conspiracy that was hatched and organized by Paul Kagame and executed on
his orders. Nevertheless, I was a Secretary General of the RPF, and a
Major in the rebel army, RPA. It is in this regard, within the context
of collective responsibility, and a spirit of truth-telling in search of
forgiveness and healing, that I would like to say I am deeply sorry
about this loss of life, and to ask for forgiveness from the families of
Juvenal Habyarimana, Cyprien Ntaryamira, Deogratias Nsabimana, Elie
Sagatwa, Thaddee Bagaragaza, Emmanuel Akingeneye, Bernard Ciza, Cyriaque
Simbizi, Jacky Heraud, Jean-Pierre Minaberry, and Jean-Michel Perrine. I
also ask for forgiveness from all Rwandan people, in the hope that we
must unanimously and categorically reject murder, treachery, lies and
conspiracy as political weapons, eradicate impunity once and for all,
and work together to build a culture of truth-telling, forgiveness,
healing, and the rule of law. I ask for forgiveness from the people of
Burundi and France whose leaders and citizens were killed in this crime.
Above all, I ask for forgiveness from God for having lied and concealed
evil for too long.
In freely telling the truth before God and the
Rwandan people, I fully understand the risk I have undertaken, given
Paul Kagame’s legendary vindictiveness and unquenchable thirst for
spilling the blood of Rwandans. It is a shared risk that Rwandans bear
daily in their quest for freedom and justice for all. Neither power and
fame, nor gold and silver, are the motivation for me in these matters of
death that have defined our nation for too long. Truth cannot wait for
tomorrow, because the Rwandan nation is very sick and divided, and
cannot rebuild and heal on lies. All Rwandans urgently need truth today.
Our individual and collective search for truth will set us free. When
we are free, we can freely forgive each other and begin to live fully
and heal at last.
Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa
Former: RPF Secretary General, Ambassador of Rwanda to the United States, and Chief of Staff for President Paul Kagame.
E-mail:
ngombwa@gmail.com;
Washington, DC. October 1, 2011
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