Rwanda: Umwaka mushya muhire w’2017

Ishyaka RDI-Rwanda Rwiza ririfuriza Abanyarwanda umwaka mushya muhire w’2017.

Banyarwanda, Banyarwandakazi,

Byabaye umuco ku isi yose ko kuwa 31 Ukuboza, ari itariki yo gusezera k'umwaka urangiye no kwakira umwaka mushya. Umunsi mukuru wo gutangira umwaka mushya twita «Ubunani», Abanyarwanda twese turawubahiriza, tugasaba Imana ngo tuzawugiremo ishya n’ihirwe, n'ubuzima buzira umuze. Uko tubisaba Uwiteka ni nako tubyifuriza abavandimwe n’inshuti, ndetse tutibagiwe n’abandi, cyane cyane abatishoboye n’abari mu ngorane zinyuranye.

Bityo rero mw’izina ry’Ishyaka RDI nkaba nifurije umwaka mwiza Abanyarwanda bose, ari abari mu gihugu cyangwa abari mu ngendo ku mpamvu zinyuranye, ari n'abahejejwe ishyanga n’Ubutegetsi bw’igitugu bwa FPR-Kagame : uyu mwaka, uzababere umwaka w'amahoro n'ituze, umwaka wo gukundana nk'Abanyarwanda, umwaka wo kugera ku nshingano zose zabateza imbere. Uzababere kandi umwaka wo kumvikana mu ngo zanyu, mu miryango mukomokamo, no ku misozi, imirenge, insisiro, n'imigi mutuyemo. Bityo, muri uyu mwaka w’2017, muziyemeze gushimangira « umubano mu bantu », mugera ikirenge mu cy’abasokuruza bacu.

Mu rwego rw’igihugu, umwaka w’2016 usize ibikorwa by'ingirakamaro byagombye kongerera u Rwanda ishema mu ruhando rw’amahanga, nubwo bwose isura yarwo ikomeje kwanduzwa n’ubutegetsi bubi bwa FPR-Kagame. Muri ibyo bikorwa mboneragihugu, twavuga ibi bikurikira:

1.       Inyubako yiswe «Kigali Convention Center» (KCC), n’ubwo idahiga ubwiza « Kenyatta Conference Center » y’i Nayirobi ; ariko ku gihugu gikennye nk'icyacu, ni igitego mu bihugu bitatu byahoze biyoborwa n'abakoloni b'Ababiligi (Burundi, RD Congo, Rwanda).

2.       Indege ebyiri za AIRBUS 330-320 na 330-300 zizaba indorerwamo y'u Rwanda mu bihugu zizajya zitwarira abagenzi.

3.       Hafashwe icyemezo cyo kuzubaka « ikibuga mpuzamahanga cy’indege » (AEROPORT INTERNATIONAL) mu Bugesera, hakaba hari hashize imyaka 50 irenga iki kibuga gishakwa n’Abanyarwanda ndetse n'Abanyamahanga, bamwe bakaba barifuzaga ko cyubakwa igitaraganya, ku mpamvu zitarasobanuka.

Bigomba kumvikana ko ibyo bikorwa atari iby’abantu ku giti cyabo, ko ari iby'igihugu, dore ko n’amadeni yasabwe na Leta azabyubaka azishyurwa ku ngengo y’imali y’igihugu, iturutse ahanini ku misoro n’imisanzu y’abenegihugu. Ibyo bikorwa kandi biramutse bigurishijwe, amafaranga byinjije agomba kujya mu isanduku y'igihugu. Ibikorwa nk'ibi ni ibyo gushyigikirwa kukobitandukanye n'ibyiswe imiturirwa isigaye isa n'umurato mu mujyi wa Kigali. Ibikorwa by'amajyambere mu Rwanda byaba imihanda, ibitaro bya Leta, n'izindi nyubako z’ingirakamaro bigomba gushyigikirwa, mu gihe bifitiye akamaro Abataturarwanda muri rusange.

Tugomba kumenya kandi gutandukanya amajyambere ashingiye ku nyungu za rubanda n’amajyambere ashingiye ku nyungu z’agatsiko kaba gahisha ubukire gafite kabonye ku buryo budasobanutse (blanchiment d’argent) bushingiye k’ubwambuzi, ubusahuzi bw'umutungo w'igihugu, cyangwa iminyago yo mu ntambara. Bene ayo majyambere adasangiwe na benshi ashimisha beneyo gusa n'abo bafatanije, bagahatira urubyiruko gucengenzwamo amateka y'amatobano, yuzuye ikinyoma, ubwirasi no kwishongora kw'abantu bake bigize indobanure mu Banyarwanda, bagamije kwikungahaza nta soni.

Ni ngombwa kandi gutsindagira ko bene ayo majyambere y'umuvuduko udasanzwe, agaragara ko yikubiwe na bamwe mu banyarwanda, ahishe byinshi bifitanye inkomoko no gushaka kwibagiza no gutwikira amahano bafitemo uruhare rukomeye nko mu mubijyanye n'ubwicanyi bwakorewe Abanyarwanda muri rusange, ariko cyane abitwaga abahutu (ubu bitwa ukundi). Ibyo ari byo byose nta majyambere azahanagura cyangwa ngo yibagize amateka y'ibyabaye mu Rwanda hose, aho imirambo yatawe mu migezi, indi igatwikirwa mu mashyamba. By'umwihariko,amahano yakorewe i Kibeho muri Mata 1995 no mu mashyamba ya Kongo kuva mu kwezi k’Ugushyingo 1996 kugeza mu kwezi kwa Gicurasi 1997, bigahitana abantu bageze kuri miliyoni ebyiri, bigomba kwibukwa buri mwaka kugeza ku munsi w'imperuka.

Umwaka w’2017 dutangiye, nta cyiza tuwutezeho mu rwego rwa politike, ku ruhande rwa FPR-Kagame. Kimwe n'iyawubanjirije, nawo uzaba uwo kurata « iterambere ryazanywe na Kagame », no kwerekana ko abagore ari bo basigaye barabaye benshi mu nzego z'ubuyobozi bw'igihugu cy’u Rwanda, kurusha ibindi bihugu byo ku isi. Uko bigaragara, politiki y'ubuhendabana izakomeza. Abanyarwanda nabo bazakomeza bayoborwe butama, bamenyere kuba ingaruzwamuheto zarwaye ipfunwe. Abanyarwanda bamwe ba mpemukendamuke bazakomeza kurega ababyeyi babo ibyaha batakoze. Abandi bakomeze bisakume bavuga ko ba nyirarume cyangwa ba se bateguye jenoside yakorewe abatutsi. Naho ab’inkwakuzi bigire abahanga n'abasizi mu bitutsi byo kugayisha no gusebya abatavuga rumwe n’ubuyobozi bwa Perezida Kagame, abo basingiza Kagame bakomeze kumufata nk’aho ariwe ugena ubuzima bw’Abanyarwanda n’imiyoborere yabo.

Hazaba kandi igikorwa kaminuza twakwita agahebuzo k’ikinyoma cyahimbwe n’abacurabwenge b’ingoma, kigambiriye kugaragaza ko Abanyarwanda bakunda Perezida Kagame. Hazakomeza kumvikana ubutumwa bw’urukozasoni bw’uko Abanyarwanda bifuza ko Kagame yakomeza kubayobora, ndetse bikaba amahire agumye ku butegetsi kugeza avuyemo umwuka, akazasimburwa n'uwo yaba asigiye umurage. Perezida Kagame n'ingabo ze bazakora ikinamico mu Rwanda hose ku manywa y’ihangu, habe igisa n'amatora, nibigera ku Gicamunsi, batangaze ko Abanyarwanda barenga 90 % batoye Perezida Kagame ngo akomeze ababere umuyobozi,amahanga yongere yirengagize ko ayo majwi yaturutse ku gahato n’uburiganya bisanzwe biranga amatora afifitse ya FPR-Inkotanyi.

Ku ruhande rw’ishyaka RDI Rwanda Rwiza, muri uyu mwaka dutangiye, tuzihatira kubeshyuza ibinyoma bya FPR-Kagame, twereke Abanyarwanda n’amahanga ko u Rwanda atari Singapure cyangwa Amerika (USA), aho inkotanyi zikize zohereza abana bazo mu mashuli no kubayo. Tuzerekana kandi ko u Rwanda ari igihugu gikennye, bitewe n’uko hafi 80% y’abarutuye batagira umushahara, dore ko nta kazi kabahemba buri kwezi bafite. Abanyarwanda benshi nta masambu bakigira kuko n’uturima bacungiragaho leta ya Kagame yatubambuye, bamwe bakaba barishwe n’inzara, ababishoboye bagahungira mu gihugu cya Uganda. Abaturage benshi mu Rwanda ntabwo bakirya ngo bahage, abenshi bicwa n'inzara ndetse n’indwara zikomoka ku mirire mibi. Kuba mu gihugu umuturage atakigira uburenganzira ku isambu ye, byateye inzara yayogoje u Rwanda rwose, bitewe ahanini n’uko ibihingwa ngandurarugo bitagihabwa agaciro byari bifite mbere,hakaba n’ubwo biranduwe, ngo iyo byahinzwe bidakurikije gahunda za Leta !

Muri uyu mwaka w’2017, ishyaka RDI Rwanda Rwiza rizakomeza guharanira ko ibintu bihinduka mu Rwanda, hagamijwe ukwishyira ukizana kwa buri wese, ubutegetsi bushingiye kuri demokrasi, n’imibereho myiza y’abaturage ishingiye ku majyambere asangiwe n’imbaga nyamwinshi. Mu byihutirwa kurusha ibindi, twavuga ibi bikurikira :

1.       Kurwanya inzara yiswe "Nzaramba" yogogoje igihugu, igatuma Abanyarwanda batari bake basuhuka kubera amajyambera ya nyirarureshwa atabitayeho, ahubwo atuma bamburwa amasambu yabo, abasigaye mu gihugu nabo bakabuzwa uburyo, bakabura epfo na ruguru.

2.       Kwimakaza demokarasi mu Rwanda. Kurwanya ubutegetsi bw’igitugu ubwo ari bwo bwose, byabaye akarande mu mateka y’u Rwanda. Abanyarwanda b’impirimbanyi babaye imena barwanya ingoma ya cyami isimburwa na repubulika, abandi bahangana n’ubutegetsi bw’igitugu bwa Habyarimana n’ishyaka rye MRND. Uwo murage ugomba gukomeza, abiyemeje kurwanya ingoma ngome ya FPR-Kagame bagakomeza umurego, maze uyu mwaka dutangiye ukazaba uwo guca umusingi tuzubakiraho u Rwanda rwiza, rurangwa na Leta igendera ku mategeko kandi yubahiriza uburenganzira bw’ibanze mu ngeri zose, ari mu bya politiki n’imiyoborere y’igihugu, ari no mu rwego rw’ubukungu n’imibereho myiza. Kugira ngo iyo mpinduka igerweho bidatinze, Ishyaka RDI Rwanda Rwiza ryiteguye guhuza umugambi n’abandi banyarwanda bo mu yandi mashyaka, bumva ko hagomba gushakwa inzira zose zo kumvisha Prezida Paul Kagame kwemera yanze akunze ko demokarasi yubahirizwa mu gihgu cyacu.

3.       Gukemura ikibazo cy’ubuhunzi : mu mpera z’ukwezi kwa Werurwe k’uyu mwaka turangije, Ishyaka RDI ryagejeje ku Butegetsi bwa Paul Kagame, inyandiko isesengura ikibazo cy’Impunzi z’Abanyarwanda n’uburyo cyakemurwa, rinasaba Leta y’i Kigali guhagurukira icyo kibazo kugira ngo kitazateza indi ntambara nk’iyo Inkotanyi zashoje mu mwaka w’1990. Ikigaragara ni uko FPR-Kagame ititaye kuri icyo kibazo, bityo Prezida Kagame n’Ubutegetsi bwe bakaba ari bo bazaryozwa inkurikizi mbi zose zishobora kuzabyarwa n’icyo kibazo kimeze mu by’ukuri nk’ikirunga gitutumba. Mu bimenyetso by’ubukare bw’ikibazo cy’ubuhunzi biherutse kugaragara mu minsi ya vuba, twavuga nk’itanga ry’Umwami Kigeli Ndahindurwa watabarutse tariki ya 16 Ukwakira 2016 mu gihugu cya Leta zunze Ubumwe bw’Amerika nk’impunzi yahejejwe ishyanga, rigakurura amakimbirane yatumye na n’ubu umugogogo we utarashyingurwa.

4.       Kuvugisha ukuri ku byerekeye ibyiswe amoko mu Rwanda. Nta kindi kizaca ingirwamoko kandi kikazana amahoro mu Rwanda, uretse kubaka ubumwe nyabwo bw’Abanyarwanda no kwitorera abategetsi nta gahato. Bitabaye ibyo, u Rwanda ruzokamwa n’amacakubiri azakomeza kurukururamo umwiryane mu gihe Abanyarwanda bakomeje gucibwamo ibice, bashyirwa mu byiciro bimwe na bimwe, nk’ibi bikurikira :

1.       Abatutsi ngo baremewe kuzajya mw’ijuru n’abahutu ngo Mungu agomba kubabarira,

2.       Abahunze u Rwanda n’abarutuye,

3.       Abitwa ko bahagaritse jenoside n’abacikacumu ku ruhande rumwe n’abo ku rundi ruhande, Abashigajwe inyuma n'amateka n’abitwa ko atari bo, Abashigajwe inyuma n'amajyambere (y'Intsinzi y'Inkotanyi) n’abigwijeho ibya Mirenge, Andi « moko » menshi usanga mu by’ukuri atesha agaciro Abanyarwanda.

Mu gusoza iri jambo ry’Umwaka mushya, Ishyaka RDI ryifuje gutsindagira igitekerezo cy’uko Abanyarwanda dufite uburenganzira busesuye bwo kubaho mu mahoro no muri demokarasi mu gihugu cyacu, tutagombye kubisaba cyangwa kubihakirwa mu gihe turi Abenegihugu bujuje ibya ngombwa bigenga Ubunyarwanda. Nibyumvikane kandi ko Abanyarwanda badashobora kwemera ko uburenganzira bwabo butsikamirwa cyangwa bukaguranwa amajyamabere y’igikangisho n’inyungu z’agatsiko kikubiye ibyiza byose by’igihugu. Ishyaka RDI ryongeye kurarikira Abanyarwanda bose, cyane cyane urubyiruko, gushiruka ubwoba, bagaharanira uburenganzira bwabo mu buryo bwose, maze muri uyu mwaka dutangiye w’2017, bakazarwanya bivuye inyuma, uburiganya bwa FPR-Kagame bugamije kugarura ubutegetsi bwa cyami mu Rwanda.

Twongeye kubifuriza umwaka Mushya Muhire. Mugire amahoro.

Bikorewe i Buruseli

Umuyobozi w’ishyaka RDI-Rwanda Rwiza

Faustin Twagiramungu.

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But Kigali is the safest city in Africa! Why all the security?

Roads closed, security tight as Netanyahu lands in Rwanda

Major roads linking Rwanda's capital Kigali to the 10km main road from the airport have been blocked off as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the country for a one day visit.

The Israeli Premier is in Rwanda for few hours during which he has visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre at Gisozi and is expected to hold talks with President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro.

Upon arrival, he was welcomed by Mr Kagame at the airport where he inspected a Guard of Honour before proceeding to the memorial centre where he was taken around the museum which contains records of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

President Paul Kagame (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inspecting a guard of honour shortly after he arrived in Rwanda on July 6, 2016. PHOTO | URUGWIRO VILLAGE

The two leaders will address the press before concluding the visit.

The road from Kigali International Airport (KIA) to Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre remained sealed off as motorists and pedestrians were asked to use alternative routes.

Adjoining roads to the main road which link to the main administrative and commercial parts of the city were closed off as stranded motorists parked in wait.

“We don’t know when we will be released to go. We are just waiting. It is a huge inconvenience,” a motorist who spoke to The EastAfrican said.
Rwanda National Police Traffic Department spokesperson, Jean Marie Vianney Ndushabandi, however said only one road was closed off to allow safe passage for the visiting leader.

“The other roads are open. There are alternative roads people can use,” he said briefly on phone. However, motorists and pedestrians said that alternative roads were not communicated.

The two countries share a similar history with regard to the Tutsi Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust.

Ties between the two countries have been strengthened in recent years, with Rwanda opening a diplomatic mission in Tel Aviv in March 2015.
They also have in place trade and investment partnership agreements with the Israel pledging to support Rwanda in sectors such as ICT, agriculture and defence among others.

Last year, Rwanda appointed Col Joseph Rutabana as the country’s Ambassador to Israel.
However, some of Rwanda’s dealings with Israel are not without controversy.

Last year, it emerged that Rwanda had signed a pact with Israel to take some unwanted immigrants from different African countries in return for favourable deals. Uganda is also involved in the deal and has come under scrutiny.
The agreement, which has come under scrutiny by human rights organisations, allows Israel to deport hundreds of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum-seekers to both Rwanda and Uganda in return for favourable deals that include millions of dollars in grants.
Addressing a press conference in Kigali last year, President Kagame acknowledged that discussions between Rwanda and Israel were ongoing.

“On Rwanda and Israel, yes, I know there has been this discussion and it has been a debate in Israel about these Africans who have migrated to Israel as they do to other European countries. Some of them are either there illegally or with different status,” President Kagame said at the time.

Earlier this year, it emerged that Israel had sold arms to Rwanda during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, but the Israeli government said it would keep the details of the arms deal confidential.
From Rwanda, Netanyahu will head to Ethiopia as he concludes an eastern Africa tour which also covered Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.

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Famine hits over 100,000 Rwandan families in Eastern province

Reports of famine ravaging parts of Rwanda have led to blame games, with some faulting government policies in drought-prone areas while the State says climate change is responsible for poor harvests.

Close to 100,000 families mainly in the Eastern Province districts of Kanyonza, Rwamagana, Nyagatare, Bugesera, Kayonza and Kirehe as well as Nyanza and Gisagara districts in Southern Province, are facing a threat of hunger if nothing is done to avert it.

Rwandans are reportedly moving to neighbouring Uganda in search of food but pastoralists are left with no options as animals grow thinner by the day. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA

It is reported that hundreds are fleeing starvation to neighbouring Uganda in search of food after two seasons of poor harvests which left families with nothing to eat.

The most affected districts include Nyagatare, Kayonza and Ngoma where residents say harvests were largely affected by early disappearance of rain. Hectares of maize and sorghum dried up before they could be ready for harvest.

“We don’t know what to do. We have not even been able to recoup what we planted,” said Solange Uwantege, a resident of Mwili Sector, Kayonza district, pointing to the four hectares of sorghum and maize they had planted as a group.

Apart from dried up plants, thousands of livestock are facing severe shortage of water and foliage. Residents of Nyagatare say the drought started earlier than expected.

“Usually the drought intensifies in late July to early September, when rains resume but now it started in May. We are not sure if our livestock will still be alive by then,” adds Jean Marie Mugabo, a resident of Nyagatare.

The Governor of the Eastern Province Odette Uwamariya and the mayors of the affected districts admit that there is a looming hunger crisis but say that instead of fleeing to neighbouring countries, locals should contact local government officials for help.

Government failure

Civil society groups are blaming the government for failing to address the longstanding recurrence of food insecurity in parts of the country prone to drought despite the billions of francs which have been allocated to the agriculture sector.

Appearing on a local radio station, the chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda Chapter, Marie Immaculee Ingabire, blamed the hunger threat on poor planning, policy and decision making especially on the side of local government officials.

“It is an issue of poor planning and decision making by government officials. There are countries which receive far less rainfall than Rwanda but they plan well and their citizens don’t encounter hunger,” Ms Ingabire said.

Alexis Nkurunziza, an official of the Umbrella of Human Rights Organisations in Rwanda said that the government failure to fully prioritise agriculture in terms of planning and resource allocation is likely to setback the country’s gains in food security.

“A lot of progress has been made in the past five or so years, even going by what the government was allocating to the agriculture sector in areas of irrigation, extension services, but this momentum has slowed down,” Mr Nkurunziza said.

“We are at a point where more needs to be done to sustain the gains in the agriculture sector, rather than slowing down,” he said, adding that the external factors given by government to cut down expenditure in the sector are not convincing enough.
The government reduced spending on agriculture from 11 per cent of the total budget in 2015/16 fiscal year to 7.5 per cent this year.

Mr Nkurunziza says that reduced focus on the sector will have major implications including food insecurity, poverty, malnutrition and households which can’t sustain themselves.

Short-term measures

The 2015 Auditor-General’s report indicates that irrigation equipment procured by government in the district of Nyagatare at a cost of Rwf2.7 billion was put to waste.

The AG also raised the red flag on the mismanagement of resources meant for the Crop Intensification Programme and the Post-Harvest Handling and Storage Taskforce, warning that this might set back the country’s gains in food security.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Tony Nsanganira said that the government has put in place short-term measures to avert the current shortage of food as well as long-term plans to avoid the recurrence of the same.

He, however, dismissed claims that policy and decision making are to blame for the recurrent food shortage in drought stricken parts of the country instead noting that climate change is responsible for the inconsistent rains.

“We have been aware of this situation since September last year and we have been monitoring it. The affected areas are the Eastern Province affected by drought and parts of Western and Northern provinces which were affected by floods. We are identifying families which have been affected and through the food for work approach, are providing them with food from our grain reserves,” Mr Nsanganira said.

Long-term efforts

He said the government has put in place other subsidies, forfeiting the seeds the government had given farmers and cooperatives due to poor harvest.

Mr Nsanganira said that the government is looking at long-term solutions to hunger and drought recurrence in Eastern Province with a new approach to irrigation where by farmers and cooperatives will be assisted to get irrigation kits and own them rather than the government buying them.

“We will help farmers acquire irrigation equipment with a subsidy of up to 50 per cent and link co-operatives to financial institutions. This is a more sustainable approach because farmers own these programmes,” he said.

He noted that the new approach will address the challenges identified by the Auditor-General because people will directly own the projects, rather than the government.

Mr Nsanganira said investigations are going on and some arrests have been made in regard to the mismanagement and vandalisation of the costly projects.

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The other Rwandan Massacre: 20 Years on

An Australian soldier carrying a young Rwandan boy injured during the Kibeho massacre, Rwanda, 1995 [Photograph: George Gittoes]

The 1994 Rwandan genocide was one of the most horrifying events of the 20th Century. But many are unaware of another massacre the following year. Australian Author Paul Jordon and filmmaker George Gittoes witnessed the brutality.


Twenty years ago, on April 22, thousands of unarmed civilians were killed by Rwandan soldiers at the Kibeho Internally Displaced Persons Camp (IDP) in the south of Rwanda.
A small team of 32 Australian Defence Force personnel were the only western troops to witness the massacre.




It is admittedly one the worst carnages Australian troops have been exposed to since the Second World War.

Australian author Paul Jordan was there.

He was one of the highly trained elite SAS forces deployed in Rwanda at the time.

“We arrived as part of the second contingent in February 1995. We took up residence at the hospital and started providing care for those who were injured.”

Kibeho was the last and the biggest Internally Displaced People's camp remaining in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.

Outnumbered by the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) and unable to intervene in virtue of their UN mandate, the small Australian contingent deployed extraordinary courage in an effort to save lives.

The Australian Defence force was providing medical support to the United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda (UNAMIR) following the Rwandan Genocide.

Jordan’s section was tasked to support and protect a small Australian Medical Team sent to the Kibeho IDP which was about to be closed.

“We were then told in April that the camp at Kibeho was to be closed. And our job was to go there and document those who might be injured; provide care where we could while people were being repatriated to their villages.”

Deadly motives of the 'repatriation operation'

Behind the official IDP repatriation operation that started on the 18th of April 1995 and ended tragically on the 22nd of April 1995, there was another unspecified agenda.

Earlier this month George Gittoes was awarded the 2015 Sydney Peace Prize in recognition for, amongst other things, his courage to witness and confront violence in the war zones of the world.

Australian activist and war artist George Gittoes has been awarded the 2015 Sydney Peace Prize. (AAP)

A seasoned investigative documentary maker, Gittoes was on a mission to document the deployment of Australian forces in Rwanda.

He had learned about the other possible motives of the Kibeho IDP repatriation operation.

“They did it in a grotesque way. They’d shoot them in the leg and then they’d laugh at them and then watch them trying to get up and eventually put a bullet in their head or somewhere fatal.”

“Before I left Kigali I had been briefed on the likelihood that there would be a retaliatory massacre at Kibeho. So I came in very aware and alert.

“I came with the Australian infantry soldiers who were supporting a medical team setting up a field hospital run by Captain Carol Vaughan Evans.”

It wasn’t long before Gittoes witnessed the other aspect of the "repatriation operation".
“The first sign was watching the RPA clear the villages and hills around it. People being forced out and as they ran… they were made to run, they would shoot them."

He says the RPA were ruthless in their execution.

“They did it in a grotesque way. They’d shoot them in the leg and then they’d laugh at them and then watch them trying to get up and eventually put a bullet in their head or somewhere fatal.”

Completely surrounded by heavily armed and trigger happy RPA troops, the people in the camp had nowhere to run.

And as Jordan recalls, armed militias within the camp were also busy doing their own killing.

“The Rwandans had machine guns, they had mortars, and all set up to mow these people down; which they did.

“And while this was going on, there were also people running within these poor people with machetes and other weapons killing them from within as well. So these displaced persons were being hit from both sides; from the army and from militias from within the camp.”

Attempts to stop the killings

In the midst of this carnage one would wonder whether there were any attempts to intercede.

Jordan says that there were numerous initiatives from Australian forces and other parties to stop the killings.

“It was coming from the UN and it was coming from our command element. And we had one signaller who spent his entire time on that radio maintaining communications and reporting exactly what was going on.

“But it was also our officers within our small group who were pleading with the Rwandan Patriotic Army officers, a major in particular, that this had do stop.”

But their calls fell on deaf ears.

“It was to the point where there was a set of horrible circumstances and some of the events leading up to the events where… displaced persons who knew that things were going bad and would make a run for it.

“And one or two soldiers would give chase. Rwandan Patriotic Army soldiers would give chase, fire a few shots, wing this poor guy and then proceed to bayonet him to death.”

He says there were endless efforts to stop the killings but often it was too late.

“There are countless incidents that took place where innocent people were murdered and executed in front of us and you know not only myself but everybody who was involved in those couple of days stood up to Rwandan soldiers and said no."

"There are countless incidents that took place where innocent people were murdered and executed in front of us and you know not only myself but everybody who was involved in those couple of days stood up to Rwandan soldiers and said no.

“If we were given the opportunity we did that and often we were successful but sometimes you just weren't there on time.”

Faced with mounting casualties and a situation of total helplessness there was increased pressure on the Australian Medical team to leave Kibeho altogether.

But, in true Anzac spirit, the small team decided to continue their mission of saving IDP's lives despite their own being at risk.

Gittoes recalled those moments of extraordinary courage.

"The RPA commander came and said to Carol Vaughan Evans you can’t go back we are going to finish them all. So they would kill the people that the Australians had been treating.

“Carol made an amazing decision. She said no we are going back. So with the heavy machine gun fire it seemed that all the Australians could have been killed in the process of trying to save all these people.

“They had been attached to them. They went back and got them and helped them. This meant tripping through razor wire and stuff … Trying to get people out and bullets flying everywhere.”

Counting the casualties

At the end of more than four days of killings the counting of casualties was to become one of the most controversial events surrounding the United Nations mission in Rwanda.

Jordan and his team were asked to count the victims for the United Nations

“I was charged by the UN along with another officer to take half a section of infantry and move around each side of the camp and count the dead bodies. This took place the day after the massacre. You know we walked along with pace counters and we counted everybody that we found.”

They provided a partial tally of more than 4000 victims.

But the Rwandan government disputed this figure and came up with its own figure of 338 people killed in four days of unabated killings.

Human Right organisations and many scholars believe the tally is much higher. Their figures vary between 10,000 and 15,000 people killed in a matter of four days.

Jordon has his own account.

“I recognise that by being there and bearing witness to what had taken place they would have to kill all of us … to clear that evidence from their slate.

“Or, they had to stop what they were doing. And they didn't kill 12,000 people. I believe the count was somewhere between 4,000 and 10,000. And I would say closer to 10,000."

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