Christian Human Rights Charity Meets with Rwandan President

The UK-based Christian human rights charity, Jubilee Action, recently concluded its visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. A delegation including Lord David Alton of Liverpool, met the Rwandan President, Hon Paul Kagame, in Kigali last week in a bid to support the fledgling peace process between Rwanda and its neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the country still has not completely awoken from the nightmare. Nowadays, killings still continue in the region. In 1998, a war begun between Rwanda and Uganda against Congo under the pretext of capturing the Hutu militia who were responsible for the 1994 genocide. Rwanda was also accused of deliberately de-stabilising the region in order to get access to Congo’s vast mineral wealth.

Recovering the wounds of the 1994 genocide has been the absolute priority of the charity’s aid work in Rwanda. They have met NGOs, leaders of civic societies, religious leaders and politicians, (including President Kagame) to discuss the process of achieving reconciliation and justice, and rebuilding the nation. At the same time, in long term, it aims to cut off the endless revenge among the people and cultivate peace in the region.

The UN estimates 3.5 million people have been killed in the Rwanda-Congo conflict since 1998. Jubilee Action said that Lord David Alton took the opportunity to urge the Rwandan President Kagame to continue to build bridges with his counter-part, President Joseph Kabila to prevent further loss of life in the region.

Lord David Alton commented, “It was important for us to meet President Kagame. Two thousand people a day have been killed in a conflict that has been likened to Europe’s Great War. I encouraged the President to take the opportunity to bring peace in a region torn apart by genocide, war and political instability. The President welcomed Britain’s role as an honest broker and we discussed some practical steps that could bring progress.”

Previous to the visit to Rwanda, the Jubilee Action delegation met Government Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Kinshasa. They were therefore able to pass on messages in an attempt to foster greater understanding.

A large part of the report of the delegation described the consequences of the 1994 genocide. These are all reflected through listening to the testimony of survivors, widows, abandoned children and orphans. One of the concerns is the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The report says, “There is great continuing hardship for widows who survived the war, in particular those who were raped and are now HIV positive. However, because of the genocide women in Rwanda are more aware of HIV/AIDS than elsewhere in the region, and we trust this will assist the spread of awareness about the need for testing.”

The spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic to a second generation is a serious threat, and every year 40,000 children are born to HIV-infected mothers.

In meeting with the Minister for Health, Dr Innocent Nyaruharira, he agreed that a campaign to help school children become AIDS-aware would provide a great opportunity to explain that in the case of consenting sex, AIDS is 100% preventable but 100% fatal.

One of the Jubilee Action delegation, Dr Richard Rowland, a missionary doctor in Rwanda for 10 years, presented the Minister and the Rwandan President a copy of “Towards an Aids-free generation”. It was agreed the book would be highly appropriate for distribution to every primary school pupil in Rwanda. A copy of the secondary school level book, “Aids and You”, was also introduced with the same purpose.

The report addresses the role of Christian Churches in rebuilding the war-torn Rwanda. The delegation said they were deeply impressed by the personal friendship and public leadership of the Catholic and Episcopal (Anglican) bishops in some reconciliation and social projects in Butare and Kigali.

However, Antoine Rutayisire, the author of the book “Faith Under Fire”, which details the stories of individual Christians who resisted the genocide, told the delegation that “the position of the church is very complex: it has taken many different positions and reconciliation is not a popular concept. It often sits on the fence.” Individual pastors, priests, and Christian leaders were accused of either collaborated in the killing or failing to speak out prophetically against the slaughter during the genocide.

In response to this, the report said, “in facing the future the Church must learn hard lessons from this experience.”

The report applauds the churches’ important role in running free orphanages or supporting child headed households. Acknowledged that this is a great financial burden on already overstretched NGOs and churches struggling to provide for orphans, Jubilee Action urges the international community to earmark funds to enable the Rwandan Government to provide free education, books and uniforms to Rwanda’s orphans.

Currently, the Rwandan government have been adopting the Gacaca process, that is eliciting confessions of guilt from prisoners, and encouraging them to provide information on who planned the genocide, in exchange for their freedom. This is for the practical fact that Rwanda cannot afford to keep 70,000 genocidaires in prison indefinitely, and this seems to be the best way for them to reconcile their shattered nation.

Visiting Nyanza prison, the delegation admired the country’s Prosecutor General, Jean de Dieu Mucyo, who urged the five thousand genocidaires (male and female) gathered before him in the prison yard, to confess their guilt, submit to the Gacaca process, and go home to their families.

Sadly, some of the prisoners frankly admitted that they preferred to stay behind bars where they were given three meals a day, rather than to face the economic hardships in the outside world.

Jubilee Actions stated at the conclusion of its report, “Rwandan people need to forgive one another, if the country is to be healed and enabled to move on, and if such shocking events are not to be repeated in a future bloodbath. But Rwanda should never be asked to simply ‘Forgive and Forget’. Rwanda does need to forgive but it must also remember. The international community also needs to remember.”