 | | Ambassador Kamali | By Henry Mukasa
Rwanda is ready to welcome back the Interahamwe militia, who are accused of genocide and hiding in the Democratic Republic of Congo, if they renounce rebellion.
In an interview yesterday, the Rwandan ambassador, Iganatius Karegesa Kamali, said Rwanda was not involved in the fighting between Gen. Laurent Nkunda and the Congo army. He said Kigali demands that her neighbour disarms the Interahamwe.
�The Interahamwe committed genocide in Rwanda. They fled to Congo in organised military formation in big numbers and they are armed. What we want is for them to be disarmed or disbanded because we are ready to welcome them back in Rwanda and integrate them in society,� Kamali said.
�Those who would want to join the army would be integrated. If that is not the case, they will be relocated to another place,� he explained.
Kamali said while the Tripartite Plus arrangement by regional countries would have helped to stem violence in the Congo and bring a permanent solution, its resolutions and agreements have been ignored.
�Much of the blame should go to the people who are hosting the negative groups and this is DRC. If agreements are concluded and specify what action to be taken, then the action is not taken� not because those who have opposed it have failed, but rather because someone who is hosting the armed groups does not cooperate; then I will say straight away he is to blame,� Kamali stated.
Kamali said the arrest of Rwanda�s director general of state protocol, Rose Kabuye, at an airport in Germany on Sunday, was a violation of the Geneva Convention.
Kabuye was arrested as she arrived in Germany to prepare for the visit of the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.
Arrest warrants by a French judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, were issued against Kabuye and nine other Rwanda Patriotic Front members.
Bruguiere accuses them of participating in the conspiracy to shoot down the plane of former Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana in 1994, an incident which sparked a genocide.
�It was very unfair. Rose Kabuye has a diplomatic status and, therefore, has diplomatic immunity. For a country to pounce on her and arrest her, erodes her immunity and violates the Geneva Convention,� Kamali said.
He said the warrants upon which Kabuye was arrested were contested by not only Rwanda, but also several European Union countries and by all members of the African Union.
�It has been contested as a controversial arrest warrant. To base on that and arrest an official of Rwanda is a violation of universal jurisdiction. We demand her unconditional release,� Kamali said.
On Tuesday, Rwanda expelled the Germany ambassador and recalled its envoy from Berlin.
�We have made a loud statement that we are not pleased. Asking the Germany ambassador to leave is another eloquent statement that we are not happy,� Kamali said. |
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