Habyarimana's alleged assassins slowly and surely eliminated
AfroAmerica Network
Kigali, Rwanda
03.07.01
The elimination of the suspects in the death of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana is moving slowly but surely.
On April 6, 1994 the plane carrying President Habyarimana and his Burundian counterpart was shot down near Kanombe International Airport. All people aboard died and no group claimed responsibility.
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| Paul Kagame Alleged to have killed Habyarimana Click Here |
The Rwandan Patriotic Front, human rights organizations, academics, and journalists immediately announced that Hutu extremists had killed Habyarimana because he had agreed to share power with the RPF.
Last year, former RPF military officer Jean-Pierre Mugabe spoke out against this theory after seeking asylum in the United States and described how the RPF planned and carried out Habyarimana's assassination.
Using information Mugabe made available to the public, AfroAmerica Network has found that the Rwandan Patriotic officer who fired the missile was executed in Bugesera but the Rwandan military told his family and friends he had committed suicide.
Another officer allegedly involved in the assassination is Major Kwikiriza. Kwikiriza served a two-year sentence after his battalion was decimated by Hutu insurgents in Gitarama. After his release the Rwandan army sent him to the United States for military training and he did not return to Rwanda.
According to Mugabe Lieutenant Colonel Kayonga, advisor to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Major Rose Kabuye, Colonel Alexis Kanyarengwe, and Colonel Theoneste Lizinde were also involved in this assassination. The source that spoke to AfroAmerica Network confirmed Mugabe's information.
There is a civilian who drove the commando that fired the missile. AfroAmerica Network has been unable to identify him but the source said he is a businessman in Kigali.
RPF members connected to this assassination are dying one after another. An RPF commando allegedly assassinated Colonel Lizinde in Nairobi and the officer who fired the missile committed suicide according to Rwandan authorities.
A source said, "The practice here is to silence individuals who might reveal RPF dirty secrets".
There is concern that Rose Kabuye may be the next casualty. General Kagame has expelled her from the National Transitional Assembly, from the RPF, and from the Rwandan Patriotic Army. Her husband, a lieutenant stationed in Ruhengeri attempted to flee the country but was arrested before he could cross into Uganda. The army beat him up then threw him in jail.
A source told AfroAmerica Network that Kabuye belongs to a group of women who joined the RPF guerrilla war. After the RPF victory, most of the women were rewarded with very important positions. Kabuye became Governor of Kigali-Ville, Christine Umutoni Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Rehabilitation, Aloysia Inyumba Minister of family. This source said: "What the public does not know is that RPF leaders abused most of these women during the bush war. In western countries the public would be outraged if something like this happened and there would be investigations to find out the truth and punish the perpetrators."
(c)AfroAmerica Network, March, 2001. For contact, please e-mail us: mail@afroamerica.net
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