No specific information regarding whether survivors of the 1994 genocide are targeted by the Hutu militia could be found in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

However, a report published in April 2000 by Human Rights Watch (HRW) states that on 23 December 1999, [HRW's English version] "after a year of relative calm," insurgent groups launched an attack in Tamira in Gisenyi prefecture (northwestern Rwanda), killing 32 Tutsi. The report states:

[HRW's English version]

All the victims were Tutsi who migrated from the Congo after the RPF established its new government in 1994. Some forty of the 222 families in the settlement are Tutsi who survived the genocide in Rwanda, but none of them was attacked.

In his letter to the Research Directorate dated 9 June 2000 (see attachment), the prosecutor general (procureur général) at the Court of Appeal in Kigali wrote that [translation] "survivors of the 1994 genocide and Tutsi in general have always been and are still being targeted by the militia, particularly when the militia is able to penetrate into Rwanda from the Congo, formerly Zaire."

Concerning the procedure and steps to be followed by a person who wishes to file a report against a person or persons presumed to be responsible for the death of his or her family members during the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan prosecutor general wrote that crimes of genocide should be reported to the prosecutors' offices [parquets] or the police stations located in the various localities (communes) throughout the country.

The prosecutor general pointed out that no document is issued to a person who files such a report. However, [translation] "the person's report is noted in a record that is signed by the recording officer and by the person filing the report, and is then kept secret until the investigations are completed." As to whether persons who file reports receive protection from the government, the prosecutor general wrote that no special protection is necessary, given that no one is supposed to know that a report has been filed.

The information in the following paragraphs was provided, in a 26 May 2000 telephone interview, by a former Rwandan minister of justice and institutional relations (1996-January 1999) who currently resides in Ottawa; the former minister holds a doctorate in law and is the author of an article on the stagnation of the Rwandan judicial system and its consequences on human rights, entitled Enlisement du système judiciaire et dérive des droits humains au Rwanda and published in the 13 December 1999 issue (No. 213) of Dialogue magazine, available at the IRB Resource Centre in Ottawa.

Under the code of penal procedure in effect in Rwanda, reports and complaints relating to offences and crimes of genocide in 1994 are received by officers of the criminal investigation police (officiers de la police judiciaire - OPJ). Any individual who wishes to file a report regarding a person whom he or she believes to have been responsible for the death of a member or members of his or her family may contact these officers, who are present in every locality (commune). The individual may also directly contact the senior officials of the public prosecutor's department (ministère public), that is, the deputy public prosecutors (substituts) or the prosecutors (procureurs) at the prosecutors' office (parquet). Any person who so wishes may also file a report with officers of the regular police (gendarmerie) who, under the law, have the authority to act as criminal investigators (inspecteurs judiciaires). Any citizen may also file a report with the administrative authority closest to him or her: the head of the cell (chef de cellule), head of the sector (chef de secteur) or commune mayor (bourgmestre), at the local level, or the prefect (préfet) at the prefecture level. Those officials are in turn responsible for forwarding the reports to the appropriate judicial authorities. In all cases, reports are recorded in a document that is duly signed by the officer of the criminal investigation police (police judiciaire), by the officer of the regular police (gendarmerie) or by the administrative authority, as the case may be, and also by the person who filed the report. The person who filed the report does not receive any document attesting that he or she has filed a report.

From the time a report is filed until there has been a complete investigation (instruction) of the case, the entire procedure remains secret. It is because of the secrecy surrounding the entire investigation procedure that no formal protection has been provided for in legislation, given that there would be no threat of danger to the person who filed the report. On the other hand, in cases where the investigation finds serious evidence pointing to the guilt of the person who was accused in the report, the official of the public prosecutor's department will order preventive detention if there is reason to fear that the accused will flee or if there are serious and exceptional circumstances warranting detention of the accused in the interests of security. Preventive detention is generally ordered for all persons accused of participating in the 1994 genocide.

If, upon investigation, there is valid evidence that the accused was involved in the 1994 genocide, he or she is then summoned to face the evidence and/or the witnesses (judicial phase). The former justice minister states that even during the judicial phase, the persons who filed the report are in no danger because the accused [translation] "is not free when he or she appears in court". Detention is required for any person where it appears that the suspicions as to his or her participation in the genocide are well founded.

Furthermore, administrative authorities and security services ensure that persons who file reports, members of their families and witnesses are protected against any threat that might be made by family members of the accused.

An excerpt from the Rwandan code of penal procedure relating to the investigation process is attached.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Former Rwandan minister of justice and institutional relations. 26 May 2000. Telephone interview.

Human Rights Watch (HRW). April 2000. Rwanda : de la recherche de la sécurité aux abus des droits de l'homme. http://www.hrw.org/french/reports/rwfr. [Accessed 14 June 2000].

Procureur général près la Cour d'appel (Appeal Court Prosector General), ministère de la Justice et des Relations institutionnelles (Ministry of Justice and Institutional Relations), Kigali. 9 June 2000. Letter faxed to the Research Directorate.

Attachments

Gakwaya Jean et al. 1998. Vol. 1. Codes et lois usuels du Rwanda : Code de la procédure pénal, pp. 239-248.

Procureur général près la Cour d'appel (Appeal Court Prosecutor General), ministère de la Justice et des Relations institutionnelles (Ministry of Justice and Institutional Relations), Kigali. 9 June 2000. Copy of a letter faxed to the Research Directorate, p. 1.

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Confidential [London]. 1999-May 2000.

L'Autre Afrique [Paris]. 1999-January 2000.

Codes et lois usuels du Rwanda. 1998.

Collectif des Ligues et Association des Droits de l'homme au Rwanda (Cladho) [Kigali].

Jeune Afrique [Paris].1999-June 2000.

LEXIS/NEXIS.

Resource Centre Country Files. Rwanda. 1999 to the present.

Internet sites, including:

Amnesty International Online.

Hirondelle Information, Documentation and Training Agency Serving the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha (Tanzania).

Human Rights Watch (HRW/Africa).

International Crisis Group (ICG).

Missionary Service News Agency (MISNA).

UN OCHA Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa (IRIN-CEA).

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

National Newspapers Consulted at the Rwandan Embassy in Ottawa:

La Nouvelle relève (Kigali). 1999-January 2000

Imvaho. 1999.

Kinyamateka. 1999.

Ukuri. 1999.