Open Letter to Ivan Kigenza and Fellow Compatriots

Dear Ivan,

I want to emphasize our discussion on November 1, 2024, which you effectively led, concerning General Paul Kagame’s ongoing maneuvers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Here, I share the overview of my contribution to the discussion, namely, the weaponization of genocide by the three post-independence Rwandan dictatorships.

During his eleven-year tenure from 1962 to 1973, Gregoire Kayibanda refused to ratify the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) or the Genocide Convention. This crucial international treaty not only criminalizes genocide but also compels signatory states to uphold its prohibitions actively. Kayibanda’s refusal to ratify CPPCG was profound - he would not commit to preventing crimes against humanity.

On April 16, 1975, General Juvenal Habyarimana adopted the Genocide Convention. However, he inserted the following reservation in Rwanda's accession to the Genocide Convention:

"The Rwandese Republic does not consider itself bound by Article IX of the Convention."

Why was Habwarimana determined to shut off Article IX of the Genocide Convention? Because the Article empowered the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to try countries accused of genocide crimes “at the request of any of the parties to the dispute.”

In other words, Habyarimana effectively blocked the ICJ from holding his regime accountable for genocide crimes in Rwanda. It is as if Habyarimana knew that he would sooner or later unleash genocide.

Decades later, DR Congo took the Kagame regime to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for “engaging in killing, massacring, rape, throat-slitting, and crucifying more than 3,500,000 Congolese including the victims of the recent massacres in the city of Kisangani."

However, the case soon collapsed because the Court did not have jurisdiction over Rwanda. Kagame simply used Habyarimana’s reservation to the Genocide Convention: “The Rwandese Republic does not consider itself as bound by article IX of the Convention.”

In an irony of ironies, Kayibanda and Habyarimana’s legal maneuvers protected Kagame from being held accountable for his atrocities in DRC. Supporters of the Kayibanda, Habyarimana, and Kagame regimes should reflect deeply on their actions and feel ashamed. Of course, each regime has its own set of apologists who use all manner of arguments that “their dictator” was not as brutal as this or that Rwandan Ironman.

It is essential to point out that while the ICJ did not have the authority to hold the Kagame regime accountable for crimes in the DRC, the Court unequivocally reminded Kagame about the consequences of his actions in no uncertain terms:

“Whether or not States accept the jurisdiction of the Court, they remain in any event responsible for acts attributable to them that violate international law; they are required to fulfil their obligations under the United Nations Charter.”

Once again, Ivan, thank you and your colleagues for your vital contribution to the fight for freedom in the Land of a Thousand Hills.

David Himbara