Ofeibea Quist-Arcton
31 July 2002
(Page 2 of 2)
So we have to find a way of treating these people. But there is a choice they can make.
They can make a choice to come back home or the parties concerned (in the conflict who are signatories to the Pretoria agreement) can sit together and say, 'here is a problem, there are people here, we don't want them to turn into a problem, but they are saying this, how do we address it?' We are ready to move into that discussion and see how to address that.
I don't think there is so much complication as such and that we can't find a solution, but I would rather move according to those priorities I mentioned to you.
So, I think if we deal with the leadership and if we deal with the political part of cutting off the supply lines for these forces, then the rest becomes easier to handle.
President Kagame, how can you be sure that in rounding up the ex-FAR and Interahamwe, you won't also be rounding up people who had nothing to do with the genocide in Rwanda in 1994?
Let me say that among these groups fighting there could possibly be people who were not directly involved in the genocide. It is also true that mainly the leaders of this groups are actually implicated in the genocide. We have the whole list of the names of people who are currently playing a leadership role, to lead these groups. We have had the opportunity to share the names of these people, to present them to the UN and others who have been interested.
You can't start sorting out those, trying to look for those, who are not implicated in the genocide and so on and so forth unless and until you have dealt with a part of the leadership and the main bulk of them that actually have a direct hand in the genocide.
This is where we have to concentrate our efforts and, in the process of dealing with that, then it becomes easier to identify among these forces those who are not implicated in the genocide. In this case, they could be helped to come back home and be reintegrated like the rest of the Rwandese who have been reintegrated as it was done in 1997, when over one and a half million Rwandans were repatriated to Rwanda and were reintegrated into the rest of society.
Much has been said about unresolved political issues within Rwanda itself, now the spotlight will be on Kigali. When do you think that you will be holding democratic elections in your country?
The transition period is ending next year, shortly after we should be able to have elections. We are going to protect the rights of every individual in Rwanda, from the minority and the majority.
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