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Genocide Survivor Demands Opposition Leaderās Prosecution Over Remarks

   The  general  secretary  of  Genocide Survivors Organization in Rwanda
   (IBUKA)  is calling on President Paul Kagameās government to prosecute
   an  opposition  figure  for  allegedly  making pronouncements that the
   group considers āinsultingā.

   Peter Clottey | Washington, DC 19 January 2010
   Congolese  and  Rwandan  children  fight  for  cookies handed out by a
   Uruguayan  United  Nations  peacekeeper  at  the  entrance  to  a U.N.
   peacekeeping  encampment  in  the  heart  of  territory  controlled by
   Rwandan Hutu rebels near village of Kimua

Photo: AP

   Congolese  and  Rwandan  children  fight  for  cookies handed out by a
   Uruguayan  United  Nations  peacekeeper  at  the  entrance  to  a U.N.
   peacekeeping  encampment  in  the  heart  of  territory  controlled by
   Rwandan  Hutu  rebels near the village of Kimua, eastern Congo, 02 Oct
   2009

   The  general  secretary  of Genocide Survivors  Organization in Rwanda
   (IBUKA)  is calling on President Paul Kagame's government to prosecute
   an  opposition  figure  for  allegedly  making pronouncements that the
   group considers "insulting".

   Freddy  Mutanguha,  who  is  also  the  director  of Kigali's Genocide
   Memorial  Center, said opposition leader Victoire Ingabire's statement
   contravenes the constitution.

   "IBUKA  is  not  happy  with the revisionist remarks that were made by
   Victoire  Ingabire  when she came to visit Kigali Genocide Center. She
   should  understand  that the Genocide Memorial Center is a place where
   people  come  and  pay respect of the victims of genocide. A place for
   reflection  is  not a place where people come to express their view on
   the politics in the country," he said.
   IBUKA  is an umbrella organization for genocide survivor organizations
   in Rwanda. It literally means `remember'.

   Mutanguha said Ingabire's statement is akin to denying the genocide.

   "She  can speak her mind but some things that should not be speakable,
   like  when  the  U.N.  has  recognized  genocide against Tutsis in the
   country  to  say openly that there have been double genocide is denial
   of the genocide, and we have laws against it," Mutanguha said.

   IBUKA was created in 1995 to address issues of justice, memory, social
   and economic problems faced by survivors.

   Mutanguha  said  the  group  will  continue to push for the opposition
   leader's prosecution.

   "We  are  in  the  process and we are asking to get rights because the
   fact  that  she  came  and  (stood) on a mass grave and she said those
   kinds  of words is a big insult against genocide survivors," Mutanguha
   said.

   In   1994,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Rwandans  were  killed  in  a
   hundred-day massacre.

   Victoire  Ingabire,  leader of the opposition United Democratic Forces
   (UDF)  party denied the accusation, saying the government is using the
   charges to undermine her campaign ahead of the upcoming election.

   "I  don't  understand  these  people  because  we  condemned  genocide
   committed  against  Tutsis  in Rwanda in 1994. But at the same time we
   said  that  we  also condemn crimes against humanity committed against
   Hutus.  And  we  believe  we  cannot  achieve reconciliation of Rwanda
   people if we cannot talk about it," Ingabire said.

   She  accused the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) of using the 1994
   genocide for political gains -- a charge the ruling party denies.

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