AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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force of armed civilian local defense units with limited arrest powers also works
throughout the country. The security situation in the northwest remained calm.
There were numerous and widespread unconfirmed reports that armed bands of
Rwandan Hutus posing as Interahamwe fighters committed abuses in the DRC. The
Rwandan army allegedly recruited these groups in order ostensibly to demonstrate
the need for a continued Rwandan military presence in the areas they controlled.
Members of the security forces committed serious human rights abuses, although to
a lesser extent than in the previous year.
The country is very poor, and 70 percent of the population lives in poverty. The
1994 genocide destroyed the country’s social fabric, human resource base, institutional
capacity, and economic and social infrastructure. A 2-year drought has led to
food shortages and famine in some parts of the country. Per capita annual income
is $252. Subsistence agriculture employs more than 90 percent of the labor force.
The principal exports are coffee and tea. Small-scale commercial activities are increasing,
but the industrial and tourism base remains limited.
The Government’s human rights record remained poor, and the Government continued
to be responsible for numerous, serious abuses; however, there were some improvements
in a few areas. Citizens do not have the right to change their government.
The security forces committed extrajudicial killings within the country; there
also were many reports, some of which were credible, that Rwandan army units operating
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) committed deliberate
extrajudicial killings and other serious abuses. Some deaths in custody were due to
mistreatment or abuse by corrupt officials. There were allegations of a small number
of disappearances. Security forces beat suspects, and there were some reports
of torture. Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening and prisoners died
from starvation, curable diseases, or abuse. Most of the prisoners housed in jails and
local detention centers (cachots) are accused of participating in the 1994 genocide;
many have been detained for up to 6 years without being charged. Arbitrary arrest
and detention, and prolonged pretrial detention remained problems. The Government
took steps to prosecute and punish some human rights abusers. The judiciary
is subject to executive influence and does not always ensure due process or expeditious
trials. Genocide trials continued at a slow pace. The Government released approximately
3,000 detainees whose files were incomplete, who were acquitted, or
who were ill or elderly. The Government restricted freedom of the press, and limited
freedom of assembly and association. The Government imposed some restrictions on
freedom of religion. The Government limited freedom of movement. Security forces
generally did not harass refugees who returned from neighboring countries. The
Government was hostile toward some nongovernmental human rights organizations.
Violence and discrimination against women were problems, as was discrimination
based on indigenous and ethnic status. There were reports that prisoners were hired
out for labor in private homes and businesses. Child labor persists, particularly in
the agricultural sector.
Insurgents tied to those responsible for the 1994 genocide committed several
killings.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing.—The RPA continued to commit
extrajudicial killings inside the country, although fewer than the previous year, due
to its success in largely suppressing the insurgency in the northwest, as it pushed
Hutu rebels including the former Rwandan armed forces (ex-FAR) and the
Interahamwe militia inside the territory of the DRC. Security in the northwest remained
calm. However, there were credible reports that RPA forces committed
extrajudicial killings in the DRC.
On March 5, three men reportedly in military uniform shot and killed Assiel
Kabera, an advisor to then-President Bizimungu, outside his house. The Government
maintains that Kabera’s killing was related to a family dispute involving
Antoinnette Kagagu, who was killed the week before outside her home. In February
Kagagu was acquitted of the 1998 murder of her husband and Kabera reportedly
was involved in a dispute over custody of her children. No one was arrested or
charged in Kabera’s murder by year’s end; however, the Government stated that an
investigation was ongoing.
Human rights organizations claim that several incidents of alleged attacks by
rebels led to counterattacks by security forces. In late December 1999, there were
reports that soldiers illegally detained a man from Gisenyi and four others in a
ditch for 6 weeks (see Section 1.d.). When the men escaped in mid-February, allegedly
after having been told they were to be killed the next day, RPA soldiers recap-
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