Rwanda: List of individuals involved in the genocide
| Publisher | United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services |
| Author | Resource Information Center |
| Publication Date | 30 December 1999 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | RWA00001.OGC |
| Cite as | United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Rwanda: List of individuals involved in the genocide, 30 December 1999, RWA00001.OGC, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a6a120.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Query:
Are there different categories of suspects of the Rwandan genocide?
Response:
On August 30, 1996 the Rwandan National Assembly passed a law to regulate the prosecution of those guilty of genocide. The law divides the accused into four categories based on their level of participation in crimes committed after October 1, 1990 and before December 31 1994. According to Human Rights Watch,
Category One included the planners, organizers, inciters, supervisors, and leaders of the genocide, including anyone who acted in a position of authority from the national level down to the level of the cell in political parties, the army, religious organizations or the militia. It also included those who committed criminal acts or encouraged others to commit them.
Category Two included the authors of or accomplices in homicides or attacks that resulted in the death of the victim.
Category Three comprised those who caused serious injury to victims.
Category Four included persons who committed crimes against property. (HRW March 1999)
In November 1996, the Supreme Court Procureur published a list names of people placed in category one. However, the list of nearly 2,000 names was hastily assembled and often incomplete or incorrect. Being named on the list does not, at least in theory, presume guilt, but it does prohibit an individual from plea-bargaining for a lesser punishment (HRW March 1999).
Recently, the Category One list was amended. Nearly 800 names were withdrawn from the old list and replaced by 900 new suspects. The list was "corrected because of imprecision, repetition of names and deaths" (Africa News 15 July 1999).
The RIC was unable to find information on a published list of names of Category Two, Three or Four suspects specifically. It may be that only the names of Category One suspects are officially published and released to the public. However, a Rwandan embassy official stated that the revised, list of suspects is available and includes over 3,000 names.
This response was prepared after speaking with government officials and researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RIC, including the World Wide Web.
References
Africa News Online. "Category One List Amended," (15 July 1999) [Internet] http://www.africanews.org.
Human Rights Watch. Leave None to Tell the Story (March 1999) [Internet] http://www.hrw.org.
Embassy Official, Rwandan Embassy. Telephone Interview, 28December 1999.
