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The National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) has called for the arrest and prosecution of political leaders of Rwandan militia groups who continue to threaten regional security.
While many of the armed militia groups are based in DR Congo, their political leaders, many of them are convicted Genocide fugitives, live in different European countries.
One such person, the Commission noted in a press release on Tuesday, is Marcel Sebatware, a “notorious genocidaire” who is also commissioner of the FDU-Inkingi and one of the leaders in the P5 coalition.
Led by Kayumba Nyamwasa, a Rwandan dissident based in South Africa, P5 is a coalition of anti-Rwanda groups controlling militias based in DR Congo.
Sebatware, according to CNLG, is one of the founding members of FDU-Inkingi, whose president, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, was sentenced in Rwanda for genocide denial and incitement to hatred.
He is said to be in Belgium, according to the commission.
“Sebatware is also one of the leaders of terrorist groups grouped together in an organization called P5 which pursues genocidal and denial objectives,” reads part of the CNLG statement.
Notorious genocidaire
What is more appalling, the Commission noted, is that Sebatware is a notorious genocidaire.
“He was tried and found guilty of genocide in Rwanda by the Gacaca courts, which makes him a fugitive criminal who has no right to do anything political and no less support for a criminal group like P5.”
“Since his exile in Belgium, Marcel Sebatware has been one of the extremists who hide behind political actions to hide his criminal role in the genocide committed against the Tutsi.”
The negative forces of Rwandan origin based in eastern DR Congo sprouted from the forces and militia groups that crossed into the neighboring country after shedding the blood of more than a million people during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
In the past year, however, dynamics shifted when the Congolese government resolved to get rid of them and subsequently followed through with an on-going military offensive that has seen hundreds sent packing to Rwanda and others killed.
The Commission said the Congolese government “has made commendable efforts to put an end to the terrorism of armed groups” which, since 1994, have been spreading terror in its territory.
Several of their military leaders killed by the Congolese army, including their leader, General Sylvestre Mudacumura.
However, it adds, most of their political leaders who support them live quietly in the West and continue to support criminals living in the DR Congo with impunity.
In the early 1990s, Sebatware was the General Manager of the cement plant (CIMERWA), located in former Bugarama Commune, Rusizi district.
Sebatware, brother-in-law to Gen Deogratias Nsabimana, the former chief of staff who signed a hateful document in September 1992 identifying the Tutsi as enemies of the country, was a member of the extremist Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (CDR) party.
jkaruhanga@newtimesrwanda.com
