Paul Rusesabagina, Founder and President of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF), today applauded the release of the “Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1993-2003, The Report of the Mapping Exercise” and the idea that the world will now be better informed about the realities in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
“My Foundation has worked for years to educate the international community about the reality of life in Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region and to advocate for a Truth and Reconciliation process to heal the people of the region and stop the violence. There have been atrocities, human rights violations, and war crimes and yes, even genocide, committed by all the sides in the Rwandan civil war and since then. This report acknowledges that truth.” said Rusesabagina.
This report validates critiques that the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation and many other human rights organizations have been making of the Rwandan Government in recent years.
The recent election brought internal repression in to the public view. This report is an essential recognition by the UN that the current Rwandan government has been involved for years in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the plundering of the Congo.
Dr. Brian Endless, Senior Advisor to the HRRF noted that “The report is an important step for the more than 5 million innocent victims of murder, rape, and crimes against humanity in the Congo. The Rwandan government is shown to have used the Congo as a killing field while they plundered the natural resources to fuel this conflict and line their pockets.”
The report shows that Rwanda and the region are still far from peace and reconciliation since the 1994 genocide and that the violence has continued. The fact that the Rwandan government is fighting a proxy war in the Congo is clearly shown by this report. This document is an important step for the future of the region that highlights the need for a truth, justice and reconciliation process that can bring lasting peace to the region.
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