Independent Panel Sidesteps Issue of Death Toll At Kibeho

An independent commission of inquiry said in mid-May 1995 Rwandan troops did not plan last month's killings of Hutu refugees at the Kibeho camp in southwestern Rwanda. But, as I reported at the time, the panel did say the troops used excessive force in moving to close down the facility.

The critical question still lingering after last month's eruption of violence at the Kibeho camp in southwestern Rwanda is how many refugees were killed.

UN officials and relief workers say the number of Hutu refugees who died exceeded two-thousand. Rwandan authorities put the death toll at just under 400.

In its report, the independent commission sidesteps the controversy. It gives no figure at all, saying only that it was probably more than the figure reported by the government.

Instead, the panel focuses in broad, general terms on the violence, which broke out after Rwandan authorities ordered Kibeho and other displaced camps in the southwest closed. The report says Rwandan officials had, what it terms, a legitimate interest in ordering the camp shut down, both for security reasons and to remove an obstacle to the country's efforts to recover from last year's genocide, in which half a million or more members of the Tutsi ethnic minority were slaughtered by Hutu extremists.

But the commission says there is sufficient reliable evidence to establish that the refugees were subjected to what the report calls arbitrary deprivation of life and serious bodily harm by Rwandan troops. It says this was in violation of recognized standards of human rights and humanitarian law.

At the same time, the commission says there is also evidence showing the refugees were subject to similar violations by other refugees -- an apparent reference to armed Hutu extremist elements known to have been in Kibeho who killed other Hutu refugees to prevent them from leaving.

And it also criticizes relief agencies for failing to contribute to a speedier evacuation of refugees from the camps.

The panel, convened by the Rwandan government, makes several recommendations, including a call on Rwandan authorities to bring to justice those among the armed forces who may have been responsible for illegal actions. It also calls on UN officials to review their procedures for dealing with crises such as the one that occurred at Kibeho and it calls on the international community to offer more support to the Rwandan government to speed reconstruction and reconciliation efforts.

A Rwandan military spokesman describes the report as generally fair. But the spokesman insists the troops acted in self-defense at Kibeho after coming under attack from what he describes as criminals among the refugees.