Justice for presidents Habyalimana and Ntaryamira
On the 6th of April 1994 in Kigali- Rwanda, two presidents were assassinated when the Rwandan presidential plane was shot down. The two presidents were Juvenal Habyalimana of Rwanda and Cyprian Ntaryamira of Burundi who were coming from a regional meeting that took place Tanzania.
After their assassination, genocide erupted in Rwanda and more than 800,000 people diedduring approximately 100 days. During those 100 days, the United Nations and other nations did not do enough to stop the bloodbath. 19 years after this attack, the United Nations has yet to order an investigation. However, the least the United Nations can do is uphold its moral responsibility to undertake an investigation and bring to justice those responsible of that terrorist attack.
This will not only give justice to families of those who were killed in that presidential plane, but it will also contribute to justice for those who were killed during the Rwandan Genocide and other killings that occurred after the genocide. Justice in turn will greatly contribute to reconcilliation in Rwanda. The UN is the right institution to conduct such investigation.
The UN has already investigated the assassinations of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto assassinated Rawalpindi on 27 December 2007 and the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri assassinated in Beirut on 14th February 2005.
Considering that the UN was able to investigate assassinations of Prime Ministers who were assassinated when they had left office, they should also investigate assassinations of presidents killed while in office.
Furthermore investigating an event that triggered a terrible genocide would be an important contribution in bringing justice and healing to those who lost their loves ones. It would also be an important contribution in creating a strong foundation for much needed reconciliation and sustainable peace. We ask the UN Secretary general to order an investigation into this terrorist attack.
More information can be found at: http://rwandansrights.org/19-years-on-un-should-investigate-assassinations-of-former-rwandan-and-burundian-presidents/