NAME OF MECHANISM

International Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda and the Surrounding Events

PERIOD OF OPERATION

June 1998 – July 2000

MANDATE AND OPERATIONS

Mandate: The panel was established by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, now the African Union) in 1998 to “investigate the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the surrounding events, starting from the Arusha Peace Accord to the fall of Kinshasa as part of efforts aimed at averting and preventing further wide-scale conflicts in the Great Lakes Region.” It was mandated to “establish the facts about how such a grievous crime was conceived, planned and executed, investigate and determine culpability for the failure to enforce the Genocide Convention in Rwanda and in the Great Lakes Region, and to recommend measures aimed at redressing the consequences of the genocide and at preventing any possible recurrence of such a crime.”

Staff: The six international members, appointed by the OAU, were Sir Ketumile Masire (former president of Botswana and chair), Amadou Toumani Touré (Mali), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia), Lisbet Palme (Sweden), P.N. Bhagwati (India) and Stephen Lewis (Canada).

Budget: The OAU established a special trust fund to receive voluntary contributions from within and outside Africa [Africa Recovery | Aug 1998].

RESOURCES

Report of the International Panel of Eminent Personalities [2000]

RESULTS

In its final report, the International Panel of Eminent Personalities found that the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by General Paul Kagame, committed crimes against humanity, including attacks on refugee camps and killings of hundreds of thousands of people. According to the report, following the end of the Rwandan conflict, the RPF continued to violate human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo under the pretext of securing its borders against Hutu-dominated militias.

The panel recommended that the Rwandan government establish long-term policies to promote the “concept of inclusive ethnicity.” It also recommended the establishment of a “vigorous program of political education to change the equation of ethnic with political identities”; the establishment of an independent electoral commission; prosecutions of the leaders in the genocide; and the establishment of Gacaca courts to cope with the hundreds of thousands suspected of acts of genocide. The panel also highlighted the importance of reparations and called for international funding for a reparations programme.

SOURCES

[Africa Recovery │ Aug 1998]