Sources close to the French Judiciary system tell AfroAmerica Network that the French Judges Marc Trevin and Nathalie Poux will soon publish their long awaited report on the April 6, 1994 shooting down of the plane carrying the Rwandan and Burundian presidents Juvenal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira and their staff.
The assassination of the two presidents triggered the 1994 Rwandan massacres that shocked the World.
The two French judges have been working on the case for some time, after taking over from the retired Judge Bruguiere. In September 2010 they made a trip to Rwanda and brought in experts to reconstruct the attack. The results, with ballistic reconstructions, were first expected in early March 2011. Due to unknown reasons, that some experts say were related to the timing which coincided with the sensitive April month, the publication was postponed, to June 2011.
However, June 2011 appeared also not politically and diplomatically acceptable given that the French President Sarkozy had already invited the Rwandan President Paul Kagame to visit France and the visit was initially scheduled for July 2011 and finally for September 2011. It was hence decided to push the publication of the report to after Paul Kagame’s first official visit to France since he took power 17 years ago.
According to AfroAmerica Network sources, the investigations and ballistic reconstructions have ruled out Rwandan ex-Far or alleged Hutu extremists as the potential assassins. The report concludes that the long suspected farm in Masaka that belonged to an RPF sympathizer is the likely shooting site, and the shooters were RPF commando.
The area from where the missiles were fired was a critical component that helped determine whether the assassins were in government held areas or on the farm suspected to have been used by a rebel commando, led by Frank Nziza, Jacob Tumwine, and Eric Hakizimana. Frank Nziza and Eric Hakizimana are the suspected shooters.Jacob Tumwine has since the assassination retired from the army. Eric Hakizimana is allegedly dead.
The publication of the report will be followed by official indictment of the assassins and the issuance of sealed and public arrest warrants.
The case has been a contentious issue between the Rwandan Government of Paul Kagame and the French Government and has led to severed diplomatic relations between Rwanda and France. It is expected the relations may sour again. Apparently aware of the imminent publication of the report, the Rwandan Government Intelligence service have in the last week launched their own campaign against the French Army. The Rwandan government is accusing French soldiers of having raped Rwandan women in 1994, during a humanitarian mission.
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