African Rights details complicity of Protestant churches in genocide

African Rights has called on Protestant churches to “seek new ways” to contribute to the process of justice and reconciliation in Rwanda in the light of evidence that some church leaders were implicated in the 1994 genocide. In a report released today (Wednesday), the human rights group said that like the Catholic church - to which the majority of Rwandans belong - the Protestant hierarchy failed in its response to the genocide and its aftermath. The report, ‘Rwanda: The Protestant Churches and the Genocide’, argues that: “As long as the Churches continue to harbour men and women accused of heinous crimes, they cannot offer the kind of moral leadership” the country needs. Meanwhile, the French parliamentary committee investigating France’s role in the genocide has said it will publish its findings on the Internet by the middle of December. The committee was responding to allegations by human rights groups that it aimed to suppress damaging information about French conduct, PANA reported.