UN inquiry on its role in genocide starts

The independent inquiry set up by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to investigate UN actions before and during the 1994 genocide started its work of Friday, a UN press release said. “Our task is to establish the facts and draw conclusions about the response of the United Nations to the genocide in Rwanda,” the chairman of the three-man panel, former Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar Carlson, told a press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York. He said the investigators were guaranteed “full access” to UN records and would immediately begin examining files and compiling a list of potential interviewees both inside and outside the UN. The panel is to submit its final report to Annan by the end of the year. The other panelists are former Korean Foreign Minister Han Sung-Joo and Nigeria’s Rufus Kupolati.

Journalist arrested on genocide charges

Meanwhile, Rwandan Justice Minister Jean de Dieu Mucyo on Sunday announced the arrest of journalist Valerie Bemeriki, who is alleged to have led a radio hate campaign by making inflammatory statements that contributed to sparking the 1994 genocide, news agencies said. The journalist, broadcasting on Radio Mille Collines, allegedly urged Hutus to kill minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Bemeriki, whose name was on the list of the 1,000 “most wanted” Rwandans, will be prosecuted for genocide and crimes against humanity, news agencies said.