Israel’s ‘weapon exports to Rwanda during genocide’ to stay secret, following Supreme Court ruling

[fanger]

Documents detailing Israel’s alleged defence exports to Rwanda during the country’s civil war and genocide in the 1990s are to remain sealed, the country’s Supreme Court has ruled.

Two years ago Professor Yair Auron and attorney Eitay Mack submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Israel’s defence ministry to discover the nature of any arms exports made to Rwanda between 1990 and 1995, the Times of Israel reports.

Between 800,000 and 1 million people were killed over the course of 100 days in Rwanda in 1994 during the civil war, kick started by the death of the Hutu President Juvenal Habyrimana whose plane was shot down over Kigali airport.



Weapons used in the genocide allegedly included Israeli-made 5.56mm bullets, rifles and grenades, the newspaper reports, but information apparently detailing this is sealed in the contested documentation.

Mr Auron and Mr Mack’s request reportedly stated: “According to various reports in Israel and abroad, the defence exports to Rwanda ostensibly violated international law, at least during the period of the weapons embargo imposed by the UN Security Council.”

The request was denied by the Ministry of Defence and later by the Tel Aviv District Court, upholding the argument that the release of information would undermine state security and international relations.
You're not allowed to know if Israel sold weapons to Rwanda during its genocide
at no point during the proceedings was there a denial that there were defence exports during the genocide Never again?

 

[waltky]

Instigator of Rwanda genocide jailed for life...

Rwandan jailed for life for inciting genocide
Saturday 16th April, 2016 - A Rwandan court on Friday sentenced former politician Leon Mugesera to life in prison for inciting the 1994 genocide.

Judge Antoine Muhima said Mugesera had taken part in "public incitement to commit genocide" as well as inciting torture and ethnic hatred, though he was found not guilty of planning and conspiracy to commit genocide.

Mugesera, 63, the former head of the party of assassinated President Juvenal Habyarimana, denied all charges and appealed the verdict. He said he was in Canada when the killings began in Rwanda in 1994.

The prosecution said that Mugesera, a linguist, called Tutsis "cockroaches" and "scum", and encouraged his fellow Hutus to kill them in a 1992 speech. Lawyers argued the speech helped trigger the Rwandan genocide two years later in which an estimated 800 000 people, mainly Tutsis, died.

Mugesera, however, challenged the authenticity of the recording of the speech. Canada deported him in January 2012 after 15 years of court battles. His trial opened in Kigali in January 2013.

Rwandan jailed for life for inciting genocide