MILITARY PROSECUTOR IDENTIFIES THOSE BEHIND RECENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000020 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS ASEC RW SUBJECT: MILITARY PROSECUTOR IDENTIFIES THOSE BEHIND RECENT GRENADE ATTACKS REF: A. 08 KIGALI 874 ¶B. 08 KIGALI 393 ¶C. 07 KIGALI 152 Classified By: Ambassador Symington for Reasons 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (C) Pol/Econ chief met with the chief military prosecutor on January 13 to discuss arrests made in connection with the December 27 grenade attacks in Kigali (ref A). The prosecutor said 18 individuals had been detained in the course of investigations, fifteen civilians and 3 low-ranking enlisted men of the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF). Several of the civilians were allegedly members of the FDLR who had entered from the Congo, but most of those arrested, including the three soldiers, were local FDLR sympathizers. One of the FDLR cadres had made several trips to the Congo to secure grenades, which he distributed among the group. According to the prosecutor,the members planned simultaneous explosions in several towns in Rwanda. Arrests had begun in early December, when one member of the group turned himself in. Two men who are still at large are suspected of tossing the two grenades on December 27. Twenty five grenades had been recovered, he said, and the two men at large presumably had more. The 18 men are charged with an attack on the national security of the nation ("atteinte a la surete de l'Etat") an offense which carries a potential life sentence. ¶2. (C) The prosecutor dismissed an account of the case by local newspaper Umuseso, which focused on the arrest of the three military personnel, and suggested senior officers would be arrested next. Aside from the two civilians still sought, no more arrests were expected, he said. The case was being tried in the military high court (Rwandan law provides for civilians to be tried in military courts if linked with military personnel),with the civilian Supreme Court as the court of appeal. Indeed, he said, defense attorneys has already appealed a detention order to the Supreme Court, with a decision due soon. ¶3. (C) Comment. As Rwandan officials have told us for some time (refs B, C),the FDLR regularly sends cadres into Rwanda, for recruitment, for reconnaissance, and more rarely, to attempt operations. The presence of organized formations of FDLR troops near Rwanda's borders is more than a theoretical threat to Rwanda's security. The December 27 grenade attack could well have been a test run for other similar attacks, particularly if Rwanda and the DRC undertake their joint operational plan to root out the FDLR from eastern Congo once and for all. End comment. SYMINGTON