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II. RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Rwandan government:

    · Order Rwandan government soldiers to observe all provisions of international humanitarian law in the conduct of operations, both inside and outside Rwanda.

    · Investigate and bring to trial any ALIR combatants in Rwandan custody alleged to have committed genocide or other violations of international humanitarian law, whether in Rwanda or in the Congo, including Col. Pierre Habimana.

    · Investigate and bring to trial any members of the Rwandan army or Local Defense Force who are accused of having violated international humanitarian law in Rwanda or in the Congo, including those allegedly responsible for shooting unarmed combatants who had surrendered in three incidents at Gikombe, between Karara and Rusengye cells in Kareba sector, Buhoma district; at the post between Nyabirehe and Musomba; and at Kanama district.

    · Provide the necessary resources to properly feed, house, educate, and meet the psycho-social needs of children who have been assigned to the Gitagata center and to any other children of ALIR forces now held elsewhere in Rwanda. Re-integrate these children into their families or provide them with some other suitable form of care as soon as possible.

    · Order an end to the recruitment, training, and use of children under eighteen years of age in Local Defense Forces or in the Rwandan army, whether in Rwanda or in the Congo.

    · Accede without reservations to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and submit upon ratification, a binding declaration establishing a minimum age of at least eighteen for voluntary recruitment.

    · Ratify the 1991 Rwandan signature of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

To the Armeé pour la Libération du Rwanda, ALIR:

    · Order all ALIR combatants to implement fully the provisions of international humanitarian law, whether in Rwanda or in the Congo.

    · Stop the recruitment, abduction, training, and use of child soldiers. Demobilize, disarm, rehabilitate, and return to their homes all current child soldiers. If it is impossible to return the child soldiers to their families, hand them over to UNICEF or another responsible humanitarian agency.

    · Hold accountable combatants who fail to obey these orders.

To the International Community:

    · Pressure Rwandan authorities and commanders of ALIR to implement fully the provisions of international humanitarian law in Rwanda and in the Congo.

    · Urge the Rwandan government to investigate and bring promptly to trial any ALIR combatants in their custody alleged to have committed genocide or other violations of international humanitarian law, whether in Rwanda or in the Congo, including Col. Pierre Habimana.

    · Urge the Rwandan government to investigate and bring to trial any members of the Rwandan army or Local Defense Force who are accused of having violated international humanitarian law in Rwanda or in the Congo, including those allegedly responsible for shooting unarmed combatants who had surrendered in three incidents at Gikombe, between Karara and Rusengye cells in Kareba sector, Buhoma district; at the post between Nyabirehe and Musomba; and at Kanama district.

    · Assist Rwandan authorities to meet the material, educational, and psycho-social needs of children from the ALIR forces now in their hands. Encourage Rwandan authorities to re-integrate these children into their families or provide them with some other suitable form of care as soon as possible.

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