Résumé
Rwandan army troops in Kigali bombed the national stadium on April 20, where more than 5,000 people were taking refuge. Moreover, according to the spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Nairobi, "The scale of the massacres [in Rwanda] makes the figures meaningless."
Citation
Rwandan Army troops in Kigali today shelled the national stadium, where more than 5,000
Rwandans had sought refuge, United Nations and Red Cross officials said. At least 10 people were
reported killed and hundreds wounded.
The stadium, where the refugees had been trapped for more than a week without food, was barraged
by at least 30 artillery shells this morning, and shelling and small arms fire continued around the
stadium throughout the day, the officials said. The Red Cross said it had managed to evacuate 33
seriously wounded people from the stadium and distributed 25 tons of food there.
Unconfirmed reports said that fighting had erupted in or near some refugee camps near the Burundi
border, and that the anarchy that had engulfed the capital was spreading into the countryside.
The fighting in Kigali appeared to be between the Rwandan Army and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic
Front, which have been battling for control of the capital for the past two weeks. Tens of thousands
of Rwandans have been killed and thousands more have fled the country. Communications Are Poor
Since Monday, nearly all phone lines in Rwanda have appeared not to be working . Prior to that,
phones had continued to function despite the chaos, permitting Rwandans to reach aid workers,
human rights officials, foreign embassies and friends to tell of massacres and fighting.
There are now only two working satellite phones in Kigali, one belonging to the Red Cross and the
other to the United Nations. Both organizations have little access to areas away from their
compounds, and relief officials and diplomats said they have little information about what is
happening in the country.
"The situation appears to be getting worse rather than improving," Reuters quoted Abdul Kabia, the
executive director of the United Nations mission in Rwanda, as saying. "We are continuing to talk to
both parties but our efforts have stalled and we're not getting anywhere."
The 2,500 United Nations troops in Rwanda were originally deployed to monitor a cease-fire that
had halted earlier civil fighting. Since the current fighting resumed, the United Nations troops have
stood by helplessly. U.N. Debates Presence
On Monday, the Security Council said the United Nations mission would remain in Kigali only if the
Government forces and the rebels could reach a peace agreement.
Belgium, the colonial power in Rwanda prior to the country's independence in 1962, withdrew its
450 troops from the United Nations mission after 10 Belgian soldiers were killed last week.
"The scale of the massacres make any figures meaningless," said Patrick Fuller, a spokesman for the
International Committee of the Red Cross in Nairobi.
If the United Nations was to pull out of Rwanda, it would further complicate plans to send in food
and medicine, United Nations officials in Nairobi said. So far, virtually no emergency aid, except for
a Red Cross medical convoy, has been able to get into Rwanda, they said. Danger of Cholera
Tens of thousands of people are in need of food in Kigali, where there is no safe drinking water and
a danger of cholera, the Red Cross said.
"Our priorities are food and sanitation, especially the prevention of epidemics due to the tremendous
number of dead bodies." said Lance Clark, senior relief officer for the United Nations effort in
Rwanda.
In numbers alone, the relief crisis is staggering. In the past 12 days, more than 400,000 Rwandans
have been forced to flee their homes near Kigali. Relief officials estimate that as many as two
million Rwandans, about 20 percent of the population, are displaced.
Photo: Some of the hundreds of people who fled the massacres in Rwanda waited yesterday at the
Rwanda-Burundi border to be picked up by Burundi Army trucks. Each night many try to escape
into Burundi territory. (Associated Press) Map shows the location of Kigali, Rwanda.
