TOP SECRET Report Implicates Rwanda’s President in War Crimes: The Leaked Special Investigations Summary
DocumentCloud Publication Reveals Secret UN Investigation into RPF Atrocities
Published on DocumentCloud | Originally marked: TOP SECRET
Overview
A highly classified document recently published on DocumentCloud titled “TOP SECRET Special Investigations Summary Report of RPF Crimes, With Targets” has brought renewed attention to one of the most sensitive investigations in modern African history. The report contains evidence from secret United Nations investigations into war crimes allegedly committed by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)โthe rebel movement that stopped the 1994 genocide against Tutsis but stands accused of committing its own atrocities against Hutu civilians during and after the conflict.
What is the RPF?
The Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) was a rebel army formed by Tutsi refugees who had been exiled from Rwanda for decades. In 1990, the RPF invaded Rwanda from Uganda, sparking a civil war that culminated in the 1994 genocide. When the genocide began in April 1994, the RPF resumed its offensive and defeated the Hutu-led government by July 1994, effectively stopping the genocide against Tutsis.
However, victory came with allegations of serious crimes. The RPF, now transformed into Rwanda’s ruling party with Paul Kagame as president, has faced persistent accusations that its soldiers committed massacres of Hutu civilians during their advance and in the years following their takeover.
The Secret Investigation
According to former International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, the UN opened a “secret” investigation into RPF crimes as early as 2000. In her book “The Hunt: Me and My War Criminals,” Del Ponte revealed that her office collected evidence on 13 episodes in 1994 where RPF members allegedly massacred civilians as their troops advanced through Rwanda .
The investigation faced enormous obstacles:
- Rwandan authorities reportedly controlled every stage of the investigation
- The Rwandan intelligence service had received monitoring equipment from the United States, allowing them to intercept phone calls, faxes, and internet communications
- There were suspicions that Rwandan agents had infiltrated the UN’s computer network and placed operatives among interpreters and team members in Kigali
On December 9, 2000, Del Ponte personally informed President Kagame that the prosecutor’s office had opened a case against him concerning allegations of war crimes committed by the RPF. According to Del Ponte, Kagame neither approved nor denied that these incidents had taken place .
What the TOP SECRET Report Contains
While the full contents of the DocumentCloud publication remain classified, investigative reports from Black Agenda Report and Mail & Guardian have revealed shocking testimony from former RPF soldiers included in UN investigative files :
Methods of Killing
Investigators documented brutal methods used by RPF soldiers:
- Strangulation with cords
- Smothering with plastic bags
- Pouring burning plastic on victims’ skin
- Hacking with hoes and bayonets
- Mass graves and burning bodies
Scale of Atrocities
One RPF soldier who served in the northwestern region near Ruhengeri testified that his unit’s purpose was to “kill the enemy and bury or burn their corpses.” The soldier claimed his unit alone may have killed up to 100,000 people, averaging 150-200 people per day .
The soldier stated: “The goal of our group was to kill Hutus. That included women and childrenโฆ People were killed with a cord [around their neck], a plastic bag [over their head], a hammer, a knife, or with traditional weapons [machete, panga].”
Systematic Ethnic Cleansing
Multiple former soldiers testified that as soon as the RPF seized an areaโreferred to as a “liberated zone”โHutus living there were systematically slaughtered. One soldier explained: “The [RPF] was convinced that Hutus were uncontrollable, so it was better to get rid of them. That’s why a systematic ethnic cleansing was organised in these ‘liberated zones’.”
Tactics included:
- Organizing murderous attacks where hundreds of Hutu peasants were killed
- Spreading rumors about imminent attacks to cause peasants to flee
- Attacking before the genocide in northern Rwanda in 1993
The Gersony Report Connection
The allegations in this TOP SECRET report echo findings from the infamous Gersony Reportโa UN investigation led by American consultant Robert Gersony in 1994. Gersony was tasked with developing a strategy for refugee return but instead discovered evidence of systematic RPF killings of Hutu civilians.
The report concluded that the RPF had organized systematic killings of Hutus in retaliation for the genocide against Tutsis and suggested these killings could amount to genocide . However, the Gersony Report was never officially published by the UN, and its existence was initially deniedโthough its authenticity is now beyond doubt.
Why This Matters Today
Justice Denied?
Despite the extensive evidence collected by UN investigators, no senior RPF official has ever been prosecuted by the ICTR for crimes committed in 1994. The tribunal’s mandate was limited to prosecuting genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the genocide, effectively shielding the RPF from accountability for crimes committed during their military campaign.
Kagame’s International Standing
President Paul Kagame remains a celebrated figure in international circles, praised for Rwanda’s economic development and women’s rights advances. However, this TOP SECRET report and related investigations suggest a more complex legacyโone that includes credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity that have never been fully investigated or prosecuted.
The Cost of Impunity
Human rights organizations have long argued that the failure to hold the RPF accountable has contributed to ongoing instability in the Great Lakes region. The RPF’s alleged crimes in Rwanda were followed by military interventions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Rwandan forces have been accused of committing further atrocities and exploiting the country’s mineral resources.
Document Significance
The publication of this TOP SECRET Special Investigations Summary Report on DocumentCloud represents a critical piece of historical evidence. It demonstrates:
- The UN knew about RPF crimes but was politically constrained from acting
- Evidence was systematically collected but never led to prosecutions
- Witnesses came forward at great personal risk to testify about atrocities
- The international community chose stability over accountability in post-genocide Rwanda
Conclusion
The TOP SECRET report on DocumentCloud serves as a stark reminder that in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocideโa crime that killed approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 100 daysโthe victors were not innocent. The RPF’s role in stopping the genocide has rightfully earned them a place in history, but the allegations contained in this secret investigation suggest that their campaign was accompanied by atrocities that demand acknowledgment and accountability.
As one former RPF soldier testified: “We killed many people, maybe 100,000.” Whether these numbers are accurate, and whether justice will ever be served for these crimes, remains one of the most troubling unanswered questions of the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath.
This article is based on investigative reporting and publicly available documents. The allegations contained in the TOP SECRET report remain contested by the Rwandan government.
Bernd Pulch (M.A.) is a forensic expert, founder of Aristotle AI, entrepreneur, political commentator, satirist, and investigative journalist covering lawfare, media control, investment, real estate, and geopolitics. His work examines how legal systems are weaponized, how capital flows shape policy, how artificial intelligence concentrates power, and what democracy loses when courts and markets become battlefields.
๐ BERND PULCH ARCHIVE | SECURE MIRROR 