The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda’s (ICTR) prosecutor’s failure to date to bring cases against Rwandan Patriotic Front officers responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1994 genocide risks undermining the court’s legacy.

With plans for the closing of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) nearing completion, we write publicly to urge you to address crimes committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

In late August 2008, the Congolese army (FARDC) and the rebel group, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), resumed heavy fighting in the most recent episode of more than a decade of war in eastern Congo. The Congolese army was sometimes aided by Congolese militia known as Mai Mai and PARECO, as well as by a Rwandan armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), some of whose leaders participated in the 1994 genocide.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other African and international leaders meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 8-9 should take immediate action to protect civilians who are at severe risk in eastern Congo

Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda’s forces and government-backed Mai Mai militias deliberately killed civilians in Kiwanja, North Kivu province, on November 4-5, 2008.

The United States, European Union, and African Union should urgently intensify diplomatic efforts to protect civilians and bolster the UN peacekeeping force in eastern Congo.

In January 2008 hopes for peace in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo soared when the government and 22 armed groups signed a ceasefire agreement in Goma, capital of North Kivu province. But the fragile peace process is now broken and needs urgently to be fixed.

Under a new law signed today by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States.