Yes. Thank you, Mr. Cotler.
I agree with what you said about rape being used as an act of war. I just answered madam's question on that. I stressed the fact that rape could sometimes be used as an act of war, as is the case today and as was previously the case in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. During the Tutsi genocide, women were not raped to win the war, but for other reasons, as I mentioned.
Deniers claim that rape did not occur and that the crime was added at the last minute to the charges Akayesu was tried for in Arusha, because Hillary Clinton wanted to hijack the trial to put the focus on the plight of women and the suffering they endured during the Tutsi genocide. Ms. Clinton didn't need to raise the issue; the facts were known. As I pointed out earlier, almost every surviving Tutsi woman had been raped. The same is true of those who did not survive. In fact, most were killed after being raped, en masse, for that matter. All Tutsi women were raped during the genocide. That is a fact everyone is aware of.
As far as the children of rape are concerned, what can Canada do to compel the Rwandan government to accept those children and provide for them so they can live and go to school?
I think Canada can do a lot for Rwanda through the reconciliation process. That is true not just with respect to the children of rape, so I would like to stay on that topic. As you, yourself, said, it is hard for Canada to do anything given the lack of compulsive measures. Only when a country provides assistance to another country can it make that country do something. The assisting country can require the receiving country to respect its people's rights or risk losing the support. It is very difficult for Canada to influence Rwandan policies given that it withdrew its assistance.
Unfortunately, I can't think of any other solution.