Hirondelle News Agency
25 July 07
A lawyer alleged Wednesday that a former prefect called by the prosecution in the trial of three politicians would have asked the Rwandan authorities for forgiveness for having testified for the defence in a case before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
The former prefect of Gitarama (central Rwanda), Fidèle Uwizeye, has been at the stand since Thursday. He had, previously, testified in the trial of four former ministers and in that of former Mayor Jean-Paul Akayesu, one of his subordinates in 1994.
Frederic Weyl (France), the lawyer of the former president of the former ruling party in Rwanda, Matthieu Ngirumpatse, one of the defendants, suggested that Uwizeye "had excused himself" to the Attorney General of Rwanda after having been a witness for the defence, in March 1998, in the Akayesu trial. Similar excuses would have also been made to the deputy prosecutor of the ICTR, according to Weyl.
Akayesu was convicted to the life in prison by the ICTR and is serving his sentence in Mali.
Fidèle Uwizeye admitted having contacted these authorities but denied that the reason was to request forgiveness from them.
"When I went to see these persons, it was to protest against the behaviour of Akayesu’s lawyer and not to ask for forgiveness for anything", he stated.
Fidèle Uwizeye accused the former president of the Bar association of the Central African Republic, Nicolas Tiangaye, who represented Akayesu, of "having used trickery to obtain my presence at the tribunal".
The former prefect affirmed that he had come "without knowing if I was a witness for the defence or for the prosecution".
Two months after having testified in favour of Akayesu, Uwizeye was arrested and held for 21 months in Rwanda. Basing himself on a document from Amnesty International, Weyl argued that this arrest was related to the testimony in the Akayesu case.
Fidèle Uwizeye answered that even if he had, of his own volition, evoked that testimony during his short interrogation the allegations against him had rather to do with "national security” issues.
The witness explained that Hutu "infiltrators" were close to the capital and that he had been suspected by the government of being aligned with them. He indicated that the investigation had cleared him.
Weyl implied that Uwizeye had later refused to appear at the request of the defence of the former Minister of Finance, Emmanuel Ndindabahizi, also convicted to the life in prison by the ICTR.
According to Weyl, Uwizeye would not have testified because he feared reprisals from the Rwandan government.
The witness denied that accusation and indicated that the defence of the former minister had, rather, not observed official procedure.
"If one had asked me (officially) to testify in that trial, I would have testified", he said; adding that Ndindabahizi was his friend.
Weyl also tried to establish that Fidèle Uwizeye had come to testify for the prosecution in this case with the consent of his supervising minister. The witness replied that as a civil servant, he had asked his minister for permission to come but that if he had been on leave he would have come without asking.
Uwizeye is a director in the department of geology and mines in a ministry in Kigali.
His cross examination by Weyl was marked at some moments by a relative tension, the lawyer reproaching him of being "a tough witness for defence"
"When we ask you questions, you bring up intolerable assertions and when you are put in an uncomfortable position, you say: I do not remember ". The witness replied that he had answered all the questions in good faith.
Ngirumpatse is accused along with Edouard Karemera and Joseph Nzirorera, respectively vice president and secretary-general of the former ruling party in Rwanda. Their trial started in September 2005. They have pleaded not guilty to genocide and crimes against humanity.
28 July, 2007
Major Ntuyahaga Heads to the Court of Appeals
Hirondelle News Agency
27 July 07
The lawyer of Major Bernard Ntuyahaga, a Rwandan convicted on 5 July to twenty years in prison by the crown court of Brussels, has just filed an appeal.
The deadline to file an appeal was set for 23 July but Luc de Temmermann, as he had announced at the conviction of his client, filed his request on Thursday at midday.
De Temmermann repeated to the Hirondelle news agency what he implied on many occasions during the trial. "Bernard Ntuyahaga did not have a fair trial, neither in the pre-trial nor in the trial phases", he estimates.
He particularly points out to the testimony of Guy Verhofstadt, the then Belgian Prime Minister, who appeared as a rapporteur of a 1997 senatorial commission charged with examining the role of Belgium in Rwanda in 1994.
"He indicated by name Ntuyahaga while arising testimonies from the commission; however a member of the government in power does not have to express himself on an ongoing case", argued de Temmermann.
The Flemish lawyer does not yet want to say what other arguments he will raise, suggesting nevertheless that there would be "a lot".
The former Rwandan Major Bernard Ntuyahaga was found guilty of the murders, in Kigali, of ten Belgian peacekeepers on 7 April 1994, as well as those of several families and "of an unspecified number" of people between 6 April and 6 June 1994.
He was, on the other hand, found not guilty of the charges of assassination of the Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and of a certain number of Rwandan in the prefecture of Butare (south).
The federal prosecutor had requested life in prison but the jury had estimated that the historical context of ethnic violence known to Rwanda and the fact that he saved several Tutsis, the ethnic group that was the victim of the 1994 genocide, constituted mitigating circumstances.
This request for appeal will be handled by the registrar's office of the crown court which will transmit it to the registrar’s office of the court of appeals. A first date of proceedings will then be scheduled.
The court of appeals does not rule on the facts of the cases. Its role is to verify that decisions which are submitted to it are in accordance with established law norms.
27 July 07
The lawyer of Major Bernard Ntuyahaga, a Rwandan convicted on 5 July to twenty years in prison by the crown court of Brussels, has just filed an appeal.
The deadline to file an appeal was set for 23 July but Luc de Temmermann, as he had announced at the conviction of his client, filed his request on Thursday at midday.
De Temmermann repeated to the Hirondelle news agency what he implied on many occasions during the trial. "Bernard Ntuyahaga did not have a fair trial, neither in the pre-trial nor in the trial phases", he estimates.
He particularly points out to the testimony of Guy Verhofstadt, the then Belgian Prime Minister, who appeared as a rapporteur of a 1997 senatorial commission charged with examining the role of Belgium in Rwanda in 1994.
"He indicated by name Ntuyahaga while arising testimonies from the commission; however a member of the government in power does not have to express himself on an ongoing case", argued de Temmermann.
The Flemish lawyer does not yet want to say what other arguments he will raise, suggesting nevertheless that there would be "a lot".
The former Rwandan Major Bernard Ntuyahaga was found guilty of the murders, in Kigali, of ten Belgian peacekeepers on 7 April 1994, as well as those of several families and "of an unspecified number" of people between 6 April and 6 June 1994.
He was, on the other hand, found not guilty of the charges of assassination of the Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and of a certain number of Rwandan in the prefecture of Butare (south).
The federal prosecutor had requested life in prison but the jury had estimated that the historical context of ethnic violence known to Rwanda and the fact that he saved several Tutsis, the ethnic group that was the victim of the 1994 genocide, constituted mitigating circumstances.
This request for appeal will be handled by the registrar's office of the crown court which will transmit it to the registrar’s office of the court of appeals. A first date of proceedings will then be scheduled.
The court of appeals does not rule on the facts of the cases. Its role is to verify that decisions which are submitted to it are in accordance with established law norms.
Credibility of a Witness Put Into Doubt Due to Ties to the RPF
Hirondelle News Agency
July 28 07
The defence disputed the credibility of a prosecution witness bringing forth his membership to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which is currently in power in Kigali, on Monday in the trial of three former politicians currently before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
The witness, Fidèle Uwizeye, prefect of Gitarama (central Rwanda) in 1994 under the banner of the Mouvement Démocratique Républicain (MDR), now dissolved, joined the RPF in 2002.
He was called by the Prosecutor in the trial of the leaders of the former Rwandan presidential party, the Mouvement Républicain National pour la Démocratie et le Développement (MRND).
The defendants are Matthieu Ngirumpatse, Edouard Karemera and Joseph Nzirorera; respectively president, vice-president and secretary-general of the MNRD in 1994.
The lawyer of Karemera, Dior Diagne (Senegal), questioned the true motifs of Uwizeye, basing herself on his statement to the Prosecutor according to which he has "as mission to come charge the interim government".
The defendants were close to the interim government in place during the 1994 genocide of Tutsis. Karemera was even appointed Minister of the Interior in May of that year. The interim government was militarily overcome on 4 July 1994 by the RPF.
"I finally understand your mission when you acknowledge that you are a member of the RPF", stated Diagne while questioning the witness.
Fidèle Uwizeye replied that he is not testifying as a member of the RPF. "I was in a position of authority at the time of the genocide. I come as an eyewitness. I come with the mission of comforting Rwandans that were victims of these events. I do not come here as a member of the RPF ", he said.
Diagne then concentrated on the formalities of joining the RPF; in particular, the oath which a new member must take. "If you betray the RPF, the sword must ‘transpierce’ you", raised Diagne by quoting an extract of this oath.
The witness recognized that there is a pact which binds the member to his party and that "traitors" are indeed punished.
Fidèle Uwizeye, nevertheless, indicated that the member does not commit himself to not betraying the RPF as such but, rather, its political ideology which he defined as "peace, unity and development".
The lawyer asked the witness if he was not allotting to the RPF the motto of the MRND and he answered that he did not find it strange at all that the two political groups would have identical ideals.
Uwizeye, currently director of the department of mines and geology in his country, has been testifying in this trial since Thursday.
The defence had opposed the entire testimony of this witness, accusing him of having perjured himself in another case currently before the ICTR. The judges, however, overruled this objection.
The trial of the former leaders of the MRND started in September 2005. According to the chamber, it should last beyond the current mandate of the ICTR, which is due to be completed in December 2008.
July 28 07
The defence disputed the credibility of a prosecution witness bringing forth his membership to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which is currently in power in Kigali, on Monday in the trial of three former politicians currently before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
The witness, Fidèle Uwizeye, prefect of Gitarama (central Rwanda) in 1994 under the banner of the Mouvement Démocratique Républicain (MDR), now dissolved, joined the RPF in 2002.
He was called by the Prosecutor in the trial of the leaders of the former Rwandan presidential party, the Mouvement Républicain National pour la Démocratie et le Développement (MRND).
The defendants are Matthieu Ngirumpatse, Edouard Karemera and Joseph Nzirorera; respectively president, vice-president and secretary-general of the MNRD in 1994.
The lawyer of Karemera, Dior Diagne (Senegal), questioned the true motifs of Uwizeye, basing herself on his statement to the Prosecutor according to which he has "as mission to come charge the interim government".
The defendants were close to the interim government in place during the 1994 genocide of Tutsis. Karemera was even appointed Minister of the Interior in May of that year. The interim government was militarily overcome on 4 July 1994 by the RPF.
"I finally understand your mission when you acknowledge that you are a member of the RPF", stated Diagne while questioning the witness.
Fidèle Uwizeye replied that he is not testifying as a member of the RPF. "I was in a position of authority at the time of the genocide. I come as an eyewitness. I come with the mission of comforting Rwandans that were victims of these events. I do not come here as a member of the RPF ", he said.
Diagne then concentrated on the formalities of joining the RPF; in particular, the oath which a new member must take. "If you betray the RPF, the sword must ‘transpierce’ you", raised Diagne by quoting an extract of this oath.
The witness recognized that there is a pact which binds the member to his party and that "traitors" are indeed punished.
Fidèle Uwizeye, nevertheless, indicated that the member does not commit himself to not betraying the RPF as such but, rather, its political ideology which he defined as "peace, unity and development".
The lawyer asked the witness if he was not allotting to the RPF the motto of the MRND and he answered that he did not find it strange at all that the two political groups would have identical ideals.
Uwizeye, currently director of the department of mines and geology in his country, has been testifying in this trial since Thursday.
The defence had opposed the entire testimony of this witness, accusing him of having perjured himself in another case currently before the ICTR. The judges, however, overruled this objection.
The trial of the former leaders of the MRND started in September 2005. According to the chamber, it should last beyond the current mandate of the ICTR, which is due to be completed in December 2008.
26 July, 2007
OPJDR Letter to UN Re: Political Oppression in Rwanda.
Organization For Peace Justice & Development in Rwanda,
(OPJDR) Inc.
Organisation Pour la Paix, la Justice et le Développement au Rwanda,
(OPJDR) Inc.
Honorable Mr. Ban Ki-Moon July 10, 2007
Secretary General of the United Nations N° 32/S/PK/607
UN Plaza, S-3800
New York, NY 10017 USA
Ref: Three deplorable imprisonment cases in Rwanda
Honorable;
This is to bring to your attention a deplorable political situation in Rwanda that has created a climate of terror in all segments of its population. This follows an incendiary speech by the Rwandan President Paul Kagame marking the 13th anniversary commemorating the genocide last April 7th in Murambi, Gikongoro In that speech (see attachment), President Kagame openly told his people to regret of not having exterminated Rwandan people who were fleeing his rebellion advance in 1994.
He went on to say that in today’s political environment, one is very often obliged to do things against his personal will and belief. That these same people who flew Rwanda in 1994 for neighboring countries are mostly the same ones he is constrained to welcome back and provide them with shelter and so forth. Our credible sources in Rwanda conferred to us that this speech has left most of people with a deep scare and concern to hear their own leader preach vengeance and extermination.
Though it is very common to bring people to jail for “divisionism” as it’s been the accusation that get raised to any person including journalists who dare to criticize the government, it is very disturbing and chocking to see those sorts of accusations being applied to middle and high school kids expressing their feelings or simply questioning certain actions with their classmates. We would particularly like to highlight and request your assistance in these few cases such as:
Mrs Dina Igiraneza, born in 1992, currently student at Kigeme High School, not far from Murambi where President Kagame had held his recent incendiary speech, has been accused of “divisionism” and put in jail in Gikongoro’s prison while she attempted to raise a question on why some of her classmates were periodically having issues of bad memories depicting killings at night and behave normally all the time during the day. While we totally understand that people will tend to have nightmares usually at night, we also understand that a fourteen
-year old will naturally wonder with those type of questions and shouldn’t warrant imprisonment.
Mrs. Caline Imanishimwe’s mother has also recently been put to jail for a statement that her daughter made to her Kigeme’s high school classmates in January 2006. While she was showing her father’s picture to her classmates, one of them asked why they never saw her father paying her a visit at her school and she apparently responded that her father was where every unneeded person is.
When the government officers came to look for Mrs. Caline, they couldn’t find her home and took her mother instead as her daughter had escaped thanks to a person who had tipped her about her imminent imprisonment. Her mother may have been released but her daughter is still on the run and hiding.
Mrs. Immaculée born in 1992, also student at Kigeme High School met her classmates Hutus and Tutsis who were arguing about the system and told to the Hutus that they should know that the power is not on their side. She was arrested and asked to show up once a week at the local Jurisdiction station. Few days later she escaped.
Our organization is profoundly dismayed by the current lack of unification and reconciliation efforts in Rwanda and rather sees the government stepping up efforts to harbor hatred among its people up to its younger generation. We would like to request assistance with your organization in bringing to light these issues and acts of injustice being perpetrated to Rwandan kids.
The OPJDR thank you again for your hard work in seeking justice everywhere and cooperation in assisting Rwandan people in this matter.
Sincerely.
Pascal Kalinganire
Coordinator General
Attachment: President’s speech on April 7th 2007
at Murambi-Gikongoro- Rwanda
C.I.:
Excellency General Paul Kagame
President of Republic
Republic of Rwanda
P.O. Box 15 Kigali-Rwanda
Honorable Condoleeza Rice
Secretary of State
US State Department
Washington, DC 20520
Honorable Mr. Ruud Lubbers
Haut Commissaire des Nations Unies aux Refugies
B.P. 2500
CH-1211 Geneve 2; Switzerland
Honorable Irene Khan
Secretary General
Amnesty International
1 Easton Street
London, United Kingdom
WC1X0DW, UK
Honorable Mark Schneider
Senior Vice-President
International Crisis Group
1629 K Street NW, Suite 450
Washington, DC 20006
(OPJDR) Inc.
Organisation Pour la Paix, la Justice et le Développement au Rwanda,
(OPJDR) Inc.
Honorable Mr. Ban Ki-Moon July 10, 2007
Secretary General of the United Nations N° 32/S/PK/607
UN Plaza, S-3800
New York, NY 10017 USA
Ref: Three deplorable imprisonment cases in Rwanda
Honorable;
This is to bring to your attention a deplorable political situation in Rwanda that has created a climate of terror in all segments of its population. This follows an incendiary speech by the Rwandan President Paul Kagame marking the 13th anniversary commemorating the genocide last April 7th in Murambi, Gikongoro In that speech (see attachment), President Kagame openly told his people to regret of not having exterminated Rwandan people who were fleeing his rebellion advance in 1994.
He went on to say that in today’s political environment, one is very often obliged to do things against his personal will and belief. That these same people who flew Rwanda in 1994 for neighboring countries are mostly the same ones he is constrained to welcome back and provide them with shelter and so forth. Our credible sources in Rwanda conferred to us that this speech has left most of people with a deep scare and concern to hear their own leader preach vengeance and extermination.
Though it is very common to bring people to jail for “divisionism” as it’s been the accusation that get raised to any person including journalists who dare to criticize the government, it is very disturbing and chocking to see those sorts of accusations being applied to middle and high school kids expressing their feelings or simply questioning certain actions with their classmates. We would particularly like to highlight and request your assistance in these few cases such as:
Mrs Dina Igiraneza, born in 1992, currently student at Kigeme High School, not far from Murambi where President Kagame had held his recent incendiary speech, has been accused of “divisionism” and put in jail in Gikongoro’s prison while she attempted to raise a question on why some of her classmates were periodically having issues of bad memories depicting killings at night and behave normally all the time during the day. While we totally understand that people will tend to have nightmares usually at night, we also understand that a fourteen
-year old will naturally wonder with those type of questions and shouldn’t warrant imprisonment.
Mrs. Caline Imanishimwe’s mother has also recently been put to jail for a statement that her daughter made to her Kigeme’s high school classmates in January 2006. While she was showing her father’s picture to her classmates, one of them asked why they never saw her father paying her a visit at her school and she apparently responded that her father was where every unneeded person is.
When the government officers came to look for Mrs. Caline, they couldn’t find her home and took her mother instead as her daughter had escaped thanks to a person who had tipped her about her imminent imprisonment. Her mother may have been released but her daughter is still on the run and hiding.
Mrs. Immaculée born in 1992, also student at Kigeme High School met her classmates Hutus and Tutsis who were arguing about the system and told to the Hutus that they should know that the power is not on their side. She was arrested and asked to show up once a week at the local Jurisdiction station. Few days later she escaped.
Our organization is profoundly dismayed by the current lack of unification and reconciliation efforts in Rwanda and rather sees the government stepping up efforts to harbor hatred among its people up to its younger generation. We would like to request assistance with your organization in bringing to light these issues and acts of injustice being perpetrated to Rwandan kids.
The OPJDR thank you again for your hard work in seeking justice everywhere and cooperation in assisting Rwandan people in this matter.
Sincerely.
Pascal Kalinganire
Coordinator General
Attachment: President’s speech on April 7th 2007
at Murambi-Gikongoro- Rwanda
C.I.:
Excellency General Paul Kagame
President of Republic
Republic of Rwanda
P.O. Box 15 Kigali-Rwanda
Honorable Condoleeza Rice
Secretary of State
US State Department
Washington, DC 20520
Honorable Mr. Ruud Lubbers
Haut Commissaire des Nations Unies aux Refugies
B.P. 2500
CH-1211 Geneve 2; Switzerland
Honorable Irene Khan
Secretary General
Amnesty International
1 Easton Street
London, United Kingdom
WC1X0DW, UK
Honorable Mark Schneider
Senior Vice-President
International Crisis Group
1629 K Street NW, Suite 450
Washington, DC 20006
25 July, 2007
Ogaden Rebels Demand Inquiry on Compromised Aid.
23 July 07
MISNA
The separatists of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) have asked the Un to investigate the alleged block of the movement of aid, denounced on the NY Times. Diplomatic sources and aid workers told the NY Times that Ethiopian government authorities are blocking food aid deliveries destined for the people of Ogaden near the Somali-Eritrean border. “The UN has the very responsibility to investigate war crimes perpetrated in Ogaden …that aid supplies are deliberately derailed to the armed forces and militias responsible for these war crimes” said a communiqué from the rebel group. ONLF said that the lack of “an immediate intervention in the humanitarian catastrophe that is about to begin in Ogaden”, /shall leave a “famine provoked by the régime of prime minister Meles Zenawi”. In the last month alone 247 soldiers and 38 rebels have been killed, according to data from ONLF. One of the most serious recent episodes in the rebellion, which started in the branch of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sino pec) in Abole (in Somali State), killing 77 and kidnapping seven, who were later released.
MISNA
The separatists of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) have asked the Un to investigate the alleged block of the movement of aid, denounced on the NY Times. Diplomatic sources and aid workers told the NY Times that Ethiopian government authorities are blocking food aid deliveries destined for the people of Ogaden near the Somali-Eritrean border. “The UN has the very responsibility to investigate war crimes perpetrated in Ogaden …that aid supplies are deliberately derailed to the armed forces and militias responsible for these war crimes” said a communiqué from the rebel group. ONLF said that the lack of “an immediate intervention in the humanitarian catastrophe that is about to begin in Ogaden”, /shall leave a “famine provoked by the régime of prime minister Meles Zenawi”. In the last month alone 247 soldiers and 38 rebels have been killed, according to data from ONLF. One of the most serious recent episodes in the rebellion, which started in the branch of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sino pec) in Abole (in Somali State), killing 77 and kidnapping seven, who were later released.
Asmara Asks China to Intervene With Ethiopia
24 July 07
MISNA
The president of Eritrea Isaias Afeworki has asked China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to play a greater role to resolving the contentions between itself and Ethiopia over the border delineation. Based on a communiqué posted on an Eritrean information ministry website, Afeworki met a Chinese delegation led by the adjunct minister for trade, Chong Quan, announcing the signing of two economic cooperation accords with Beijing. The president said that “despite the negative opinion of some countries, China’s trade activity ion the region have a primary role in Africa’s development”. Having been protagonists of a violent conflict causing 70,000 deaths between 1998 and 2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea still have issues over their mutual border, the delineation of which has been handed to an independent international commission, while a UN mission (UNMEE) monitors the 1000km. long border. The said commission’s decision to hand the village of Badme to Eritrea was refuted by Ethiopia. Relations between the two countries are thought to be fueling instability in the Horn of Africa, also because of the crisis in Somalia, where the Ethiopian amry has intervened on behalf of the Somali Transition Government, while Eritrea – which refutes such accusations – is said to be backing the Islamic Courts by a controversial UN document.
MISNA
The president of Eritrea Isaias Afeworki has asked China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to play a greater role to resolving the contentions between itself and Ethiopia over the border delineation. Based on a communiqué posted on an Eritrean information ministry website, Afeworki met a Chinese delegation led by the adjunct minister for trade, Chong Quan, announcing the signing of two economic cooperation accords with Beijing. The president said that “despite the negative opinion of some countries, China’s trade activity ion the region have a primary role in Africa’s development”. Having been protagonists of a violent conflict causing 70,000 deaths between 1998 and 2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea still have issues over their mutual border, the delineation of which has been handed to an independent international commission, while a UN mission (UNMEE) monitors the 1000km. long border. The said commission’s decision to hand the village of Badme to Eritrea was refuted by Ethiopia. Relations between the two countries are thought to be fueling instability in the Horn of Africa, also because of the crisis in Somalia, where the Ethiopian amry has intervened on behalf of the Somali Transition Government, while Eritrea – which refutes such accusations – is said to be backing the Islamic Courts by a controversial UN document.
23 July, 2007
Paul Rusesabagina
July 5, 2007
124 Avenue Baron Albert d'Huart
1950 Kraainem, Belgique
His Excellency Ban Ki-moon
UN Secretary General, ROOM 3800
United Nations Headquarters
New York, NW 10017
Subject: RWANDA: Recent "Hearsay" statement by ICTR Prosecutor deeply troubling
Dear Mr. Secretary-General:
On June 29, 2007, Le Monde newspaper reported that current ICTR chief prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, has declared that criminal accusations against the RPF as detailed in a formal complaint I filed with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) last November "amount to hearsay and are of no value in our work". If true, this statement is very bad news and certainly very deeply troubling for me personally, and for millions of Rwandans who have been brutally widowed, orphaned or simply exterminated by the RPF as a rebel group and as a government. That is why I would like to submit to your wise appreciation the following elements of deep concern to me:
1. Unless we have been royally fooled, millions of Rwandans and myself have been led to believe that the role of the chief prosecutor at the ICTR - or the role of any prosecutor at any court for that matter - is to interpret the existing law and prosecute crime to the fullest extent of that law, in order to redress any wrong and provide comfort to the victims that justice has been done. In that respect, Mr. Hassan Jallow's "hearsay" statement is highly irresponsible and heartless, and achieves only one thing: it spits in the face of victims and makes a mockery of them. I know without a doubt that members of my immediate family were killed by the RPF, and Mr. Jallow has the insensitivity to conclude that I am basing my accusations on rumors! This is an outrage and an insult to me and to my departed beloved ones, and it is very hurtful. I am fully aware that we, Rwandans, were not consulted for the appointment of Mr. Jallow as ICTR chief prosecutor, and we certainly won't be for his removal, but we can offer our candid assessment of his performance: he is a marginal prosecutor who lacks any empathy with the victims, and that's a major failing for a law professional.
2. In his statement, Mr. Jallow also is reported as having said that the ICTR is "conducting investigations into crimes allegedly committed by members of the Rwandan Patriotic Army in 1994, and in due time a decision will be made in light of findings from these investigations." Mr. Secretary-General, the ICTR was established on November 8, 1994 through UN Resolution 955. That's 13 years ago. Is the ICTR truly investigating RPA crimes, or is it lying to the world? How do we believe and trust that the ICTR can do in one remaining year and a half (until its mandate expires on December 31, 2008) what it has failed to do in 13 years? This is the same ICTR that has shown zero interest in talking and listening to the many witnesses I referred to in my formal complaint filed last November. These witnesses can even provide the names of the RPA suspects, as we have withheld their full identities merely because we did not want to interfere with the Tribunal's investigative work. This is the same ICTR that so far has chosen to overlook the mountains of available evidence (Abdul Ruzibiza, Marcel and Gloria Gérin with their overwhelming testimony about the butchery of innocent civilians in Eastern Rwanda in 1994 by hordes of the RPA, and many others) incriminating the leaders of the RPF now in power in Rwanda. Mr. Bubacar Jallow was appointed ICTR prosecutor in September 2003, and waited 3 years and 2 months until November 2006 (right after the f iling of my complaint) for his 3-member investigations team to resume their work. Not only has this 3-member team been reduced to 2 people, with the third officer assigned to the Rafik Hariri investigation, their work has been halted again. When you know that to date not a single RPA suspected criminal has been apprehended by the ICTR for no lack of evidence, would it be a harsh pronouncement to say that prosecutor Hassan Jallow and his entire ICTR team are incompetent for their assigned jobs?
3. When Mr. Hassan Bubacar Jallow declares that the ICTR is "conducting investigations into crimes allegedly committed by members of the Rwandan Patriotic Army in 1994, and in due time a decision will be made in light of findings from these investigations", he is essentially admitting that members of the RPF and RPA in power in Rwanda are suspected criminals. So when he proposes to transfer loads of pending ICTR cases to Kigali, he is in fact allowing suspected criminals to sit in judgment of other suspected criminals. This is a terrible error of judgment and an unmistakable display of incompetence by this prosecutor. Mr. Jallow will not be able to deliver the kind of justice that will bring genuine reconciliation to Rwanda.
4. The mission of the ICTR statute as adopted by UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/955 (1994) of November 8, 1994 is very clear: "the prosecution of persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda, between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1994. It may also deal with the prosecution of Rwandan citizens responsible for genocide and other such violations of international law committed in the territory of neighboring States during the same period". Also very clear are the findings of the Experts Commission Report set up by the UN Secretary General: "Individuals from both sides of the armed conflict perpetrated serious breaches of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity" (The United Nations and Rwanda, 1993-1996, p.64). It does not take rocket science to see that the time occurrence of the airplane terrorist attack that killed Presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi on April 6, 1994 is crystal-clearly included in the ICTR mandate time frame. Are Rwandans ever going to know officially who killed their president and triggered the genocide?
Mr. Secretary-General, on June 20, 2007, I sent you a letter explaining why a majority of Rwandans and myself strongly feel that the ICTR's mandate should be extended beyond its December 31, 2008 deadline. I sincerely hope that you will take to heart the concerns expressed not only in that letter, but also in this one. I insistently make this urgent appeal to you, to all members of the UN Security Council, and to all peace-loving people and institutions of the world, to clean up the mess at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, and deliver justice to Rwandans. Peace and reconciliation, not only in Rwanda but also in the entire Great Lakes region of Africa, highly depend on it.
Very Respectfully,
Paul Rusesabagina
CC: UN Security Council Members (all)
His Excellency John Kufuor, African Union President Her Excellency Angela Merkel, European Union President Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium Mr. Dennys Byron, President of the ICTR Mr. Hassan Jallow, General Prosecutor of the ICTR Mr. Adama Dieng, ICTR Registrar His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI His Excellency Nelson Mandela The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Madam Speaker of US Congress Amnesty International Human Rights Watch
July 5, 2007
124 Avenue Baron Albert d'Huart
1950 Kraainem, Belgique
His Excellency Ban Ki-moon
UN Secretary General, ROOM 3800
United Nations Headquarters
New York, NW 10017
Subject: RWANDA: Recent "Hearsay" statement by ICTR Prosecutor deeply troubling
Dear Mr. Secretary-General:
On June 29, 2007, Le Monde newspaper reported that current ICTR chief prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, has declared that criminal accusations against the RPF as detailed in a formal complaint I filed with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) last November "amount to hearsay and are of no value in our work". If true, this statement is very bad news and certainly very deeply troubling for me personally, and for millions of Rwandans who have been brutally widowed, orphaned or simply exterminated by the RPF as a rebel group and as a government. That is why I would like to submit to your wise appreciation the following elements of deep concern to me:
1. Unless we have been royally fooled, millions of Rwandans and myself have been led to believe that the role of the chief prosecutor at the ICTR - or the role of any prosecutor at any court for that matter - is to interpret the existing law and prosecute crime to the fullest extent of that law, in order to redress any wrong and provide comfort to the victims that justice has been done. In that respect, Mr. Hassan Jallow's "hearsay" statement is highly irresponsible and heartless, and achieves only one thing: it spits in the face of victims and makes a mockery of them. I know without a doubt that members of my immediate family were killed by the RPF, and Mr. Jallow has the insensitivity to conclude that I am basing my accusations on rumors! This is an outrage and an insult to me and to my departed beloved ones, and it is very hurtful. I am fully aware that we, Rwandans, were not consulted for the appointment of Mr. Jallow as ICTR chief prosecutor, and we certainly won't be for his removal, but we can offer our candid assessment of his performance: he is a marginal prosecutor who lacks any empathy with the victims, and that's a major failing for a law professional.
2. In his statement, Mr. Jallow also is reported as having said that the ICTR is "conducting investigations into crimes allegedly committed by members of the Rwandan Patriotic Army in 1994, and in due time a decision will be made in light of findings from these investigations." Mr. Secretary-General, the ICTR was established on November 8, 1994 through UN Resolution 955. That's 13 years ago. Is the ICTR truly investigating RPA crimes, or is it lying to the world? How do we believe and trust that the ICTR can do in one remaining year and a half (until its mandate expires on December 31, 2008) what it has failed to do in 13 years? This is the same ICTR that has shown zero interest in talking and listening to the many witnesses I referred to in my formal complaint filed last November. These witnesses can even provide the names of the RPA suspects, as we have withheld their full identities merely because we did not want to interfere with the Tribunal's investigative work. This is the same ICTR that so far has chosen to overlook the mountains of available evidence (Abdul Ruzibiza, Marcel and Gloria Gérin with their overwhelming testimony about the butchery of innocent civilians in Eastern Rwanda in 1994 by hordes of the RPA, and many others) incriminating the leaders of the RPF now in power in Rwanda. Mr. Bubacar Jallow was appointed ICTR prosecutor in September 2003, and waited 3 years and 2 months until November 2006 (right after the f iling of my complaint) for his 3-member investigations team to resume their work. Not only has this 3-member team been reduced to 2 people, with the third officer assigned to the Rafik Hariri investigation, their work has been halted again. When you know that to date not a single RPA suspected criminal has been apprehended by the ICTR for no lack of evidence, would it be a harsh pronouncement to say that prosecutor Hassan Jallow and his entire ICTR team are incompetent for their assigned jobs?
3. When Mr. Hassan Bubacar Jallow declares that the ICTR is "conducting investigations into crimes allegedly committed by members of the Rwandan Patriotic Army in 1994, and in due time a decision will be made in light of findings from these investigations", he is essentially admitting that members of the RPF and RPA in power in Rwanda are suspected criminals. So when he proposes to transfer loads of pending ICTR cases to Kigali, he is in fact allowing suspected criminals to sit in judgment of other suspected criminals. This is a terrible error of judgment and an unmistakable display of incompetence by this prosecutor. Mr. Jallow will not be able to deliver the kind of justice that will bring genuine reconciliation to Rwanda.
4. The mission of the ICTR statute as adopted by UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/955 (1994) of November 8, 1994 is very clear: "the prosecution of persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda, between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1994. It may also deal with the prosecution of Rwandan citizens responsible for genocide and other such violations of international law committed in the territory of neighboring States during the same period". Also very clear are the findings of the Experts Commission Report set up by the UN Secretary General: "Individuals from both sides of the armed conflict perpetrated serious breaches of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity" (The United Nations and Rwanda, 1993-1996, p.64). It does not take rocket science to see that the time occurrence of the airplane terrorist attack that killed Presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi on April 6, 1994 is crystal-clearly included in the ICTR mandate time frame. Are Rwandans ever going to know officially who killed their president and triggered the genocide?
Mr. Secretary-General, on June 20, 2007, I sent you a letter explaining why a majority of Rwandans and myself strongly feel that the ICTR's mandate should be extended beyond its December 31, 2008 deadline. I sincerely hope that you will take to heart the concerns expressed not only in that letter, but also in this one. I insistently make this urgent appeal to you, to all members of the UN Security Council, and to all peace-loving people and institutions of the world, to clean up the mess at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, and deliver justice to Rwandans. Peace and reconciliation, not only in Rwanda but also in the entire Great Lakes region of Africa, highly depend on it.
Very Respectfully,
Paul Rusesabagina
CC: UN Security Council Members (all)
His Excellency John Kufuor, African Union President Her Excellency Angela Merkel, European Union President Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium Mr. Dennys Byron, President of the ICTR Mr. Hassan Jallow, General Prosecutor of the ICTR Mr. Adama Dieng, ICTR Registrar His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI His Excellency Nelson Mandela The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Madam Speaker of US Congress Amnesty International Human Rights Watch
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