OPJDR expects the UNHCHR report on Human Rights abuses in DRC between

His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon September 2, 2010

UN Secretary-General Nº 29/J/PK/910

760 United Nations Plaza,

Manhattan, NY 10017

New York, NY 10017

Re: OPJDR expects the UNHCHR report on Human Rights abuses in DRC between

March 1993 and June 2003 to be officially released as it was drafted without any

distortion on the content and that a genuine action be taken thereafter.

Excellency,

The Organization for Peace , Justice and Development in Rwanda (OPJDR), Inc; a

human rights organization based in US with area of interest being the Great Lakes region

of Africa, has just read the draft of the report from United Nations High Commission for

Human Rights (UNHCHR) detailing serious violations of human rights and international

humanitarian law, including crimes of genocide perpetrated by the current army of

Rwanda, Rwanda Patriotic Army, against Hutu refugees in DRC between 1996 and 1998.

OPJDR welcomes this report but was disturbed by the information that the Government

of Rwanda has for months being busy pressuring you personally and the whole UN

system to dismiss the entire report or at least to water it down by removing the term

"genocide". This information has been confirmed by the French daily newspaper Le

Monde in its edition dated August 26, 2010, an official letter sent to you on August 3,

2010 by Mrs. Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and finally by

statement of the government of Rwanda dated August 27, 2010 where it threatens to

withdraw its forces from African Union- United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) if

its demands were not met.

Reports and testimonies about the atrocities that have been committed by the RPA are not

new in the UN offices but unfortunately, all of them have been dismissed under the

pressure of Kigali and its lobbies. OPJDR recalls a few of them.

1. On April 6, 1994, the presidential aircraft carrying the then Presidents Juvenal

Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi, has been shoot

down when preparing to land at the Kigali International Airport. All 13 persons

on board perished. Despite the fact that the airport was under the control of the

United Nations Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR), UN did not dare to conduct any

genuine investigation and the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

(ICTR), refuses to look at the issue even though it states that this terrorist act

sparked the Rwanda genocide. French and Spanish judges, who investigated the

incident, concluded that the RPF/RPA was responsible of the aircraft shooting.

2. In April 1994, when it was clear that the genocide was underway, the UN

preferred to walk away by pulling most of its peacekeeping force of UNAMIR.

People of Rwanda and friends of Rwanda will never forget that moment.

3. In October 1994, Mr. Robert Gersony, consultant to the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), after a four week long investigation

inside Rwanda and Tanzania, concluded that the RPF regime has murdered at

least 30,000 Hutus since July 1994. Kigali regime threatened to terminate the

operations of the UNAMIR, if the report was validated. The UN, represented in

Rwanda by Shaharyar Khan, succumbed to the pressure and sealed the report.

4. On April 22, 1995, the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) massacred internally

displaced people (IDP) in Kibeho, South West of Rwanda in the presence of

Australian and Zambian UN peacekeepers from UNAMIR. More than 8000

refugees Hutu perished that day and UN kept silent as of today.

5. In 1997, the Special Reporter of the UN commission in charge of human rights in

DRC, the Chilean Roberto Garreton, released a report on crimes committed by the

RPA against the Hutu refugees in DRC. The Rwanda government put an intensive

pressure to suppress the report and managed to block a UN mission that was set to

confirm the results of the Garreton's mission. The public did not hear about this

mission since then.

6. The selectively ethnic killings started in February 1991 in the Byumba and

Ruhengeri prefectures when RPF staged a major attack in several communes of

the Provinces of Ruhengeri and Byumba, selectively killing as many Hutus as

42,200 Hutu populations

7. UN HCR team report of September 12, 1994 "New Human Rights Abuse in

Rwanda" led by George E. Moose concluded that RPF and Tutsi civilians killed at

least 10,000 Hutu civilians per month with a purpose of ethnic cleansing intended

to clear certain areas in the south of Rwanda for Tutsi returnees' habitation. The

killings also served to reduce the population of Hutu males and discouraged

refugees from returning to claim their lands".

8. These are few UN official reports but numerous eyewitnesses, most of them

survivors of these pogroms are available around the world and would be more

than happy to testify.

OPJDR urges the UN not to fail once again the people of Rwanda by dismissing or

altering this genuine report. People of Rwanda has suffered so much in the hand of war

mongers and other criminals that it needs now to know exactly what happened and who

did what, so it can start the long process of healing and reconciliation based on a solid

foundation of truth and justice.

The fact that the Kigali regime threatens to withdraw its troops does not hold at all. First,

that mission in Darfour is not founded by Rwandan taxpayers, so other countries will be

ready to provide necessary troops. Second, UN is setting a very bad example by

employing troops from Rwanda suspected to have committed genocide in peacekeeping

missions as in Darfour where the International Criminal Court (ICC) has concluded that

crimes of genocide took place.

OPJDR believes that justice will prevail and that this report will be officially launched

and that genuine actions will be taken thereafter such as the creation of a special tribunal

for Congo or by the amending the status of the ICTR or ICC to prosecute those who will

be found responsible of those crimes. It is only that way that the impunity will be

eradicated in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Due to this report, once again OPJDR asks to the UN Security council and the President

of the ICTR to stop sending cases of detainees in Arusha to Rwanda to be prosecuted by

their war opponents. OPJDR reminds you that, in the resolution 955 creating the ICTR,

the UN Security Council concluded that both parties to the conflict, namely RPF and the

government forces, have been involved in genocide and other crimes against humanity

and should respond before the created tribunal. Therefore, the current government in

place in Rwanda led by RPF doesn't have the moral authority to prosecute anybody else

for the crime they are themselves accused for.

In conclusion we would like to recall this quote from Albert Einstein work "The world

will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but those who look and refuse to act."

Sincerely;

Pascal Kalinganire

Coordinator General

Copies:

Honorable U.S. Senator John Kerry

Chair of Foreign Relations Committee

218 Russell Bldg/ Second Floor

Washington D.C. 0510

Honorable U.S. Senator Russ Feingold

US Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs

506 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510-4904

Honorable Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street NW

Washington, DC 20520

Honorable Mrs. Susan Rice

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of

the United States to the United Nations

140 East 45th Street

New York, N.Y. 10017

Tel: 212-415-4062; Fax: 212-415-4053

Honorable Mark Lyall Grant

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of

the United Kingdom to the United Nations

One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza

885 Second Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Tel: 212 745 9200; Fax: 212 745 9316

Honorable LI Baodong, PR

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of

the People's Republic of China to the United Nations

350 East 35th Street,

New York, NY 10016

Tel: 212-655-6100/Fax: 212-634-7626

E-mail: ChinaMissionUN@Gmail.com

Honorable Gérard ARAUD

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of France to the United Nations

245 East, 47th Street - 44th floor

New York, NY, 10017

Tel.: 212.702.4900

E-mail: france@franceonu.org

Honorable VITALY CHURKIN

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Russia Federation to the United Nations

136 East 67 Street

New York, N.Y. 10065

Tel.: (212)861-4901, (212)861-4900; FAX: (212)628-0252

E-mail: rusun@un.int

Organization For Peace Justice and

Development in Rwanda,

(OPJDR) Inc.

Organisation Pour la Paix, la Justice et le

Développement au Rwanda,

(OPJDR) Inc

OPJDR • BP 3026 • Manchester, NH • 03105 / PHONE: (603) 361-6473 www.opjdr.org. OPJDR is non-profit and apolitical. Its mission is to promote the respect of

human rights and Cultural, educational, and economic development in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Prof. Peter Erlinder and Rwanda

http://afrobeatradio.net/2011/01/24/peter-erlinder-speaks-at-the-brecht-forum-friday-january-28-2011/

Prof. Peter Erlinder is past-President of the National Lawyers Guild from 1993 to 1997, President of ADAD (the UN-ICTR defense lawyers associations, Arusha, TZ), a founding member of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms and the Minnesota Bill of Rights Defense Coalition, established to defend the civil liberties of Muslims. After graduating from Chicago-Kent College of Law, Erlinder pioneered defense of Vietnam Veterans with PTSD facing the death penalty, and has represented many Native American, civil rights, Muslim and political activists facing misuse of government power, including Palestinian activist Dr. Sami al Arian and the Cuban-5.

In May 2010, he was imprisoned in Rwanda while defending Rwandan presidential candidate, Victoire Ingabire, and charged with "genocide denial" for having won the acquittal of his ICTR client on "genocide conspiracy" charges. Many groups, including the National Lawyers Guild, the American Bar Association, and members of the U.S. Senate and House called for his release, which was eventually won by an international grass-roots campaign.

After his release, Erlinder returned to the tenured faculty at William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, MN. He has also held faculty positions or lectured at the U. of Chicago Law School, IITChgo Kent., Golden Gate U.. Waseda U, Hitosubashi U., U of Wis.. U. of Ill., Columbia U., American U., and others. His articles and commentary have been published by U. of Pennsylvania, Boston College, Northwestern U., U. of Texas, U. of So. Cal., and others, as well as print and electronic media worldwide.

The presentation will draw on Erlinder's experience as a UN-ICTR defense lawyer and Rwandan prisoner to critically analyze the role of U.S. influence over international judicial bodies and the effects on the people of Central Africa, in particular. He will discuss how the ICTR has become a victor's tribunal serving U.S. policy interests, and will argue that the manipulation of international criminal tribunals, including the International Criminal Court have actually become an impediment to reconciliation between African peoples, international justice, and the long-term interests of the American people.