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.

Rwanda: The Emperors have no clothes By: Jennifer Fierberg, MSW (http://africaglobalvillage.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=523%3Arwanda-the-emperors-have-no-clothes&catid=159%3Arwanda&Itemid=534&lang=en) The emperors stand naked in front of the word being exposed for crimes against humanity. But who are these emperors? In an article dated 5 January 2011 entitled, "US Firm gets contract to train Rwanda Soldiers," by the government-controlled Rwandan News Agency, it is stated that, "The US State Department has granted a multi-million dollar contract to Northrop Grumman Corporation, a leading global security company to train Rwandan soldiers in peacekeeping operations, the firm announced." In this capacity Northrop stated Tuesday that "the work to be performed involves peace support operations training, train-the-trainer courses for peacekeeping cadre and enhancing the capacity of all three countries (Rwanda, Kenya and Burundi) to participate in multinational peacekeeping operations." Yet it seems that Northrop Gruman and the US Government are falling into a trap by failing to recognize how Kagame manipulates international peacekeeping to entrench his absolute rule that is responsible for gross human rights abuses in Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region. In the latter part of 2010 the UN published its Mapping Report of the DRC. The statements in this report should have been published to the international community years ago. This report has come under much scrutiny by political leaders, journalists and members of society. Of all the serious atrocities documented by the mapping team, however, the allegation that Rwandan troops and their Congolese allies may have committed genocide against Hutu refugees has stirred up the most controversy, triggering yet another wave of damning press reports against the Rwandan government. This report was "leaked" and after decades of cataclysmic failures by the UN in the region it is hard to see how the international system of democratic relations will follow-through with these egregious violations against humanity. While the report was published with intentions of exposing injustices in the region and was conducted by credible reporting agencies by credible people, what has it done? There have been absolutely no changes from this report and it has all but been swept into silence under the rug of diplomatic relations based on ongoing intimidation and blackmail from President Kagame to the international community (notably Washington and London) due to their inaction based on the 1994 Genocide and Rwanda's contribution to peacekeeping operations in Darfur. The Harvard Law record stated in an article published in October 2010 that the 556-page report describes 617 acts of violence allegedly committed by the armed forces of seven countries and several militias in the DRC between 1993 and 2003. A draft that was leaked to the press on August 26 triggered a massive media storm and strong protests from the countries whose troops stood accused. In a phone interview with Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa regarding the UN Mapping Report he stated that "Kagame has been protected for too long." Dr. Rudasingwa further stated that, Kagame has exposed himself by going too far and thus forcing those closest to him to break their silence to his tyrannical regime." Dr. Rudasingwa is currently awaiting sentencing in Rwanda due on January 14, 2011. He is facing 35 years in a Rwandan prison after being tried in absentia over politically motivated trumped up charges including terrorism, ethnic divisionism and defaming President Kagame. This is a popular mode of operation for Kagame. He is quite well known for his power play of killing and jailing political opponents, forcing people into exile and hunting them there. He has done this time and again since he took power. Exiled Political leader, John V Karuranga, President of the Rwanda Peoples Party stated in his response to the report, "We have chilling reports of how Rwandan refugees in many parts of the world are being deliberately subjected to horrendous daily attacks by RPF external operatives. There are substantiated evidences of assassinations, kidnappings, mysterious disappearance and harassments by the Rwandan government officials both inside and outside Rwanda." Again, this fits with Kagame's destructive regimes, gross human rights abuses in Rwanda and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. So, which is the emperor who stands before us with no clothes? The answer is not as obvious as it seems. There has been too much preventable suffering in the Great Lakes Region. The international system does not seem to have interest in Africa in the area of conflict or Governments who rule in tyranny. The international community is more concerned with their investments in raw materials and for geo-strategic reasons. Time and again, "reputable" international organizations have put everything in place for the eruption of bloodshed and then turned around to claim legitimacy and capacity to deescalate the resulting cycle of violence, often downplaying their own role in further worsening the situation. It is time to recognize that no genuine progress in the quest for sustainable peace and justice in the Great Lakes Region of Africa will be achieved as long as international justice remains a one-way street. President Kagame continues to deny the media, civil society and political parties the freedom to function independently. His belligerent posture to neighboring countries is a source of regional and international destabilization. It is time for the International allies (US and UK) to make a choice. They can continue to support and fund Kagame while he uses the Darfur Peace Keeping mission as a bargaining tool to blackmail the US and UK into silence about his gross human rights abuses and absolute rule. Alternatively, Kagame's allies and the rest of the international community could support Rwandans in their search for freedom in a peaceful manner. The first path will inevitably lead to endless bloodshed and instability in Rwanda and the Great Lakes region. The latter is the only durable solution to freedom, security, and rule of law, democracy and prosperity. __._,_.___

Kenya MPs urge withdrawal from war crimes court

Thursday, December 23 02:51 pm

Kenyan lawmakers have passed a motion urging the government to withdraw from the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court.

The move by parliament is an attempt to block proceedings against six prominent Kenyans who were named by the ICC last week and face charges of crimes against humanity over 2007-8 post-election violence.

"This house resolves that... the government takes appropriate action to withdraw from the Rome Statute," read the motion, which was overwhelmingly approved by acclamation late Wednesday.

The motion came exactly a week after the world court's prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, revealed the names of the six for whom he requested summonses over their role in the violence that tore Kenya apart three years ago.

Among them are key political figures such as Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, who is also a deputy prime minister and the son of the country's founding president.

If ICC judges accept Ocampo's evidence against the six as sufficient, they can issue summonses.

If the suspects do not voluntarily present themselves in The Hague, arrest warrants can then be issued. As a signatory of the Rome Statute establishing the court, Kenya would be under the obligation to arrest them.

Several leading members of parliament rose to defend the motion on Wednesday, arguing that the ICC case was a manifestation of Western imperialism.

"It is only Africans from former colonies who are being tried at the ICC. No American or British will be tried at the ICC and we should not willingly allow ourselves to return to colonialism," Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi said.

The motion argued that the new constitution adopted by Kenya in August obviated the need for the masterminds of the post-election violence to be tried by a foreign court.

It demanded "that any criminal investigations or prosecutions arising out of the post-election violence of 2007-8 be undertaken under the framework of the new constitution."

Around 1,500 people were killed in the aftermath of the disputed December 2007 presidential poll and hundreds of thousands were displaced.

Trade Minister Chirau Mwakwere urged other African nations to withdraw from the Rome Statute and said he felt ashamed to have been among the officials who signed it in 2005, when he was foreign minister.

All suspects in the ICC's five ongoing cases are Africans

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20101223/tpl-kenya-mps-urge-withdrawal-from-war-c-383fe17.html

DRC: Mapping human rights violations 1993-2003

In the wake of the discovery of three mass graves in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in late 2005, the United Nations first announced its intention to send a human rights team to conduct a mapping exercise in DRC in a June 2006 report to the Security Council.

In May 2007, the UN Secretary-General approved the terms of reference of the mapping exercise following a series of consultations among relevant UN agencies and partners and with the Congolese government

The mapping exercise, led by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had three objectives:

• Conduct a mapping exercise of the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003.

• Assess the existing capacities within the national justice system to deal appropriately with such human rights violations that may be uncovered.

• Formulate a series of options aimed at assisting the Government of the DRC in identifying appropriate transitional justice mechanisms to deal with the legacy of these violations, in terms of truth, justice, reparation and reform, taking into account ongoing efforts by the DRC authorities, as well as the support of the international community.

The mapping exercise began in July 2008. Between October 2008 and May 2009, a total of 33 staff worked on the project in the DRC (including Congolese and international human rights experts). Of these, some 20 human rights officers were deployed across the country, operating out of five field offices, to gather documents and information from witnesses to meet the three objectives defined in the terms of reference. The report was submitted to the High Commissioner for Human Rights in June 2009 for review, comments and finalisation.

The mapping team's 550-page report contains descriptions of 617 alleged violent incidents occurring in the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003. Each of these incidents points to the possible commission of gross violations of human rights and/or international humanitarian law. Each of the incidents listed is backed up by at least two independent sources identified in the report. As serious as they may be, uncorroborated incidents claimed by one single source are not included. Over 1,500 documents relating to human rights violations committed during this period were gathered and analysed with a view to establishing an initial chronology by region of the main violent incidents reported. Only incidents meeting a 'gravity threshold' set out in the methodology were considered. Field mapping teams met with over 1,280 witnesses to corroborate or invalidate the violations listed in the chronology. Information was also collected on previously undocumented crimes.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/RDCProjetMapping.aspx

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/DRC_MAPPING_REPORT_FINAL_EN.pdf

UN MAPPING REPORT ON CONGO

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Admin| Comments Off

Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame, planed and funded for systematic murder of a group of people in Congo

The AFDL/APR troops indiscriminately killed men, women and children. Most of the victims were Hutu Banyarwanda, but many Nande were also massacred at Buhimba. According to several survivors, the AFDL/APR soldiers killed several children by dashing their heads against walls or tree trunks. In all, 334 victims were recorded. 341

The vast majority of incidents listed in this report could, if investigated and proven in a judicial process, point to the commission of prohibited acts such as murder, wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health, rape, intentional attacks on the civilian population, pillage, and unlawful and arbitrary destruction of civilian goods, including some which were essential to the survival of the civilian population.
The vast majority of these acts were committed against protected persons, as defined in the Geneva Conventions, primarily people who did not take part in the hostilities, particularly civilian populations and those put out of combat.
This report shows that the vast majority of incidents listed, if investigated and proven in a judicial process, fall within the scope of widespread or systematic attacks, depicting multiple acts of large-scale violence, apparently carried out in an organised fashion and resulting in numerous victims. Most of these attacks were directed against non-combatant civilian populations consisting primarily of women and children. As a consequence, the vast majority of acts of violence perpetrated during these years, which formed part of various waves of reprisals and campaigns of persecution and pursuit of refugees, became collectively, a series of widespread and systematic attacks against civilian populations and could be found by a competent court to constitute crimes against humanity.


READ FULL UN MAPPING REPORT ON CONGO CRIMES