In exactly two months from today,
the people of Rwanda will commemorate 20 years since the start of the 1994
genocide that showed the limits to which man can go to eliminate each other.
Close to a million people are said to have been massacred in 100 days of
frenzied, human degradation by two tribes speaking the same language.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has been
celebrated, wined and dined the world over as the person who brought to an end
this carnage and who has since built “a strong and democratic country”. But
what is the real story behind what happened in Rwanda on 6 April 1994?
Starting today, The London Evening Post
is going to go “behind the scenes” and try to expose what really happened that
day. In addition to talking to renowned world academics, we will talk to the
people who were there that day and try to go through what happened and how it
came about.
We start today with an exclusive interview with
Prof Peter Erlinder, professor of law at William Mitchell Law College in St
Paul, Minnesota. Author of The Accidental Genocide, Prof Erlinder was
arrested in Rwanda in May 2010 while working as a lead defence council for the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). He was detained for 21 days
after he had travelled to the country to defend then presidential candidate Victoire
Ingabire Umuhoza against charges of ‘genocide ideology’. He was charged
with ‘genocide denial’ and only released after he faked an attempt to commit
suicide, something that the Kagame regime would not permit to happen on his
watch.
In this exclusive interview, Prof Erlinder
exposes the depth to which the international community has gone in trying to
protect the Rwandan government by hiding what exactly happened in Rwanda 20
years ago next month. He exposes what happened when former Rwandan and
Burundian presidents Juvenal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira lost their
lives when their private jet was shot out of the sky when approaching it final
destination in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, after talks with the now ruling Rwanda
Patriotic Front (RPF) in neighbouring Tanzania.
Prof Erlinder reveals in his book secret
documents that he says the UN wanted kept out of the public eye for, can you
believe it, 100 years. That’s precisely a time when most of us living today
would not be alive any more. The rest is all told here in the interview.
Prof. Erlinder: During the
ICTR Bagosora et al trial, I put thousands of pages of original UN documents
into evidence that I was able to find in UN files that were not supposed to be
released for 100 years. The UN had dozens of persons reporting daily from
Kigali and other places in Rwanda and Dallaire [Roméo Dallaire then UNAMIR
Commander] met regularly with Kagame…These documents tell a completely
different story than Kagame and the RPF told about the 4 year war and the 100
days of the “genocide”. As a result, ALL leaders of the Habyarimana
government and military were found not guilty of long-term planning of genocide
or any other crimes BEFORE the assassination…. this means the mass violence was
a reaction to the killing of the president…. NOT planned killing by a
“genocidal government.” The book explains how the mass killing in Burundi
in the months before…. made Rwandans susceptible to fear of RPF…and the
military superiority of RPF made the fear real.
The LEP: What was the primary objective
of the original book?
Prof. Erlinder: To make the evidence
that is already on the record at the UN Tribunal for Rwanda that acquitted the
members of the Habyarimana government and military of long-planned conspiracy
to commit crimes against civilians, including genocide, accessible to the
general public using the original documents.
The LEP: You have persistently
rejected the official version about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Why?
Prof. Erlinder: Because I was given
access to documents in the UN archives that no other defence lawyer had…and got
access to U.S. government documents, which are available to researchers; the
documents require a different conclusion than the victors in the four-year war
for power in Rwanda would prefer. Before the Chief UN Prosecutor told the
UN Security Council in 2003 that Paul Kagame assassinated President
Habyarimana, I got access to these documents…. I believed the same story as
everyone else. The evidence changed my mind and the ICTR judges
agreed. Please see the Appeals Chamber Judgement of December 11,
2011. Bagosora was found innocent of all crimes except for April 7, 8,
9…and Kagame said he was the “architect” of the genocide…but there was no
evidence to support the claim.
The LEP: The public, which is the
majority, would say that you’re on a different page [knowledge about Rwanda
Genocide] from what they know or have been told. Are you suggesting the public
are disconnected from the truth?
Prof. Erlinder: After every
war the winners tell the story – this is normal. The public has heard the
Kagame/RPF story repeatedly for 20-years. UN and USG (United States
Government) documents created at the time events were occurring tell a
completely different story. What is different this time is that documents
that were to be secret for 100 years have been exposed, and have been put into
evidence in the ICTR to acquit the losing side.
The LEP: Who is fighting to see
that he status quo remains as has been told?
Prof. Erlinder: Certainly the
Kagame/RPF side that won the war wants to see that their story dominates.
But they were created and supported by the U.S./U.K…, which have an interest in
the story remaining the same. In 2003, UN Prosecutor Carla del Ponte was
removed from her UN position by the U.S./UK when she insisted on prosecuting
Kagame for killing Habyarimana and starting the genocide…. according to her own
book (Madam Prosecutor) published in 2009.
The LEP: You mention about people in
authority who have conspired to hide the truth. How are you prepared if they
file a civil suit against you?
Prof. Erlinder: In the US courts, truth is a
defense. All of the statements and conclusions in my published work are
supported by documented sources from USG, the UN or sworn testimony. I
merely accumulate and present evidence that is already on the record – which is
what makes the publication important, not what I say.
The LEP: As a human rights
lawyer; what is your comment about how justice has been delivered to the perpetrators
of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide?
Prof. Erlinder: The UN
Tribunal has only prosecuted the crimes of those who lost the war. The UN
Tribunal was supposed to be a neutral body. This means the Rwanda War was
the only war in history in which only ONE side committed crimes OR the UN
Tribunal was really a Victor’s Tribunal…. like Nuremberg and the Tokyo
Tribunal. My objection is that it should be recognized AS a victor’s
tribunal…. and should NOT be sold to the world as something it was not.
The LEP: What would you like to
see with regards to the dispensing of justice?
Prof. Erlinder: Equal
treatment for both sides in the Rwandan War and all national and international
conflicts. This means treating leaders of powerful and weaker nations
equally. The ICC (the International Criminal Court) has prosecuted only
African leaders when it is plain that leaders of major powers such as the U.S.
U.K, Russia, China, and France are at least as culpable. We have not yet
reached the point in history when the “rule of law” means the same for all
leaders.
The LEP: People would say that
you’re on the wrong side. What would you tell such individuals who think, Prof.
Peter Erlinder is on the wrong side about the 1994 Rwanda Genocide?
Prof. Erlinder: The evidence
put before the ICTR judges caused them to agree with my analysis about whether
there was a long-planned genocide by the Habyarimana government. I have
no opinions of my own. I examine evidence and make conclusions based on
the evidence. It was UN Chief Prosecutor and the evidence that changed my
mind…. when others have carefully examined all of the evidence, they might
change their minds too. But this is difficult because the emotions are so
strong and it is much easier to respond emotionally than to do the difficult
detailed research – which is why the book is based on historical records, not
my opinions.
The LEP: Given the dangers meted
to you in Rwanda [experience], what you witnessed and what you’ve gone through
as a result of your being involved in Rwanda issues at a level of an attorney
in courts, why not just let it go to avoid being hunted by Kagame’s regime and
secret agents?
Prof. Erlinder: I believe we
all have a responsibility to history, to speak the truth and have to account to
our actions to the infinite. If one happens upon the truth based on
evidence and does not speak, no religion in the world can respect that person.
The LEP: Many people around the
world see and consider President Paul Kagame as a saviour who stopped the
genocide. In your own words-based on the UN documents you have gone through,
how would you describe Kagame to a person who has never had a chance to look at
what you have seen?
Prof. Erlinder: My book has a
copy of the confession of Paul Kagame’s Chief of Staff Dr. [Theogene] Rudasingwa.
He admits he was part of a 20-year cover-up of the killing of
Habyarimana. Former Chief UN Prosecutor Del Ponte has called for his
prosecution openly since 2002. The Chief UN Investigator Michael Hourigan
called for his prosecution in 1997. All of these facts have been
covered-up…but they have long been in the public record.
Mr. Kagame tried to assassinate me in 2010 because I put this evidence in the
ICTR record. I think he knows already.
The LEP: Since you published The
Accidental Genocide, have you received some kind of threats from Rwanda or from
Kagame’s allies? If yes, who are they or what kind of threats did you receive?
Prof. Erlinder: I have been
the subject of a personal “Wanted Dead or Alive” order directly from Mr. Kagame
since October 1, 2010 after I escaped from Rwanda by pretending I had attempted
suicide. This order was given to all ambassadors, military attaché’ and
military leaders. The book has only refreshed the standing order, I
imagine.
The LEP: Has anybody ever contact you
to stop the publication of The Accidental Genocide? If yes, who and when?
Prof. Erlinder: No, the method of
publication has been taken with precautions.
The LEP: How do you manage to live this kind of
life; watching your back all the time?Prof. Erlinder: As the information I have become more public and better understood, I become less important as an individual threat to Kagame. But, it is necessary to take precautions.
The LEP: With such evidences of the Rwanda Genocide coming into public domain, do you see in future; individual (s) taking responsibility to account for the atrocities? If your answer is ‘no’ or ‘yes’, why?
Prof. Erlinder: In my opinion, Rwanda’s future lies in both sides taking responsibility and both sides mourning their losses. A South African-style Truth and Reconciliation process is more likely to permit Rwanda to heal than a criminal tribunal process, which will never get the balance exactly right. MOST important, the US and the UK MUST acknowledge the responsibility for creating and arming the RPF and manipulating the ICTR to make it appear that; the Hutu committed all crimes. Demonizing a whole people is a form of “political genocide” that must be exposed and denounced as well. THIS is what the US and UK have done in assisting the cover-up of RPF crimes.
The LEP: You mean, Mr Paul Kagame issued an order mandating his all-inclusive ambassadors around the world to have you killed or kidnapped?
Prof. Erlinder: This is the report I received from a high-ranking military officer who has defected from the RPF who claimed to have been present at the meeting whose rank was such that he would have been at the meeting, the report was received person to person within days of the meeting from another defector who I know personally. I must take it seriously just as Gen Nyamwasa [survived two attempt assassination] and Col Keregeya [his body was discovered on New Year's Day].
Do not miss our next interview with Rwandans
who were on the scene in 1994. The interviews will appear here all this
month.
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