Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice

Lawsuit Alleges Rwandan President Kagame’s Guilt in Rwanda Genocide and Congo War

By New America Media
May 04, 2010

San Francisco Bay View, News Report, Ann Garrison
 
On April 30, in Edmond, Oklahoma, a team of lawyers and process servers attempted to personally serve Rwandan President Paul Kagame with an eight count lawsuit, which includes racketeering to acquire and control the resources of eastern D.R. Congo.

Kagame delivered the commencement address at Oklahoma Christian University [3] in Edmond [4], while demonstrators held up signs outside the hall. Inside, Kagame’s aides refused to accept the documents presented by lawyers and process servers. University officials then ordered the lawyers and process servers to leave, and Kagame himself left early, surrounded by bodyguards.

The lawsuit alleges that Kagame and nine of his current and former military officers and officials are guilty of the assassination of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira and subsequent acts that caused the 1994 massacres that came to be known as the Rwanda Genocide, after costing approximately 1 million Rwandan lives. The suit was filed by the widows of the two assassinated presidents.

It also alleges that Kagame and other defendants are guilty of racketeering, as defined by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act [5], to acquire and control an interest in the resources of Rwanda’s neighbor, D.R. Congo, site of what the U.N. has called the most lethal conflict since World War II. In January 2008, the International Rescue Committee estimated that it had cost 5.4 million Congolese lives.

D.R. Congo is one of the most resource rich nations on earth and its mineral wealth, most of all its cobalt reserves, is essential to modern military industries’ ability to manufacture for war.

Outlets around the world reported that Kagame had avoided process service by leaving the commencement exercise early, surrounded by bodyguards, but Digital Journal [6] and KPFA Radio News both reported lawyer Peter Erlinder [7]’s assurances that Kagame will have failed to avoid service if lawyers are able to demonstrate that he tried to do so intentionally. This is the KPFA Radio News report, “KPFA Radio News: Lawsuit alleges Rwandan President guilty of Rwanda Genocide.”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here [8]. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The lawsuit includes arguments for jurisdiction in the U.S., based on the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Federal Extraterritorial Torture Statute, and for the supplemental jurisdiction of the Oklahoma City court, based on laws of the state of Oklahoma and “ongoing, substantial contacts” with Kagame and the other defendants, meaning their engagement with various educational and non-profit organizations.

Its sixth count alleges that Kagame and the other defendants violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in order to acquire and control the resources of neighboring D.R. Congo.

Specifically, it says:

“From not later than 1990 to the present, Kagame et. al, and his agents, and their co-conspirators formed a ‘RICO’ enterprise within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. §:1961(4) engaged in foreign and interstate commerce.”

and

“Over a period of years and continuing to the present, through a pattern of racketeering activity, have acquired and maintained an interest in resources in the eastern Congo to their own benefit.”

The 24-page complaint is available online, as a Google Doc, which can be reached by clicking on: Habyarimana vs. Kagame [10].

Its eight counts are:

1. Wrongful Death and Murder,

2. Crimes against Humanity,

3. Violation of the Rights of Life, Liberty and Security of Person,

4. Assault and Battery,

5. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress,

6. Violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act,

7. Torture and

8. Conspiracy to Torture.

Roots of the lawsuit

The three attorneys who filed the wrongful death lawsuit in an Oklahoma City federal court on Thursday, April 29, are representing Madame Agatha Habyarimana [13], widow of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana [14], and Madame Sylvana Ntaryamira, widow of Burundian President, Cyprien Ntaryamira. Both their husbands died when assassins shot down their plane on April 6, 1994.

The two presidents were flying home from a conference between east and central African leaders in Tanzania, held to discuss ways to end violence between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis from Burundi and Rwanda, when their plane was shot out of the sky with a surface-to-air missile over Rwanda’s capital, Kigali.

That evening the BBC [15] reported: “The deaths of the presidents, both Hutus, look likely to make the situation in both states [Rwanda and Burundi] worse. Heavy fighting has already been reported around the presidential palace in Rwanda after news of the deaths spread. News agencies in Kigali said explosions have been rocking the city but it was not immediately clear who was involved in the fighting.”

Between 800,000 and 1,200,000 Rwandans died before the fighting ended, largely in civilian massacres. At its end, current Rwandan President Kagame seized power in Kigali, as the victorious general in the 1990-1994 Rwandan Civil War [17].

Madames Habyarimana and Ntaryamira allege in their wrongful death lawsuit that Kagame, then leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front [18], ordered their husbands’ assassination and that his and his army’s actions brought about the mass civilian massacre known as the Rwanda Genocide.

Earlier this week, French media reported that a Paris judge investigating the crash, Marc Trevidic, was planning to send experts to Rwanda. His predecessor, Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, had accused the RPF of shooting down the plane and called for the arrest of President Kagame.

The widows do not live in the United States but argue that a federal court in Oklahoma City has jurisdiction over their claims because of Kagame’s substantial contacts with Oklahoma Christian University [19].

President Kagame appeared at the university in Edmond, Oklahoma, on Friday, April 30, the day after the lawsuit was filed, to deliver the commencement address, but left the ceremony early, surrounded by bodyguards, avoiding process service.

Media outlets around the world report that Kagame avoided process service, but it’s not yet clear that he has, because a defendant may be considered served if it can be demonstrated that he has intentionally avoided process service.

Professor Peter Erlinder [20], lead defense counsel for the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda and one of the attorneys on the wrongful death case, said: “The U.S. Secret Service and university staff informed Kagame that we had a valid summons and complaint that we wished to serve upon him. We were instructed we could not approach Kagame for security reasons, with which we agreed, but Secret Service informed us that security requirements permitted service on any authorized person on his staff.”

“Rather than accept service, members of his staff refused to accept documents and the University ordered process servers and lawyers to leave campus … which is ‘interference with service of process,’ a misdemeanor under Oklahoma law. Also, because the university has now involved itself in the conspiracy to cover up Kagame’s crimes, they have exposed themselves to liability. The president of the University has been served with a copy of the complaint and summons for Mr. Kagame.”

A university spokesman said, “President Kagame is at Oklahoma Christian as the head of Rwanda to honor the 10 outstanding Rwandan Presidential Scholars [22] who are graduating today.

“We do not want to distract from their remarkable accomplishments by getting involved in the politics of Rwanda and surrounding countries. We cannot comment on pending lawsuits.”

Attorneys in the lawsuit stated, “There is no independent functioning judiciary in Rwanda and any suit against defendants there would have been and would still be futile and would result in serious reprisals.”

Carla del Ponte, lead prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals on Rwanda and Yugoslavia, in her book, “Madame Prosecutor; Confrontations with Humanity’s Worst Criminals and the Culture of Impunity [23],” tells the story of how she was fired by the U.N. after announcing her intent to prosecute sitting Rwandan President Paul Kagame for the assassination of Presidents Habyarimana and Ntaryamira that triggered the genocide.

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 11:15 PM