Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice

Rwanda: A Citizen’s Weekly Open Letter to Paul Kagame-June 20, 2010

By Aimable Mugara
Rwanda Human Rights and Democracy
June 20, 2010

H. E. General Paul Kagame

Office of the President
Republic of Rwanda
P.O. Box 15 Urugwiro Village
Kigali – Rwanda
Fax: +250 572431

Copy:

Prosecutor General
Martin Ngoga
National Public Prosecution Authority
BP 1328
Kigali – Rwanda
Fax: +250 589501

Commissioner General Emmanuel Gasana
Rwandan National Police
Kigali – Rwanda
Fax: +250 586602

Chief Executive Officer
Editor-in-Chief
The New Times Publications SARL
Immeuble Aigle Blanc
P.O. Box 4953
Kigali – Rwanda

A Citizen’s Weekly Open Letter to General Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda

Dear General,

There are 8 weeks left before the elections. This is my fourteenth letter and there are 8 letters left. This week we see again a sad picture of a nation taking one step forward and two steps backwards. Whereas it seems that a Rwandan judge was instructed to let UN defense lawyer, Professor Peter Erlinder free from jail, on the other hand there were disturbing news of a cold-blooded assassination attempt against your former Army Chief of Staff, General Kayumba Nyamwasa, who has fled the country to South Africa.

The whole world heaved a sigh of relief when the Appeals Court judge in Rwanda ruled that Professor Peter Erlinder was freed based on “medical grounds” and that the Prosecution can continue its “investigation” while Prof. Erlinder is a free man. The judge made it clear that Prof. Erlinder could even go back to his country the United States. You may notice that a lot of us do not even know the name of this judge. The reason being that many people know that in Rwanda, there are no real judges, especially for trumped up political charges like the ones Prof. Erlinder was being accused of. Ideally, this fake “investigation” should have been stopped entirely especially considering that the UN tribunal for Rwanda, the ICTR, made it clear in their letter to your officials, that Prof. Erlinder had diplomatic immunity and cannot be tried by your courts for actions he took when he was doing his job at the UN court. Your spokespeople have claimed otherwise, but the UN court read the court transcripts of Prof. Erlinder and determined he was being persecuted in a big part for actions he took as a UN defense lawyer.

As for the attempted assassination of General Kayumba Nyamwasa, assassinations are terrible at any given time. But trying to assassinate him in the middle of the Soccer World Cup, the first soccer world cup ever on African soil, is even more terrible. General Nyamwasa managed to escape and is expected to survive. His wife claims that it is none other than yourself who ordered this assassination. This accusation is not very hard to believe considering the long list of people who fell out with you and ended up dead abroad. Mr. Seth Sendashonga, your former Interior Minister was shot dead in 1998 in Nairobi, Kenya. Colonel Theoneste Lizinde, your former colleague was also killed in 1998 in Nairobi, Kenya. The list goes on and on and it seems to be such a coincidence that many people who fell out with you and who could have military knowledge of your actions end up dead.

Mr. President, next week is supposed to be the beginning of the candidate registration process for the upcoming presidential “elections” this August 2010. Real opposition parties up to now have still been denied their basic human right to register as parties. If these parties do not get registered in time to present their candidates, it will only go to show that you are not confident about your support among the people. Why else would you prevent real challengers from having their names on the ballot?

Aimable Mugara
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 10:57 PM