Friday, December 2, 2011

RPF Leader Admits Habyarimana Murder/ Forgiven by Widow for Honesty and Courage

International Humatarian Law Institute 
News Advisory - Nov 29, 2011



Rwandan President Kagame's former Chief of Staff Admits:
 “RPF Covered-Up Kagame’s Murder of Habyarimana,
the 1994 Genocide ‘Trigger’ Source of Today’s Congo Election Violence, too."

St. Paul-November 28, 2011. Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa, MD,  former Secretary General of Rwanda's ruling RPF party), Rwandan Ambassador to the U.S., and Chief of Staff to his cousin, Rwandan President Kagame, appeared in public for the first time since October 1, when his apology  to the Rwandan people October 1, for having concealed the truth of Kagame’s role in the Rwanda genocide and the subsequent wars, including ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The International Humanitarian Law Institute’s: “Rwanda Truth and Reconciliation Roundtable” was the forum in which Dr. Rudesingwa appeared before a worldwide web audience to explain the moral dilemma of keeping silent in the face of a great crime caused him to risk his life by exposing Kagame’s crimes and the RPF/U.S. “cover-up.” Rudesingwa’s message of  the reconciliation-building power of the “Truth” as he tearfully recalled his phone call to the widow of President Habyarimana in which she thanked him for his courage in coming forward and offering her forgiveness.

Paul Rusesabagina, of Hotel Rwanda fame responded to Dr. Rudasingwa's acknowledgment of RPF crimes with a call for reconciliation based on the “Truth” and the mutual responsibility of Rwanda's two major ethnic groups, Hutu and Tutsi, for the violent death of upwards of a million Rwandan people between 1990 and 1995. Labeled a “terrorist” and a political enemy of Rwanda because of his campaign for a Rwandan Truth and Reconciliation process, in which both sides acknowledge culpability.

Hon. Robert Flaten, U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda,1990-93, testified he personally warned Kagame that a breach of the Arusha ceasefire would bring mass violence like that in Burundi in late 1993.  Flaten also repeated his UN tribunal testimony that he had received no information to support RPF accusations of long-planned genocide by the Habyarimana government or military, a fact confirmed by the ICTR acquittal of the 8 highest-ranking officers of having committed ANY crimes or planning for crimes BEFORE the plane was shot down.

William Mitchell Law Professor Peter Erlinder, Founding Director, International Humanitarian Law Institute, former UN-ICTR Lead Defense Counsel, and Counsel for the widows of the assassinated Rwandan and Burundian presidents.  Habyarimana v. Kagame,  a civil wrongful death case now on appeal of a blanket immunity granted to Kagame by the Obama State Dept., eventually to be decided by the Supreme Court. President Obama has requested immunity for Kagame, as a sitting head of state.

Former Prime Minister of Somalia, Dr. Ali. Galaydh reflected on the regional impact of assassination , which led to the formation of a Uganda/Rwanda/Burundi military bloc and the occupation of the Congo, for more than a decade. Galaydh described the importance of Rudesingwa admission as throwing light on all conflicts in the Great Lakes and East Africa.  Current issues of warfare and mass violence in Somalia, South Sudan, Darfur, etc.  Truth regarding the Habyarimana assassination.clarifies the underlying political dynamics in region.

Erlinder described the thousands pages of recently de-classified UN and US daily reports he was able to access through disclosure rules at the UN tribunal. Multiple reports from multiple sources establish that:
·         the RPF had dominant military power by February 1993, only became stronger in early 1994;
·         the assassination was consciously chosen as the most likely to replicate the late 1993 Burundi massacres;
·         Gen. Kagame rejected many ceasefire offers to join forces to stop the massacres;
·          Gen. Dallaire reported that Kagame was not agree to stopping massacres because “he was winning the war,” and;
·         civilian deaths were “collateral damage” to Kagame, as reported by Dallaire on April 24, 1994.

In closing remarks, Amb. Flaten’s many contributions to bring reconciliation to Rwanda before, during and after 1994 were honored as the best example of hands-on U.S. foreign policy.  Each participant expressed the need for a deeper understanding of “Truth“ for reconciliation to be possible either between individuals or war-time contestants.  Dr. Rudasingwa urged support for Rusesabagina’ Foundation’s campaign for “Truth…and Reconciliation” and for an international campaign for acceptance of mutual responsibility by all Rwandans, to make reconciliation possible no matter the policy of the current government which, eventually, will change.
http://wmitchell.adobeconnect.com/r77ikyci2vq/.  

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 12:25 AM

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