History is Lies: POLITICAL PRISONERS OF THE UN -- by ICTR Accused and Convicted

History is Lies: POLITICAL PRISONERS OF THE UN -- by ICTR Accused and Convicted

[This just in from Chris Black. It speaks volumes to the techniques the Waste Culture uses to destroy nations that will not satisfy its morbid cravings. CM/P will be in Moscow for the weekend of December 1-2 to observe the parliamentary elections in Russia. The EU and OSCE have refused (most likely on orders from the US State Dept) to send voting monitors for fear of having to point out just how much Putin's administration has begun to bring this great country out of the neo-liberal dance of death that Bush, Clinton and Yeltsin sent it twirling into--and thereby showing just how much real democratic support the ruling party holds today--wino-time for chess champs not withstanding. Now, if only the nations of Central Africa could find their way out of this US/UK/Israel/UN-concocted voodoo nightmare. --mc]

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Arusha, 15 November 2007

ICTR Detainees Arusha - Tanzania

The UN Security Council President, Members of the UN Security Council, The UN Secretary General, The ICTR President,

Objet: Transmission of the Declaration of the ICTR accused and convicted persons declaring their status as "Political Prisoners of United Nations"

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We, the ICTR accused and convicted persons signatory to the present letter, have the honor to forward to you hereby attached a Declaration stating our status as Political Prisoners of United Nations.

Sincerely yours.

The signatories: see the list of the signatories of the Declaration [PDF file link below]

DECLARATION OF THE ACCUSED AND CONVICTED OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA (lCTR) STATING THEIR STATUS AS POLITICAL PRISONERS OF THE UNITED NATIONS

We, the accused and convicted persons of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, signatories to the present Declaration,

Having noted that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was diverted from its official mission to become a political instrument intended to protect the interests of the Victor in the Rwandan conflict which opposed the invading RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front), heavily supported by Uganda, to the legitimate institutions of the Republic of Rwanda and to the Rwandan people in general;[1]

Deeply concerned with the ICTR policy obviously aimed at legitimizing the exclusion of Hutus by the RPF regime from the social and economic reconstruction of our country, as well as, at judging and convicting the leaders of the Hutu community to long prison sentences in order to establish that ethnic exclusion;[2]

Recalling the Security Council Resolution 955[3] on the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda with the mission "to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda and Rwandan citizens responsible for such violations committed in the territory of neighboring States between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994, in accordance with the provisions of the present Statute”;[4]

Noting that when creating the ICTR, the Security Council had the objective to put an end to crimes which were being committed in Rwanda and was determined "to take effective measures" for "the prosecution of persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law" in order to contribute to "the process of national reconciliation and to the restoration and maintenance of peace”;

Recalling that the Security Council decision to establish the ICTR was mainly founded on the preliminary report of the Commission of Experts "on the violations of the international humanitarian law in Rwanda”,[5] completed thereafter by the final report;[6]

Noting that in that final report, the commission recognized that individuals from both sides to the armed conflict "perpetrated crimes against humanity”.[7] The Commission acknowledged, in particular, that "there exists substantial grounds to conclude that mass assassinations, summary executions, breaches of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity were also perpetrated by Tutsi elements against Hutu individuals"[8] and "recommends that investigation on violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law attributed to the Rwandan Patriotic Front be continued by the ICTR Prosecutor”,[9] including the attack against the aircraft carrying President Habyarimana,[10] which triggered the tragedy;

Noting besides that the Security Council took into account that report which implicates both sides to the conflict, in deciding to establish the seat of the ICTR in a country other than Rwanda, namely, in the town of Arusha, in Tanzania, in order to ensure impartiality and objectivity of the Tribunal;[11]

Bearing in mind that Rwandans from all sides, devoted to peace and justice, including those who fled their country following the take over of the country by the RPF by force, supported the idea of creating an international Tribunal under the auspices of the United Nations with a mission to conduct impartial investigations in order to establish the truth about the Rwandan tragedy, identify impartially those responsible for the crimes committed, including those who perpetrated the attack against the President Habyarimana's aircraft, and proceed to their prosecution;

Noting that the ICTR has largely been a disappointment by not living up to the expectations of the Rwandan people and of members of the international community genuinely committed to fair justice, to the return of everlasting peace and to national reconciliation in Rwanda, notably, by way of the following actions, omissions or decisions:

Not having taken into consideration the war launched by the RPF from Uganda, its strategy of destabilizing the country since 1st October 1990 and, especially, the attack perpetrated against President Habyarimana's plane, on 6 April 1994, as well as the resumption of hostilities by the RPF, immediately thereafter, in violation of the Arusha Agreement;
The fact that the ICTR Prosecutor has ignored these facts without which, in the view of reliable observers, the Rwandan tragedy would not have occurred;
The fact that the ICTR Prosecutor categorically refused to continue and finalize investigations on the attack against the aircraft carrying President Habyarimana, after she had been informed, in May 1997, of the report of his investigator, M. Michael Hourigan, pointing to General Kagame as the perpetrator of the attack; the fact that she claimed from then on that the attack was not under the mandate of the Tribunal and/or had no link with the massacres that yet it triggered, maintaining at the same time her fallacious theory of "pre-planed genocide of Tutsis" by Hutus;[12]
The fact that, by that decision, the Prosecutor does not want the world to know that the RPF is not the savior of the Tutsis, as claimed by the manipulated media, since, if Kagame and the RPF "were found guilty of triggering the events of 1994, the Manichean narrative concerning the evil Hutu genocidaires and innocent Tutsi victims would be thrown into question”;[13]
The fact that, on the contrary, the Office of the Prosecutor actively sought evidence to convict persons chosen arbitrarily as samples representing socio-professional and political categories from the side of the vanquished [14] even by fabricating it in complicity with the RPF, whereas judgments by the Chambers are not at all concerned with establishing the truth; hence, there is a very high risk of having innocent people convicted;
The absence of independence and impartiality on the part of the Tribunal which is reflected through several decisions blatantly partial and directed against Hutus appearing before the Tribunal,[15] and the refusal to prosecute RPF members responsible for crimes against international humanitarian law, pursuant to the ICTR Statute;
The conspiracy between the Prosecutor and the RPF regime to transfer the ICTR accused persons to Rwanda to be tried before jurisdictions of that regime whose leaders are nevertheless responsible of serious crimes against international humanitarian law;[16]
The maneuvers by the ICTR authorities to hand over ICTR convicted persons to that regime whose leaders must instead be prosecuted before this institution;[17]
Considering that the Security Council, instead of making sure that RPF soldiers responsible for serious crimes against international humanitarian law are arrested and prosecuted, in implementation of its Resolutions 1503 of 28 August 2003 and 1534 of 26 March 2004, rather confirmed by its Resolution 1774 of 14 September 2007, the closing of all trial proceedings at the ICTR by the end of 2008;

Noting the confirmation, by reliable sources including officials from the Office of the Prosecutor, of the manipulation of the Tribunal by the American Administration and the British Government in order to shield the RPF from prosecution for the crimes committed during the period that falls within the ICTR jurisdiction, including the assassination of President Habyarimana;[18]

Considering that the UN and ICTR authorities turned deaf ears to our appeals[19] and to the appeals from individuals and associations all over the world in relation to the respect of the official missions of the ICTR as enshrined in Resolution 955 of 8 November 1994,[20] to wit: 1) conduct investigations on all serious crimes against international humanitarian law; 2) prosecute all individuals responsible for such crimes; 3) contribute to national reconciliation;

Having noted that the ICTR has not accomplished any of its missions but has instead been diverted in order to serve as an instrument of the foreign policy of certain superpowers, members of the Security Council, and to reinforce the military dictatorship established in Rwanda by the RPF excluding the Hutu community from power, notably, through collective incrimination and iniquitous justice based on ethnicity;

Strongly convinced that the (CTR has deliberately and arbitrarily conducted arrests only among members of the Hutu ethnic group with a precise political goal of presenting the Hutus as the sole people responsible for the 1994 tragedy, and thus covering up the crimes committed by the RPF;[21]

Consider that the ICTR has put us in prison, first and foremost, for political reasons. On that account, we are POLITICAL PRISONERS of the United Nations. Consequently, we are going, henceforth, to act as such, notably, by denouncing before the international public opinion, the unfairness of trials and judgments issued by that Tribunal under the control of RPF criminals and its powerful supporters with the real but undeclared mission of imposing victor's justice;

Affirm that we have no intention of running away from justice. On the contrary, we strongly and loudly demand the establishment of the truth and fair justice, which are the required conditions to achieve reconciliation of the Rwandan people;

Denounce, in the strongest terms, the blatant political orientation taken by the Tribunal and its transformation into a Tribunal of the Victor, namely, the RPF, as well as the collective and arbitrary incrimination of the Hutu community, which exacerbated resentment between Hutus and Tutsis whereas the Tribunal had instead the mission to contribute to their reconciliation;

Urge the UN authorities, particularly, the members of the Security Council, to make an objective assessment of the judicial activity of the ICTR with regard to its official missions, so as to acknowledge that this Tribunal has failed in its most important objective of establishing the truth, administering fair justice, fighting impunity, as well as, reconciling the Rwandan people;

Request these UN authorities:

1) To extend the mandate of the ICTR instead of shutting it down with such catastrophic assessment and envisage to conduct ongoing proceedings taking into account the new evidence which manifestly question the judgments and the prosecution strategy based on false or partial information with regard to the Rwandan tragedy;

2) To make sure that the ICTR put at the disposal of the convicted persons necessary facilities for the preparation of their motions for the review of their judgments on the basis of the new evidence;

3) To invite the ICTR to proceed, without delay, with the indictment of General Paul Kagame and his collaborators, accused of crimes against the international humanitarian law;

4) To ensure the strict respect of the ICTR missions as enshrined in Resolution 955 of 8 November 1994 and to ensure the independence and impartiality of the Tribunal;

5) To abort the conspiracy aimed at transferring to Rwanda ICTR accused and convicted persons and, instead, to intervene strongly in favor of tens of thousands of people rotting in the death prisons of Rwanda so that they can be granted human detention conditions and benefit from fair justice,[22] to put an end to numerous arbitrary arrests and detentions without files, as well as extra judiciary executions of prisoners and mysterious disappearances of persons;

6) To intervene in order to put an end to hunting down and to arbitrary and discriminatory arrests of Hutus in exile on the basis of arbitrary lists made by the RPF regime whose awful objective is to silence any political opposition to the dictatorship established in Rwanda and even to annihilate Hutus;

Request all Rwandans, particularly, organizations of Rwandans in exile, international organizations and all persons dedicated to fair justice, to help us make our voice understood for the triumph of the truth and justice which constitute the only conditions that will enable the return of peace, promote reconciliation, democracy and harmonious development of the Rwandan people.

Done at Arusha, 15 November 2007

The signatories: see the list of the signatories of the Declaration [PDF file link]*

[1] Rwanda was victim of external aggression from Uganda with massive support from that country without sparking off any firm condemnation by the international community. Indeed, since Uganda was used by certain powerful countries to serve their strategic interests in the region, the international community did not dare to put pressure on that country in order to put an end to the war imposed needlessly on the Rwandan people, what regretted Mr. Herman J. Cohen, former US Under Secretary of State in charge of Africa, in his book titled Intervening in Africa -Superpower Peacekeeping in a Troubled Continent. Worse, the ICTR took judicial notice that the conflict was of internal character instead of international in order to protect powerful external actors in the conflict.

[2] International Crisis Group (ICG), in its Report Africa No 30 dated 7 June 2001, p. 2 and particularly on page 9 where it says: . At the present stage, it [ICTR} contributes to reinforcing the authority of the Kigali regime. By hunting down the leaders of the defeated regime, the ICTR disqualified them from pretending to exercise one day a political role in Rwanda."

[3] S/RES/9S5 (1994) on 8 November 1994.

[4] Article 1 of the ICTR Statute adopted as Annex to the Resolution 955 of 8 November 1994.

[5] Report transmitted to the Security Council by the UN Secretary General by his letter on 1st October 1994 (Doc. 5/1994/1125).

[6] Doc. S/1994/1405 of 9 December 1994.

[7] Doc. S/1994/1405 on 9 December 1994, §§ 181-182.

[8] Ibid., §§ 95; 186.

[9] Ibid. §§ 100; 186.

[10] The Security Council requested several times to the Secretary General to collect information about the responsibility in the death of Presidents of Burundi and Rwanda and to report to it (Declaration of the President ofthe Security Council- S/PRST/1994/16 on 7 April 1994; Resolutions: S/RES/912 (1994) of 21 April 1994; S/RES/918 (1994) of 17 May 1994.

[11] Doc. S/1995/134 of 13 February 1995, §§ 42-43.

[12] Concerning that refusal and his new theory about the ICTR mandate concerning the attack, see Report made by Mr. Michael Hourigan, ICTR investigator, dated 1st August 1997, put into evidence notably in Military I Case as Exhibit DB247, as well as his testimony in the same case put into evidence as Exhibit DNT365. The Prosecutor sustains, since 1997, that fallacious theory within and out of the court, whereas ICTR chambers systematically rejected defense motions requesting investigation on the assassination of President Habyarimana. On the contrary, in his reaction to the “Ordonnance de soit communiqué” of the French Judge Jean louis Bruguiere, dated 17 November 2006, against RPF members for their implication in the attack against President Habyarimana plane, the former Prosecutor M. Richard Goldstone rightly confirmed in the Danish Daily of 10 December 2006 (Berlingske Tidende¬National) that the attack against the President Habyarimana's plane falls well within the mandate of the Tribunal [the ICTR Statute is sufficiently clear on the subject, in its articles 1 and 4]. Despite the fact that Judge Bruguiere's investigations were serious and well detailed, Mr. O'Donnell, ICTR Deputy Registrar and spokesperson of the Tribunal, rejected his conclusions, confirming, once again, the bad faith of the Tribunal. Concerning his theory of planned genocide of Tutsis by the Hutus, the Prosecutor has not been able, as of today, to prove it.

[13] See the Article of Steven Da Silva dated 1st June 2007. Even the Prosecutor Mme Carla Del Ponte declared during her interview made public in Aktuelt Journal on 17 April 2000 that “If it is the RPF that shot down the plane, the history of genocide must be rewritten.”

[14] See the list attached to our letter dated 31 October 2005 denouncing “Two-speed and discriminatory international justice".

[15] Review, on 31 March 2000, of Appeal's Decision releasing Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza dated 3 November 1999, following pressure on the Tribunal and its judges; The Appeal' Decision dated 16 June 2006, in Karemera et al Case [ICTR-98-44- T] about judicial notice of genocide, while this fundamental question was still the subject of debate before the Chambers. These are blatant examples, among others, that we mentioned particularly in our letter denouncing "Double-standard and discriminatory international justice", dated 31 October 2005.

[16] Prosecutor's motion for the transfer of M. Fulgence Kayishema, indicted person not yet arrested, dated 11 June 2007 and Prosecutor's motions to transfer to Rwanda the cases of detainees Yusuf Munyakazi, Gaspard Kanyarukiga and IIdephonse Hategekimana.

[17] See detainees letters dated: 10/06/2002; 16/02/2004; 29/03/2004; 24/05/2004; 1 4/06/2004; 04/07/2004; 15/07/2004; 19/09/2004; 19/02/2005; 03/04/2006; 10/1/2007; 23/01/2007; 28/03/2007; 21/06/2007; 06/08/2007 et 05/10/2007.

[18] See notably: the testimony of Michael Hourigan in Military I Case put into evidence as DNT365; Madame Florence Hartmann, former spokesperson for the Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, in her book entitled "Paix et châtiment: les guerres secrètes de la politique et de 10 iustice internationals" (Paris, Flammarion, 10 September 2007, particularly in pages 262 to 275 and Agence Hirondelle of 7 September 2007). All those elements are mentioned in our letter 05 October 2007 and in the open letter of Prof. Erlinder addressed to the Security Council on 26 March 2007.

[19] See ICTR detainees letters addressed to the UN and ICTR authorities, notably on: 14/09/1998; 28/10/1998; 19/04/1999; 03/06/1999; 09/08/1999; 18/10/1999; 12/09/1999; 30/11/1999; 17/01/2000; 08/03/2000; 20/03/2000; OS/04/2000; 12/06/2000; 24/10/2000; 15/12/2000; 28/05/2001; 13/12/2001; 12/03/2002; 10/06/2002; 12/08/2003; 16/02/2004; 29/03/2004 ; 14/06/2004; 04/07/2004; 14/01/2005; 19/02/2005; 03/06/2005; 25/06/2006; 10/01/2007; 23/01/2007; 28/03/2007; 08/07/2007; 14/07/2007; 06/08/ 2007 ; 05/10/2007.

[20] They include: Amnesty International, International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), Professor Filip Reyntjens, French Judge Jean Louis Bruguière, Juan Carrero Saralegui, Forces Démocratiques unifiées (FDU), International Crisis Group (ICG), Centre de Lutte Contre l'impunite et 1'injustice au Rwanda (CLIIR), Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Mme Marie-Roger Biloa, Robin Philpot, Charles ONANA, Edouard Herman, Steven Da Silva, Victoire Ingabire, Déo Mushayidi, Forum International pour la Vérité et la Justice dans l'Afrique des Grands Lacs. It is necessary to mention, particularly, the letter dated 7 August 2003, to the Security Council, signed following the removal of Ms Carla Del Ponte from the ICTR, in order to prevent the prosecution of RPF soldiers, by the following personalities: Sidiki Kaba, Président de la Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de I'Homme ; Mike Posner, Executive Director of Lawyers Committee for Human Rights; Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch; Alioune Tine, Secrétaire-Général de la Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de I'Homme. Those personalities requested the Security Council to "ensure that any changes do not undermine the ICTR's efforts to prosecute charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against members of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA)."

[21] Some accused were arrested without any indictment and had to wait in prison for many months to be indicted; others had their indictments modified several times before and/or during the trial because the Prosecutor had no precise charges against them.

[22] The same intervention is required in favor of those who are tried before the Gacaca courts. They are facing a policy of arbitrary denunciation imposed by the RPF regime; they do not have lawyers to defend them and risk severe sentences.

The signatories: see the list of the signatories of the Declaration [PDF file link above*
Copy to:

The ICTR Judges (all);
The ICTR Registrar, Arusha;
The ICTR Prosecutor, Arusha;
Defense Lawyers (all);
ADAD President, Arusha;
The President of the European Union;
The President of the African Union;
Commission for Human Rights, Geneva;
International Commission of Jurists, Geneva.
American Association of Jurists;
International Association of Democratic Jurists, New Delhi. European Court of Justice;
European Court for Human Rights, Strasbourg;
African Court for Human Rights;
Center fighting against Impunity and Injustice in Rwanda, Brussels; FDU (Forces Democratiques Unifiees);
Dukomere Association, Brussels;
Families of the signatories;
Amnesty International, London;
Lawyers without borders, Paris;
FDIH, Paris;
Human Rights Watch;
The press.