PAUL RUSESABAGINA LETTER TO THE INTERNATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 001110 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2016 TAGS: PREL PHUM RW SUBJECT: PAUL RUSESABAGINA LETTER TO THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA REF: A. KIGALI 11/17 E-MAIL OF RUSESABAGINA MATERIALS TO DEPARTMENT ¶B. KIGALI 1074 ¶C. KIGALI 0228 Classified By: Ambassador Michael R. Arietti, reason 1.4 (B/D) (C) Summary. Paul Rusesabagina, principal character of the film Hotel Rwanda and present political opponent of the Kagame government, has written from Brussels to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) prosecutor, calling upon him to pursue Kagame and other GOR officials for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide (Ref A). Given the ICTR's focused attention upon its completion strategy (Ref B),the potential for the filing of new cases against seems unlikely. This call for action appears to be an attempt to embarrass Kagame, now visiting Brussels, and to raise Rusesabagina's political profile as a determined adversary of the Rwandan government. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) In a letter dated October 15, 2006, Paul Rusesabagina called upon ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Jallow to bring charges against President Kagame and other "high ranking military officers" for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed against his own family. He also called upon the ICTR to investigate and prosecute other alleged crimes detailed in a 20 page "Compendium of Crimes" attached to his letter. (Note: This letter and compendium were downloaded by embassy staff from a website frequented by external political opponents of the Rwandan government). Rusesabagina also called upon the ICTR to request a UN Security Council extension of the court's mandate (now limited to events between January 1 and December 31, 1994) to cover alleged crimes committed both before and after those dates, and he denounced the present human rights situation in Rwanda. ¶3. (C) ICTR senior legal advisor Mohammed Ayat, when asked for a reaction by polchief on November 17, commented that President Kagame enjoyed head-of-state immunity as a serving president, and as such was beyond the reach of the ICTR. Ayat agreed that the likelihood of the Security Council extending the ICTR's mandate beyond 1994 was "very small." In previous discussions with polchief, Ayat has indicated that ICTR action on alleged Rwanda Patriotic Army/Rwanda Defense Force crimes was increasingly unlikely as the court pursued its completion strategy, although a "cell" of investigators formally continued its work in Arusha on that topic. Ayat reaffirmed that point once again, saying "you know our approach on the RPA." ¶4. (C) Comment. The timing of this call for action suggests it is a political stunt, meant to embarrass President Kagame during his trip to Brussels, rather than a heart-felt plea for action by the ICTR. The court will not address events occurring before or after its mandate, it cannot act against President Kagame, and it is less and less likely to bring new cases against anyone, including alleged RPA/RDF perpetrators. This letter does demonstrate Rusesabagina's continued transformation from apolitical and self-described "non-hero" of the genocide, to a determined political foe of the Kagame regime. For example, his denunciation of the present human rights situation in Rwanda strikes us as extreme and unfair in many ways (i.e., his description of the gacaca genocide courts as "a state sponsored crime against Hutus."). Rusesabagina's increasing participation in the fractured world of expatriate Rwandan politics appears to be as great a motivator for action as any wish he may have to see justice done in Rwanda. End Comment. ARIETTI