WHERE'S KABUGA? DIPLOMATS URGE GOVERNMENT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 004239

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2026
TAGS: PHUM PREL KCRM RW KE
SUBJECT: WHERE'S KABUGA? DIPLOMATS URGE GOVERNMENT TO
INTENSIFY SEARCH

REF: KIGALI 929

Classified By: A/DCM John Hoover for reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) Prosecutor Hussein Bubacar Jallow, joined by
like-minded Nairobi-based chiefs of mission, delivered a
strong message to the Government of Kenya urging more
cooperation in apprehending Rwandan genocidaire Felicien
Kabuga. Kenya's Acting Foreign Minister responded
positively, agreeing to revive the still-born Kenya-ICTR
joint task force to investigate the Kabuga case. Political
will on the Kenyan side and greater trust between the ICTR
and the Government of Kenya will be needed to maintain the
momentum and get the Kabuga investigation on track. END
SUMMARY.

Kenya Urged to Step Up Efforts to Find Kabuga
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2. (SBU) In the context of recurring media reports that
infamous Rwandan genocidaire Felicien Kabuga spends extensive
periods of time in Kenya in connection with business
interests here, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) Prosecutor and U.N. Under Secretary General Hassan
Bubacar Jallow visited Kenya September 27-28. Joined by
chiefs of mission from the EU, Norway, Rwanda, and
Switzerland (with the U.S. signing on but not present due to
the Ambassador's travel to Mombasa),Jallow demarched Justice
and Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua, Acting
Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula, and Assistant
Minister for Provincial Administration Joseph Kahindi. In
these meetings, Jallow highlighted Kenya's international
obligation to cooperate with the ICTR and urged the
government to intensify its efforts to track, arrest, and
hand over Kabuga. Participating chiefs of mission further
reminded the government that inaction on the issue would
damage Kenya's international reputation. Following the
meetings, the chiefs of mission issued a press statement, the
text of which follows in paragraph 7.

Prosecutor Comes Frustrated, Leaves Less So
--------------


3. (C) Prosecutor Jallow left Kenya happier than when he
arrived. In a pre-demarche briefing, Jallow told diplomats
(including U.S. Mission Legatt) that previous attempts to
secure Kenyan cooperation to find Kabuga had failed.
Decrying the Government of Kenya's (GOK) lack of motivation,
Jallow noted that in the past when the ICTR had leads, Kabuga
was always tipped off and escaped. Jallow said the ICTR and
the Kenyan Criminal Investigation Division (CID) had agreed
to a joint tracking plan on August 9 (reftel),providing for
a Kenyan task force that would be responsible for compiling a
report of all available information. The Kenyans had never
responded, Jallow said.


4. (C) On this visit, too, the GOK reaction was mixed.
According to Jallow, Police Commissioner Hussein Ali
considers the Kabuga case a distraction from his regular
work, while Minister Karua was characteristically combative:
"we have a thousand other things we have to get done." It
was Acting Foreign Minister Wetangula, however, who was the
most encouraging. In a change in the Kenyan position,
Wetangula acknowledged that it is possible that Kabuga is in
Kenya. He added that Kabuga was protected by officials under
the previous government, and some of those people may still
support him. Jallow was also pleased that in response to the
joint demarche, the GOK recommitted to the joint task force
and promised to provide in six weeks a comprehensive report
of all of the information Kenyan police have gathered so far.
Both sides agreed to meet in the next few days to work out
the details of the task force. Jallow noted the possibility
of including outside (i.e. non-Kenyan and non-ICTR) members.
Jallow said he is scheduled to give a status report on the
case to the U.N. Security Council on December 15, and
reported that he told the GOK he would not hesitate to finger
them for non-cooperation.

Information Sharing: Two-way Street?
--------------



5. (C) While many of Jallow's initial concerns and
complaints about GOK apathy probably have merit, it's also
true that part of the problem may be a lack of trust between
the GOK and the ICTR generally. Confiding in Legatt, the CID
investigator assigned full-time to the Kabuga case has
expressed reciprocal complaints about ICTR investigators not
sharing the information that would give the Kenyan
investigation some direction.

Comment
--------------


6. (C) The good news is that the GOK seems to be taking the
Kabuga case more seriously. Acting Foreign Minister
Wetengula's engagement is especially welcome. But time will
tell if the Kenyan Police are serious about doing more to
apprehend Kabuga. And if persistent rumors and indications
of high-level complicity in protecting Kabuga are true, we
may not see any real change in the thus-far lackluster GOK
approach to this case. Another key ingredient will be
building trust and cooperation between the ICTR and the GOK,
without which any investigation will go nowhere. We may be
able to help maintain the fragile momentum established by the
Jallow visit. Mission Legatt will be following up to see if
U.S. participation in the new task force would be feasible
and desirable.

Press Statement
--------------


7. (U) Text of the joint press statement issued on
September 27 follows below:

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda (ICTR) Hassan Bubacar Jallow, Under Secretary General
of the United Nations, and representatives of the undersigned
diplomatic missions in Kenya today met with Honorable Martha
Karua, Minister of Justice, and Honorable Moses Wetangula,
Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs. Discussions focused
on the urgent matter of apprehending Felicien Kabuga. Mr.
Kabuga is sought in connection with serious accusations
related to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda in which more than
800,000 people were killed. The ICTR has been tracking Mr.
Kabuga for several years and believes he is a regular visitor
to Kenya. Mr. Kabuga has been under indictment by the ICTR
since 1997.

Under Secretary General Jallow and supporting diplomatic
missions appreciate Kenya's commitment to pursue all
available leads in this case, including through the
investigation of suspected associates of Mr. Kabuga;
investigation and, where appropriate, seizure of assets and
provision of any records relating to the suspect's movements
into and out of Kenya. We are hopeful that these efforts
will soon bear fruit with the apprehension and prosecution of
Mr. Kabuga before the ICTR.

Under Secretary General Hassan Bubacar Jallow and the
diplomatic missions of Canada, European Union members
represented in Kenya (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, the European Commission Delegation,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain,
Sweden, and the United Kingdom),Norway, Rwanda, Switzerland
and the United States of America.
RANNEBERGER