MONTHLY POLITICAL ROUNDUP

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000989

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL RW
SUBJECT: MONTHLY POLITICAL ROUNDUP

REF: A. KIGALI 962 PREZ AND PRESS


B. KIGALI 954 JALLOW

C. KIGALI 865 PL

D. KIGALI 822 MINISTERS AND PRESS

E. 06 KIGALI 1133

Classified By: Ambassador Michael R. Arietti, reason 1.4 (B/D)

Summary
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1. (SBU) Two Liberal Party parliamentarians lost their seats
in the Chamber of Deputies after being expelled from their
party. The government set up a Commission to investigate the
shooting-down of the Habyarimana presidential jet in 1994.
Two independent publishers temporarily suspended their
publications in protest at heavy criticism from senior
government officials. The ICTR Prosecutor toured new
detention facilities for prisoners to be transferred to
Rwanda. End summary.

Liberal Party Dissidents Lose Seats in Parliament
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2. (U) Two Liberal Party (PL) members of Parliament, Elie
Ngirabakunzi and Isaie Murashi, lost their seats in the
Chamber of Deputies on October 9 when new members were sworn
in by President Kagame. As noted ref C, the two
parliamentarians had challenged the recent Liberal Party
elections, alleging vote buying by the President and Vice
President of the PL, Commerce Minister Protais Mitali and
Senator Odette Nyiramilimo. In response, Mitali suspended
and then expelled them from the party, and wrote to
Parliamentary leadership, requesting their replacement (the
Rwandan constitution requires the immediate replacement of
members who leave or are expelled from their parties).


3. (U) The two parliamentarians sought relief in court,
requesting an injunction from the High Court forbidding any
swearing-in ceremony for the replacements. The High Court
declined to intervene, and the two members later dropped an
appeal to the Supreme Court on the injunctory relief after
they had been replaced. The substantive case continues in
the High Court, with the two parliamentarians seeking
monetary damages and their reinstatement in the Liberal Party
and in Parliament (the PL is counterclaiming for damages as
well). The High Court is expected to rule in early November.

Government Sets Up Commission on Downing of Presidential Jet
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4. (U) The Government of Rwanda (GOR) named on October 10 a
seven-member Commission to investigate the downing of the
Habyarimana presidential jet in April 1994, an event
generally considered to have touched off the Rwandan
genocide. Supreme Court Justice Jean Mutsinzi will lead the
Commission, aided by several members of the Mucyo Commission,
which has been investigating the French government's role in
the 1994 genocide for the past eighteen months. Pending for
a number of months, the appointment of the Commission is a
GOR response to a French judge's indictment last year of nine
senior Rwandan officials on suspicions of having participated
in the downing of the jet. This act by the French judge
precipitated the breaking of diplomatic relations with France
in November 2006 (Ref E).


5. (C) Pol/econ chief spoke separately with Jean de Dieu
Mucyo, eponymous chair of the Mucyo Commission, and Justice
Mutsinzi. Mucyo confirmed that the Mucyo Commission would
turn over investigation files to the new Commission, noting
that his body had initially sought information on the French
role in the downing of the jet, before focusing more narrowly
on French acts more directly supportive of the genocide. His
Commission's report would be tendered to the President in
November, he said, and would "clearly document" French
participation at all levels of planning and execution of the
genocide. Justice Mutsinzi cautioned that the "decree is not
even out yet" formally establishing his Commission, but said
he anticipated the seven members beginning proceedings in
early November.


Two Independent Publishers Suspend Publication in Protest
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6. (SBU) On October 24 the editor of the RIMEG group,
Charles Kabonero, publisher of Umuseso and its
English-language version Newsline, announced suspension of
his newspapers pending explanation from the GOR on RIMEG's
alleged assistance to "negative forces" opposed to the Kagame
government. In September four government ministers on
Rwandan government television has accused several independent
newspapers of assisting "negative forces" in their editorial
policies and news stories (Ref D). In October, President
Kagame and presidential advisors held a session with local
press in which journalists friendly to the government had
repeated these earlier criticisms (Ref A). The criticisms
focused primarily on publications Umuseso, Umuco and
Umuvugizi.


7. (C) On October 26, the editor/publisher of Umuco,
Bonaventure Bizimuremye, announced he, too, would suspend his
publication, Umuco, pending an explanation from the
government for the allegations of assisting "negative
forces." In conversation with embassy staff, both
Bizimuremye and Kabonero said they each took their decision
alone, with Bizimuremye saying he was suspending publication
"for the moment." Editor Jean Bosco Gasasira told pol/econ
chief October 26 that he would continue to publish his
newspaper, and had not spoken with the others prior to their
suspension decisions. All three publishers have been
operating hand-to-mouth for some time, with few
advertisements appearing in their publications, particularly
relatively lucrative government advertisements. Gasasira had
earlier alleged that President Kagame had pledged in the
October meeting with the press corps to restore government
advertisements to those newspapers that changed their
editorial lines (Ref A).

ICTR Prosecutor Tours Detention Sites
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8. (C) On October 17. International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda Prosecutor Bubacar Hassan Jallow toured the Central
prison in downtown Kigali, examining the new facilities being
erected to house prisoners proposed for transfer from Arusha
under the ICTR's "completion strategy." Jallow pronounced
himself well-satisfied with the new facilities, which include
televisions, separate washrooms and exercise yards, and a
library. During this visit, in a call with embassy officers,
he requested assistance from the United States in finding
suitable relocation sites for witnesses and their families,
in proposed ICTR prosecutions against Rwandan officials for
alleged war crimes in 1994 (Ref B). Jallow noted the ICTR
had told the GOR of these possible prosecutions, which would
be transferred to Rwanda as part of the Tribunal's completion
strategy.




ARIETTI