PRESIDENT KAGAME COMDEMNS SPANISH INDICTMENTS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000246 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MASS RW SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KAGAME COMDEMNS SPANISH INDICTMENTS, CASTIGATES WEST Classified By: CDA Cheryl L. Sim, reason 1.4 (B/D) ¶1. (U) At a press conference on April 1, President Paul Kagame dismissed the indictment of 40 senior Rwandan military officers by a Spanish judge in angry tones, calling the judge arrogant, an example of Western critics who presume to tell third world countries how to run their affairs, and politically motivated. Some people in the West put themselves in the place of God, and thought they had authority over Rwanda, said the President. "If I met the indicting judge I would tell him to go to hell." ¶2. (U) Expanding on his theme, Kagame said that the judge came from a "certain school of thought" and "belonged to a side." The judge did not appear to be pursuing individuals so much as the RPF -- the judge was "indicting the Rwanda Patriotic Front, what they call the ruling party." Kagame went on to suggest that the 40 Rwandan officers were all under his command, and he alone should bear responsibility. "They should put all responsibility on my shoulders, and wait until I am out of office" (Note: the Spanish judge cited presidential immQty for not proceeding formally against Kagame). ¶3. (U) At the April 2 ceremonies at the Chamber of Deputies marking the start of the judicial "year," (with the diplomatic corps present),Kagame concluded his formal presentation on the state of the judiciary by angrily and passionately condemning the Spanish indictments and those in the international community who support them. After largely repeating his press conference remarks, he expanded into an attack on western colonialism and racism. He asserted that unlike the ill-founded actions of the French and Spanish judges, Rwandan judges would have legitimate reasons to indict Westerners and Western governments for their (in)actions that allowed one million Rwandans to perish in the genocide. He belittled the murders of the Spanish citizens in the post-genocide conflict period, asking why should he or any other Rwandan care about the deaths of six Spanish when one million Rwandans were slaughtered. To strong applause from those assembled, he concluded by repeating several times that the judge and his supporters in the international community "can all go to hell." ¶4. (C) Although not present at the opening, the UK Ambassador asked to meet Charge urgently to discuss developments related to efforts to remove Karenzi Karake (ref A) as Deputy Darfur commander and the indictments. The UK Ambassador commented the UK believed removing Karake would be a "major mistake" and the consequences for the peacekeeping mission in Darfur would be enormous. On the indictments, the Ambassador recounted that the Rwandan Minister of Justice about three weeks ago told him that the Minister had contact with the Spanish (NFI on who in the Spanish government or whether the Minister was using intermediaries) and had been assured that no warrants would be issued. The Ambassador added that there had been virtually no discussion within the EU on the effects of the Spanish indictment. He added, however, that should the indictments lead to the issuance of "European warrants," the UK would be compelled to send to Spain immediately any Rwandan who was the subject of such a Spain immediately any Rwandan who was the subject of such a warrant should s/he travel to the UK. The Ambassador noted that he was seeing the Foreign Minister later in the day (April 3) and would provide a read-out. ¶5. (C) Comment. After ignoring the indictments for months, President Kagame,s aggressive and combative lashing out over the past three days surprised a number of diplomats assembled for the judicial year opening and left several scratching their heads about why the Rwandans took so long to respond. Clearly, our inability to process in a timely fashion the travel of an indicted senior RDF officer to the U.S., the news from New York that Karake,s UNAMID appointment is being reviewed in light of his inclusion on the Spanish list, recent genocide deniers taking the stage in Canada and Europe, and the fact that Rwanda is on the eve of its national period of mourning have all combined to give the Rwandans a sense that they are once again on their own. SIM