FURTHER PROGRESS ON BWINDI ASSURANCES

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000552

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV KCRM RW
SUBJECT: FURTHER PROGRESS ON BWINDI ASSURANCES

REF: KIGALI 343

Classified By: CDA Cheryl Sim for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) This is an action request - see paragraph 6.


2. (C) Charge met with Minister of Justice Tharcisse
Karugarama and Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga August 11 to
discuss the Government of Rwanda's (GOR) assurances letter
necessary for the deportation of the Bwindi defendants back
to Rwanda. The GOR has refused to sign any letter that
explicitly states the GOR would "protect these individuals
from any and all forms of torture" (reftel). Karugarama
forcefully maintained this position, arguing such a statement
would only add credibility to the defendants' "scandalous"
allegations that they were tortured and would be akin to an
admission of GOR guilt in this regard. Karugarama reviewed
the history of how these "murderers" ended up in the United
States, emphasizing that the GOR violated its own
Constitution to meet our demands. He also recalled that the
FBI had reviewed all the collected evidence prior to the
defendants' departure and at that time, there had been no USG
concerns about torture. Ngoga added the language on torture
was problematic for the GOR because it ignored the strides
made in the Rwandan justice sector since the trio had been
taken to the United States.


3. (C) Both Karugarama and Ngoga questioned the U.S. judge's
competence to ascertain whether the defendants had been
tortured, noting that the judge probably had no idea of what
life is like in rural or jungle regions in developing
countries. To prove their point, they showed their own
extensive
childhood scars and expressed incredulity that the Bwindi
defendants would emerge from time spent as combatants in an
impenetrable forest without wounds attributable to factors
beside alleged torture.


4. (C) When asked about the status of the GOR's adherence to
the Convention Against Torture (CAT),Karugarama stated it
had cleared all of the GOR's legislative and procedural
requirements and the instrument of ratification should have
been deposited with appropriate UN offices. Upon calling in
his action officer, he was chagrined to learn the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) had not sent in the ratification.
Ngoga was also clearly peeved by MFA inaction, adding he had
been advising the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) that Rwanda had joined the CAT. Joining the CAT,
according to Ngoga, is one of the actions the ICTR has been
urging for the transfer of cases from Arusha to Rwanda. Both
promised to get to the bottom of this with the Foreign
Minister immediately.


5. (SBU) Karugarama raised the assurances the GOR and British
government had concluded for the extradition of four
individuals, but said the problem the GOR had in the Bwindi
case was the specific involvement of the FBI and the fact
that the FBI knew full well the case history. In response,
Charge stated she had reviewed all the correspondence between
the Embassy and the GOR as well as the UK/GOR assurances and
noted the UK/GOR assurances included a reference to a
specific article of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR, to which the GOR is a signatory) in
the text. Under the circumstances and stressing that she had
not discussed this with the Department, she wondered if there
might be any scope for a similar approach with the Bwindi
assurances by including a reference to Article 7 of the ICCPR
in the text of the assurance letter. (Note: Article 7 reads
"No one shall be subjected to torture, or to cruel or
degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one
shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or
Qshall be subjected without his free consent to medical or
scientific experimentation." End note.) Karugarama and
Ngoga were receptive to this suggestion as possible way to
break the impasse. Karugarama proposed the following text:

"The Government of Rwanda will provide Mssrs Bimenyimana,
Nyaminani and Karake will all legal and procedural guarantees
provided for under the Rwandan Constitution, Rwandan law and
Rwanda's international legal obligations, including as a
Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and in accordance with the provisions of Article 7."


6. (SBU) Action request: Embassy requests the Department to
consider the above compromise language and provide guidance
as soon as possible.


7. (C) Comment. It is clear the GOR will not accede to our
request for an explicit reference to torture in the
assurances letter. Although neither Karugarama nor Ngoga
want to see the Bwindi defendants walk free, they will also
strenuously refute any effort to put the onus on the GOR for
developments that lead to the defendants' release in the
United States. Post believes we can have the assurances
letter signed this week if we are able to agree to either the
language above or some variation thereof. Suggestions that
this be raised at higher levels in the GOR will likely result
in Karugarama losing control of the issue and if that should
happen, our chance of obtaining any assurance letter.


SIM