RWANDA ON ARREST OF OFFICIAL, SITUATION IN CONGO

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000801

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA ON ARREST OF OFFICIAL, SITUATION IN CONGO

REF: KIGALI 796

Classified By: DCM Cheryl Sim, Reason 1.4 (b) (d)


1. (SBU) Foreign Minister Rosemary Museminali addressed the
Kigali diplomatic corps on November 13 on the arrest in
Germany of Rose Kabuye (reftel),Chief of Presidential
Protocol, and on the situation in the DRC and prospects for
progress in peacemaking. On Rose Kabuye, Museminali,
assisted by Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama, stated
Rwanda firmly believed that Kabuye had been acting in her
official capacity in advancing a working visit by President
Kagame and as such was entitled to diplomatic immunity from
the French arrest warrants. On that basis, Rwanda had
proceeded to send Kabuye to Germany, despite notice from the
German government that Kabuye faced possible arrest. While
Rwanda remained a supporter of universal jurisdiction, it
believed those warrants and the underlying indictments were
terribly flawed, and based upon unsubstantiated and
fallacious testimony of biased witnesses.


2. (SBU) Following the arrest of Kabuye, said Museminali,
Rwanda had "asked" the German ambassador to leave Rwanda
temporarily, and had recalled its own ambassador. However,
she noted, President Kagame had gone forward with his visit
to Germany and had productive meetings. The German embassy
and German aid organizations in Rwanda remained open for
business. Rwanda would continue to contest the warrants in
various legal fora, and marshal international opinion on its
side (citing supportive statements by the African Union and
the International Conference on the Great Lakes, among
others). Rwanda believed that the European Union should
consider a regulatory mechanism for warrants such as those
issued by France, issued by individual judges rather than
international bodies, particularly when such warrants
concerned senior government officials of independent
countries. Museminali noted the irony of Kabuye's arrest, a
former soldier who had helped end the 1994 genocide, on the
70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. She noted as well the
release by the German government, just days before Kabuye's
arrest, of two genocide suspects sought by Rwanda, as well as
the continued residence in Germany of the leader of the
Democratic Force for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR),the
successor organization to the genocidal militias and military
who had carried out the 1994 genocide.


3. (SBU) On the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),
Museminali and Great Lakes Envoy Joseph Mutaboba previewed
the arrival of a Congolese delegation led by Foreign Minister
Mwamba to Kigali on November 14 to continue discussions on
the eastern DRC and bilateral relations. They assured those
in attendance that Rwanda continued to support international
efforts to aid the DRC in surmounting its internal problems,
and noted the recent Nairobi Summit Joint Statement calling
for an immediate cease-fire in eastern DRC, establishment of
humanitarian corridors, and the swift implementation of
existing agreements, particularly the Nairobi Communique and
the Goma Agreement. Commenting on Rwanda's disappointment
with the DRC's decision not to attend the now-postponed
Tripartite-Plus Commission sessions in Kigali, Museminali
said Rwanda remained convinced of the importance of the
said Rwanda remained convinced of the importance of the
Tripartite-Plus process and the holding of meetings in the
near future. Mutually-convenient dates would be discussed
with the DRC delegation, she said. Mutaboba emphasized the
"chain" of agreements that remained unimplemented, and
asserted that since Rwanda's withdrawal from the DRC in 2002,
not a single Rwandan soldier had set foot in the Congo.


4. (C) Comment. The GOR expressed its stiff opposition to
the German decision to arrest Rose Kabuye, while also
signaling its continued interest in productive relations with
Germany. On the Congo, it is heartening that the GOR has
decided not to let Kabuye's arrest serve as a distratction
from the region's key security challenge in the eastern
Congo. The GOR's welcoming of continued discussions with the
GDRC, and its eagerness to see international fora, such as
the Tripartite-Plus process move forward are positive signs
that Rwanda is interested in maintaining important channels
of communication with the DRC. End comment.


SYMINGTON