RWANDA/SPAIN: FURTHER INFORMATION ON INDICTMENTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MADRID 000409

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

AF/C FOR FOX, CASEY
L/LEI FOR BUCHHOLZ, PROPP, JOHNSON
L-EUR FOR PETER OLSON, KAREN JOHNSON
L-AN FOR ONA HAHS
KIGALI FOR KAMINSKI
THE HAGUE FOR SCHILDGE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PHUM MASS KLIG OFDP RW SP
SUBJECT: RWANDA/SPAIN: FURTHER INFORMATION ON INDICTMENTS

REF: A. FOX-SAMSON-DUNCAN E-MAILS 4/13-14/08

B. USUN 297

C. KIGALI 246

D. KIGALI 237

E. KIGALI 227

F. MADRID 313

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Classified By: ADCM Josie Shumake for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Post offers the following answers in
response to ref A questions from Department regarding the
Spanish indictment of 40 Rwandan military officers. END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JUDGE ANDREU AND THE
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE? Judge Andreu is completely independent
of the Ministry of Justice, and the MOJ cannot exert
influence over his investigation or findings. Requests for
Interpol red notices go through the Ministry of Justice as a
matter of administrative procedure, but the MOJ does not have
the ability to refuse or deny the requests.


3. (C) WHAT IS THE ATTITUDE OF THE GOS ABOUT THE INDICTMENT?
Per ref F and previous, Spanish MFA Deputy DG for
Sub-Saharan Africa told Poloff that the GOS does not support
the indictments but can do nothing to stop them.


4. (C) IS THERE ANYTHING THE GOS COULD/MIGHT DO TO ALLEVIATE
/ MINIMIZE THE EFFECT OF THE INDICTMENTS? The GOS has
historically claimed impotence in influencing the independent
judiciary in other cases, including Pinochet, Couso and
Rumsfeld indictments. Furthermore, because 15 of the
indicted individuals are wanted in connection with the death
of Spanish citizens, the government could face public
criticism both for "meddling" in judicial affairs, and for
"protecting" killers of Spaniards. Therefore, we think such
intervention unlikely.


5. (C) PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFO ABOUT THE NGO BEHIND THE
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION. IS IT ALL/MOSTLY PEOPLE
RELATED TO / ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPANIARDS WHO WERE KILLED OR
IS IT RWANDAN EXILES? The NGO is Veritas Rwanda Forum
(www.veritasrwandaforum.org). It's full name is Forum
Internacional para la Verdad y la Justicia en el Africa de
los Grandes Lagos (International Forum for Truth and Justice
in Great Lakes Africa). Its leadership is comprised of
Spaniard Juan Carrero Saralegui, Spaniard Jordi Palou
Loverdos, Spaniard (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Adolfo
Perez Esquivel, American and former Congresswoman Cynthia
McKinney, Spaniard Irma Rognoni Viader, and Spaniard Federico
Mayor Zaragoza. It was founded in March 2000. The group
filed their lawsuit with Judge Andreu on February 22, 2005,
claiming they had 40 witnesses who could attribute the deaths
of the Spanish citizens to the RPF. Jordi Palou is the
group's legal representative and spokesman. Most of the
witnesses who are cited in the indictment are in fact Rwandan
exiles. Post cannot speak to their legitimacy and would
defer to AF.


6. (C) WHAT HAS BEEN THE REACTION TO THE INDICTMENT IN THE
SPANISH PRESS / PUBLIC AND FROM THE GOS? The indictments
have received international and Spanish press, but little
since the announcement other than the reporting of President
Kagame's statements condemning the indictments. There are no
media updates on the status of the prosecution's efforts or
anything to that effect. Veritas Rwanda Forum led a
demonstration in Brussels after the indictment's
announcement. The GOS has made no public comment about the
indictments. The Forum's spokesman Jordi Palou published an
op-ed March 21 in left of center daily EL PAIS entitled
"Rwanda: nine voices that can no longer be silenced" in

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7. (C) IS THERE MORE INTEREST IN SOME INDIVIDUALS INDICTED
THAN OTHERS? THE UNAMID DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERAL KARAKE?
FOR THE ONES WHO ARE INDICTED DIRECTLY IN CONNECTION WITH THE
DEATHS OF THE SPANISH CITIZENS? WHAT ABOUT THE ONES WHO ARE
GENERALLY ACCUSED OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY / GENOCIDE,
WITHOUT SPECIFIC INCIDENTS? Fifteen of the forty indictees
(#'s 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 29)
are wanted for the murder of the nine Spanish citizens.
These would naturally be of greater interest. Karake, who is
defendant #4, is not sought in connection with the Spaniards,
but he is sought for a series of other crimes and alleged
massacres. Palou was quoted in an August 2007 article in The
Guardian as opposing the UN appointment of Karake to
UNAMID/AMIS.


8. (C) WHAT ARE THE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IMPLICATIONS OF THE
CASE IF ANY OF THE INDICTEES TRAVEL TO THE U.S.? Veritas
Rwanda Forum already seems to accept as dogma that the
current GOR enjoys the protection of the USG, so travel to
the U.S. would only confirm these theories. It would not
look good if any of the indictees were to receive U.S.-funded
training, etc. It would be especially awkward if it were one
of the 15 who are sought in connection with the death of
Spaniards. It would be a serious problem if the USG failed
to honor a red notice, provisional arrest request, or
extradition request for one of the 15 indictees sought for
murdering the Spaniards, especially with respect to other
ongoing bilateral extradition and judicial matters.


9. (C) WHAT ARE THE POLICY IMPLICATIONS? We are currently
following several important bilateral judicial cases - the
pending extradition from Spain of notorious arms dealer
Monzer Al-Kassar being the most important. A U.S. failure to
produce a third-country individual wanted in connection with
the death of a Spanish citizen could have an adverse impact
on our attempt to extradite Al-Kassar, a Syrian national,
from Spain. In addition, Spain has outstanding arrest
warrants for three U.S. soldiers who are wanted to stand
trial for the death of Spanish journalist Jos Couso (killed
in Iraq in 2003),although the U.S. military has cleared the
soldiers of any wrongdoing after a thorough investigation. A
Spanish woman is being held in contempt by a New Jersey court
over a custody dispute with her Amcit ex-husband. A separate
Spanish judge has opened a prosecution against former SecDef
Rumsfeld, although authorities have not sought his
international arrest. Additionally, ref B brings up the
possibility that General Karake's removal from UNAMID could
endanger the Rwandan commitment to Darfur PKO. Post believes
this could be a strong argument to use if Department
instructs us to weigh in with the GOS.


10. (C) PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFO ABOUT THE SPANISH JUDICIAL
PROCESS. The Spanish judiciary is completely independent
from the executive and legislative branch, and the Spanish
Constitution gives the judiciary a "universal" mandate to
prosecute human rights violations anywhere in the world. The
most famous previous attempted prosecution was of Augusto
Pinochet, and the Spanish government did not seek to
interfere with the judiciary in that case, although Pinochet
was never successfully extradited to Spain. Other cases have
included investigation of human rights abuses in Argentina
during the Dirty War and for an attack against the Spanish
Embassy in Guatemala in the 1980's. Former Secretary of
Defense Rumsfeld is also named in an active indictment over
the Iraq War. Other ongoing judicial investigations with
U.S. implications include inquiries into alleged CIA flights

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that transited Spain as well as other DOD flights which
transited the Spanish bases of Moron and Rota. Although
judicial officials have not sought to involve Interpol in all
of these instances, government sources told Embassy officers
that they would do so in this case (ref F).


11. (C) WHAT IS THE MAGISTRATE'S FUTURE ROLE? CAN HE
REQUEST INTERPOL DIFFUSIONS ON HIS OWN? DO THEY HAVE TO GO
THROUGH THE MOJ? The procedure for seeking diffusions leads
from the indicting court through the National Police to the
Justice Ministry to Interpol, but the Justice Ministry's role
is administrative, and it cannot refuse to send the request
along. However, even if it could, we think it would be
highly unlikely to do so in this case given that 15 of the
individuals are wanted in connection with the death of
Spanish citizens. The Spanish National Police can also seek
Red Notices on their own without consulting Judge Andreu,
based on the existence of Spanish arrest warrants for the
individuals, also through the Justice Ministry. We have no
indication that they are doing so at this time. Judge Andreu
is a Magistrate in the National Court, the second highest
court in Spain. He has held the post since March 2002, and
he has been a judge in the Spanish judiciary for over 20
years.


12. (C) WHAT DISCRETION DOES THE MAGISTRATE HAVE IN DECIDING
WHETHER TO REQUEST DIFFUSIONS? The National Court has
discretion based on the known whereabouts of the particular
individual and the strength of their case. For example, an
Interpol Red Notice would be unnecessary inside the EU, since
an EU arrest order would be sufficient.


13. (C) MUST ALL INDICTED DEFENDANTS HAVE SUCH NOTICES PUT
OUT ON THEM? We do not think so, but we can hardly ask. It
is possible that the first notice requested by Spain for Mr.
Kabarebe was sent out as a trial balloon to see how Interpol
would handle the diffusions, thus avoiding potential
embarrassment for Spain if Interpol were to reject all 40
notices out of hand (ref E).


14. (C) WHAT EFFECT DOES THIS HAVE IN SCHENGEN COUNTRIES?
We believe an EU arrest order would be sufficient (and would
preclude the GOR from challenging the validity of the Red
Notice).


15. (C) WHAT DOES THE GOS KNOW ABOUT THE INVESTIGATIVE
PROCESS THAT LED TO THE INDICTMENT? Responding to informal
inquiries, MFA and judiciary officials have told Emboffs that
the investigation was very thorough, lasting over two years.
Public documents indicate that the NGO Veritas Rwanda Forum
filed a complaint with the National Court in February 2005,
and that Judge Andreu agreed to take the case the same year.
Subsequent testimony and evidence gathering lasted two years,
with over forty witnesses produced by Veritas Rwanda Forum.
MFA interlocutors have said that the GOS does not support the
indictments and believes the ICTR and other international
bodies are the appropriate fora to seek justice, although
they have also stated their commitment to justice for the
nine Spaniards killed.


16. (C) COMMENT: The GOS supports UNAMID, is committed to
peace in Africa, and has told us privately that it does not
support the indictments. Nevertheless, it will likely claim
it is powerless to control the judiciary, and we should not
expect the GOS to go out of its way to obstruct its own
courts in prosecuting the murder of Spanish citizens. We
remain concerned that a dust-up over a Spanish extradition or
provisional arrest request could cause problems for the U.S.
extradition request of Monzer Al-Kassar. As previously
stated, we have no ability to independently verify the
testimony and allegations contained in the indictment, nor

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the credibility of the witnesses who testified. END COMMENT.
AGUIRRE