[Since 1994, the world witnesses the horrifying Tutsi minority (14%) ethnic domination, the Tutsi minority ethnic rule with an iron hand, tyranny and corruption in Rwanda. The current government has been characterized by the total impunity of RPF criminals, the Tutsi economic monopoly, the Tutsi militaristic domination, and the brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Rwandan people (85% are Hutus)and mass arrests of Hutus by the RPF criminal organization =>AS International]
Rwandan
Tutsi spy chief Lt Gen Emmanuel Karenzi Karake was arrested on June 20, 2015 at
the Heathrow Airport as he prepared to board a plane back home from an official
mission. The decision by the United Kingdom to arrest him is likely to spark a
diplomatic row between Kigali and London. FILE PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA
IN SUMMARY
·
Lt Gen Emmanuel Karenzi Karake was arrested on
Saturday at Heathrow Airport as he prepared to board a plane back home from an
official mission.
·
According to reports in the UK, Gen Karake was
arrested on a European Arrest Warrant based on the 2008 indictments by Spanish
Judge Fernando Andreu Merelles.
·
President Paul Kagame has also on many occasions
spoken out against the indictments.
The decision by the United
Kingdom to arrest the head of Rwanda’s National Intelligence and Security
Services (NISS) is likely to spark a diplomatic row between Kigali and London.
Lt Gen Emmanuel Karenzi
Karake's arrest on Saturday at Heathrow Airport as he prepared to board a plane
back home from an official mission was based on indictments on war crimes
issued by a Spanish Judge in 2008 on 40 senior Rwandan army officers.
On Tuesday, the British High
Commission in Kigali issued a statement confirming the arrest by UK’s
Metropolitan Police on June 20 on behalf of the authorities in Spain.
“This was a legal obligation,
following the issue of a valid European arrest warrant,” the statement reads in
part.
The EastAfrican understands that Rwanda's
Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo has already arrived in London
for talks with UK authorities over the arrest of the 54-year old General, who
had reportedly travelled to London to attend an international meeting on
security.
In a post on her official
twitter account Tuesday, Ms Mushikiwabo decried the action by the UK government
as based on "lunacy".
"Western solidarity in
demeaning Africans is unacceptable!! It is an outrage to arrest #Rwandan
official based on pro-genocidaires lunacy!"
Rwanda’s Minister of Justice
Johnston Busingye confirmed on Monday night that Gen Karake was prevented from
boarding a flight home, detained and arraigned before a magistrate’s court in
Westminster, with another appearance scheduled for Thursday.
'Genocide, crimes against
humanity'
Gen Karake, who has served in
different high ranking army and UN Peacekeeping positions, was arrested on a
European Arrest Warrant based on the 2008 indictments by Spanish Judge Fernando
Andreu Merelles.
The judge accused 40 Rwandan
military and political leaders of the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front/Army of
engaging in reprisal killings and mass massacres in the years that followed the
1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Mr Merelles indicted the
officials for genocide, crimes against humanity and terrorism which resulted in
the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians, including eight Spaniards.
The Rwandan government vehemently denied the accusations.
Over the years, Kigali
dismissed the indictments and questioned their credibility, labelling them
“politically motivated”. President Paul Kagame has also on many occasions
spoken out against the indictments.
“The Bruguière (French Judge
Jean Louis) and Spanish indictments were created to merely inconvenience
Rwandans because they are hinged on no genuine legal premise and are not meant
to serve any justice or cause.
“For universal jurisdictions
to be credible, it has to go both ways and not the situation where we only have
some powerful nations having jurisdictions over less powerful ones,” President
Kagame said in 2012.
Diplomatic spat
The arrest of one of Rwanda’s
most senior military men is likely to spark diplomatic tension between the two
countries that have been good allies over the last 21 years. UK has been
Rwanda’s biggest foreign donor for over a decade now.
Kigali is also questioning the
motive and timing of the arrest.
“Gen Karake has travelled to
the UK on many occasions on official duty. There are questions as to why the
arrest happened now and not on the many times he has travelled there before,” a
military source told The EastAfrican.
The incident is reminiscent of
2008 when German authorities arrested Rose Kabuye, then head of President
Kagame’s Protocol, and handed her over to French authorities.
The arrest of Ms Kabuye
further strained already tense diplomatic ties between Rwanda and France. In
2006, Rwanda expelled the French and closed their embassy in Kigali after a
French Judge issued indictments against senior RPF officials.
While Ms Mushikiwabo is in the
UK to try diffuse the situation, it is not yet clear what measures Rwanda would
take if the UK decides to hand him over to Spanish authorities
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