A Candle For Remembering
May this memorial candle lights up the historical past of our beloved Country: Rwanda, We love U so much. If Tears could build a stairway. And memories were a lane. I would walk right up to heaven. To bring you home again. No farewell words were spoken. No time to say goodbye. You were gone before I knew it And. Only Paul Kagame knows why. My heart still aches with sadness. And secret tears still flow. What It meant to lose you. No one will ever know.
Why did Kagame this to me?
Can't forget. He murdered my mother. What should be my reaction? FYI: the number of orphans in Rwanda has skyrocketed since the 1990's Kagame's invasion. Much higher numbers of orphans had and have no other option but joining FDLR fighters who are identified as children that have Lost their Parents in Kagame's Wars inside and outside of Rwanda.If someone killed your child/spouse/parent(s) would you seek justice or revenge? Deep insight: What would you do to the person who snuffed the life of someone I love beyond reason? Forgiving would bring me no solace. If you take what really matters to me, I will show you what really matters. NITUTIRWANAHO TUZASHIRA. IGIHE KIRAGEZE.If democracy is to sell one's motherland(Africa), for some zionits support, then I prefer the person who is ready to give all his live for his motherland. Viva President Putin!!!
RPF committed the unspeakable
The perverted RPF committed the UNSPEAKABLE.Two orphans, both against the Nazi world. Point is the fact that their parents' murder Kagame & his RPF held no shock in the Western world. Up to now, the Rwandan Hitler Kagame and his death squads still enjoy impunity inside and outside of Rwanda. What goes through someone's mind as they know RPF murdered their parents? A delayed punishment is actually an encouragement to crime, In Praise of the ongoing Bloodshed in Rwanda. “I always think I am a pro-peace person but if someone harmed someone near and dear to me, I don't think I could be so peaceful. I would like to believe that to seek justice could save millions of people living the African Great Lakes Region - I would devote myself to bringing the 'perp' along to a non-happy ending but would that be enough? You'd have to be in the situation I suppose before you could actually know how you would feel or what you would do”. Jean-Christophe Nizeyimana, Libre Penseur
Hutu Children & their Mums
Look at them ! How they are scared to death. Many Rwandan Hutu and Tutsi, Foreign human rights advocates, jounalists and and lawyers are now on Death Row Waiting to be murdered by Kagame and his RPF death squads. Be the last to know.
Almighty God :Justice for US
Hutu children's daily bread: Intimidation, Slavery, Sex abuses led by RPF criminals and Kagame, DMI: Every single day, there are more assassinations, imprisonment, brainwashing & disappearances. Do they have any chance to end this awful life?
Killing Hutus on daily basis
RPF targeted killings, very often in public areas. Killing Hutus on daily basis by Kagame's murderers and the RPF infamous death squads known as the "UNKNOWN WRONGDOERS"
RPF Trade Mark: Akandoya
Rape, torture and assassination and unslaving of hutu women. Genderside: Rape has always been used by kagame's RPF as a Weapon of War, the killings of Hutu women with the help of Local Defense Forces, DMI and the RPF military
The Torture in Rwanda flourishes
How torture flourishes across Rwanda despite extensive global monitoring
Fighting For Our Freedom?
We need Freedom, Liberation of our fatherland, Human rights respect, Mutual respect between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Associated Press - June 20, 2010 10:54 AM ET
A lawyer representing Erlinder, Kennedy Ogeto, said security guards at the airport in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, checked his and Erlinder's travel bags twice before allowing them into the gate area to depart.
Ogeto did not offer more details about Erlinder's travel plans.
Erlinder's brother, Scott, said he expected him to fly from Kenya to Tanzania and Amsterdam before arriving in New York. Scott Erlinder said he thought his brother would have a news conference Tuesday in New York.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - A U.S. lawyer released from a Rwandan prison on medical grounds says the U.S. Embassy did not help him secure food or medicine while he was in prison.
Peter Erlinder spoke to the media in Kenya on Sunday for the first time since his May 28 arrest.
The 62-year-old Minnesota law professor credited Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for winning him medical bail after Clinton said Rwanda shouldn't act against lawyers.
Rwandan authorities detained Erlinder on suspicion of minimizing the country's genocide but haven't yet charged him. The 1994 genocide killed more than 500,000 Rwandans, mostly ethnic Tutsis. Erlinder said Sunday there was a genocide against Tutsis but added that evidence may show even more Hutus died.
© The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
[Since 1994, the world witnesses the horrifying Tutsi minority (14%) ethnic domination, the Tutsi minority ethnic rule, 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 with an iron hand, and the brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Rwandan people (85% are Hutus), mass-arrests and mass-murder by the RPF criminal organization.So long as justice and accountability for past crimes are ignored and delayed, peace and stability will remain illusive and impossible in Rwanda=>ASIF]
A while ago, Kagame nearly killed Kayumba Nyamwasa. Kayumba is said to be getting better.
Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa, the former chief of staff of the Rwandan army, has been shot in Johannesburg, South Africa where he lives in exile.
Friday, June 18, 2010
By Ann Garrison.
Erlinder has been imprisoned since May 28th, several days after traveling to Rwanda to defend presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza against the same "genocide ideology" charges he now faces in Rwanda. He, however, will be allowed to leave Rwanda, to return to the United States, unlike Ingabire, who remains under house arrest..
Shortly after midnight on Friday, June 18th, Erlinder's daughter Sarah reported that she had spoken to him on the phone, that he had indeed been released, and that he would be home on Saturday, the 19th. The Rwandan judge most likely released Erlinder on medical grounds because his release on legal grounds would have created a case that could be cited in arguments for Ingabire's release. Ingabire left a Kigali courtroom with Erlinder's lawyers today, after the judge handed down a decision to release him as he remained in King Faisal Hospital.
Ingabire issued this appeal to the international community to stand with Rwanda now as they have with Professor Peter Erlinder: We are very pleased that an innocent person, who has committed himself for the defence of human rights and due process of law at the expense of his own life, is released from the inhumane conditions of a Rwandan jail. This is a result of relentless pressure on the regime. We are impressed by the struggle of his family, ordinary citizens, friends, scholars, colleagues, civil associations, journalists, human rights bodies, congressmen and senators for the work they did around the clock.
We wish to extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to his family for courageously bearing this ordeal and doing everything possible to bring the matter to the attention of the US Government and the United Nations. It is an open secret that his arrest was against all norms of judicial process. He cannot be held responsible for his expressed or written views in the defence of his clients. Once again the Rwandan judicial system has clearly demonstrated what the world has failed to believe for a long time namely that there is no rule of law in Rwanda.
Rwanda News Agency
American Law Professor Peter Erlinder and Rwandan presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza together at Erlinder's June 14th bail hearing. She is under house arrest and he is in prison, after traveling to Rwanda to defend her.
The UN and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) have established that the arrest and subsequent detention of Peter Erlinder were in violation of his immunity from legal process at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda where he is a lead defence council. This is raising up again serious questions on the capacity of the current regime to deal with ICTR cases or to provide fair justice to many Rwandan suspects held in different countries.
The arrest of Professor Peter Erlinder, a citizen of the United States whose government is a major ally of the Government of Rwanda and a person whose professional rights and credentials are covered by international conventions, clearly shows how difficult if not impossible for a Rwandan to get justice in Rwanda. This is particularly difficult for any person challenging politically President Paul Kagame. The arrest of my lawyer is also deterrent against anyone who tries to defend my case.
The contradicting declarations of the government, the chief prosecutor and the police during the detention of Peter Erlinder have also highlighted how justice is done in Rwanda: fabrication of proof, intrigue, manipulative tactics and unfairness. We are appealing to the voices that have stood for Professor Peter Erlinder to continue to be on the side of Rwandans that Peter Erlinder has been standing and fighting for in order to get to the root causes of the Rwandan crisis.
Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chair
FDU – Inkingi .
[Since 1994, the world witnesses the horrifying Tutsi minority (14%) ethnic domination, the Tutsi minority ethnic rule, 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 with an iron hand, and the brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Rwandan people (85% are Hutus), mass-arrests and mass-murder by the RPF criminal organization.So long as justice and accountability for past crimes are ignored and delayed, peace and stability will remain illusive and impossible in Rwanda=>ASIF]
On June 17, a Rwanda judge released U.S. Law Professor and international criminal defense attorney Peter Erlinder from a Rwandan Prison, on medical grounds.
Erlinder has been imprisoned since May 28th, several days after traveling to Rwanda to defend presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza against the same "genocide ideology" charges he now faces in Rwanda. He, however, will be allowed to leave Rwanda, to return to the United States, unlike Ingabire, who remains under house arrest..
Shortly after midnight on Friday, June 18th, Erlinder's daughter Sarah reported that she had spoken to him on the phone, that he had indeed been released, and that he would be home on Saturday, the 19th. The Rwandan judge most likely released Erlinder on medical grounds because his release on legal grounds would have created a case that could be cited in arguments for Ingabire's release. Ingabire left a Kigali courtroom with Erlinder's lawyers today, after the judge handed down a decision to release him as he remained in King Faisal Hospital.
Ingabire issued this appeal to the international community to stand with Rwanda now as they have with Professor Peter Erlinder: We are very pleased that an innocent person, who has committed himself for the defence of human rights and due process of law at the expense of his own life, is released from the inhumane conditions of a Rwandan jail. This is a result of relentless pressure on the regime. We are impressed by the struggle of his family, ordinary citizens, friends, scholars, colleagues, civil associations, journalists, human rights bodies, congressmen and senators for the work they did around the clock.
We wish to extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to his family for courageously bearing this ordeal and doing everything possible to bring the matter to the attention of the US Government and the United Nations. It is an open secret that his arrest was against all norms of judicial process. He cannot be held responsible for his expressed or written views in the defence of his clients. Once again the Rwandan judicial system has clearly demonstrated what the world has failed to believe for a long time namely that there is no rule of law in Rwanda.
Rwanda News Agency
American Law Professor Peter Erlinder and Rwandan presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza together at Erlinder's June 14th bail hearing. She is under house arrest and he is in prison, after traveling to Rwanda to defend her.
The UN and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) have established that the arrest and subsequent detention of Peter Erlinder were in violation of his immunity from legal process at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda where he is a lead defence council. This is raising up again serious questions on the capacity of the current regime to deal with ICTR cases or to provide fair justice to many Rwandan suspects held in different countries.
The arrest of Professor Peter Erlinder, a citizen of the United States whose government is a major ally of the Government of Rwanda and a person whose professional rights and credentials are covered by international conventions, clearly shows how difficult if not impossible for a Rwandan to get justice in Rwanda. This is particularly difficult for any person challenging politically President Paul Kagame. The arrest of my lawyer is also deterrent against anyone who tries to defend my case.
The contradicting declarations of the government, the chief prosecutor and the police during the detention of Peter Erlinder have also highlighted how justice is done in Rwanda: fabrication of proof, intrigue, manipulative tactics and unfairness. We are appealing to the voices that have stood for Professor Peter Erlinder to continue to be on the side of Rwandans that Peter Erlinder has been standing and fighting for in order to get to the root causes of the Rwandan crisis.
Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chair
FDU – Inkingi .
Justice Shouldn’t Be The Loser in the Erlinder - Ingabire Trial vs Kagame Junta
Rwandans want Democracy, Reconciliation, lasting peace and development and the end of RPF bloodsheds.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freepetererlinder/
According to Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune writer Jeremy Herb in a story just posted to the newspaper’s staff blog: “The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the United Nations court that has tried Rwanda’s genocide crimes — and where St. Paul attorney Peter Erlinder is head of the defense attorney association — has called for Erlinder’s immediate release.
“The tribunal, in a two-page letter to Erlinder’s Rwandan prosecutor and the Rwandan minister of foreign affairs, wrote that Erlinder should not be prosecuted because the case against the William Mitchell College of Law professor involves his work as a defense attorney in the tribunal, where his clients were Rwandans accused of genocide
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
gg
Wife of Professor Peter Erlinder appeals to U.N. Security Council members for his freedom
Saint Paul, Minnesota – Masako Usui, the wife of the U.S. professor and attorney Peter Erlinder, is traveling to New York City this week on a mission to visit United Nations Security Council members. Her husband, Peter Erlinder, was arrested by Rwanda police in Kigali on May 28. She plans to ask for their assistance in urging Rwanda to free Professor Erlinder and drop all charges.
Professor Erlinder is a law professor at William Mitchell College of Law, lead defense attorney for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and president of the ICTR defense lawyers association. The ICTR was set up by the United Nations Security Council in 1994 to prosecute war criminals for events that happened in 1994.
Erlinder faces charges of genocidal ideology and threatening Rwandan national security. These charges are directly related to the vigorous defense of his clients. According to the Rwanda prosecutor and court, the basis for the charges against him are that he:
• Successfully proved to the ICTR that the genocide had not been planned or executed by the person he represented, Aloys Ntabakuze.
• Publicly wrote, outside of Rwanda, in defense of his clients through articles, press releases and open letters to public officials calling for a deeper examination of the events that happened in 1994 and suggested that there could be a different narrative based on factual evidence.
• Filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Paul Kagame in the Oklahoma federal court under the Alien Tort Claims Act on behalf of his client, Agathe Habyarimana, the widow of the former Rwandan president.
Erlinder continues to be held, now in Kigali Central Prison, after he received a judgment on Monday, June 7, 2010, denying him bail or any type of release.
The spokesman for the “United Nations-backed tribunal for Rwanda,” Roland Amoussouga, stated, “ICTR will not allow anyone to be prosecuted for the work that it has done for it,” according to a June 13 New York Times story, “American Lawyer Denied Bail in Rwanda” by Josh Kron.
The same New York Times article also reported, “Despite assurances from Rwanda that Mr. Erlinder was not arrested for his work at the tribunal, officials at the tribunal say they also believe there is a connection. They have asked Rwanda for clarification and may bring the case in front of the United Nations Security Council.”
Among many human rights and legal organizations that have called for Erlinder’s release, the American Bar Association points to the U.N. Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which states that lawyers “shall not be identified with their clients or their client’s causes as a result of discharging their functions” and that “governments shall ensure that lawyers are able to perform all of their functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper influence.”
These principals also provided that “lawyers like other citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly.”
The International Criminal Defense Attorneys Association (ICDAA) denounced and condemned Peter Erlinder’s continued detention in the strongest possible terms and urged all concerned to demand his immediate release.
In a joint statement to the court and the U.N. Security Council, many defense lawyers have demanded Erlinder’s immediate release: “We hereby resolve to postpone all activities, other than those which strictly conserve the interests of our mandates, until such time as the minimum conditions of the normal exercise of our missions have been restored by the removal of threats,” the statement says.
This continued detention has prompted other defense lawyers at the ICTR to refuse to participate in proceedings. Five defense teams before the ICTR have filed motions saying it was too dangerous to represent an accused. ICTR responded by launching contempt proceedings against another American defense lawyer, Peter Robinson, when Robinson stated his intention to withdraw from the case due to Erlinder’s detention.
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
Friday, June 11, 2010
Questions about Congolese human rights defender's murder
"The real scandal is that human rights defenders, journalists and honest civil servants are killed routinely, and the United Nations and western governments issue some pathetic statement proclaiming their disappointment and concerns about the 'deteriorating' human rights climate, when it is in a permanent state of basic survival and injustice against all odds."
All three of Rwanda's embattled opposition parties, the FDU-Inkngi Party headed by Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda headed by Frank Habineza, and the dissident wing of the Parti Social-Imberakuri Party headed by Bernard Ntaganda, have called on the Rwandan government to release Professor Erlinder and drop all charges, and to drop all charges against FDU-Inking presidential candidate Ingabire, who, like the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, remains unable to register her party to contest the 2010 election.
Mr. Chebeya, the founder of “Voix des Sans Voix” (Voice of the Voiceless
General Kagame must be held accountable for the instabilty in that region, war crimes, crimes against Humanity and other crimes |
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
Thursday, June 10, 2010
111TH CONGRESS IV
2D SESSION
H. RES. 1426
Urging the Government of the Republic of Rwanda and President Paul
Kagame to immediately release human rights lawyer Professor Peter
Erlinder from jail and allow him to return to the United States.
**
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 8, 2010
Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself and Mr. ELLISON) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTION
Urging the Government of the Republic of Rwanda andCongresswoman Betty McCollum represents Professor Peter Erlinder in Minnesota's 4th District.
President Paul Kagame to immediately release humanWhereas the Constitution of Rwanda, adopted on May 26,
rights lawyer Professor Peter Erlinder from jail and
allow him to return to the United States.
2003, states that Rwanda is ‘‘Resolved to build a State
governed by the rule of law, based on respect for fundamental
human rights, pluralistic democracy, equitable
power sharing, tolerance and resolution of issues through
dialogue’’
Whereas there is an increasing pattern of restrictions of free
expression in Rwanda ahead of the August presidentialWhereas the United States Government has provided over
elections, including the denial of a work visa to a senior
Human Rights Watch researcher and the crackdown of
opposition members and journalists;
Congressman Keith Ellison, D-MN, represents Minnesota's 5th District and is a personal friend of Professor Peter Erlinder
$1,034,000,000 billion in United States taxpayer-fundedWhereas Peter Erlinder is a law professor at William Mitchell
foreign assistance to Rwanda since 2000, and an additional
$240,200,000 is proposed in the President’s fiscal
year 2011 budget;
College of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and has servedWhereas Peter Erlinder was arrested on May 28, 2010, in
as a lead defense attorney for the United Nationals International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania;
Kigali, Rwanda, and is currently being detained at
Kicukiro Prison on charges of ‘‘genocide ideology’’ based
in part upon legal arguments made during his work as
a defense attorney at the United Nations International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; and
Whereas United States Department of State Spokesman P.J.
Crowley announced on June 3, 2010, that the United1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges
States Government was pressing the Government of
Rwanda to ‘‘resolve this case quickly’’ and that the Department
of State hoped for Peter Erlinder’s release on
‘‘compassionate grounds’’: Now, therefore, be it
2 the Government of the Republic of Rwanda and President
3 Paul Kagame to immediately release Professor Peter
4 Erlinder from jail and allow him to return to the United
5 States.
•HRES 1426 IH
©olored OpinionsRelated Article:
McCollum Introduces Legislation Urging Rwandan
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
***
We MUST stand with courageous lawyers! Vigorous legal defense is NOT a crime! FREE PETER ERLINDER NOW!
***
We MUST stand with courageous lawyers! Vigorous legal defense is NOT a crime! FREE PETER ERLINDER NOW!
***
- Supporters of detained U.S. Attorney Peter Erlinder marched for him on Tuesday in hopes of freeing him from the Rwandan prison.
■ He’s accused of revisionism, revising history. Peter Erlinder years before found mountains of documentation at the UN about Rwanda’s history. He read them and discovered that the history of Rwanda is the history that’s told in the documents.
■ He actually found that there was a civil war going on there for 4 years preceding the last 3 months when the alleged genocide took place.
■ The civil war was the causation of the genocide. By doing this work, he encountered the wrath of the Rwandan government.
■ He was trying to help the defense of an opposition presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who was arrested for “denying the genocide” and when Peter Erlinder arrived in Rwanda, he was arrested on the same charge.
■ Rwanda President Paul Kagame has discredited presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza.
■ We don’t know in the US, what’s really going on in Rwanda. The US is supporting Kagame’s war in the East Congo, the war is being fought over minerals and rights to minerals.
■ Those minerals are used in cell phones.
■ Help Peter Erlinder: Contact the US State Department and urge them to take an active role.
■ Rwanda President Paul Kagame put 7 people on a list of those he would like to see assassinated, Peter Erlinder was on that list.
"He mean the whole world to me because of how much he cared what happened to me because he protected my constitutional rights," said Mayard.
Appearing weak in court on Monday, a Rwandan judge denied bail for Erlinder who is charged with denying Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. Erlinder was in the country helping with the legal defense of an opposition leader, who wants to run for president.
Bruce Nestor of the National Lawyers Guild says Erlinder's prosecution threatens the ability of all attorneys to defend their clients.
"I’m afraid it looks like this is not something that's going to be over in the near term but is going to require our long term work and effort to bring peter back here to the twin cities," said Nestor.
In Minnesota, Senator Amy Klobuchar says they are working hard to bring him home.
"We have been pushing to have an expedited hearing so that he can at least be out on bail and at best be able to go home to his family. His wife and daughter and that's what we've been working on," said Klobuchar.
In the run up to the national election, the administration of Rwandan president Paul Kagame has engaged in increasing repressive tactics including shutting down independent media and jailing opposition candidates and their supporters under a vague charge of “genocide ideology”the same charge Professor Erlinder is now accused of.
The “Genocide Ideology Law” is vaguely worded, requires no link to any genocidal act, and can be used to criminalize a wide range of legitimate forms of expression. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and even the U.S. State Department have denounced it as a tool of political repression. The Kagame administration has used it widely to target political opponents.The Obama administration has done little to address Professor Erlinder’s situation. The state department and US embassy have referred to this incident as “a local matter.” This is because the US backs the Kagame regime.
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
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AS International
SurViVors SPEAK OUT - Rights of Victims Seeking Justice and Compensation for the RPF Genocide. This is an Exciting Collaborative Project launched by The AS International Founder Jean-Christophe Nizeyimana, Economist and Human Rights Activist. Join US and Be the First to know about the Mastermind of the Rwandan Genocide Still At large and enjoing Impunity.