Rally for the Return of Refugees and Democracy in Rwanda (RDR)
Section Canada
Montreal
08.01.00
Rally for the Return of Refugees and Democracy in Rwanda
P.O. Box 5352, Postal Station B
Montreal, Canada, H3B 4P1
Phone : (514) 340 0618
E-mail : RDR-Canada@generation.net
To: Doris Meissner
Commissioner
Immigration and Naturalization Service
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20536
On July 25, 2000, Mr. Pierre-Celestin Rwigema, former prime minister of Rwanda, was interviewed in Chicago by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)/Kinyarwanda service and announced his intention to ask for political asylum in the USA. For victims of his brutal dictatorship, of discriminatory practices and torture by his government's agents, and survivors of the numerous massacres of civilians committed by his government's army, the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), when he was prime minister, his announcement was a surprise and a shock.
Mr. Pierre-Celestin Rwigema has been a faithful and zealous servant of the dictatorial government of Rwanda since July 1994, first as minister of primary and secondary education until August 1995 and then as prime minister until January 2000. He left Rwanda in May 2000 to attend a family wedding in Germany, a free and democratic country, but didn't apply for refugee status there. On June 20, 2000, the dictatorial government of Rwanda appointed him as Chairman of the Board of Directors of RWANDATEL, the state-owned national telephone company. So, what miracle happened and suddenly turned a brutal dictator and zealous servant of the dictatorial government of Rwanda into a new born democrat and rights'defender in almost one day? His choice of North America for a supposed exile is certainly not for any credible political reason.
We are deeply concerned by the responsibility of Mr. Pierre-Celestin Rwigema in the crimes against humanity committed in Rwanda since April 1994 and in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1996. He is one of the chief planners of crimes against humanity, war crimes and grave violations of the international humanitarian law committed by the rwandan government's army. As the prime minister of Rwanda, Mr. Pierre-Celestin Rwigema sent his government's army in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the first time in 1996-1997 and the second time in August 1998, where it massacred more than 200000 civilian Hutu refugees, committed and is still committing numerous crimes against humanity, war crimes and grave violations of international humanitarian law. These crimes against humanity have been well documented by the London-based Amnesty International in its numerous reports and press releases on Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo since 1996, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in its report entitled "Rapport sur les allégations de massacres et autres atteintes aux droits de l'homme ayant eu lieu à l'est du Zaïre (actuellement République Démocratique du Congo) depuis septembre 1996" (E/CN.4/1998/64) released on 23 January 1998, the United Nations Secretariat in its report entitled "Report of the Secretary-General's Investigative Team" (S/1998/581), the New York-based Human Rights Watch in its report entitled "Democratic Republic of Congo - What Kabila is Hiding: Civilian Killings and Impunity in Congo" released in October 1997 and the Montreal-based International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development in its report entitled "International Non-Governmental Commission of inquiry into the massive violations of Human Rights committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) 1996-1997" released in June 1998. In its Presidential Statement of 13 July 1998, the United Nations Security Council condemned these crimes and urged the governments of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo to prosecute their perpetrators. However, suspected war criminals in the government of Rwanda couldn't prosecute themselves.
Mr. Pierre-Celestin Rwigema knew of all the crimes against humanity committed by his government's army and did nothing to stop them. He had all the power and authority to stop them but lacked the will and failed to act. He didn't resign from his post of prime minister to express his outrage and dissatisfaction at the time numerous crimes against humanity were being committed. He has never denounced, condemned nor punished their perpetrators. Instead, he rewarded many of them with high government posts. On February 18, 2000, the government of Mr. Pierre-Celestin Rwigema appointed Colonel James Kabarehe, previously an officer in the Ugandan, Rwandan and Congolese armies and the most powerful commander in Congo when the RPA was systematically massacring Hutu refugees, as deputy chief of staff of the RPA.
For his long train of human rights' abuses and responsibility in crimes against humanity, we ask you to dismiss Mr. Pierre-Celestin Rwigema's application as a political refugee in the USA and to prosecute him for crimes against humanity, war crimes and grave violations of the international humanitarian law. In so doing, you can be assured of our full support in the struggle against the culture of impunity in Rwanda.
For the RDR - Section Canada
Emmanuel Nyemera, Ph.D.
President
Copy to:
Janet Reno
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC. 20536
President Bill Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Madeleine Albright
U.S. Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
Senator Spencer Abraham, chairman
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Immigration
Room SD-323, Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Mr. Smith, chairman
House Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims
B370B Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Amnesty International
1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ
United Kingdom
Website: http://www.amnesty.org
INS Chicago Office of Asylum
401 S. La Salle St., 8th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60605
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE,
5th Floor
Washington, D.C., 20003
USA
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor,
New York, NY 10118-3299
USA
Website: http://www.hrw.org
International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic
Development (ICHRDD)
63 rue de Brésoles
Montréal, Québec, Canada, H2Y 1V7
Fax : (514) 283 3792
Website: http://www.ichrdd.ca