URU, Alm.del - 2009-10 - Bilag 239: Henvendelse af 14. august 2010 Dirhi Dialogue om præsidentvalget i Rwanda den 9. august 2010

Dear President Obama,Dear President Van Rompuy,Dear Prime Minister Cameron,In my capacity as President of both Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) andthe Initiative for a Highly Inclusive inter-Rwandan Dialogue for peace, justice andreconciliation (DIRHI), I am writing this letter to your Excellencies to formally request thatyou withhold official endorsement of the legitimacy of the Rwandan Presidential electionwhich will be held today August 9, 2010 in total absence of democracy and irregularity.The governments of the United Stated of America and the United Kingdom, as well as theEuropean Union have been not only the primary political and diplomatic backers but alsothe unconditional funding powers of the RPF regime of President Paul Kagame sincecoming to power in July 1994. Since Rwanda operates on a budget that is 60% funded byforeign aid which primarily comes from the United States, the United Kingdom and theEuropean Union, you have the power to insure that this aid package - which is part of taxpayer money contributed by your citizens - is used for the benefit of all Rwandans and touphold and strengthen democratic values in Rwanda rather than serve the interests of asmall RPF clique in power and entrench its dictatorship. In other words, you have a bigshare of responsibility in the suffering the RPF government has inflicted upon the Rwandanpopulation over the last 16 years without being brought to account. The good news is thatyou have also the power to change that trend today, and demand that President Kagameplay by democratic rules or loose your funding. That is the reason why I chose to write tothe three of you. Rwanda currently is hanging in the balance, and failure to act now maylead to another Rwandan tragedy of genocidal proportions, and you will have been pre-warned.

Excellencies, you are aware that Rwanda’s Presidential ballot today is unfolding against abackdrop of terror, coercion and intimidation, disappearances, imprisonments andassassinations, and that President Kagame will face a token opposition represented byfigurehead candidates while real opponents have been excluded. You are also aware thatPresident Kagame is a man widely suspected of having played a role in triggering theRwandan genocide and of having murdered millions of people in the last two decades bothin Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. President Kagame is also underinternational arrest warrants from the French and Spanish justice systems for having killedinnocent citizens of those two countries. Therefore, you know President Kagame should bebrought to justice for his alleged crimes, and currently has no moral authority to stand in thiselection.For all intents and purposes, here’s a quick rundown of what has been happeningin Rwanda not only in the recent past but also in the last few months: from arbitrary arreststo kangaroo Gacaca courts, to mass imprisonments and secret deportations of youth to theisolated Iwawa island, to unsolved disappearances, to the unlawful persecution andexclusion from participation of many political parties in tomorrow’s upcoming presidentialelection, to the recent suspension of independent Umuseso and Umuvugizi newspapers, tothe on-going repeat imprisonment of Ms. Agnes Uwimana, editor of Umurabyo independentnewspaper, of Bernard Ntaganda, President of the PS-Imberakuri party and house arrest ofMs. Victoire Ingabire, chair of the FDU-Inkingi party, to the abduction and imprisonment ofDéogratias Mushayidi, President of the PDP-Imanzi party, to the recentgruesomedecapitation of opposition figures Denis Ntare Semadwinga, former chief of staff of GeneralLaurent Nkunda in Gisenyi on June 20, 2010, and André Kagwa Rwisereka, Vice Presidentof the Green Party in Butare on July 14, 2010, to the recent killing of independent journalistJean Léonard Rugamabage of Umuvugizi newspaper on June 24, 2010 in Kigali, to theattempted assassination of General Kayumba Nyamwasa in South Africa on July 17, 2010,to the recent wave of arrests in the army, to the brazen interference and intimidation of theU.N.‘s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) defense lawyers, especiallythe jailing of American lawyer Peter Erlinder for three weeks in May-June in Kigali and thekilling of Tanzanian lawyer Jwani Mwaikusa in Dar es Salaam on July 13, 2010, tothe impoverishment of the population in rural areas, to the rampant ethnic discrimination inschools, businesses, administration and the army, to widespread corruption and poorgovernance as evidenced by the RPF ruling party’s stranglehold monopoly of all wealthproduction institutions, companies and channels, to the shocking self-enrichment of theruling class, and to the scandalous plunder of Congolese mineral resources and the masskilling of Congolese people, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that today’s election istaking place under even minimally acceptable conditions.That is why I question the wisdom of the European Union in providing millions to fund thiselection while at the same time refusing to send in a group of neutral observers to sanctionthe election, which seems like a tacit acknowledgement that Kagame’s victory is a foregoneconclusion.

That is why I question the U.S and U.K.’s moral leadership in their continued support ofKagame, especially in not objecting to his nomination as co-chair of the U.N. MillenniumDevelopment Goals. I want to take this opportunity to thank Spanish Prime Minister José LuisRodriguez Zapatero for having the courage, moral strength and leadership in distancinghimself from President Paul Kagame and refusing to shake his hands on July 16, 2010 inMadrid.For all the reasons lined up in this letter and for the sake of peace, justice and democracy inRwanda, I kindly request your Excellencies to not recognize Kagame’s pre-ordained victory intoday’s election, and from now going forward not welcome him among other heads ofState in international gatherings as a duly elected representative of Rwanda, until he hasagreed to an inclusive inter-Rwandan dialogue and a peacefully negotiated settlement of thecurrent crisis among Rwandans across the entire political spectrum, so that we can lay thefoundations for a better, safer, stronger Rwanda tomorrow.Sincerely,

Paul RusesabaginaCC:- Pope Benedict XVI, Rome- Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, London- Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, United Nations- José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain- Jean Ping, African Union President- U.N. Permanent Security Council Members (all)- Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State- Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, U.S. Congress- Harry Reid, Majority Leader, U.S. Senate- Robert Zoellick, President, World Bank- Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director, IMF- Secretary General Salil Shetty, Amnesty International- Executive Director Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch- Executive Director Maja Daruwala, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative- President and CEO Louise Arbour, International Crisis Group- Media Outlets