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Rwanda complains after spy chief is held in London over alleged war crimes Rwanda complains after spy chief is held in London over alleged war crimes
(about 1 hour later)
Rwanda’s foreign minister has criticised the arrest of the country’s intelligence chief in London by British police acting on behalf of authorities in Spain. Rwanda has angrily condemned the arrest of the country’s intelligence chief, Karenzi Karake, by British authorities acting on a Spanish indictment.
Louise Mushikiwabo said on Twitter that the incident was an outrage and that “western solidarity in demeaning Africans is unacceptable”. Louise Mushikiwabo, the Rwandan foreign minister, tweeted: “Western solidarity in demeaning Africans is unacceptable!!” She suggested the arrest was a conspiracy by those who deny the 1994 genocide. “It is an outrage to arrest Rwandan official based on pro-genocidaires lunacy!”
Rwanda said it had sought an explanation from London following the arrest of Karenzi Karake, according to reports in Kigali. Mushikiwabo also described the arrest warrant as preposterous.
“We are handling the matter with the UK government. They have better details on this evolving situation,” said the justice minister, Johnston Busingye, according to Rwanda’s New Times newspaper. Karake, 54, known as “KK”, has for two decades been a senior intelligence and military officer in the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The RPF brought an end to the genocide by Hutu extremists that left an estimated 800,000 Tutsis dead.
Karake had been on official duty in London for a week, the report added. The director general of Rwanda’s national intelligence and security services was prevented from leaving the country on Saturday morning by the Metropolitan police extradition unit. Karake and 39 others are accused of ordering revenge massacres of Hutus and the murder of three Spanish aid workers, according to a European arrest warrant issued by Spain in 2008, understood to be the basis for his detention by the Metropolitan police at Heathrow on Saturday.
A police spokesman said he was wanted in Spain in connection with war crimes against civilians. He was remanded in custody and will reappear in court on Thursday. Johnston Busingye, Rwanda’s justice minister, told the country’s New Times newspaper: “We are handling the matter with the UK government. They have better details on this evolving situation.”
Busingye was dismissive of the legal basis of the warrant. “I would be surprised if it is one the UK is acting on. We will contest in the courts. We have sought explanation from the UK on this matter as well,” he said. Karake had been on official duty in London for a week, the report added.
A Spanish judge indicted Karake in 2008 for alleged retributory war crimes in the years after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. He is accused of ordering massacres while head of Rwanda’s military intelligence between 1994 and 1997, and ordering the killing of three Spanish nationals working for the NGO Médicos del Mundo. They were allegedly murdered by four Tutsi soldiers in 1997 after they had been taken to see the mass graves of murdered Hutus. Karake is one of 40 current or former Rwandan military officials named on the indictment. Busingye dismissed the Spanish indictment as politically motivated. “I would be surprised if it is one the UK is acting on. We will contest in the courts. We have sought explanation from the UK on this matter as well.”
Karake is a leading member of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the ruling party of Rwanda, and fought in the civil war that preceded the genocide in which 800,000 Tutsi and politically moderate Hutus were killed. Williams Nkurunziza, the Rwandan high commissioner to the UK, told the BBC World Service: “We take strong exception to the suggestion that he’s being arrested on war crimes. Any suggestion that any of our 40 leaders are guilty of crimes against humanity is an insult to our collective conscience.”
He was previously the deputy commander of the UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan, a role he left in 2009. Humanitarian campaigners Human Rights Watch had protested against his appointment, accusing him of orchestrating deadly attacks against civilians when Rwandan forces were fighting Uganda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2000. Jordi Palou-Loverdos, however, a lawyer representing the Spanish victims, told the BBC’s Newsnight on Monday: “We hope in the name of the victims that this time justice will be provided and Karenzi Karake will soon be delivered to the Spanish court to have a fair trial, where he can defend himself.
Williams Nkurunziza, Rwanda’s high commissioner to the UK, told the BBC World Service the arrest was an insult. “We take strong exception to the suggestion that he’s being arrested on war crimes,” he said. “Any suggestion that any of our 40 leaders are guilty of crimes against humanity is an insult to our collective conscience.” “We hope that political or other interests will not neutralise the place for justice, truth and reparation.”
Jordi Palou-Loverdos, a lawyer representing nine Spanish massacre victims, told BBC’s Newsnight: “We hope in the name of the victims that this time justice will be provided and Karenzi Karake will soon be delivered to the Spanish court to have a fair trial, where he can defend himself. And we hope that political or other interests will not neutralise the place for justice, truth and reparation.” The arrest was also welcomed by Rwanda’s opposition FDU-Inkingi party. Its vice-president, Boniface Twagirimana, said: “It is a sign of equal justice for those who have killed innocent people. If someone has been involved in crimes against humanity, it is good if he is brought before the law to explain himself.
“It is very difficult for us to have reconciliation without this … We cannot confirm if people are guilty or innocent. That is the job of the judge to confirm.”
Andrew Mitchell, who worked closely with the Rwandan government while serving as Britain’s international development secretary, said the European arrest warrant system was being abused. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “These are politically motivated. They are not about justice, they are about politics.
Related: Rwanda genocide 20 years on: 'We live with those who killed our families. We are told they're sorry, but are they?'
“Let’s be very clear, they are being pursued by supporters of the genocidal regime which murdered up to one million people in Rwanda. It is one of the great tragedies and disgraces of our time, only 21 years ago.
“I think it is reprehensible that the European arrest warrant system should be abused in this way by a junior Spanish judge.”
A 2008 diplomatic cable sent from the US embassy in Kigali and released by WikiLeaks dismissed the Spanish indictments as “outrageous and inaccurate”.
“The Spanish indictment of 40 Rwandan military officers offers an unrecognisable version of some of the most painful and violent episodes in Rwanda’s history,” said the cable, which described the allegations as “a bloated political tract, sloppily organised and endlessly repetitive”.
Karake is a former deputy chief of the UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s Darfur region. Human Rights Watch criticised his appointment to the peacekeeping mission, alleging that he was responsible for the killing of civilians in the town of Kisangan in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in June 2000.
Karake has had mixed fortunes under president Paul Kagame’s rule. In 2010 he was placed under house arrest for misconduct, but was later released. He was a close friend of Patrick Karegeya, a former spy chief who became a dissident and was murdered in a South African hotel in late 2013.
Karake, the director-general of Rwanda’s national intelligence and security services, appeared at Westminster magistrates court in London and was remanded in custody until Thursday.
Madrid’s ability to prosecute him may be hampered by a law passed last year that severely limits judges’ ability to prosecute crimes that occur outside Spain.
Carina Tertsakian, Rwanda researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “His arrest is significant because he’s been a key senior member of Rwanda’s intelligence and military for the past 20 years. Victims of human rights violations in Rwanda have often cited his name.
“We’re going to follow it closely. It could be a really important in terms of accountability. Many senior officials in Rwanda have never been held to account.”
The Spanish linkThe Spanish link
Karake stands accused of ordering the killing of three Spaniards – Flors Sirera, Manuel Madrazo and Luis Valtueña – in 1997. All three were members of the NGO Médicos del Mundo, and were allegedly murdered by four Tutsi soldiers after they had been taken to see the mass graves of murdered Hutus. A former member of Karake’s intelligence unit testified to Spanish judge Fernando Andreu that Karake had ordered the killings because “these whites had sensitive information about the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s recent massacres”. In 2008 Andreu brought a case against Karake and 39 other military officials. Karake stands accused of ordering the killing of three Spaniards – Flors Sirera, Manuel Madrazo and Luis Valtueña – in 1997. All three were members of the NGO Médicos del Mundo, and were allegedly murdered by four Tutsi soldiers after they had been taken to see the mass graves of murdered Hutus.
Spain’s ability to pursue Karake may be hobbled by a law passed by the ruling conservative government last year that severely limits judges’ ability to prosecute crimes that occur outside Spain under a system known as universal justice. The concept of universal justice is rooted in the 1949 Geneva convention and compels any signatory to provide effective sanctions against those accused of breaching the convention. A former member of Karake’s intelligence unit testified to the Spanish judge Fernando Andreu that Karake had ordered the killings because “these whites had sensitive information about the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s recent massacres”. In 2008 Andreu brought a case against Karake and 39 other military officials.
Spain took the lead in applying universal justice after the concept was integrated into the Spanish judicial system in 1985, most famously with the arrest and attempted extradition of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London in 1988. Madrid’s ability to pursue Karake may be impeded by a law passed by the country’s conservative government last year that severely limits judges’ ability to prosecute crimes that occur outside Spain under a system known as universal justice.
The government introduced reforms to the system last year, apparently to avoid conflict with China, which had been indicted over human rights abuses in Tibet. A government spokesman said universal jurisdiction had to be abolished because “it only causes conflict”. A spokesman for Amnesty International in Spain described the reform as “a backward step” for human rights. The concept is rooted in the 1949 Geneva conventions and compels any signatory to provide effective sanctions against those accused of breaching the convention.
Not long after the law was introduced a number of international drug barons jailed in Spain successfully sued for their release, claiming that Spain had broken its own laws by acting outside its jurisdiction. Spain took the lead in applying universal justice after the concept was integrated into the Spanish judicial system in 1985, most famously with the arrest and attempted extradition of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet from London in 1988.
However, the chances of prosecuting Karake would be much greater were he extradited and made to stand trial on Spanish soil, legal experts say. The government introduced reforms to the system last year, apparently to avoid conflict with China, which had been indicted over human rights abuses in Tibet. A government spokesman said universal jurisdiction had to be abolished because “it only causes conflict”.
Four other Spaniards – Joaquim Valmajó, Servando García, Fernando de la Fuente and Isidro Uzkudun, all priests – were tortured and murdered by RPF members. The dismembered bodies of Valmajó and García were thrown into a well. A spokesman for Amnesty International in Spain described the reform as “a backward step” for human rights.
Not long after the new law was introduced, a number of international drug barons jailed in Spain successfully sued for their release, claiming that Spain had broken its own laws by acting outside its jurisdiction.
The chances of prosecuting Karake would be much greater were he extradited and made to stand trial on Spanish soil, legal experts say.
Four other Spaniards – Joaquim Valmajó, Servando García, Fernando de la Fuente and Isidro Uzkudun, all priests – were also tortured and murdered by RPF members. The dismembered bodies of Valmajó and García were thrown into a well.
Stephen Burgen in BarcelonaStephen Burgen in Barcelona