Dear Madam,

 

I am writing this letter to you in regard to the case of a Rwandan genocide suspect, Maj Pierre Claver Karangwa, who is detained in your country, The Netherlands. Despite all the incriminating evidence of his role in the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, I learnt, with shock, of your court's decision declining to extradite him to Rwanda to face his genocide related charges.

 

The reasons given for not sending him to Rwanda, especially claiming that he will not have a fair trial here, are not only unrealistic but contradictory and absurd. The Netherlands previously extradited Jean Baptiste Mugimba, Venant Rutunga and Jean Claude Iyamuremye, who were all genocide suspects. It is not clear why the issue of lack of fair trial is now raised against the case of Maj Karangwa.

 

The argument that Karangwa belongs to an ‘opposition political party’ called FDU-Inkingi and that the extradition request was sent ‘only after’ the claimed person had become active in FDU-Inkingi, is bizarre, and unthinkable.

 

How can the extradition case be based on “political affiliation” rather than on the gravity or seriousness of the crimes he is suspected to have committed or his role in Genocide as was in the previous cases?

 

Those who committed the Genocide against the Tutsi were in their hundreds of thousands. And you, being in charge of the Ministry of Justice, you surely very well know that it takes time to gather evidence and find witnesses.

 

This is what determined the timing of the extraction request rather than your assumption of the suspect being active in FDU-Inkingi as being the basis. 

 

FDU-Inkingi is not an opposition political party in Rwanda or outside Rwanda. It is an association of genocide suspects, genocide deniers and double genocide proponents. They know that in European countries when they hide behind the name of “opposition party” they get heard. And, indeed, they succeeded in their plot when you gave them recognition as a political organization. 

 

Maj Karangwa was charged for genocide; conspiracy to commit genocide; complicity in genocide; murder as a crime against humanity; extermination as a crime against humanity; violation of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions; establishing, membership in, directing and participating in a criminal organization whose purpose is to cause harm to individuals and their property.

 

These genocide crimes and belonging to an ‘opposition political party’ cannot be compared. Genocide is a crime against humanity.

 

I would also like to bring to your attention the fact that the testimonies and witnesses you relied on, are of people or organizations like Human Rights watch (HRW) known to be biased against the government of Rwanda.

 

Take the case of Prof Filip Reyntjens, a man who worked with the genocidal government of former President Juvénal Habyarimana, as one of the architects of the discriminatory constitution that paved way for the 1994 Genocide. What good can he really say about the Rwandan government? 

 

Human Rights Watch’s reports on intimidation, arbitrary deprivation of liberty and mistreatment of members of FDU-Inkingi in Rwanda are not based on facts but distortions and lies to tarnish the image of Rwanda. For more insight into the real agenda of HRW on Rwanda, I refer you to the research: “The Travesty of Human Rights Watch on Rwanda,” conducted by Richard Johnson and published on March 19, 2013.

 

The retired American diplomat reveals that: “What Human Rights Watch (HRW) does on Rwanda is not human rights advocacy. It is political advocacy which has become profoundly unscrupulous in both its means and its ends.”

 

Why does HRW do that? “HRW’s discourse on Rwanda is a threat to that country and to peace and stability in Central Africa. It discourages Western governments from doing what they should to support Rwanda’s recovery from the 1994 genocide. It perpetuates impunity for important genocide perpetrators,” says Johnson.

 

What is the evidence of Maj Karangwa's involvement in Genocide? Witnesses recount that on April 24, 1994, there was a major attack at Mugina in Mbati Cell, Mugina Sector, Kamonyi District that killed hundreds of Tutsi refugees who had taken refuge in Mugina parish. A few who had managed to get inside the church were able to survive until killers ordered them to get out. They were instantly killed.

 

During the attack, the killers said that they would not kill women and children and decided to take them to Kabgayi. Very many women and children had been wounded. When they arrived at a place called Bibungo, they met Maj Karangwa, who was then head of the National Gendarmerie Investigation Service. He asked where they were taking the Tutsi.  The killers told him that they were taking them to Kabgayi. Karangwa ordered the Tutsi to be killed on the spot. They were taken to a nearby house of a Tutsi called Moko and others were thrown alive into a pit latrine. Karangwa is the one who provided petrol to burn them in the house as well as those in the pit latrine. They were all burnt alive and no one survived.

 

This is the true account of Maj Karangwa whom you are giving protection as a “political opponent” of the Rwandan government rather than a genocide suspect whose hands are dripping with blood of countless victims. 

 

It is a shame that The Netherlands is now his safe haven, shielded him from facing justice for genocide crimes.  You may decline to send him to Rwanda, which is your choice.

 

However, as a survivor of the Genocide and someone who lost family members and friends on the orders of Maj Karangwa, with all the available incriminating evidence, I plead that he should not be released. Instead, he should be tried in the Netherlands’ courts for the crimes of genocide.

 

The Netherlands should not condone impunity on a serious crime of genocide. Genocide suspects on the run have turned to “political opposition” and “human rights activist” as cover ups for their crimes. And your decision to stop the extradition of Maj Karangwa makes your country fall into their trap.    

 

Sincerely,

 

Matilda Muberarugo

Mugina sector, Kamonyi district

 

CC:

The Netherlands Parliament

Embassy of The Netherlands- Rwanda

Embassy of Rwanda in The Netherlands