Organization For Peace Justice & Development in Rwanda, (OPJDR) Inc.
Her Excellency Ms. Condoleezza Rice U.S. Secretary of State State Department Washington, DC 20520
Organisation Pour la Paix, la Justice et le Développement au Rwanda, (OPJDR) Inc.
July 7, 2008 Nº: 020/JPK/067
Her Excellency, It is with a great desolation and regret that the Organization for Peace, Justice and Development in Rwanda (OPJDR) learned that the State Department of the United States of America has urged the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to renew the contract of Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Karenzi Karake, the Deputy Force Commander for the AU/UN Hybrid Force in Darfur (UNAMID. According to The Washingtonpost dated June 29,2008, the request to extend Karenzi’s contract was forwarded by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer. Her Excellency, while we believe that it is not an easy task to assemble a solid team that can sustain a United Nations mandate effectively when it comes to peace keeping operations in an area as dangerous as Darfur, but we also believe that the selection of its commanders should be as careful and highly critical not to compromise the credibility of the mission itself. Sustainable peace can never be built on a foundation of impunity for the crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As you recall, many crimes allegedly committed by Major General Karenzi Karake himself or with the men in his command, have been well documented by independent sources including United Nations investigators, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the US Department of States itself. We would like to just focus on two areas where mass killings have taken place while Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Karenzi Karake was the regional commander: 1. In June 2000, according to a UN inter-agency assessment mission, more than 760 civilians were killed and 1,700 injured during four days of battle between the Rwandan and Ugandan army in the town of Kisangani located in the Northeastern of The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Press accounts identify General Karake as the commanding officer of Rwandan troops who performed the massacres. 2. On April 22, 1995, a score of local Rwandan Human Rights organizations and United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR II) account that Major General Emmanuel Karenzi Karake directed the military assault conducted against Kibeho refugees camp in Southwest of Rwanda that killed 8,000 internally displaced people, most them women, elderly and children. On January 21, 2008 a Spanish magistrate, Judge Fernando ANDREU MERELLES, of the Central Court in Madrid, after several years of investigations on crimes committed by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) and its military wing Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA), in 1990s in Rwanda and DRC, indicted 40 high ranked officers including Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Karenzi Karake and international arrest warrants have been issued. 5830 West Thunderbird Rd, Ste B8-PMB207 Glendale, AZ 85306 PHONE: (603) 413-5510 & (602) 412-3787 www.opjdr.org OPJDR is non-profit and apolitical. Its mission is to promote the respect of human rights and Cultural, educational, and economic development in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
The Spanish investigations concluded that these 40 Rwandan military officers, while heading the politico military organization RPF/RPA, were responsible of numerous crimes, war crimes and genocides against civilian population of Rwanda and Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and 9 Spanish citizens on missionary and humanitarian missions in the region from 1990 to 2004. OPJDR is concerned that Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Karenzi Karake could abuse his diplomatic immunity to evade justice. Her Excellency, we urge you to uphold the high standard in helping choose peace keeping leaders who have demonstrated high regards and strict adherence to the international humanitarian law. Our organization believes that it is crucial that all these serious accusations against Maj. Gen. Karake should rather be brought to justice before he can be considered as a person to take such responsibility as leading a peace keeping force. We are encouraged by the continuous aid US provides to the people of Rwanda but at the same time, we are deeply preoccupied by the continuous political and military support the US continue to provide to General Kagame regime who is being consistently accused of crimes of war and genocide. Detail investigations by an independent body such as the United Nations should take place. These accusations against Maj. Gen. Karake and the US subsequent support in his tenure extension of the position in the UN will certainly erode the US and UN reputation as well as soldiers serving in the crucial peacekeeping mission in Darfur. We thank you for your understanding and look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely; Pascal Kalinganire General Coordinator CC: His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-Moon Secretary General of the United Nations UN Plaza, S-3800 New York, NY 10017 USA Honorable Mr. Alain Le Roy Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations UN Plaza, S-3800 New York, NY 10017 USA
5830 West Thunderbird Rd, Ste B8-PMB207 Glendale, AZ 85306 PHONE: (603) 413-5510 & (602) 412-3787 www.opjdr.org OPJDR is non-profit and apolitical. Its mission is to promote the respect of human rights and Cultural, educational, and economic development in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
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