Defense lawyers at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which has been prosecuting ringleaders of the 1994 genocide, are threatening to stop participating in cases after one of their colleagues was jailed by the Rwandan government last month.
A growing number of lawyers contend that Peter Erlinder, an American who represents a senior Rwandan Army officer accused of directing death squads, was arrested for his statements at the tribunal even though he is supposed to be protected by diplomatic immunity while working for it.
Erlinder, 62, is charged with denying Rwanda’s genocide and threatening national security through his writings and speeches. Rwanda’s government said that Erlinder’s work could “instigate riots” and “civil disobediences,” but it seems that many of the statements that the Rwandan government found objectionable were actually part of Erlinder’s work as a lawyer in the US and in Arusha, Tanzania, where the UN-backed tribunal for Rwanda is based.
So far, 11 lawyers with imminent court appearances have formally requested that the courts postpone their cases. At least 40 in total — a majority of the defense lawyers working for the tribunal — have signed a general petition saying they plan not to work unless their security can be guaranteed.
Officials from the tribunal say they doubt that the lawyers, who are paid by the UN, would pull out, but that the tribunal’s proceedings would be prolonged if that happened. Lawyers would be held in contempt — one already has been — and could face years in jail for withdrawing without court approval.
Despite assurances from Rwanda that Erlinder was not arrested for his work at the tribunal, officials at the tribunal say they also believe there is a connection. They have asked Rwanda for clarification and may bring the case in front of the UN Security Council.
“ICTR will not allow anyone to be prosecuted for the work that it has done for it,” tribunal spokesman Roland Amoussouga said.
Rwanda said the protesting lawyers were creating “deliberate confusion,” and that while it is understandable to care for a colleague, their claims were “outrageous” and “false.”
“Defense lawyers at ICTR have a job to do, and the government of Rwanda understands that,” said Louise Mushikiwabo, a government spokeswoman.
However, she said the criminal case against Erlinder was about “his role as a denier, a propagator and a mobilizer of people who diminish, distort, deny the extermination of a million Tutsi of this country.”
This is not the first time there have been tensions between Rwanda and the UN tribunal. The Rwandan government was lukewarm about the court being established in the first place, citing sovereignty and the international community’s inaction during the genocide. Since then, the Rwandans have been upset about the court’s sluggishness — only 50 trials have been completed in more than 15 years, with 42 convictions. Last year, Rwanda threatened to stop sending witnesses to Arusha after the acquittal of two leading suspects.
Differences have also grown over how wide a net the court should cast. Rwanda stopped sending witnesses to the tribunal in 2002 after the tribunal considered prosecuting possible crimes against humanity committed by Rwanda’s governing party, and the courts virtually ground to a halt. The tribunal relented later in the year, and a new prosecutor was appointed in 2003.
As Rwanda gears up for a presidential election in August, political tensions are rising. Erlinder was arrested after going to Rwanda to represent an opposition candidate, who was charged with espousing “genocide ideology” when she spoke out about atrocities that she said may have been committed by the governing party and have been overlooked.
The charges against Erlinder may stem from claims he made at the tribunal, where he argued that the members of the current government shot down a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, spontaneously setting off the genocide. Rwanda has published a report saying the former government was responsible, and many historians concur.
According to Rwanda’s prosecution, Erlinder is guilty of denying the genocide because he has implied that the genocide was not planned. The prosecution cited a lawsuit he filed in Oklahoma on behalf of the widows of the two former presidents, and it also cited a 2008 trial at the tribunal in which they say Erlinder “downplayed genocide.”
He is awaiting trial at the central prison in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital. His daughter said that he has not been able to speak to his family and that his health has taken a turn for the worse. She said her father was admitted to a hospital on Wednesday last week for the third time since his arrest.
Defense lawyers in Arusha worry that Rwanda’s laws, which critics say are intentionally vague, could be used against them, too.
“I don’t want to resign; I want the ICTR to guarantee our rights,” said Frederic Weyl, a French attorney who filed a second appeal for postponement this week.
Weyl said that because of remarks he made during a legal conference in Paris in 2002 about the rights of the accused to question charges, the Rwandan government considered him a “negationist.”
“If I had a mission to Kigali, perhaps I can be in the same situation as Erlinder,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
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