KIGALI, RWANDA on Monday issued a stern warning against those who deny the 1994 genocide, saying revisionists and ideologues engaged in the rebuff would be arrested and prosecuted.
Government spokesperson, Louise Mushikiwabo, who is also foreign affairs minister, said in a statement that laws on genocide denial in Rwanda are quite serious and are not just about politics or symbolism.
Rwanda, she said, considers the laws highly, as tools of justice.
Her remarks followed the much publicized court case of Prof. Peter Erlinder, an American lawyer who has been under detention in Rwanda for over one week, facing similar charges. He was denied bail Monday but his lawyers said they would appeal in the High Court.
“Perhaps Mr. Erlinder thought his citizenship, academic standing or media profile would protect him -why else would a law professor so knowingly and deliberately break the law by entering Rwanda?” the minister said.
Mushikiwabo rejected accusations that Erlinder’s arrest was a political tactic. It is an act of justice. If critics disagree with the Rwandan laws against the denial or defense of genocide, we invite and welcome that debate,” she said.
Erlinder is accused of genocide denial and minimizing a national tragedy in which over a million people were brutally killed. Some news outlets however put the figures lower.
“There has been a lot of theatrics surrounding this (Erlinder’s) case, not least from the defendant himself but the fundamental issue at stake is whether Rwandans believe it is permissible for genocide defenders and deniers to threaten the hard-won stability and harmony they have built in 16 years since the death of 1 million of their families, friends and neighbours,” Mushikiwabo said.
“Rwandan people overwhelmingly answer ‘no’ the right of Erlinder and his co-conspirators to peddle lies and conspiracy,” she said and added; “Their activities threaten the right for Rwandans to heal and prosper as a people.”
“What we reject is the politicization of the matter, when nothing strikes Rwandans as less political and more deeply personal that lies and distortions about our tragic and traumatic past,” Mushikiwabo says
The minister said Erlinder should have not hidden under his American citizenship to break the law by entering Rwanda.
“The Government respects the court’s ruling and has no interest in seeing Mr. Erlinder’s health suffer. He will be afforded all necessary medical and consular support, as well as full access to his legal counsel. His family should rest assured he is being kept in humane and safe conditions,”
Last week, local media here quoted Mushikiwabo as saying Rwanda would not short circuit legal procedures to release Erlinder, despite a request by the US State Department to release him on compassionate grounds.
Prior to his arrest, Prof.. Erlinder, who is also defending cases of genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, had jetted into the country as part of opposition leader, Victoire Ingabire’s defence team.
A judge has ordered a 30-day provisional detention to allow further investigations into his actions but his lawyers said they would appeal the court decision.
