Rwanda genocide tribunal lawyers fear for their safety after colleague's arrest

Rwanda genocide tribunal lawyers fear for their safety after colleague's arrest
Denial of Peter Erlinder's bail prompts more than 30 defence lawyers to issue joint statement to UN court

Afua Hirsch, legal affairs correspondent

American lawyer Peter Erlinder was denied bail in Rwanda yesterday, two weeks after his arrest on charges of denying genocide. Photograph: AP/Marc Hofer

Lawyers defending suspects at the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda say they fear for their safety, after a high profile defence lawyer remained in police custody.

Peter Erlinder, a US lawyer leading the defence case of top genocide suspects, was denied bail today by the Rwanda authorities, two weeks after his arrest on charges of denying genocide.

The arrest has prompted other defence lawyers at the UN tribunal, which sits in Arusha, Tanzania, to refuse to participate in proceedings. In a joint statement to the court and the UN security council, seen by the Guardian, more than 30 defence lawyers have said they fear for their own safety and have demanded Erlinder's immediate release.

"We hereby resolve to postpone all activities, other than those which strictly conserve the interests of our mandates, until such time as the minimum conditions or the normal exercise of our missions have been restored by the removal of threats," the statement says. "[We are] aware of the dangers which immediately and directly threaten most of our number."

The Guardian has learned that the tribunal launched contempt proceedings against another American defence lawyer, Peter Robinson, after he stated his intention to withdraw from the case due to Erlinder's continued detention.

The treatment of defence lawyers has prompted widespread international condemnation, with the US government calling for Erlinder's release.

The case is also likely to place pressure on the UK authorities, including the Crown Prosecution Service, which has been providing assistance to Rwanda prosecutors to facilitate the extradition of genocide suspects currently residing in the UK.

Experts say the incident undermines negotiations surrounding the international criminal court, under way in Kampala. "How can international criminal courts operate effectively if defence lawyers are at risk of being arrested for what they say on behalf of their clients?" said Amanda Pinto QC, Bar Council representative at the International Criminal Bar. "This affects all defence lawyers at the ICTR, but the issues are potentially the same for defence counsel anywhere in the international forum."

The case also comes amid increasing concern about freedom of information in Rwanda, after two main opposition newspapers – Umuvugizi and Umuseso – were targeted with a number of libel and privacy cases, and prohibited from publishing until after the coming elections.

The Rwandan government has continued to defend its decision to detain Erlinder. "It is an act of justice," foreign affairs minister Louise Mushikiwabo said in a statement. "Flagrant and orchestrated breaches of our genocide ideology laws will be met with the full force of the law."

Source: Erlinder did not make suicide attempt

Source: Erlinder did not make suicide attempt

Peter Erlinder, the St. Paul law professor jailed in Rwanda, did not try to commit suicide in his jail cell -- nor did he make a confession that police have alleged, a source close to Erlinder told the Star Tribune from Rwanda on Wednesday.

By RANDY FURST and PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: June 2, 2010 - 4:38 PM

Print this storyPrint this story
E-mail this storyE-mail this story
Save to del.icio.usSave to del.icio.us
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on DiggShare on Digg
Follow local news on TwitterFollow local news on Twitter
More from Local + Metro

* Chaudhary unanimously reprimanded by colleagues
* Minnesota nurses, hospitals resume talks
* Chaudhary reprimanded over walleye rule
* MN DNR officers educate anglers about fish virus
* Police: US lawyer held in Rwanda attempts suicide

Peter Erlinder, the St. Paul law professor jailed in Rwanda, did not try to commit suicide in his jail cell -- nor did he make a confession that police have alleged, a source close to Erlinder told the Star Tribune from Rwanda on Wednesday.

"It is complete poppycock," said the source in a telephone interview from Rwanda, directly refuting a claim made earlier Wednesday by Rwandan police.

Erlinder was arrested last Friday on allegations that he has denied the 1994 Rwanda genocide. He traveled to the African nation to represent opposition presidential candidate Victoire Iganbire, who also has been charged with promoting "genocide ideology."

Relatives and others who know the William Mitchell Law School professor scoffed at the notion that Erlinder would attempt suicide. "He is not the type of person that would commit suicide, not under these circumstances," said Scott Erlinder, his brother, who lives in Chicago.

Rwandan police held a news conference Wednesday, claiming that when they checked Erlinder in his jail cell on Wednesday morning, he was slumped over and nearly unconscious. The police claimed Erlinder had swallowed 45 to 50 pills. Police said they intervened before the pills could take effect and took him to a hospital.

The source told the Star Tribune that Erlinder was in the hospital now and described his condition as "fine." Said the source: "He is healthy." He said Erlinder was taken to the hospital because he was feeling ill, perhaps from extremely uncomfortable conditions in jail. "He has a foam mattress on a dirt floor with no pillow and one sheet and no mosquito net," the source said.

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 612-673-7382

Free the US Lawyer Prof Peter Erlinder

Free Peter Erlinder
Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 15:30:40 -0500 (CDT)
From: wamm@mtn.org
Subject: [Women Against Military Madness] Action Alert-Peter Erlinder arrested

National Lawyers Guild Demands Immediate Release of Attorney Peter Erlinder Vigorous Legal Advocate Arrested in Rwanda

For Immediate Release: May 28, 2010

Contact: David Gespass, 205-566-2530
Heidi Boghosian, 917-239-4999

New York - The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) demands the immediate release of its former president, Professor Peter Erlinder, whom Rwandan Police arrested early today on charges of "genocide ideology." He had traveled to Rwanda's capital, Kigali, on May 23, to join the defense team of Rwandan presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza. Erlinder is reportedly being interrogated at the Rwandan Police Force's Kacyiru headquarters.

Professor Erlinder has been acting in the best tradition of the legal profession and has been a vigorous advocate in his representation of Umuhoza. There can be no justice for anyone if the state can silence lawyers for defendants whom it dislikes and a government that seeks to prevent lawyers from being vigorous advocates for their clients cannot be trusted. The entire National Lawyers Guild is honored by his membership and his courageous advocacy," said David Gespass, the Guild's president.

Erlinder traveled to Kigali after attending the Second International Criminal Defense Lawyers' Conference in Brussels. Since his arrival in Kigali, the state-sponsored Rwandan media has been highly critical of Erlinder. The Rwandan Parliament adopted the "Law Relating to the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Ideology" (Genocide Ideology Law), on July 23, 2008. It defines genocide ideology broadly, requires no link to any genocidal act, and can be used to include a wide range of legitimate forms of expression, prohibiting speech protected by international conventions such as the Genocide Convention of 1948 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966.

Sarah Erlinder, Arizona attorney and NLG member said, "My father has made a career defending unpopular people and unpopular speech - and is now being held because of his representation of unpopular clients and analysis of an historical narrative that the Kagame regime considers inconvenient.
We can help defend his rights now by drawing U.S. government and media attention to his situation and holding the Rwandan government accountable for his well-being."

Before leaving for Brussels and then Kigali, Professor Erlinder notified the U.S. State Department, his Minnesota Congressional Representative Betty McCullom, Representative Keith Ellison, and Minnesota Senators Al Franken and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Professor Erlinder is a professor of law at the William Mitchell College of Law. He is a frequent litigator and consultant, often pro bono, in cases involving the death penalty, civil rights, claims of government and police misconduct, and criminal defense of political activists. He is also a frequent news commentator. Erlinder was president of the National Lawyers Guild from 1993-1997, and is a current board member of the NLG Foundation. He has been a defense attorney at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda since 2003.

The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state. # # #

Call and demand the immediate release of Professor Peter Erlinder:

Senator Al Franken (202) 224-5641 Or send an email at
http://franken.senate.gov/contact/

Senator Amy Klobuchar 202-224-3244 Fax: 202-228-2186 Or send an email at
http://klobuchar.senate.gov/emailamy.cfm?contactForm=emailamy&submit=Go

Representative Keith Ellison 202-225-4755 Or send an email at
http://forms.house.gov/ellison/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Representative Betty McCullom (202) 225-6631 Fax: (202) 225-1968 Or send
an email at http://forms.house.gov/mccollum/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Rwandan police arrest US lawyer Prof Peter Erlinder

By EDMUND KAGIRE AND PATRICK CONDON (AP)

KIGALI, Rwanda — An American lawyer helping defend a Rwandan presidential hopeful against charges that include promoting a genocidal ideology was arrested Friday and charged with genocide denial, police said.

The U.S. National Lawyers Guild demanded Peter Erlinder's immediate release and said the government was trying to hamstring the legal defense of Victoire Ingabire, an opposition leader running against President Paul Kagame in Aug. 9 elections.

Kagame has been lauded abroad for social and economic reforms and is expected to win another seven-year term but human rights groups say his administration has an ironclad hold on power and quashes opposing views.

"There can be no justice for anyone if the state can silence lawyers for defendants whom it dislikes and a government that seeks to prevent lawyers from being vigorous advocates for their clients cannot be trusted," said David Gespass, the president of The U.S. National Lawyers Guild.

Rwanda's 1994 genocide claimed the lives of more than 500,000 people, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The massacres ended when mostly Tutsi rebels led by Kagame defeated the mostly Hutu extremist perpetrators.

Ingabire, a Hutu, returned to Rwanda in January to contest elections after 16 years of living abroad. She says she returned to Rwanda because the country needs an open discussion to promote reconciliation.

She immediately visited a memorial to Tutsis killed in the 1994 genocide and asked why Hutus who also died weren't remembered. She was arrested and freed on bail but her passport was seized and she cannot leave Kigali. If convicted, Ingabire, 41, could be sentenced to more than two decades in prison.

Her case has become a test of where Rwanda stands in its effort to move past the genocide — and how much freedom the government will allow.

Erlinder is the president of an association of defense lawyers at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda that is trying the masterminds of the 1994 genocide. He is also a law professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He came to Rwanda four days ago and "has been publicly saying that there was no genocide in Rwanda," said police spokesman Eric Kayiranga.

"It has nothing to do with diplomacy, it is totally a criminal case," said Kayiranga when asked whether the arrest could cause a diplomatic spat with the U.S.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said her office is working with the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda to make sure that Erlinder "is treated well and that the legal process works quickly and fairly so he can come home."

Klobuchar said Friday she has spoken to U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda W. Stuart Symington, a longtime friend, and he told her that embassy officials met with Erlinder soon after his arrest and reported that he is in good health.

"I know Professor Erlinder as a long-standing member of Minnesota's legal community. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family," Klobuchar said in a statement.

Steve Linders, the spokesman for William Mitchell College of Law, said that officials at the school were in contact with the U.S. State Department and the offices of several Minnesota members of Congress "trying to get facts in place and monitor the situation."

"Our primary concern is obviously for Professor Erlinder's safety, and we're hoping the situation is resolved fairly as well as promptly," Linders said.

Linders said Erlinder's work in Rwanda was not sponsored by the school, but said William Mitchell professors have a long history of outside legal work for a variety of causes.

A lawyer since 1979, Erlinder, 62, has been on the William Mitchell faculty since 1982. He has worked as a litigator or legal consultant on numerous high-profile cases involving the death penalty, civil rights, alleged government or police misconduct and defense of political activism.

The St. Paul resident assisted in the legal defense of Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, a Canadian citizen who in 2009 pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis to aiding al-Qaida. He also represented Sami al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor who pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiring to aid terrorists.

Last November, Erlinder traveled to the Netherlands in order to aid in the defense of a Somali man from Minneapolis being held there on U.S. terrorism charges. He also recently advised Chippewa Indian bands in northern Minnesota in a dispute over treaty fishing rights.

Linders said Erlinder has worked on legal issues involved Rwanda for some time, and had traveled to the country prior to his current trip.

The U.S. State Department said in a March report on Rwanda that citizens' rights to change their government are "effectively restricted" and cited limits on freedoms of speech, press and judicial independence.

Associated Press writer Patrick Condon in Minneapolis contributed to this report.