The president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame and his close associates in the government are facing a Tsunami of thoughts over a report published by a UN Group of Experts coordinated by Steve Hege.
Paul Kagame and his gangs have embarked on a campaign to dishonor Steve Hege’s report as well as him. Their ridiculous arguments towards the report are unfounded and misleading as they try to piece togather his( if there in any) involvement with Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
As reported by allAfrica.com; Credibility of Mr Hege, the coordinator of the experts group, started to crumble after several publications he authored, were widely circulated. On one hand, the publications depict loath for Rwanda’s leadership and on the other admiration and sympathy for the FDLR militia.
Implicating or linking him with FDLR is a last resort that the president hopes will draw sympathy from the rest of the world. It is no doubt the worst PR campaign so far done for the tine East African country.
Whether the report is not accurate or not it is a clear-cut that Rwanda has a hand in the current mess in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
From the look of things, Paul Kagame and his crew are scrambling for the last scraps in order to save themselves from going to The Hague, Netherlands.
JD Mwiseneza
Johannesburg
Do you people know the process of indicting a person at the ICC? 1. An investigation is conducted. 2. Prosecutor issues an indictment. 3. Countries cooperate or not on the indictment. Rwanda is not signatory to ICC and as of now there is no investigation against President Kagame. Can u please try to make a difference between wishful thinking and the reality on ground? Do you know how the ICC operates ?
Karamage, thank you for your contribution, there are however a couple of details I would like to put right:
1. ICC investigations can be triggered in either of these three ways:
– By the Prosecutor him/herself (see case of Libya);
– By request of an ICC member state (see cases of Uganda or DRC);
– Or by referral by the UN Security Council (see the case of Darfur).
2. The ICC Prosecutor doesn’t issue an indictment, he/she carries out initial investigations and then makes a request to the ICC pre-Trial Chamber that decides or not to issue an arrest warrant.
3. All ICC Member States have a duty, not an option to cooperate with the Court in its investigations and prosecution proceedings.
4. Initial investigations are not public so there is no way you would know for sure there is nothing going on against Kagame.
To sum up the lot, although Rwanda is not signatory of the Rome Statute establishing the ICC, Kagame can be perfectly investigated and prosecuted by this Court, through a UN Security Council referral (check case of Sudan). I’d urge you to read the Rome Statute, it gives you all details you need as to the jurisdiction and powers of ICC.