PRESS RELEASE
General KARAKE KARENZI, head of the Rwandan central intelligence service, was arrested in London June 20, 2015 under an international warrant issued by Spain since 2008 for, among other things, being responsible for the killing of eight Spaniards in Rwanda (Byumba in 1994, Ruhengeri in 1997, in Gitarama in 2000) and DRC (Bukavu in 1996). He is also being prosecuted for serious crimes committed in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), crimes that the UN Mapping Report describes as war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide against the Hutu people (&500-524) . The United Democratic Forces (FDU-Inkingi) support a fair, impartial and independent justice.
In our letter of August 13, 2007, we were already stunned by the appointment of the general to the post of deputy commander of the UN force in Darfur. Our concerns were based on numerous credible witnesses, including those filed in the Spanish judge Mirelles’s dossier, as well as items in the French investigation on the attack against President Habyarimana airplane, which triggered the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Subsequently, General Karake Karenzi vacated that position under UN pressure, precisely because his name was on a list of forty persons wanted by the Spanish court for ordering massacres and assassinations. Later, he was appointed head of the Central intelligence service in Rwanda, a position he had also held previously.
The protests of President Kagame’s Government prove once again that the RPF-Inkotanyi does not shy away from its culture to advocate for RPF criminals’ impunity and that it clings to its unfair victor’s justice, pretending that these criminals are above the law. FDU-Inkingi ask the Rwandan authorities to respect the independence of the British judiciary by refraining from making any hawkish statement.
FDU Inkingi hope that this arrest will pave the way for others to finally follow suit with the very detailed mapping report, for which we are still waiting for a follow-up. For justice of the victor erected in form of a government in Rwanda will bring about no true and lasting reconciliation.
Done at London, 23 June 2015
Justin Bahunga
Commissioner for External Relations to FDU-Inkingi and Spokesman of FDU -Inkingi .
