ID

149613

Etiquetas

PREL, PHUM, MASS, KLIG, OFDP, RW, SP

Fecha

2008-04-11 15:41:00

RefID

08MADRID409

Origen

Embassy Madrid

Clasificación

CONFIDENTIAL

Destino

08KIGALI227

08KIGALI237

08KIGALI246

08MADRID313

Encabezado

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R 111541Z APR 08

FM AMEMBASSY MADRID

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4597

INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0241

RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0042

RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1482

RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 7309

RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 0032

RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 0121

RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0005

RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0031

RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 3389

RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0879

RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0006

RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0079

RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0425

Contenido

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MADRID 000409

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

@ELIMINADO@

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2018

TAGS: PREL, PHUM, MASS, KLIG, OFDP, RW, SP

SUBJECT: RWANDA/SPAIN: FURTHER INFORMATION ON INDICTMENTS

REF: A. @ELIMINADO@ E-MAILS 4/13-14/08

B. USUN 297

C. KIGALI 246

D. KIGALI 237

E. KIGALI 227

F. MADRID 313

MADRID 00000409 001.2 OF 004

Classified By: ADCM Josie Shumake for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1. (C) SUMMARY: Post offers the following answers in

response to ref A questions from Department regarding the

Spanish indictment of 40 Rwandan military officers. END

SUMMARY.

2. (C) WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JUDGE ANDREU AND THE

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE? Judge Andreu is completely independent

of the Ministry of Justice, and the MOJ cannot exert

influence over his investigation or findings. Requests for

Interpol red notices go through the Ministry of Justice as a

matter of administrative procedure, but the MOJ does not have

the ability to refuse or deny the requests.

3. (C) WHAT IS THE ATTITUDE OF THE GOS ABOUT THE INDICTMENT?

Per ref F and previous, Spanish MFA Deputy DG for

Sub-Saharan Africa told Poloff that the GOS does not support

the indictments but can do nothing to stop them.

4. (C) IS THERE ANYTHING THE GOS COULD/MIGHT DO TO ALLEVIATE

/ MINIMIZE THE EFFECT OF THE INDICTMENTS? The GOS has

historically claimed impotence in influencing the independent

judiciary in other cases, including Pinochet, Couso and

Rumsfeld indictments. Furthermore, because 15 of the

indicted individuals are wanted in connection with the death

of Spanish citizens, the government could face public

criticism both for "meddling" in judicial affairs, and for

"protecting" killers of Spaniards. Therefore, we think such

intervention unlikely.

5. (C) PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFO ABOUT THE NGO BEHIND THE

INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION. IS IT ALL/MOSTLY PEOPLE

RELATED TO / ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPANIARDS WHO WERE KILLED OR

IS IT RWANDAN EXILES? The NGO is Veritas Rwanda Forum

(www.veritasrwandaforum.org). It's full name is Forum

Internacional para la Verdad y la Justicia en el Africa de

los Grandes Lagos (International Forum for Truth and Justice

in Great Lakes Africa). Its leadership is comprised of

Spaniard Juan Carrero Saralegui, Spaniard Jordi Palou

Loverdos, Spaniard (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Adolfo

Perez Esquivel, American and former Congresswoman Cynthia

McKinney, Spaniard Irma Rognoni Viader, and Spaniard Federico

Mayor Zaragoza. It was founded in March 2000. The group

filed their lawsuit with Judge Andreu on February 22, 2005,

claiming they had 40 witnesses who could attribute the deaths

of the Spanish citizens to the RPF. Jordi Palou is the

group's legal representative and spokesman. Most of the

witnesses who are cited in the indictment are in fact Rwandan

exiles. Post cannot speak to their legitimacy and would

defer to AF.

6. (C) WHAT HAS BEEN THE REACTION TO THE INDICTMENT IN THE

SPANISH PRESS / PUBLIC AND FROM THE GOS? The indictments

have received international and Spanish press, but little

since the announcement other than the reporting of President

Kagame's statements condemning the indictments. There are no

media updates on the status of the prosecution's efforts or

anything to that effect. Veritas Rwanda Forum led a

demonstration in Brussels after the indictment's

announcement. The GOS has made no public comment about the

indictments. The Forum's spokesman Jordi Palou published an

op-ed March 21 in left of center daily EL PAIS entitled

"Rwanda: nine voices that can no longer be silenced" in

MADRID 00000409 002.2 OF 004

7. (C) IS THERE MORE INTEREST IN SOME INDIVIDUALS INDICTED

THAN OTHERS? THE UNAMID DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERAL KARAKE?

FOR THE ONES WHO ARE INDICTED DIRECTLY IN CONNECTION WITH THE

DEATHS OF THE SPANISH CITIZENS? WHAT ABOUT THE ONES WHO ARE

GENERALLY ACCUSED OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY / GENOCIDE,

WITHOUT SPECIFIC INCIDENTS? Fifteen of the forty indictees

(#'s 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 29)

are wanted for the murder of the nine Spanish citizens.

These would naturally be of greater interest. Karake, who is

defendant #4, is not sought in connection with the Spaniards,

but he is sought for a series of other crimes and alleged

massacres. Palou was quoted in an August 2007 article in The

Guardian as opposing the UN appointment of Karake to

UNAMID/AMIS.

8. (C) WHAT ARE THE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IMPLICATIONS OF THE

CASE IF ANY OF THE INDICTEES TRAVEL TO THE U.S.? Veritas

Rwanda Forum already seems to accept as dogma that the

current GOR enjoys the protection of the USG, so travel to

the U.S. would only confirm these theories. It would not

look good if any of the indictees were to receive U.S.-funded

training, etc. It would be especially awkward if it were one

of the 15 who are sought in connection with the death of

Spaniards. It would be a serious problem if the USG failed

to honor a red notice, provisional arrest request, or

extradition request for one of the 15 indictees sought for

murdering the Spaniards, especially with respect to other

ongoing bilateral extradition and judicial matters.

9. (C) WHAT ARE THE POLICY IMPLICATIONS? We are currently

following several important bilateral judicial cases - the

pending extradition from Spain of notorious arms dealer

Monzer Al-Kassar being the most important. A U.S. failure to

produce a third-country individual wanted in connection with

the death of a Spanish citizen could have an adverse impact

on our attempt to extradite Al-Kassar, a Syrian national,

from Spain. In addition, Spain has outstanding arrest

warrants for three U.S. soldiers who are wanted to stand

trial for the death of Spanish journalist Jos Couso (killed

in Iraq in 2003), although the U.S. military has cleared the

soldiers of any wrongdoing after a thorough investigation. A

Spanish woman is being held in contempt by a New Jersey court

over a custody dispute with her Amcit ex-husband. A separate

Spanish judge has opened a prosecution against former SecDef

Rumsfeld, although authorities have not sought his

international arrest. Additionally, ref B brings up the

possibility that General Karake's removal from UNAMID could

endanger the Rwandan commitment to Darfur PKO. Post believes

this could be a strong argument to use if Department

instructs us to weigh in with the GOS.

10. (C) PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFO ABOUT THE SPANISH JUDICIAL

PROCESS. The Spanish judiciary is completely independent

from the executive and legislative branch, and the Spanish

Constitution gives the judiciary a "universal" mandate to

prosecute human rights violations anywhere in the world. The

most famous previous attempted prosecution was of Augusto

Pinochet, and the Spanish government did not seek to

interfere with the judiciary in that case, although Pinochet

was never successfully extradited to Spain. Other cases have

included investigation of human rights abuses in Argentina

during the Dirty War and for an attack against the Spanish

Embassy in Guatemala in the 1980's. Former Secretary of

Defense Rumsfeld is also named in an active indictment over

the Iraq War. Other ongoing judicial investigations with

U.S. implications include inquiries into alleged CIA flights

MADRID 00000409 003.2 OF 004

that transited Spain as well as other DOD flights which

transited the Spanish bases of Moron and Rota. Although

judicial officials have not sought to involve Interpol in all

of these instances, government sources told Embassy officers

that they would do so in this case (ref F).

11. (C) WHAT IS THE MAGISTRATE'S FUTURE ROLE? CAN HE

REQUEST INTERPOL DIFFUSIONS ON HIS OWN? DO THEY HAVE TO GO

THROUGH THE MOJ? The procedure for seeking diffusions leads

from the indicting court through the National Police to the

Justice Ministry to Interpol, but the Justice Ministry's role

is administrative, and it cannot refuse to send the request

along. However, even if it could, we think it would be

highly unlikely to do so in this case given that 15 of the

individuals are wanted in connection with the death of

Spanish citizens. The Spanish National Police can also seek

Red Notices on their own without consulting Judge Andreu,

based on the existence of Spanish arrest warrants for the

individuals, also through the Justice Ministry. We have no

indication that they are doing so at this time. Judge Andreu

is a Magistrate in the National Court, the second highest

court in Spain. He has held the post since March 2002, and

he has been a judge in the Spanish judiciary for over 20

years.

12. (C) WHAT DISCRETION DOES THE MAGISTRATE HAVE IN DECIDING

WHETHER TO REQUEST DIFFUSIONS? The National Court has

discretion based on the known whereabouts of the particular

individual and the strength of their case. For example, an

Interpol Red Notice would be unnecessary inside the EU, since

an EU arrest order would be sufficient.

13. (C) MUST ALL INDICTED DEFENDANTS HAVE SUCH NOTICES PUT

OUT ON THEM? We do not think so, but we can hardly ask. It

is possible that the first notice requested by Spain for Mr.

Kabarebe was sent out as a trial balloon to see how Interpol

would handle the diffusions, thus avoiding potential

embarrassment for Spain if Interpol were to reject all 40

notices out of hand (ref E).

14. (C) WHAT EFFECT DOES THIS HAVE IN SCHENGEN COUNTRIES?

We believe an EU arrest order would be sufficient (and would

preclude the GOR from challenging the validity of the Red

Notice).

15. (C) WHAT DOES THE GOS KNOW ABOUT THE INVESTIGATIVE

PROCESS THAT LED TO THE INDICTMENT? Responding to informal

inquiries, MFA and judiciary officials have told Emboffs that

the investigation was very thorough, lasting over two years.

Public documents indicate that the NGO Veritas Rwanda Forum

filed a complaint with the National Court in February 2005,

and that Judge Andreu agreed to take the case the same year.

Subsequent testimony and evidence gathering lasted two years,

with over forty witnesses produced by Veritas Rwanda Forum.

MFA interlocutors have said that the GOS does not support the

indictments and believes the ICTR and other international

bodies are the appropriate fora to seek justice, although

they have also stated their commitment to justice for the

nine Spaniards killed.

16. (C) COMMENT: The GOS supports UNAMID, is committed to

peace in Africa, and has told us privately that it does not

support the indictments. Nevertheless, it will likely claim

it is powerless to control the judiciary, and we should not

expect the GOS to go out of its way to obstruct its own

courts in prosecuting the murder of Spanish citizens. We

remain concerned that a dust-up over a Spanish extradition or

provisional arrest request could cause problems for the U.S.

extradition request of Monzer Al-Kassar. As previously

stated, we have no ability to independently verify the

testimony and allegations contained in the indictment, nor

MADRID 00000409 004.2 OF 004

the credibility of the witnesses who testified. END COMMENT.

AGUIRRE;"