Why the Peter Erlinder case and H.R. 1426 matter

I hope that by now all DUers have at least heard something about the political prisoner case of Peter Erlinder in Rwanda. For those who haven't, the brief version is that Professor Peter Erlinder, long-time defense attorney and head of the defense section for the International Criminal Tribunal in Rwanda (the U.N. tribunal investigating genocide war crimes), was recently allowed back into Rwanda by the government then arrested and charged with "genocide ideology." Rwandan law defines genocide ideology so broadly that it is can be described as Orwellian thoughtcrime. The law can be – and is – used to prohibit virtually any legitimate free expression that is unfavorable to current President Kagame, and is even being used to shut down media outlets ahead of the August elections. Making him even more of a target to the corrupt Rwandan regime, Erlinder had recently filed suit against Kagame in the U.S. for his role in the assassination of former President Habyarimana and President Ntaryamira, and was defending an opposition party candidate on illegitimate charges of (you guessed it) genocide ideology that were brought to destroy her presidential bid. In dirty politics at its worst, Erlinder has been jailed and denied bail based on articles and talks he gave about the Rwandan genocide and ICTR cases while in the U.S., not even on Rwandan soil. The State Department has called for his release (somewhat weakly), as well as the American Bar Association, National Lawyers Guild, International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Society of American Law Teachers, and many others. (More detail at http://allafrica.com/stories/201006030919.html, with links to updates in the saga.)

Today, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) has offered H.Res. 1426 (http://africannewsanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/06/house-bill-introduced-to-demand.html) to demand the release of Erlinder.

The case is important for a number of reasons beyond the simple human rights issue of getting Peter Erlinder out of a Rwandan prison for doing his job as an attorney in a supposedly democratic African state. The U.S. has given Rwanda $1.034 BILLION in foreign aid since 2000, and an additional $240,200,000 is slated for the 2011 budget. Not only are we bankrupting the U.S. on foreign wars, but on supporting corrupt regimes like Kagame's. NGOs have been calling for election observers in what is expected to be a very questionable presidential poll. The State Department and the ICTR has so far been unwilling to strongly speak out on behalf of a U.S. citizen, legally in Rwanda to do human rights work including under U.N. auspices. Other U.N. defense attorneys at the ICTR have already postponed their clients' hearings out of fear that they, too will be charged with genocide ideology simply for doing their jobs.

I urge everyone here to call their congresscritter to support H. Res. 1426 and educate their office about the case, and to contact their senators about offering a similar senate resolution. Calls to the State Department and Rwandan embassy are also helpful.

"genocide ideology." Rwandan law defines genocide ideology so broadly that it is can be described as Orwellian thoughtcrime.