Sunday, May 30, 2010
Peter Erlinder
American attorney Peter Erlinder has been arrested in Rwanda for helping defend his client, presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire, against charges that she violated the country’s Genocide Ideology Law.
Ingabire, a Hutu who returned after 16 years of exile to run against President Paul Kagame, was thrown into jail after she publicly questioned why the country had not established a memorial for the Hutus who died during the 1994 genocide. Approximately 800,000 were killed during the bloodshed, mostly Tutsis. The carnage did not end until Tutsi rebels led by Kagame took control of Rwanda.
Although he has implemented social and economic reforms, Kagame also has been accused of crushing dissenting views while maintaining his grip on the presidency.
Like his client, Erlinder has been accused of committing genocide ideology. The U.S. National Lawyers Guild has called for the release of Erlinder, who previously served as president of the organization. He also has been a defense attorney at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda since 2003.
His daughter, attorney Sarah Erlinder, said: “My father has made a career defending unpopular people and unpopular speech—and is now being held because of his zealous representation and his analysis of an historical narrative that the Kagame regime considers inconvenient.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Rwandan Police Arrest US Lawyer (by Edmund Kagire and Patrick Condon, Associated Press)
U.S. Lawyer Wrongly Arrested in Rwanda (by Heidi Boghosian, National Lawyers Guild)
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