Plea for Justice, Fairness and an End to the Culture of Impunity

To: US President-Elect, Mr. Barack Obama

October 25, 2008

Dear President-Elect Obama,

Rwandan Americans, Rwandans, friends of Rwanda and world citizens fromvarious parts of the world would like to congratulate you on yourimpressive campaign and win. Many of us who are Americans showed oursupport by casting our votes for you in the 2008 Presidential Election.Furthermore, we are proud to have you as our representative in the USand in the world. We have heard your message of hope and change, and webelieve that it is time in our American History, as well as WorldHistory for real change. We look forward to change with meaning andpurpose. Hope that will fulfill its promises, and bring the world muchcloser to justice and peace.We are also united in asking, and urging that as president you willhelp alleviate the politically inflicted suffering of the people ofRwanda by urgently and aggressively demanding investigation into thecatalyst for the Rwandan genocide in 1994. It is widely believed thatsuch carnage was sparked by the assassination of the former RwandanPresident, Juvenal Habyarimana, along with Burundian President CyprienNtaryamira. While many crimes from the genocide have been investigated,convicted, and prosecuted, the culprits of this major crime continue tolive among the world's population with impunity.

We hope and urge that you will be committed to ending the culture of impunity for all of those who committed genocide and massacres in Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These genocide and war crimes started with the invasion of Rwanda, a sovereign nation, in 1990 and culminated in the explosion of violence and massacres in 1994. In addition, this conflict resulted in the spread of violence from Rwanda which spilled into the Congo. It is estimated today that between four and five million Congolese lives have been lost. As of today, no successful investigation has been conducted to establish and bring to justice those who committed these war crimes and crimes against humanity. We hope that all culprits will be brought to justice, without exception, including those who may currently be in hiding or may hold government positions.

We hope and urge that through your commitment to searching for truth, the Rwandan and Congolese Communities will recover hope and reassurance of justice. Once this is achieved, these countries can serve as models for what is possible when fear and hopelessness are replaced by hope. Through this process, peace resulting from fairness can be attained. Therefore, we ask that you will put pressure on any institutions that deny those accused their rights to challenge allegations levied against them. Such disregard for individuals rights has in many cases resulted in the detention, imprisonment, and execution of innocent people. We hope that you will encourage the adoption of a system that allows both prosecution and defense to look into all circumstances surrounding these war crimes and crimes against humanity.

We hope that by holding the judicial systems involved to higher standards, they will be forced to create balance and reduce the disparities among the one sided nature of those prosecuted for culpability. We believe that accountability will further challenge the culture of impunity that exists while simultaneously absolving innocent people who may be caught in the judicial bureaucracy. We hope and urge that you will demand from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Tanzania, the Rwandan judiciary institutions including the Gacaca trial system to implement a free, fair and balanced justice system.

There are thousands of people who have been imprisoned for over a decade in Rwanda and outside of Rwanda, under the accusation and prosecution of having committed genocide crimes. However, 14 years later, no efforts have been made to establish facts and hold accountable those who triggered the genocide by assassinating the two African Heads of State. We hope that you will commit to investing your time in a successful, unbiased, transparent, truthful, and comprehensive investigation.

Below are the names of people who support these efforts, and who hope that you will do all you can, to show the world real truth, and justice, through Rwanda and Congo as models.

Thank You.

United Citizens for Peace and Justice