Peter Erlinder
Denialist
Prof. Peter Erlinder Speaks on Rwanda Genocide
9 February 2011
Professor Peter Erlinder is
an international criminal defence attorney, human rights lawyer. and former
prisoner in Rwanda, who is still wanted by the Rwandan government of President
Paul Kagame, for disputing its official history of the Rwanda Genocide. In
January, he began a speaking tour of the US, which coincided with DePaul
University’s Journal of Social Justice’s publication of a selection of original
UN documents and evidence supporting his analysis of what actually happened at
the time of the epic massacres now widely known as the Rwanda Genocide. His
presentation drew on his experience as a UN-ICTR defense lawyer and as a Rwandan
prisoner.
When Professor Erlinder was in New York City to speak at several
universities, and the Brecht Forum, I interviewed him about how the US
manipulates the international criminal tribunals, including the International
Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR),
and how this affects the people of East/Central Africa, in particular. Erlinder
explained that the ICTR has become a victor’s tribunal serving U.S.
geo-political interests and that it therefore impedes reconciliation between
African peoples of the region, and how this may affect the long-term interests
of the American people. We also talked about the UN documents which formed the
basis of his new publication, and about his life altering experience as a
prisoner in Rwanda.
Peter Erlinder was President of the National Lawyers Guild from 1993 to 1997,
and he has served as President of the Association Des Avocats de la Defense (ADAD),
the UN-ICTR defense lawyers associations in Arusha, TZ. He is a founding member
of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms and the Minnesota Bill of
Rights Defense Coalition, established to defend the civil liberties of Muslims.
He pioneered defense of Vietnam Veterans with PTSD facing the death penalty, and
has represented many Native American, civil rights, and political activists
facing misuse of government power, including Palestinian activist Dr. Sami al
Arian and the Cuban-5.
In May 2010, he was imprisoned in Rwanda while defending Rwandan presidential
candidate, Victoire Ingabire, and charged with “genocide denial” for having won
the acquittal of his ICTR client on “genocide conspiracy” charges. Many groups,
including the National Lawyers Guild, the American Bar Association, and members
of the U.S. Senate and House, and an international grassroots campaign called
for his release, which was granted on June 17, 2010.
Erlinder then returned to his position as a tenured professor at William
Mitchell College of Law, in St Paul, Minnesota. He has also held faculty
positions or lectured at the law schools of the University of Chicago, IIT
Chicago-Kent College of Law, Golden Gate University, Waseda University,
Hitosubashi University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Illinois,
Columbia University, and American University.
He has organized and stored his evidence relating to conflict in Rwanda and
the Democratic Republic of Congo in
The Rwanda
Documents Project an online archive for UN documents relating to conflict in
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
http://afrobeatradio.net/2011/02/09/prof-peter-erlinder-speaks-on-rwanda-genocide/