Professor Peter Erlinder, noted criminal defense lawyer and past
president of the National Lawyers Guild, was arrested Friday morning
in Rwanda for "genocide ideology." Erlinder's representation of
high-profile defendants before the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda (ICTR) has incurred the wrath of government officials, who have
charged him with "negation of the Tutsi genocide" for mounting
defenses of his clients that conflict with the government party line
about who was responsible for the 1994 genocide.
The Rwandan government recently blasted the U.S. government for
criticizing Rwanda's restrictions on the media and human rights
organizations in advance of the upcoming August national elections. A
Human Rights Watch researcher had been barred from the country and
several independent newspapers had been shuttered. Opposition
supporters had been attacked and jailed.
Erlinder had recently filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma against Rwandan
president Paul Kagame, which likely angered the government in Rwanda.
Erlinder had traveled to Kigali, Rwanda to represent his client,
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who is also charged with "denying
genocide." Ms. Umuhoza happens to be opposing President Kagame in the
forthcoming August elections. Since he arrived in Kigali, the
government-sponsored media there has been very critical of Erlinder.
The "Law Relating to the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
Ideology," unique to Rwanda, defines genocide broadly and does not
require that one have any link to a genocidal act. It punishes
legitimate forms of expression protected by international treaties.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the U.S. State
Department have denounced the law as a means for political repression.
In an interview shortly before he traveled to Kigali, Erlinder stated
that Ms. Umuhoza was not in Rwanda in 1994 and the charges against her
are not supported by a verdict of the ICTR.
Regardless of the merits of the case, however, it is unsupportable
that an attorney be arrested and jailed for vigorously representing
his client. In 1770, John Adams defended nine British soldiers
including a captain who stood accused of killing five Americans. No
other lawyer would defend them. Adams thought no one in a free country
should be denied the right to a fair trial and the right to counsel.
He was subjected to scorn and ridicule and claimed to have lost half
his law practice as a result of his efforts. Adams later said his
representation of those British soldiers was "one of the most gallant,
generous, manly and disinterested actions of my whole life, and one of
the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country."
Bar associations including the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) have
condemned Erlinder's arrest. "There can be no justice for anyone if
the state can silence lawyers for defendants whom it dislikes and a
government that seeks to prevent lawyers from being vigorous advocates
for their clients cannot be trusted," said NLG president David
Gespass. "Government intimidation and interference with criminal
defense lawyers is unacceptable in all its forms and it fundamentally
undermines justice," according to an NACDL press release.
Erlinder should be released immediately. He should be given immediate
access to counsel and the charges against him should be dismissed.