For more than a decade, the U.S. had a problem: three Rwandan men, sitting in jail in Virginia, who had stood accused of brutally murdering tourists in Africa—but now had a chance of winning release onto American streets
Two sources indicated to POLITICO that the Rwandan relocation was discussed as a reciprocal gesture that could nudge the swap deal along, although because of the unusual secrecy around the deal, it’s difficult to know whether the transfer of the Rwandans was explicitly included in the refugee trade-off or was arranged separately. Both sides had reason to keep it quiet: Given the Rwandans' history, any public mention of them could have dramatically reshaped perceptions of the U.S.
It was the beginning of a terrifying 18-hour ordeal. Their captors were members of the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, an offshoot of that country’s feared Interahamwe militia, who wanted the American and British governments to end their aid to the Tutsi-led government in Rwanda. The rebels seemed to have a plan to kill any American and British visitors they found, while sparing others.
“This is the punishment for the Anglo-Saxons who sold us out,” read a note left behind by the rebels at one of the murder scenes. Mark Ross, top left, survived the attack, but Rob Haubner and Susan Miller, an American couple at bottom left, were both killed. | AP A year and half later, the Justice Department announced that it was seeking the death penalty in the case, citing the “especially heinous, cruel and depraved” acts involving torture of the victims. Prosecutors said Bimenyimana, Nyaminani and Karake posed “a continuing and serious threat to the lives and safety of other persons, including … citizens of those countries which support the Rwandan government.
Prosecutors insisted that their stories were fabricated. They said American officials had already interrogated each of the suspects in Rwanda and heard only a single claim of abuse: Nyaminani claimed that on one occasion in which he had failed to confess, Kibingo hit him four or five times on the lower back with a flip-flop. Even that incident was false, prosecutors insisted.
The situation had strong parallels to military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. Perhaps the suspects were guilty of this crime, perhaps not. As members of Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, they may well have been involved in brutality, even atrocities. But the torture Huvelle concluded they suffered in custody so tainted the case against them that their responsibility for the gruesome murders in the Bwindi forest would likely never be established.
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