Rwandan professor in fight for his life
By Bill Zlatos
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Photo: Munyakazi Family
Leopold Munyakazi, 49, stands with his son Herve (left), 20; wife Catherine, 48; daughter Alicia-Sarah, 6; and son Patrick, 14.
(Photo: TRIBUNE-REVIEW)
Leopold Munyakazi lived with families in the Pittsburgh area and taught French at Highlands High School in Natrona Heights (U.S State of Pennsylvania) three years ago. Now he wears a monitoring device on his ankle, cannot leave the state of Maryland and faces a deportation hearing in June for overstaying his visa. But that is the least of his problems. In his native Rwanda, he has been charged with genocide, for which he could face life imprisonment.
"How could I participate in genocide when I myself was hiding, when I myself was a target?" said Munyakazi, 49, of Towson, Md., who denies the allegations. "How could I collaborate when the killers were hunting me?"
The charges infuriate Munyakazi's Western Pennsylvania friends, who think of him and his family as their family. They are raising money for his defense.
Munyakazi's plight became a national story after an NBC news team in December burst onto the Goucher College campus in Towson where he was teaching and asked officials if they knew they had hired a man accused of genocide. Goucher suspended Munyakazi for the spring semester.
Munyakazi's Pittsburgh friends say the charges are politically inspired because he is not afraid to tell the truth.
"I wouldn't believe it for a second," said Paul Dougherty, 54, of Highland Park. "If he goes quietly into the night, they'll leave him alone. But he won't do that. He has a conscience."
Rwanda is seeking to have Munyakazi extradited. Andrew Tusabe, an official at the Rwandan embassy in Washington, declined to discuss the case. He referred comment to the Office of the Prosecutor General in Rwanda, who did not respond to an e-mail or a phone call.
Genocide or fratricide
Rwanda, a central African nation nearly the size of Maryland, has about 10.5 million people. Most are Hutus, but the minority Tutsis are perceived to have higher social status.
In April 1994, a plane carrying the country's president, a Hutu, was shot down. Tutsi rebels were suspected, and Hutus rampaged. The country erupted in a 100-day bloodbath. About 800,000 people died, mostly Tutsis.
Munyakazi is a Hutu married to a Tutsi. He says he's a controversial figure in his home country because he criticized both groups and was imprisoned by the Tutsi-backed government from 1994 to 1999 without being charged.
"Some of us were called outside the prison to be beaten, especially the intellectuals," he recalled. "Many died of diarrhea, cholera. Many ... died of gangrene because we couldn't move."
He attended an education conference in Atlanta in 2004 and applied for political asylum. He moved to Pittsburgh that December after learning some Rwandans lived here, including his wife's distant cousin.
Munyakazi's problems began after he took teaching jobs at Montclair State University in New Jersey and, later, Goucher College.
Both positions came with the help of the Scholar Rescue Fund, a program in New York City that gives fellowships to scholars threatened in their home countries.
During an Oct. 25, 2006, speech at the University of Delaware, Munyakazi contended mass killings in Rwanda should not be called "genocide." In Rwanda, it is a crime to deny that genocide took place.
Munyakazi said he is not denying the killings, but argues that Hutus and Tutsis are social, not ethnic, groups. He considers the murders "fratricide," the killing of brother against brother.
Munyakazi repeated his argument during a Nov. 15, 2006, lecture at Montclair State attended by the Rwandan ambassador to the United States.
He also says Tutsis and Hutus are equally guilty in the killings, a position he admits is controversial and puts him at odds with many accounts that place blame on Hutus.
"Both sides were killing people who did not share their opinion," he said.
Rwanda issued an arrest warrant Nov. 10, 2006, after his first speech and a second warrant Sept. 18. The government indicted him Oct. 20. The charges include genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, denial of genocide and crimes against humanity, according to documents he said he obtained from Goucher College and read to the Tribune-Review.
The school declined to release the documents to the newspaper.
The Scholar Rescue Fund did a background check on Munyakazi before offering him the fellowship, said Henry Jarecki, co-founder and chairman. It knew he was in a Rwandan prison, but found no accusations of genocide.
The Associated Press reported in February that Alison Des Forges, senior adviser to the Africa division of Human Rights Watch, reviewed a copy of the indictment and said it contained details that did not "fit historical facts of the time." For example, it was unlikely that Munyakazi organized a militia associated with a party that opposed the party he was affiliated with, Des Forges said.
"You have to ask whether the rest of the indictment is careless of those kinds of facts," she told the wire service.
Des Forges died in a Feb. 12 plane crash near Buffalo.
Brilliant, eloquent man
Munyakazi worked as a waiter and lived above a former Indian restaurant in Highland Park when he met Dougherty. The two became friends, and Dougherty invited him to live with his family.
"He's one of the gentlest, humblest guys you'll ever meet," Dougherty said.
Through Dougherty, Munyakazi became friends with Jim and Nancy Lutz of Mt. Lebanon.
"His kids call us grandma and grandpa," said Jim Lutz, 70, a retired teacher in the Mt. Lebanon School District, who describes Munyakazi as a brilliant, eloquent man who perseveres because of faith in God.
Lutz drove him to job interviews, including one with Highlands School District. Spokeswoman Misty Chybrzynski confirmed he taught there from October 2005 to June 2006. She was unaware of genocide charges.
Munyakazi maintains that if he were suspected of genocide in 1999, he never would have been released from prison and allowed to travel abroad. Munyakazi said he has six affidavits from Tutsis he saved by giving them Hutu identification cards.
His deportation hearing has nothing to do with the genocide charges; his visitor's visa expired, said Brandon A. Montgomery, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington. Citing privacy issues, Montgomery would not confirm or deny that Munyakazi requested asylum.
Munyakazi's Pittsburgh friends stand behind him.
"The thing about Leopold and Pittsburgh is that there were numerous people who met him and loved him and wanted to help him and his family," Dougherty said.
About Leopold Munyakazi
1960 -- Born a Hutu in Rwanda. He disputes published accounts saying he was born 10 years earlier.1980 -- Married Catherine, a Tutsi. They will have five children.
1984 -- Began teaching at National University of Rwanda; wrote articles criticizing Rwanda's government. He holds a doctorate in linguistics and phonetics from the University of Nice in France.
1992 -- Elected secretary general of the Federation of Rwandan Unions.
1993 -- Dismissed from job as secretary general.
1994 -- The massacre begins. Munyakazi and his family escaped the militia, but he later was imprisoned without charges.
1999 -- Released from prison, he worked for Kigali Institute of Education.
2004 -- Attended international conference in Atlanta and sought political asylum. Moved to Pittsburgh that December.
2005 -- Taught French at Highlands High School.
2006 -- Reunited with his wife after two years apart. Secured teaching position at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Delivered controversial lecture at University of Delaware and a similar talk at Montclair State. The Rwandan government issued an arrest warrant charging him with genocide and other crimes.
2008 -- Reunited with his three youngest children. Took a job at Goucher College in Maryland.
2009 -- Awaiting a deportation hearing.
Note:
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or 412-320-7828.
Source:
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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Open letter to Sanford J. "Sandy" Ungar, President of Goucher College with regard to Dr Leopold Munyakazi's case
Bashir's Defense Against War Crimes Charges
By Milton Allimadi
March 28th, 2009
Photo:
Omar Hassan al-Bashir; he won't be addressing a crowd if he ends up in the Hague. Maybe he'll take Museveni with him.
[Publisher's Commentary]
Is there any argument or defense that Sudan’s dictator Omar Hasan al-Bashir can marshal in his defense of the war crimes and crimes against humanity charges by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him?
Bashir recently travelled to Qatar and then to Egypt. That’s his way of thumbing his nose at the Western countries that pushed the ICC to indict him and then hand down an arrest warrant.
Yet, he must be careful. His indictment has weakened his regime and one of his underlings may depose him and have him handed to the ICC just to ensure that Sudan does not become a total pariah state. Darfur, and the atrocities committed there has already damaged the Sudan’s reputation; the arrest warrant closed the lid. The pressure may eventually end Bashir’s regime.
But here’s the defense that Bashir should present, first in the global political arena, via a press conference with his lawyer sitting next to him; then, if it comes to that, in the Court. Even if it serves merely as his parting shots.
Bashir and the smart lawyer he hires, must strive to expose the ICC as an instrument of Western foreign policy, by focusing on three primary grounds as evidence.
The ICC was supposedly created to punish war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; which is exactly what it sometimes does. Yet, the ICC also patently engages in selective enforcement; the ICC ignores war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, when the perpetrators are allied with the West; and, the ICC engages in religious discrimination.
It won’t be difficult for Bashir to prove these points.
Bashir must start with a short statement: "I have been accused of being a wicked perpetrator of mass killings; but what about my neighbor to the South, Uganda’s president Lt. General Yoweri Museveni, who has committed more than 20 times worse crimes, causing the deaths of more than 20 times more Africans? He is being protected because he serves Western interests, much like Mobutu used to."
Bashir could then introduce the "Why Me Only?" (WMO) line of defense, which follows. He can point out that Uganda’s Museveni:
1) Sponsored the invasion of Rwanda in October 1990 and armed and trained the invading army, which comprised battalions of Uganda’s national army but was renamed the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF). The top officers of the invading army, including Paul Kagame –now Rwanda’s president—were senior Uganda officers of Tutsi origin. Kagame had been chief of Uganda’s military intelligence and was sent to train at Fort Leavenworth, in the US on a Ugandan passport—all of this was done with the knowledge of Bill Clinton’s Administration.
Upon his return to Uganda, Kagame took command of the invading RPF, which was created and financed by Museveni, using Uganda tax-payers’ money. Museveni also reportedly provided the RPF with the missile used to shoot down the presidential plane carrying Rwanda’s president, Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundi’s Cyprien Ntaryamira, four years into the invasion, sparking the massacres of an estimated 800,000- to one million people.
Bashir could note that even though the ICC had not yet been created, his first objective in raising this matter was to establish Museveni’s appetite and proclivity for spectacular mass crimes, before presenting the second point.
2) Bashir could point out that after overthrowing the government of Rwanda, Gen. Museveni turned his eyes on Congo. He helped depose the corrupt regime of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Then his army, whose officers were trained by the United States, committed massacres, rapes, destruction of property, and theft of natural resources and mineral wealth during Uganda’s occupation of eastern Congo from 1997 to 2005.
In 2005, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found Uganda liable for the war crimes in Congo and the Kinshasa government was granted $10 billion in compensation; not a cent has been paid. Please see
http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/116/10455.pdfBy this time, the ICC had been established, so Congo’s president Joseph Kabila referred a complaint based on the same alleged crimes in eastern Congo, which had been affirmed by the ICJ's ruling, to the ICC for investigation.
On June 8, 2006 The Wall Street Journal in a front page article reported that Museveni tried to get the UN to block the investigation. The Journal wrote: “President Museveni of Uganda asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to block the Congo investigation, according to one person familiar with the matter. Mr. Annan replied that he had no power to interfere with the court, this person said.”
Bashir could demand to know whether the UN ever acted on Museveni's desperate request, which is a clear admission of guilt by the Ugandan. Bashir could ask if there was a quid-pro-quo: In return for delaying the indictment of Museveni, did he subsequently agree to become a U.S. puppet, serving American interests, such as sending troops to Somalia? Although Museveni could still be indicted, Bashir could ask why it has taken more than five years since president Kabila referred the complaint, while his own moved so swiftly. Bashir could pose the question: "Is this not selective prosecution?"
3) Bashir could also ask why the ICC ignores crimes committed by another U.S. ally, Paul Kagame. He could point out that Kagame sponsored Laurent Nkunda, the Mafioso who committed war crimes in eastern Congo—the aim was to do to Joseph Kabila what Kagame and Museveni did to Habyarimana.
Bashir could ask why, after such depraved and crude massacres in Congo in recent months, including the beheading and disemboweling of victims, Nkunda and Kagame remain unindicted and Nkunda is being protected by Rwanda whichrefuses to hand him over to Kinshasa.
4) Bashir could also point out that while he has been indicted for committing atrocities while allegedly fighting rebels within his country; many of the rebels also have the blood of civilians in their hands too, but they are sponsored by Washington, London and the "Save Darfur" movement—these are the only kinds of criminals who can get away with murder.
Bashir must contrast the Darfur atrocties with the crimes committed by Uganda’s army, under Lt. Gen. Museveni’s command, in his war against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in Uganda and ask why there is unequal treatment by the ICC.
Museveni’s regime has created more than 50 concentration camps where, in order to punish the Acholi –because rebel leader Joseph Kony hails from the region—more than two million civilians were forcefully herded and confined.
In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the conditions in Gen. Museveni’s concentration camps were so terrible that there were more than 1,000 excess deaths per week.
Bashir could make clear that not even he committed such an explicitly calculated and measurable genocide.
The confinement, using the WHO’s figures translates to 52,000 deaths per year—since some of these camps have been in existence for more than 10 years, a conservative estimate is 520,000 Acholis dead through slow-motion genocide. Bashir might ask: "Why is this genocide right across the border, which continues being ignored by the international community which insists on focusing only on the LRA's war crimes, which while horrific pales in comparison to Museveni's? In any event Kony has already been rightfully indicted by the ICC. What about Museveni?"
5) Finally, Bashir could argue that the ICC prosecuted him because he is a Muslim while Museveni, who has committed the most un-Christ like crimes claims to be a Christian, and thereby gets a pass from the West and the ICC.
Bashir could point out that Museveni, is much more tightly linked to the deaths outlined above –at least 6.5 million Africans; one million in Rwanda; five million in Congo; and, more than half a million in Uganda’s Acholi region— and yet Museveni remains a free man.
In fact, as a reward for being a faithful U.S. puppet and sending troops to Somalia, where they joined with Ethiopia’s army to massacre Somalis— the George Bush Administration did not oppose Uganda’s bid for one of the rotating non-permanent member seats on the Security Council reserved for an African country.
This means that Uganda, although not possessing veto power, can try to influence the Council to either act or not act on the arrest warrant against the Sudan's president, while at the same time trying to stall the indictment of Gen. Museveni.
Bashir could then sum up his argument: "Is the ICC’s mandate really to punish those who commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide; or is it a fictitious court that is made to disempower leaders like Sudan's who are at odds with Western powers such as the United States and Britain? If indeed the Court is meant to punish mass criminals, why is it that Uganda’s Museveni engineers such spectacular crimes, including the assassinations of two presidents with a missile, and not only gets away but is rewarded with a seat on the Security Council? And is it a coincidence that leaders who are clearly implicated in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, such as the leaders of Rwanda and Uganda, and who are not being pursued by the ICC, also happen to be allies of Britain and the US?"
Bashir could conclude with these remarks:
"Either the Security Council has to suspend the arrest warrant against me, or prove that it is not a mere tool of the West by also indicting other war criminals such as Yoweri Museveni, for his crimes including in Congo and Uganda, Paul Kagame, for the crimes in Congo, and Meles Zenawi for the war crimes his army committed while occupying Somalia. To do otherwise will just confirm my argument and hold the ICC to global ridicule. I rest my case."
Source:
Black Star News
"Speaking Truth To Empower."
Related Materials:
Rwanda: The Ruling Akazu Subset of the Ruling RPF Allied with the Mafia Are Destroying the Rwandan Society
By Jean-Pierre MUGABE
Rwanda, for all the discussion about a return to democracy and constitutional rule, remains ruled by a single party and an Army which is an integral part of the party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front ( RPF ). In fact, it is a distinct group within the RPF which controls the national administration, backed by its own Army, the RPA ( Rwandese Patriotic Army ).
The RPA remains under the command of Maj.-Gen. Paul Kagame who is also president of RPF and Vice-President of the Republic and the effective or de facto-leader of the Rwandan State. Ten officers of RPA are members of the Political Bureau of RPF, demonstrating how the army is the governance of the State.
Now, part of the RPF is planning to turn Rwanda into a one-party state, consolidating power permanently into the hands of the men who now control it.
The RPF as whole is composed of ethnic Tutsi from Uganda, Burundi, Zaire ( now the Democratic Republic of Congo, or RCD ), Rwanda (" Survivors of Genocide " ), Kenya, Tanzania, Europe and the United States. All those Tutsi contributed to the war against the former President Habyarimana administration, in giving funds to RPF, in organising demonstrations at Rwandan and French embassies, or in sending their sons and daughters to the battle field in the ranks of the RPA. They sensitized other people from Rwanda and foreigners on the RPF guerilla warfare objectives. But those RPF members from Uganda, a distinct political faction, effectively seized the leadership of RPF while operating as a military wing in the bush in the war against Habyalimana. It is this clique which effectively came to form theGovernment.
The other members of RPF from different countries were neglected and mistreated. Today, these non-Ugandan RPF, perceived externally to be part of the ruling structure, are isolated and alienated from the Uganda clique, known as the AKAZU. Those who created AKAZU are from the same refugee camps named Nyakivara and Nshungerezi in Uganda, and originally came from Gahini in Kibungo Prefecture of Rwanda. These leaders, who set up the new informal group known as the AKAZU ( literally meaning a small house or people of the same family ) are: Minister Mazimpaka Patrick; Minister Colonel Karemera Joseph, Minister Inyumba Aloysia; Colonel Mugambage Frank; Ms Umutoni Christine ( former Director of Cabinet ); former Ambassador to the United States Rudasingwa ( former Secretary-General of RPF; he has just been reassigned to a key intelligence post in Rwanda ); Maj. Rose Kabuye ( former prefet of Kigali city ); Musoni Protais ( former prefet of Kibungo ); Maj. Rutayisire Wilson, managing director of the Rwanda`s information office. Most of them are related to each other and are from Uganda.
The main contradictions started in 1991 when the Department of Military Intelligence ( DMI ) of the RPF,led by Brigadier-General Kayumba ( the current Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Army ), Lt.-Col. Rwahama Jacson, and Maj. Steven Balinda, began ordering the killing of Tutsi soldiers from Burundi and Rwanda.Those young men arrived at the RPF military training wings from their original regions. Most of them were college or high-school graduates. After being checked by DMI officers and staff under the command of Maj. Dan Munyuza ( former Director of Counter-Intelligence in National GENDARMERIE and security officer of President Kabila of RDC ); some of them were killed by their military instructors and by DMI special agents. They killed them with small hoes. Others were killed by the special agents in the battlefield.
When their parents were informed about the killing of their children, they called on Maj.-General Paul Kagame to explain the killings. Kagame went to Bujumbura to meet the Rwandan community of Burundi and assured them that he would stop the killings and mistreatments. When he went back, however, he did not make an investigation and nobody was sanctioned for the killings. And they kept on killing Tutsi from Rwanda. Those killings are the real source of the division among RPF members and in the Armed Forces. In addition, Maj. BIRASA, a Rwandan from Burundi, was killed by his fellow RPA members from Uganda. His death raised number of questions when the AKAZU required to keep it a secret.
After the victory of 1994, the RPF was divided into two groups: those from Uganda ( English speakers ); and those from Burundi, Zaire ( now Democratic Republic of Congo: RDC ), and Rwandan Tutsis survivors ( French speaking ). Leaders from Ugandan in power,have given better jobs to all relatives in high spheres of central administration and in military command. That nepotism has also divided RPF members and the Armed Forces.
Here is an example: most RPF ambassadors are from same region of Kibungo prefecture: Ambassador Maj. Rudasingwa ( until recently in Washington DC );Gahima Gerard, brother of Ambassador Rudasingwa, was Secretary-General in Ministry of Justice; their sister, Ms Mukabaranga Beatrice was Secretary-General in Ministry of Education. Minister of Finance Kaberuka Donat is cousin of former Minister Col. Dr Karemera of Education; Minister Mazimpaka Patrick in the President's Office is brother-in-law of Secretary-General Musoni Protais in the Interior Ministry and cousin of the managing director of ORINFOR ( Rwanda`s information office ) Wilson RUTAYISIRE shabani.
We must remember that former Minister of Finance BIRARA ( a well known in the World Bank ) was replaced by Min. Kaberuka because he was not from Uganda, was not in the AKAZU family and was trying to sort out the problem of corruption.
Given the mood in Rwanda today, if the nepotism and the discrimination against individuals because of their origin or language is not stopped, then Rwanda will have an other civil war.
Nepotism and regionalism take place in the military forces, too, because promotion in the Army is based on these practices. This is why the Ministry of Defense has closed the officer`s college, the ESM ( Ecole Superieure Militaire ). It was to prevent general applications for officer candidacy so that officers could be selected solely from AKAZU families and not from other regions. A clear example is for instance when time comes to select people who might go to study overseas. Senior officers at the right hand of Maj.-Gen. Kagame send people believed to be from Uganda. To those who were sent by mistake, once abroad, they resign and ask political asylum.In Rwanda today, most high-ranking officers are uneducated and from Uganda while many of non-commissioned officers are educated high-school and college graduates and from Burundi, Rwanda and the Republic Democratic of Congo.
Those educated, non-Ugandan-origin soldiers are, naturally, neglected by their commanders and chafe against the system of discrimination. Open dissent is rare, however, because of the fear of the Department of Military Intelligence( DMI ), itself, not surprisingly, led by officers from Uganda.
SENIOR OFFICERS AT THE RIGHT HAND OFMAJOR GENERAL PAUL KAGAME
The AKAZU of officers around Rwanda`s strong and Vice-President, Maj.Gen. Paul Kagame, have been chosen for personal loyalty to him and because of their regional background. These leaders most notably include the following:
Brig.-Gen. KAYUMBA Nyamwasa, chief of Staff of the Rwandan military forces, former head of DMI during the RPF`s period of guerilla warfare.
Col. KABAREBE James, the former Commanding Officer of the Republican Guard of Maj.-Gen. Kagame and the former Chief of Staff to President Laurent Kabila after his victory in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo ( RDC ).
Lt.-Col. NZIZA Jack, the head of Military Intelligence, former Charge d'affaire of Rwanda in Kenya, Commanding Officer of the Kivu garrison in the RDC ( then Zaire ) during the war of Laurent Kabila against (then) President Mobutu Sese Seko.
Col. KAREMERA Joseph, former Minister of Education. In fact, Rwanda was being run as a corporate enterprise, Col.Karemera was the muscle behind the throne. He reserved foreign scholarships for Rwandan from Uganda, english speaking Rwandan and people related to Akazu. For example, one could see people sent in USA, Canada, Irland, Egypt, South Africa etc. Col. Karemera could discriminate against french-speaking students and no one could change it. That was from 1995 to 1998.
Lt.-Col. KAREGEYA Patrick, head of ESO (the External Service Organisation), Rwanda`s external intelligence body. Just recently, he was sent to Brussels to undertake intelligence work on exiled monarchists preparing a worldwide conference.
Col. MUGAMBAGE Frank, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and former cabinet-level Director in the President`s Office.
Lt.-Col. RUSAGARA Frank, Secretary-General in the Ministry of Defence. The astonishing thing is that he is a suspect in helicopter deal corruption and yet his boss Maj.Gen.Kagame has done nothing to encourage him to go in court. Much worse they jailed MUGABI, a journalist for having published the news.
Maj.Dr NDAHIRO, Special advisor of Vice-President Kagame.
Maj.MUNYUZA Dan, former security officer of President Kabila in the RDC. Munyuza is well known for his part in mass killing of French-speaking Rwandans from Burundi and Zaire ( now Congo ) in the training camps. The list of those killed includes many of those suspecteD to be monarchists.
All of these officers are from Uganda.
RWANDA`S INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
Given the military nature of the present Rwandan Government, the DMI, the Department of Military Intelligence, holds premier place in the intelligence community hierarchy. As well, the DMI was, during the guerilla war and subsequently, the principal and most trusted security tool of the Kagame Administration. It undertakes security work, not just intelligence, on a national level, and is therefore not a normal military intelligence department. There are, however, numerous other branches in the Rwandese Intelligence Community.
-Department of Military IntelligenceDirector: Lt.-Col. Jack Nziza. Deputy: Maj. Ephraim.-ESO: External Service OrganisationDirector: Lt.-Col. Patrick Karegeya. Deputy: Maj. Richard Masozera.-Intelligence (G2) of the National GendarmerieDirector: Maj. Macumu. Deputy: Maj. Mupenzi.-Special IntelligenceDirector: Maj. Gacinya Rubagumya.-CID: Criminal Investigation DepartmentDirector: Maj. Bayingana Emmanuel.-Domestic Security IntelligenceThe Republican Guard unit is in charge of official security and surveillance of Rwandan officials. Commanding Officer: Lt.-Col. Alex Kagame.Most of these officers are from Uganda.-Civil Intelligence ServiceSecretary-General: Ntakiyimana Emmanuel.
CORRUPTION IN RWANDA
Since the RPF seized power in Rwanda, some high-ranking officers, helped by businessmen members of RPF, have looted considerable amounts of money from different places of Rwanda ( banks, supermarkets, houses, etc.). They have stolen trucks and other vehicles belonging to some Hutu in exile, from the Tutsi dead, from the Government, companies, churches, United Nations Organisations like PNUD, UNICEF, from non-governmental organisations and other properties. They have occupied luxury villas belonging to people who are in exile and inside the country.
Indeed, those commanders started doing business with whom they looted the town. Those commanders offered to supply them with military goods and Government equipment. And with the support of well-placed military officers, these businessmen have avoided paying taxes. According to an investigation undertaken by the ministry of Finance, the government took a loss of Rw fr 1.2-billion ( US $ 3,428,571 ) as a result of this tax avoidance. Those businessmen and officers operate hand-in-hand with some politicians in a closed cycle referred to as the " Rwandan Mafia ".
The surest way to know this corruption, is to read Mugabe's MAZIMPAKA Patrick member of AKAZU and UMUTONI Christine former director
CORRUPTION IN GOVERNMENT
Since 1994, the Rwandan Government has officially acknowledged that it has lost Rw Fr-6 billion( US $ 17,647,059 ), some lost in unpaid taxes. This is according to the report of the Ministry of Finance approved by its Minister, Kaberuka Donat another Akazu member. Here are some examples:
Fonds Routier National:stolen funds = Rw Fr 235.671.032 ( US $ 693,150 ).
Public Finances:( in the Butare, Gisenyi, Byumba, and Cyangugu prefectures ) = Rw Fr 131.028.590 ( US $ 385,378 ).
Foreign Ministry: Rw Fr 104.902.738 ( US $ 308,537 ).
Ministry of Health: Rw Fr 21.290737 ( US $ 62,619 ).
Ministry of Justice ( Kigali Prison ): Rw Fr 104.255.205 ( US $ 306,633 ).
IMPRISCO ( School printing house ): Rw Fr 8.993.709 ( US $ 262,922 ).
ONATRACOM: Rw Fr 16.656.782 ( US $ 48,990 ).
INR ( the national printing house ): Rw Fr 55.655.213 ( US $ 16,3691 ).
Ministry of Commerce: Rw Fr 754.629.928 ( US $ 221,950 ).
All across Rwanda, the Vice-President, Maj.-Gen. Kagame, was originally reported as an honest person who fought against corruption, but last year in one instance he misappropriated Rw Fr 500-million( US $ 1,470,588 ) from the Ministry of Works and built his own farm, named NTEBE FARM DAIRY, in Kibungo Prefecture. Much worse is that Maj.-Gen Kagame himself sold land and property situated in Gasyata from DEBOURGRAVE family without autorisation to his business associate GAPOSHO GAHUNDE, the owner of STIPPAG a private company, for Rw Fr 100 million ( US $ 294,117 ).
Maj.Gen. Kagame never paid 6 % taxes due to the government. Nobody can stop corruption while so many officials are involved. If Maj.-Gen Kagame has stolen such amount, then people doubt if they will ever see him preventing the AKAZU members from looting the country`s economy. None of these Akazu members, officers, responsible for corruption were ever prosecuted, they were only shuffled to other positions or other places. The record shows for instance that Col.Dr. KAREMERA who showed an appetite for making money illegally, was never prosecuted, but he was appointed Ambassador in South Africa.
Some businessman who worked with RPF officers were murdered by soldiers related to these MAFIOSI officers. If you were growing rich, you were exposed to mysterious accidents and killings by these MAFIOSI controlled by the ruling clique. These businessmen included: Ndoli J. Damascene, Bayingana Victor, and other businessmen of Kigali. To set the record straight, this is the product of authoritarianism and simply banish free entreprenorship amongst French speaking Rwandans. SEMWAGA and DOROCELLA both former UNDP or PNUD ( UN organisation ) were a shining example. They were murdered because they were against corruption and were former refugees in Burundi.
The Government is training civilians militarily in different prefectures of Rwanda to form a militia known as the Local Defence Force. This force now numbers almost 10,000 men. Everybody knows the dangerous role of INTERAHAMWE militia in the Rwanda genocide; now the Government is training an other militia group. Many civilians are armed by their relatives in the Armed Forces. This situation, which is tolerated by the Government, portends other disasters in the country. People live in permanent fear, some being forced to flee the country. Two ministers were forced to leave the country: the Minister of Justice, Dr Nteziryayo Faustin, now in exile in USA, and the Minister of State in the Interior Ministry, Mrs Beatrice Sebatware Panda, now in exile in Belgium.
As well, two members of Parliament were forced to leave the country: Rugema Donatien, a Tutsi survivor of the 1994 genocide, who fled to Denmark; and Kayiranga Esdras, another Tutsi survivor of 1994 genocide, Of PL party, who fled in early May 1999 to Belgium. Other prominent figures who have had to leave the country in order to avoid imprisonment or assassination have included Judge Iyakaremye J.Bosco, another survivor of 1994 genocide, as well as some soldiers officers of RPF now in USA and Canada; journalists and others.
Two journalists were shot dead and two others are imprisoned. Nine members of Parliament were removed from their seats illegally by the forum of political parties chaired by Muligande Charles, the current Secretary-General of RPF. Above all, this action shows that the notion of " national unity Government " does not exist. Those Members of Parliament are Hon. Mbanda Jean of PSD, Hon.Rugema Donatien of PSD, Hon. Maniraguha Jacques Of MDR, Hon.Nkerinka Eustache of MDR, Hon.Kavutse of MDR, Hon.Bizimana Jean Leonard, Hon.Kayiranga Esdras of PL ( now in Belgium ), Hon. Hitimana of MDR, and Hon.Sebarame of MDR.
Now the RPF is planning to expel the President of Parliament, Hon.Sebarenzi Joseph, who is popular and appreciated by the population, because he opposed RPF decisions. The RPF wants to establish a new system of governance related to Chinese or Uganda systems. That system is called, locally, the " No Party System ", but it is, in reality, the creation of a one-party state under a military rule of RPF, with all other political parties banned in Rwanda.
RECENT RESHUFFLE IN RWANDA GOVERNMENT
The RPF in April instigated a major re-shuffle of its cabinet portfolios and ambassadorial assignment as a prelude to its proposed cleansweep of the political system to eliminate all opposition. The Government`s transition period is due to expire on July 19, 1999, after which it was supposed to call for a national conference to transform the State control from an unelected military government to a civilian, multi-party elected Government.
Any thought of such a transition, however, was destroyed by the municipal election " experiment " conducted by the RPF in April 1999. The grass-roots feeling which emerged was demonstrated in the election of a number of Hutu leaders at the sector and cell levelsThe RPF leadership saw that a broad general election would not be in its favor. What is expected now is that the RPF will attempt to introduce a "new system of governance " which - as noted above - will be literally one-party rule. It was anticipated by mid-May 1999 that the RPF would attempt to introduce at least a five-year mandate for its continued rule. In fact, even the sector and cell level elections were part of the RPF`s experiment with the " new system ": no political parties were allowed to contest the elections, despite the fact that political parties are theoretically free to operate in the country.
Politicians from Kagame`s clique are scared of an open debate on how Rwandans should be ruled. Because the population has savored details confirming corruption and private profiteering that have swirled around Maj.Gen. Kagame, no one is prepared to support or launch a campaign for them as people did during the guerilla warfare time. Today the population`s attention is caught by reports that Maj.Gen. Kagame has established an intricate nationwide system of patronage that he hopes, will keep him in power for ever.
There seems to be no doubt that Maj.Gen. Kagame`s own behind-the-scenes dealings in all AKAZU`s activities earned him the rank of an honest person who fought against corruption, but the myth is breaking down this days.
The effect of the RPF`s move to create a one-party, non-democratic government is likely to include severe international censure, particularly from those countries which had poured aid funds into Rwanda. Domestically, the disenfranchised groups of all ethnic and Communal groups have already begun to coalesce into a unified opposition to the RPF, or at least the Uganda branch of the RPF. Those remaining non-Uganda RPF members are identifying increasingly with the " new opposition ".
Neither Maj.Gen. Kagame nor his government has the moral authority to influence the position of the King. Is that why the question of his return has received threats on his life in the past? Is that also why Kagame hasn’t apologize about what he said in the media? Is that why the government hasn’t changed yet the HABYALIMANA`s Constitution? Much of this, indicates a peaceful solution has to be found before it is too late.
Rwandans clearly deserve to know when this political conflict must end soon. Maj.Gen Kagame is using his political power to stop setting up a legal team to ask Rwandans to decide if they want a Monarchy or not.
Jean-Pierre MUGABE (Signed)
EDITOR of LE TRIBUN DU PEUPLE
(RWANDAN NEWSPAPER).
May 29, 1999
Source:
World News Journal
Comments to the Article "Rwanda: No Conspiracy, No Genocide Planning ... No Genocide?"
peter erlinder
December 30th, 2008 7:48 pm
My dear friend...
and others who have attacked me personally rather than examining the ICTR evidence that goes contrary to the accepted story re: Rwanda.
What cannot be denied is that Kagame-led forces were the aggressors 1900-94 and that Kagame assassinated Habyarimana, which touched off the last 100 days of the Rwanda War. It also cannot be denied that, since at least May 17,1994 UN and USG documents show that massive crimes were committed by the RPF before, during and after the April-July period...commonly called the "Rwanda genocide" It also cannot be denied that the Kagame RPF military has invaded and occupied the Congo from 1996 to the present, resulting in more than 6 million deaths.
IF my position is "genocide denial" it means that the RPF aggressors and criminals became the "good guys" for 90 days. But indictments by judges in Spain and France have come to different conclusions. The spanish judge indicts Kagame for assassination of Habyarimana and some 300,000 civilian deaths in 1994, and thousands in Kibeho refugee camp in 1995.
Former ICTR prosecutors, not me, have explained the US/UK/UN cover-up of RPF crimes in 1994, 1997 and 2003-present. See testimony/affidavit of ICTR prosecutor Michael Hourigan and books by Carl Del Ponte and Florence Hartman published in 2007-08.
My reference to the eastern front was not to dispute that there were genocidal crimes that took place during the german/soviet fight to the death...only that what is called the "holocaust" was highly planned conscious policies of the Nazi state, carried out in a organized manner. The events you describe might well be considered part of the same.
The point is that the evidence of the ICTR showed nothing of the sort. The Military-1 trial was the first in which formerly suppressed documentary evidence was made available to the court....thus, the no conspiracy, no planning ruling. However, individual defendants were found guilty under command responsibility for genocidal crimes committed by troops under their command.
And...for multiple crimes, committed by multiple actors to be considered "a" genocide, rather than genocidal acts within a larger context which is NOT "a genocide" (i.e. the WWII eastern front).
I understand that this new information is upsetting...but it does not change the fact that the story of the Rwanda War...and crimes committed have been told by the victors...not unlike the Japanese being held responsible for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I hope that all interested in the evidence will examine the evidence in the Military-1 trial and many of the documents which are available on my website: www.rwandadocumentsproject.net. We can continue this dialogue via email if you like: peter.erlinder@wmitchell.edu
best regards,
pe
adam63
December 31st, 2008 6:35 pm
Mr. Erlinder, please look again at the title of your article. It clearly implies that if no conspiracy or planning can be proved, then "no genocide" occurred in Rwanda. That is blatantly untrue under the UN Genocide Convention, as I pointed out.
There is no question that Kagame's RPF forces committed major crimes during the later stages of the genocide, and beyond (in Zaire/Congo). In fact, I have argued that these can themselves be considered genocidal atrocities. At least between April and July 1994, however, they were dwarfed by the Hutu-extremist campaign to exterminate every last woman, man, and child of Tutsi ethnicity who could be hunted down by Rwandan soldiers, militias, and death squads, assisted by tens of thousands of ordinary Hutu civilians.
You write: "What cannot be denied is that ... Kagame assassinated Habyarimana, which touched off the last 100 days of the Rwanda War." This is ridiculous; the assertion that the RPF killed Habyarimana is nothing more than a hypothesis -- a tenable one, but one that has never been proved, and that stands beside equally tenable hypotheses -- e.g., that Hutu extremists downed the plane in order to remove an obstacle to their desired "final solution of the Tutsi problem." And note the implicit logic here: that if the leader of a country is killed by outside invaders, then it is understandable (reasonable? acceptable?) for the authorities to respond by seeking to slaughter every last innocent civilian within the country, down to the youngest child, who happens to share the same ethnicity as the majority of the invaders. Sorry, but that is a moral abomination.
I also remain deeply disturbed by your depiction of World War II on the Eastern Front as consisting of "multiple crimes, committed by multiple actors ... rather than genocidal acts within a larger context which is NOT 'a genocide'." This obfuscates the fact that it was the Nazis who invaded the Soviet Union with a carefully-prepared and highly-detailed plan to subjugate the population, including via the pre-planned extermination (through execution, starvation, and overwork) of tens of millions of Soviet civilians. The vast majority of genocide scholars would consider this Nazi campaign to constitute a straightforward policy of genocide in the form of aggressive war -- analogous to the Spanish destruction of native populations across large swaths of the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries. The millions of civilian deaths on the Eastern Front, Jewish and otherwise, were part and parcel of this genocidal enterprise. Depicting those victims as simply "caught up in war-time violence," or as part of a "struggle to the death" between two (apparently equally blameworthy) nations, is precisely the line of argument advanced time and again by Holocaust deniers and Nazi apologists.
peter erlinder
January 1st, 2009 4:34 pm
thanks for your response
...but you are completely informed about the assassination of Habyarimana. Affidavits from former ICTR investigators, prosecutors make clear that Kagame's culpability was known and suppressed in 1997. Please check the trial record.
In addition there was multiple witness testimony from former RPA officers who were involved in the particulars...the assassination was part of a long-standing plan to seize power, rather than share it under the Arusha Accords...
With respect to your assessment of the Genocide convention, it is partially correct. It is possible for acts to be committed with the requisite specific intent (dolis specialis in civil law) but that specific intent cannot be transferred one to another...without there being a plan, or structure....however, to link an otherwise disconnected series of events into a single offense..."a genocide" actually does require the kind of planning and structural execution seen in the Nazi extermination program, and is implicit in the genocide convention language, when it is translated into the elements of a crime under either civil or common-law systems...which the convention treaty, itself, is not.
My point about the eastern front continues to be that when "the genocide" is referred to in common conversation...the images it invokes are NOT those on the eastern front...altho some of the violence may have had genocidal intent...that cannot characterize all the crimes committed by the German military, or its supporters as such...and certainly not those committed by those other than Nazi's...and there were many, as you know. And, some of those might also have been committed with genocidal intent.
A more claim to "genocide"...which certainly is as effective as "terrorist" in labeling an offense as not worthy of careful thought, or the application of legal norms and evidentiary proof....the ruling at the ICTR was precisely on that legal point...Your insistence of demonizing ALL acts committed by the group you despise...is why we have moved beyond..."an eye for an eye"...and require evidence, precise definition of crime, and a presumption of innocence for the accused.
But, of course, this is only important if one is interested in "law" rather than their own view of "justice"...and I don't trust mine, an more than I trust yours...Of course we can differ on this...
But on the evidence of what actually DID happen in Rwanda...the exposure of a 14 year cover-up of RPF crimes by the US/UK is in full swing at the ICTR...and the facts of what happened in Rwanda are already in the public record for those who are interested.
I appreciate your thoughtful comments, but like most in the US, you have been misinformed about what occurred in Rwanda...and who was responsible...and who were the victims, under what circumstances. But, this will change as the research and original documents become more familiar to interested researchers...
best regards,
pe
Read more comments here
Open letter to Enough Leadership
The following is an open letter drafted by one of our blog readers to the Enough Project leadership with regard to the article "While World Watches Washington, Rwandan Troops Enter Congo" published on January 21, 2009.
To whom it may concern,
On behalf of the people of the Great Lakes Region of Africa and on our own behalf, we wish to extend to you our sincere appreciation of your ongoing efforts to end armed conflicts in this region.
We also appreciate the ongoing efforts of the ENOUGH Project leadership to advise the new Obama administration with regard to bringing about lasting peace in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
However, as american citizen, native of the Great Lakes Region of Africa and survivor of the atrocities that characterized this region for nearly two decades, we strongly believe that there is no military solution to the current crisis in eastern Congo.
As you may know, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, the Tutsi-dominated RPF held an unbroken spell of power up to date.
In contrast to the general belief, upon coming to power, the RPF did not stop the killing of innocent civilians. There is no shortage of witnesses and survivors of such mass killings.
Indeed, with the capture of Kigali by RPF, on July 4th, 1994, the simultaneous killings of both Tutsis and Hutus finally came to a temporary halt.
It is widely known that after Kigali ’s capture by the RPF, the rebels continued killing Hutu civilians and other Tutsi and Twa dissenters in what has now come to be absurdly rationalized as their “reprisal killings.”
Just as in the course of the civil war, a large numbers of Hutu civilians were deliberately massacred by RPF troops – a fact substantiated in the so-called Gersony report named after the UN official who investigated the killings.
After the RPF took over power, an even greater number of Hutu lost their lives within and outside Rwanda at their hands.
This situation got worse with the destruction of Rwandan refugee camps in Congo and the hunt down of Rwandan refugees through out the Ituri forest.
Given that for nearly two decades one sided justice has been rendered, it is time to call upon all good citizens to work together and the culture of impunity widespread in the region. Without exception, all culprits must be arrested and prosecuted for war crimes and/or crimes against humanity albeit within the RPF movement and/or any armed rebel group operating in the eastern Congo .
The root cause of the current DRC crisis does not stem from the presence of the FDLR in eastern Congo . Rather, it stems from the RPF decision to provoke genocide in Rwanda so that it can easily take power by force in Kigali . There is no shortage of reliable research papers explaining how the the Tutsi-rebels provoked a retaliatory genocide in Rwanda . More importantly, in December 2008, the ICTR made it clear that ALL of the top Rwandan military officers, including the supposedly infamous Colonel Bagosora, were found not guilty of conspiracy or planning to commit genocide. And Gen. Gratien Kabiligi, a senior member of the general staff was acquitted of all charges! The others were found guilty of specific acts committed by subordinates, in specific places, at specific times - not an overall conspiracy to kill civilians, much less Rwandan-Tutsi civilians.
It is also important that clear distinction be made in your writings between Rwandan refugees in Congo and FDLR rebels. We strongly believe that statement that the FDLR rebels represent the greatest threat to stability in Congo is unfortunate. It simply denotes ignorance about the reality on the ground and poorly hides covert intentions of some western powers to give Rwandan businesses continued access to Congolese minerals and forests, an approach that was recently ill-conceived and ill-advised by Mr. Herman Cohen ipublished in the New York Times.
For the sake of equity, national reconciliation, justice for all, halt to the culture of impunity, and bring about lasting peace in the Great Lakes region of Africa, the ENOUGH Project activists should urge the Obama administration to seize this opportunity to create an internationally administered Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Rwanda, modeled to the one that took place in South Africa.
As this week marks a very monumental move for the area - Rwanda deploying 3,500 troops into Congo , the arrest of Nkunda, we are reminded that now the real work is beginning. Our big concern is that this operation will only mean more bloodshed and further violence for the people in the Great Lakes region of Africa .
Once again, thanks a lot for all you do.
Reactions to the article "Rwanda's Himmler: The man behind the genocide"
The following are letters addressed to the Guardian Editor by two of our blog readers with regard to the article "Rwanda's Himmler: The man behind the genocide" published in the UK by the Guardian on December 18, 2008.
Letter #1:
To Whom It May Concern:
I just read your article "Rwanda's Himmler: The man behind the genocide" and found it to be full of inacuracies. This type of journalism will only prolong the suffering of the Rwandan people. The Rwandan genocide was a two sided affair.
Both the RPF Tutsi rebellion and the Rwandan Hutu Government during those days played major roles in the genocide. To reduce the RPF's involvement and to call them the saviors is to ignore the thousands of Rwandans who were murdered by the RPF.
My own family members were exterminated by the RPF. They lived in the RPF controlled areas. Mind you, some of these family members were Tutsis. Do you mean to tell me that the Hutu government at that time killed them?
In addition, there has been evidence coming from the RPF camp that the shooting of Habyalimana's airplane was carried out by the RPF. The ICTR where Mulvaney (the prosecutor quoted in your article) works, has been looking for evidence that the Hutu extremists carried out the shooting. They have not found anything or any witnesses for this in the last 15 years. When has a court of justice ever used "BELIEF" as evidence in a criminal case? Mulvaney's belief is irrelevant in the absence of evidence. The terrorist act of shooting the airplane took place in April 1994 and is fully within the jurisdiction of the ICTR. Has Mulvaney's team taken time to investigate this criminal act that triggered the Rwandan genocide?
We still have a long way before the dust settles on the Rwandan tragedy. I am 100% in support of the arrest and conviction of any Hutus that took part in this tragedy. I am also 100% in support of the arrest of any Tutsis who took part in this tragedy. I know there were many Tutsis in the RPF who took part in this and the sad part is that they have not yet been arrested to face justice.
The dust will never settle until the culprits on both sides are either punished equitably or forgiven. Rwandan reconciliation will never take place as long as president Kagame and his RPF are parading the surviving members of my family as victims of the genocide carried out by Hutus when the RPF are the real killers.
Today, the RPF claims they are victims of the genocide but still do not receive the benefits afforded to other genocide survivors. This hippocrisy will be exposed when the WHOLE truth comes out about the Rwandan Tragedy. I hope that the Guardian will engage in search for the truth instead of just presenting a point of view from a prosecutor who operates on "BELIEF".
Thank you.
Letter #2:
To the Editor of the Guardian:
I was so shocked to see that in his last article on Bagosora's trial, your Africa's correspondent, Chris McGreal, continued to mislead the British people with regard to the truth about the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.
Is Chris McGreal aware of the level of suffering he currently is imposing to the Rwandan people as a whole by helping coverring up Kagame’s lies? I hope he is not. With his expertise in Africa's Affairs, shouldn’t he be calling the British people to massively join our plea for justice, fairness and an end to the culture of impunity that is widespread in the African Great Lakes region?
Paul Kagame, the current Rwandan President, continues to dismiss calls for justice, fairness and end of the culture of impunity widespread in the African Great Lakes Region.
Kagame alleges that such calls are politically motivated efforts to place his liberation army on the same moral plane as mass murderers and thereby weaken his government’s moral authority.
Indeed, with the capture of Kigali by RPF, on July 4, 1994, the simultaneous killings of both Tutsis and Hutus finally came to a temporary halt.It is widely known that after Kigali’s capture by the RPF, the rebels continued killing Hutu civilians and other Tutsi and Twa dissenters in what has now come to be absurdly rationalized as their “reprisal killings.” Just as in the course of the civil war, a large numbers of Hutu civilians were deliberately massacred by RPF troops – a fact substantiated in the so-called Gersony report named after the UN official who investigated the killings. After the RPF took over power, an even greater number of Hutu lost their lives within and outside Rwanda at their hands.
According to Dr Alexandre Kimenyi, a former Director of Research and Documentation within the RPF Executive Committee, RPF soldiers did not stop genocide.
Instead, RPF soldiers committed mass murder in the process of “liberating Rwanda” not collaterally but deliberately. There is no shortage of witnesses, survivors, and documentations of RPA massacres before, during, and after genocide such as: Compendum of some RPF crimes, Rwanda: Alarming resurgence of killings, and Rwanda: Ending the silence to name just a few.
Therefore, as Dr Guillaume Murere pointed it out all the experts remain certain: the killings in 1994 were so systematic that they must have been pre-planned. Then, one must ask, who was the planner?
Who was the real mastermind of the Rwandan Genocide? Investigations of the Rwandan Government’s part have (so far) failed to find any evidence of pre-planning by Hutus. In addition, the ICTR during the Bagosora trial acknowledged that there was no conspiracy and nor prior genocide planning by the Rwandan government.
With all this information available to your team, would it not be logical that Chris McGreal join the International Hungry for Truth movement that tirelessly urges the United Nations to investigate the other warring side, that is, the RPF leadership, about the root-causes of the Rwandan genocide?
Thanks.
Comments to The Article: The Two Faces of Rwanda
By Edoardo Totolo 25 March 2009
These comments confirm the core argument of the article: two opposing views have emerged regarding Kagame’s government and the path to development taken in Rwanda –one is extremely enthusiastic about the president and does not want to hear criticism, the other is extremely critical and concerned about the country’s future.
I believe that Izzi is on the enthusiastic side, and I fully respect this position. However, I believe that calling an official press release by Amnesty International ‘a random link’ and Human Rights Watch a propagandistic organization makes this comment not very credible. The fact that (s)he does not agree with them does not mean that they do not deserve coverage.
(S)he is right on one point: I made my research and I wrote the article from a foreign country. But sometimes being outside allows to be more objective in the analysis. The article reports many positive things about the country and defines the economic progress in Rwanda ‘outstanding’. However, it also reports the concerns expressed by leading institutions like the UN, Amnesty and HRW. All the cases mentioned (accusation by Judge Bruguiere, election irregularities, street kids’ detention, looting of natural resources, etc.) are based on official documents and were widely reported in the media.
Perfect objectivity does not exist; but the claim that I am trying to ‘fool’ the reader is completely misleading. On the contrary, the article gives a voice to both sides and tries to give a chance to readers to build an opinion and to take one stand or another.
Read more here:
AFRICOM: The US Military Presence in Africa
By David Barouski
February 25, 2008
AFRICOM may officially be staying in Germany for now, but that will not be the case forever, and the US military is anything but absent on the continent. A regional AFRICOM center is reportedly going to be quietly housed in either Rwanda or Tanzania, with Rwanda as the frontrunner according to sources from the region. Rwanda already has a US-built cargo plane (C-130) military airport in Bugesera (used by MPRI to airlift Rwandan soldiers in AMIS/UNAMID and supplies to El-Fasher, where the CIA housed a base in the 1980s to counter Col. Gaddafi by supplying Hissen Habre) and a listening station near Mount Karisimbi.
The US also has a communications center (run by MPRI employees) in Kisangani in neighboring DRC, officially to support the Tripartite Agreement framework and aid in patrolling the Rwanda-Uganda-DRC border. This station is complimented by the recently created US satellite embassy in Goma, run by Mr. Haywood Rankin, who worked in Iraq and Sudan previously.
Tanzania has small military bases located in different places near Dar es Salaam and in the north of the country that could potentially be used, as some of them are already US joint-military training centers for Tanzanian, Rwandan, Kenyan, and other regional armed forces, some working through the Golden Spear program. The US has been using Entebbe Airport in Uganda for many years, as well as smaller airstrips in the north. The US also has an airfield near Bamako, Mali, Dakar, Senegal, and an airstrip in Gabon. The US also uses private airfields in Morocco and Tunisia, along with utilizing their ports. The US has 'refueling' stations in Ghana, Senegal, Gabon, Namibia, Uganda, and Zambia. During the 1990s, the 3rd Special Forces group that was involved in Haiti, Rwanda, and Congo-Zaire held training and demining exercises in Zambia. The island of Diego Garcia holds US weapons stockpiles, military personnel, and airbases.
The US Navy has agreements with numerous nations, particluarly in West Africa, to utilize their ports, including Ghana, Benin, Gabon, Cameroon, Liberia, Republic of Congo, Togo, Sao Tome and Principe, and Equatorial Guinea. In this capacity, they periodically carry out military exercises with the host nations. This is the same expanse of land the West African Gas Pipeline is expected to be built.
The US military uses the airport in Tamanrasset, Algeria to accomodate C-130s, P-3 Orions, and Predator drones and Brown and Root-Condor, a joint venture between former Halliburton subsidary Brown and Root and Sonatrach, a state-owned Algerian company, is contracted to expand the Tamanrasset base as well as open up a new one at Bou Saada. The US is now pushing to declare former British Somaliland an independent nation.
The US has a base in Mombasa, Kenya, and uses the airfields at Embakasi and Nanyuki. They also have listening stations on the islands of Lamu, Pate, and Burr Gaabo. There are also reportedly listening stations in Garissa, Kilifi, and in Somalia's Ras Kambooni. In addition, the US has been trying to secure a base in Somaliland since at least 2000. Currently, the US and UK are pressing for diplomatic recognition of an independent former British Somaliland.
In Ethiopia, the US has small training bases at Bilate, Gode [supposedly closed] and Hurso. Their larger bases are located at the Debre Zeit airbase near Addis, in the Ogaden region, and in Tigre Province near the Eritrea border. North of Ethiopia is well-known Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, a former French Foreign Legion post revamped in 2002 by Kellogg, Brown, and Root. One of Bin Laden's brothers wants to build a massive bridge from Djibouti to Yemen, where the US is also entrenched. The US currently has a military base on the Yemeni island of Socotra, which they had acquired prior to the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole. The Israelis had a signals intercept station called "Unit 8200" on Dahlak Island (part of Eritrea) that was used to aid the SPLA during the late 1990s. The US has also established a military base in southern Libya under the guise of the Pan Sahel anti-terrorism program, where covert activites related to Chad and Sudan are reportedly taking place. This initiative recently carries out the massive Flintlock training program on a biannual basis.
Addendum:
By David Barouski
February 25, 2008
The new US Embassy in Kigali, inaugurated last week by President Bush during his visit to Rwanda, also reportedly contains a high-powered listening station. The US also has a training base in Gao, Mali. Additionally, the US has a large Air Force base in Botswana that houses C-130s. The 3rd and 10th Special Forces also train Chadian soldiers at a small base in Camp Loumia, located 50km south of N'Djamena.
Source:
ZBlogs
Laurent Nkundabatware, his Rwandan Allies, and the ex-ANC Mutiny: Chronic Barriers to Lasting Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
By David Barouski
February 13, 2007
The following is David Barouski's e-Book. Among other topics, here are the macrotopics of the book:
1. Who is General Laurent Nkundabatware (the most prominent 'rebel' in Congo-Zaire) and what his army has done.
2. A comprehensive examination of the situation in the Kivu provinces of the Congo following the Sun City Final Act to the present day.
3. How Rwanda continues to overtly and covertly infiltrate the Congo and is the cause of the region's instability.
4. The U.S. role in putting the current Rwanda regime in power, in backing the Rwandan army and Laurent Kabila to topple Mobutu for personal geopolitical gain, and how the U.S. directly contributes to the suffering in the Great Lakes region today.
5. The multitude of areas that must be addressed in order to secure peace for the region.
Download the book for free.
Related Materials:
Rwanda, the key to peace in Democratic Republic of Congo
The Dead and the Undertaker: The Rwandan Dictator Paul Kagame Defies the West
DR Congo speaker quits for Rwanda comments
Photo:
Rwandan soldiers march through the Congolese town of Jomba in January 2009.. At least 5,000 Rwandan troops have been deployed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The speaker of the Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament, has resigned for criticising Rwandan military intervention in the country.
KINSHASA (AFP) - The speaker of the Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament, Vital Kamerhe, resigned under pressure Wednesday for criticising Rwandan military intervention in the country.
"I ask you to accept my resignation with neither a vote nor a debate," the veteran politician told a plenary session of the lower house of parliament, where he was applauded.
Lawmakers from the Alliance of the Presidential Majority (AMP) have pressed Kamerhe to go for his comments in January that the entry of troops from neighbouring Rwanda was very serious and a potential security threat.
Had the speaker, long close to President Joseph Kabila, refused to resign, he would have faced an ouster motion by AMP members, which Communications Minister Lambert Mende said was backed by more than 300 of the 500 members of parliament.
Kamerhe aroused hostility on January 21, a day after Rwandan soldiers began a joint operation with the Congolese against Rwandan rebels in the east of the country, when he said: "If what I'm told is true, it's quite simply grave. It raises lots of questions."
Between 1997 and 2003, Rwanda had supported Congolese rebellions and sent troops into eastern Congo in two successive wars, and Kamerhe expressed concern for a nation only just over "the traumatism of Rwandan domination."
However, the Rwandan troops who linked up with the Congolese army officially withdrew on February 26, after what both called a successful operation against the FDLR, the Hutu rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.
The FDLR, though much weakened by the offensive, has begun to retaliate in the long-troubled Nord-Kivu province, where the UN refugee agency on March 20 reported that 30,000 civilians had been displaced by violence within in a fortnight.
Source:
AFP
Rwanda: Breaking Hutu-Tutsi Enmity Through Reconciliation
By James K. Gasana and Nkiko Nsengimana
The following document was published in 1997 by NOUER Project: "New Hope for Rwanda".
Here are some interesting macrotopics dealt with in the document:
Is reconciliation the high way to a sustainable peace?
Yes, because the Rwandan conflict can be resolved only by a systemic approach
Yes, because of the nature of the Hutu - Tutsi polarity
Yes, because of a strong moral foundation
Basic requirements for reconciliation:
Reconciliation requires the acceptance of democratic rule
Reconciliation needs respect of the identity of each group
Reconciliation requires winner - winner solutions
Reconciliation requires truth finding and justice
Reconciliation requires demilitarisation for confidence building
Reconciliation requires efficient instruments for positive interaction
Reconciliation requires respect of private property
Reconciliation requires dedicated support of church leaders
Reconciliation requires international support
Read more here.
About the authors:
James Gasana was Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Environment in 1990-92, and Minister of Defense in 1992-93. At one point tried to warn his government of the coming conflagration, but to no avail. He currently lives in Switzland.
Nkiko Nsengimana was Director of the "Centre de Formation coopérative IWACU Rwanda" and Manager of the network of the "Banques Populaires" in Kigali.
Testifying at the ICTR as witness Expert in the trial of former Rwandan Minister for Higher Education and genocide suspect Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, Nsengimana told the tribunal that the 1994 Rwandan genocide was not organized by the state but by Akazu and was executed by the Interahamwe, the youth wing of the MRND party, which was ruling Rwanda during the genocide.
He described Akazu (the little house) as the core of power, which mainly consisted of the clan of the first lady (Mrs Habyarimana), with people from the North of the country who occupied strategic positions and wielded a lot of power.
Testifying for the second day in the Kamuhanda's trial, the witness concentrated mainly on the attack of the presidential plane on April 6th, in which president Habyarimana was killed, and its consequences.
Chaos after the crash
"This attack triggered the genocide. It made it possible for the ultra to take over the state power. Akazu took over and carried out the catastrophe that we all know about. The brains behind the Tutsi genocide are Akazu with their armed wing the Interahamwe," he
declared.
The assassination of Habyarimana, according to the witness was intended to create a political void and cause political chaos. He cited the first victims on April 7th as the then Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and several ministers.
He further explained that the assassinations of Uwingiliyimana and other leaders who could still represent the state, was perpetrated by Col Théoneste Bagosora, then the head of gendarmerie with his henchmen as a formula to create a new government which he wanted to head.
After the killing of the President, the top military officials met
immediately with UNAMIR where Bagosora proposed that the army take over power. The UNAMIR refused and said instead a meeting should be held with the RPF.
"The army refused to accept Bagosora, he left and was not seen the whole night until the following morning when the killings started. He became the real perpetrator of the massacres at that time," the witness said.
Nsengimana, who was led in his chief evidence by Kamuhanda's lead counsel Aicha Conde of Guinea, also told the court that Joseph Nzirorera and Aloys Nsekalije, a colonel in the army and a former minister, were members of Akazu and were very much feared because of the power that they had. "Nzirorera was the leader of the Interahamwe and used to say 'my Interahamwe'", Nsengimana stated.
Collective responsibility of the government
According to Nsengimana the interim government had a collective responsibility to stop the genocide. He added that each leader in the government should have been held responsible for criminal acts or omissions. " How were the elite Tutsi and Hutu able to live and allow sacrifice of human life?" the witness wondered.
Nsengimana was the thirty-sixth and last defence witness in the trial.
After completion of his testimony he expressed his surprise to the chamber for being referred to as a defence witness whereas he came to testify as an expert witness. He said he could as well have testified as a prosecution witness, for that matter.
In 2004, Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda was sentenced to life in prison by the ICTR for committing genocide. The tribunal found him guilty of two counts, genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity.
Later in 2008,
Theoneste Bagsosora was sentenced to life in prison by the ICTR. The tribunal He was found him guilty of war crimes, acts of genocide, and crimes against humanity committed by Rwandan troops under his command.
However, the real news was that
ALL of the top Rwandan military officers, including the supposedly infamous Colonel Bagosora,
were found not guilty of conspiracy or planning to commit genocide.
Nsengimana currently lives in Switzland and is President of
IRED, which is an international network of local networks, peasant and urban groups, associations of handicraftsmen, women, cooperatives, NGOs and other fellow organisations, who are eager to collaborate in order to break out of their state of isolation and, by joining forces, constitute an organised force to bring about change
Related Materials:Remember Rwanda? By James Gasana
The Taylor Report - Rwanda 1994: Colonialism dies hard
The Legacy of The Crematoriums of Rwanda
Posted On Across Africa
By Ron Rioux
September 04, 2006
In April of 1996, a British reporter, Nick Gordon, revealed that the Tutsi dominated regime in Rwanda, which took power by force in 1994, operates petroleum-fueled crematoriums at several locations. Their victims are Hutu, men, women and children of all ages.
In the same year, UDC Newsletter amplified the existence of this gross crime to no avail.
A highly placed official in Kigali reached by phone last month who requested for anonymity, confirmed the existence of those Nazi-like crematoriums where over 2000 Hutus are incinerated daily and their ashes scattered in fields! When asked whether U.S. officials in Kigali know of this? She answered, "absolutely YES."
Surprisingly, U.S. military stationed near and working with the Tutsi "gestapo" know of these crematoriums but none has yet expressed any concern! U.S. officials in the White House, Pentagon, State Dept. and the CIA who pamper the Tutsi regime in Kigali have maintained total silence and often engage in cover ups to criminal activities and transgressions of civilized conduct by the Kigali regime.
According to sources in Rwanda, the crematorium at Nyungwe forest is run by a garrison who are under training by U.S. military officials. The sources implicate Americans as having built the crematorium at Byumba which is disguised as a "Water Supply and Rehabilitation of Refugees Project". The one at Gabiro is also attributed to America construction.
UDC has learnt that the population in areas surrounding those crematoriums have been complaining about the stench of burning flesh. In response, RPF Gestapo imported machines which grind the bodies and dump the remains in acid solution.
On Nov. 6, 1995, US Defense Secretary, W. Perry wrote to Kagame praising their joint military activities as having provided U.S. soldiers "invaluable experience in working with armies of our friends". "I am confident that Rwandan officers and soldiers will enjoy the fruits of formal training alongside American soldiers at U.S. military schools next year" (meaning 1996), Perry said.
Mr. Perry, Congressman Harry Johnston (D-Fla) and Secretary M. Albright strongly advocated dismantling of refugee camps in Zaire because they posed a threat to the political survival of their "friend's regime" in Kigali. It is highly unlikely that US officials did not know that Kagame was slaughtering returned refugees.
The Kibeho incidence whereby refugees returned by force from Burundi were massacred instantly almost exposed this heinous scheme but it was squashed thoroughly with the help of UN officials as well.
In spite of the fact U.S. officials knew what was being done to the Hutu refugees (men, women and children) who where returned by force from Burundi and Zaire, Mr. Perry used illusive language to his friend Kagame, a confessed mass murderer, "I call upon you to take urgent steps to reduce the prison population by taking tough actions necessary to begin trials and release the young, the elderly, and the infirm on humanitarian grounds."
Mr. Perry recommended luring them back with food drops leading to the Rwanda boarder. Congressman H. Johnston during a visit to Rwanda in Sept. 96 prior to the invasion of Zaire in Oct. advocated "not feeding them and using the military to force them back into Rwanda".
On March 30, 1996 the Pentagon dispatched Mr. Tim Connolly, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. [When the Pentagon offers "humanitarian assistance" they send a specialist in "special operations and low-intensity conflict" instead of nurses, teachers or social workers.] By Oct. The Rwanda army was in position to invade Zaire and slaughtered thousands of refugees!
On Aug. 7, 1995, Secretary Perry wrote to Kagame assuring him of U.S. military training of the Rwandese army in "intelligence, counterinsurgency, leadership development, logistics, management and administration" U.S. soldiers conducted joint military exercises in Rwanda, resumed the IMET program and provided training for Rwandese soldiers at several U.S. bases including Newport. In the same letter Mr. Perry proudly admitted as having worked hard within the U.S. government to lift arms embargo which had been applied onto Rwanda.
As more US weapons were handed over and better training of their soldiers conducted, Rwanda and Uganda invaded Zaire in Oct. of 1996.
Congressman Ben A. Gilman, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee asked the Pentagon to explain whether U.S. military was providing to the Rwanda army training in such areas as "counterinsurgency".
Assistant Secretary of Defense, Mr. Walter B. Slocombe, denied categorically that they have not done so. Instead he claimed that they are providing only "humanitarian assistance". Weapons and military equipment they ship to Rwanda are apparently named "HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE or EQUIPMENT".
This is a language which the Soviets used frequently during the Vietnam and Afghanistan crisis. Social workers, nurses and doctors could be obsolete when defining "humanitarian assistance" if the Pentagon had its way.
There are eyewitness reports claiming that American soldiers took part in the fighting alongside invading Tutsi troops from Uganda and Rwanda. A European source confirmed that US soldiers took part in the fighting.
Angolan troops are quoted to have picked up two dead Americans (one was a Lt. Col.) and delivered them to U.S. officials. An American soldier currently stationed in Rwanda told his girl friend in Texas that, they are under strict orders not to reveal their location.
However, he confirmed that some of his colleagues were killed in action inside Zaire but their families were told that the soldiers died in accidents during military exercises at American bases in Italy.
Congressman Chris H. Smith (R-NJ) wrote to President Clinton, on Aug. 28, 1997, demanding explanation of the relationship between the U.S. military and Rwandese Army which has committed mass murders of Hutu refugees in eastern Zaire. He demanded answers on the following issues: U.S. response to reports of massacres by Rwandese Tutsi-dominated army of Hutu refugees in eastern Zaire; U.S. military training of Rwandan forces; Rwandan military
activities in Zaire; "Psy-Ops" activities directed at refugees; and The U.S. diplomatic relationship with Rwanda.
UN attempt to investigate reports of mass murders of Hutu refugees in eastern Congo have been resisted by self-proclaimed President Kabila. U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Anan, begged the world to be lenient to Kabila's rejection of a U.N. inspection team in Congo.
U.S. officials likewise concurred, giving Kabila a second round of victory in his barbaric practices of mass murder. Yet when Saddam Hussein took a similar position against a U.N. inspection team in Iraq, President Clinton is calling for military action against Iraq for defying a UN order.
An American NGO worker views Kabila's refusal as being instigated by the U.S. because they do not want U.N. people to uncover the presence of American troops in Congo. Fighting is still going on in many areas, especially the eastern part, where US troops are reportedly taking part, providing sophisticated logistics (roads, bridges), intelligence, communication and other vital services to Tutsi troops.
It is a shameful part of history that western countries knew of Hitler's program to exterminate Jews as early as 1932, but turned a blind eye. The existence of crematoriums in Nazi Germany was one strong evidence against the Nazis at the Nuremberg trial. Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, whose personal history as a Jew is marred with Nazi brutality, is a strong supporter of the Tutsi regime since her days at the UN.
In spite of their shortcoming, the allied nations protected and defended refugee camps. Had they permitted military raids of those camps by any group, many of the Jews who survived the Nazis, including Madeleine Albright, would not be alive today. For such a people, and indeed the world community, to turn a blind eye on present day Nazism in Rwanda and Congo evokes an old cry:
"where is the just God when the innocents are suffering?"
Some "African-Americans" in the Clinton Administrationare active participants in an American clique that= supports this modern day Nazi-like crime in Africa. Africans are increasingly concerned about the usage of "Africa" by some Black Americans either to win social recognition, government jobs or contracts.
Americans of African ancestry should honor and promote the integrity of Africa and her people. Participation in or acquiescing with schemes aimed at exploiting Africa or exterminating Africans, whether at Tuskegee or Rwanda or Congo must be condemned and opposed by all people - particularly Americans of African ancestry.
The silence, not to mention participation, so far displayed by some black Americans in the Clinton Administration when African children, women and men are being massacred with US military support is not only despicable but also unfit of a people who purport to be proud of their African ancestry.
Congressmen Gilman and Smith deserve all the support from their Congressional colleagues and the American people in their efforts to uphold the honor of America.
Is this an era of aberrance and decadence similar to that which preceded the fall of Rome? A European scholar observed with sadness the existence of an evil clique within the U.S. bureaucracy which is insensitive to public opinion, void of ethical and moral values, excreting mass murder, cover ups and deceit while hiding in the clout of the respectable "American Government"
Source:
Across Africa
Related Materials:
The truth behind the Rwanda tragedy
In April of 1996, a British investigative journalist and author of "Murders in the Mist" , Nick Gordon, revealed that the RPF regime of Paul Kagame was operating petroleum-fueled crematoriums at several locations in Rwanda.
cirqueminime.blogcollective.com/blog/_archives/2008/4/1
"The three primitive one-story barrack blocks, one with its roof being repaired, are basic shelters for the [RPF] men at the Gabiro army camp," wrote British journalist Nick Gordon....
"Scratch the surface, the red earth of Rwanda, and you will, it appears, find one vast cemetery," wrote British journalist Nick Gordon in a shocking 1996 expose....
[53] Nick Gordon, "Return to Hell," Sunday Express, April 21, 1996, ....
[183] Nick Gordon, "Return to Hell," Sunday Express, April 21, 1996, .
allthingspass.com/uploads/html-135Hotel%20Rwanda%20Corr
The RPFemployed state-of-the-art information control and psychological operationstactics practiced by the US military: international reporters were embedded; accessto battle zones was restricted; evidence of RPF massacres was erased, ormassacres were blamed on Hutu extremists, Interahamwe militias or the government ForcesArmee Rwandaise.British journalist Nick Gordon reported crematoriums where the RPF incineratedbodies.
Toward Freedom - The Grinding Machine: Terror and Genocide in Rwanda
Keith Harmon Snow: Did you ever hear about what the British journalist Nick Gordon reported about crematoriums in Rwanda...
Paul Rusesabagina: No, that one I haven't heard. But we know it.
38. Nicholas Gordon: author of Murders in the Mist: Who Killed Dian Fossey?, Hodder and Stoughton
CONGO PANORAMA
Nick Gordon, a BBC reporter investigated and reported that the Kigali regime has built crematorium in at Bugasira, Ruhengeri, Byumba, Kibungo, Inyungwe and other locations where thousands of Hutus and Congolese deportees are killed daily and their bodies are incinerated under the program called "MANPOWER DUTIES" while US officials are looking the other way.The Tutsi regime is conducting genocide in Rwanda to reduce the Hutu population to "manageable level". At Gabiro, one of those Auschwitz-like crematorium, Gordon reported, between 1,000 and 2,000 Hutus and Congolese deportees are incinerated daily and their ashes spread in the fields by a tractor.It is also reported that American troops have established a base adjacent to the crematorium at Bugasira."It impossible for American Generals not to hear the daily loud and groaning coming from across the fence; neither can they fail to smell the stench of burning flesh," Gordon reported.
CirqueMinime/Paris :: Civil Wars in Congo -- by...
Sources in the region consistently report the existence of a large US military base near Cyangugu, Rwanda, near the border with Congo, used in training RPF forces and providing logistical support for their operations in Congo, as well as a US base in the Bugusera region, reported on by BBC journalist Nick Gordon.
CirqueMinime/Paris :: HOTEL RWANDA -- Hollywood and...
British journalist Nick Gordon reported crematoriums where the RPF incinerated bodies.
Expo Times
The BBC reporter, Nick Gordon, after intense investigation into the matter and upon returning from the Great Lakes Region, revealed that 1,500 Rwandan Hutus and captured Congolese were burned alive in the Rwandan district of Bugesera, curiously near a military camp occupied by the Americans.
"It is impossible to say that the Americans in that base can neither hear the cries of distress of the victims, nor get to know what is happening," Gordon said.
Under the same "Manpower Operation", a group of Rwandan commandos, surrounded a church on the night of 29/30 November last year in Kala (north of Katanga), set it on fire and burned 31 people alive.
They repeated the barbaric act in Kasala and Ngoya, killing 30 more people on New Year's day.
Congo is suffering and bleeding.
But for how long can it continue?This is why the National Consultation held in March called for a review of the Lusaka Peace Accord.
