Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice

General Karake leaving Darfur mission

By Rwanda News Agency Reporter
April27, 2009

Kigali: After two controversial years at the helm of the peace keeping missions in Sudan, Rwandan General Emmanuel Karenzi Karake has finalized his tour – ending another turbulent chapter in relations between the UN and Kigali, RNA reports.

Major-General Karenzi, 49, moved from the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) in 2007 to deputise on the UN mission there in January 2008. But that promotion did not go unchallenged.

A Brussels-based Rwandan exile group accused him of supervising extra-judicial killings of civilians before and after the current government took power in Rwanda following the country's 1994 genocide. The UN headquarters was caught between the controversy as Rwanda got firm backing from the Bush administration demanding that his contract is stayed without any changes.

The United States, Britain and Rwanda urged U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon to renew Karenzi's contract after it was to expire in October last year. President Kagame also threatened to pull all Rwandan troops from the troubled region “the same day Karake leaves”.

It is not clear if the Generals’ contract has ended or he has been forced out by the circumstances. He is to be replaced by South African Major-General Duna Dumisani.

On Wednesday, General Karake travelled to the West Darfur town of Zalingei where he attended a medal parade for the Rwandan Battalion serving in the area, according to a statement from the mission. Rwanda has about 2600 personnel in the region.

He commended the Rwandan troops for their noble service to the Mission and declared that it was a great pride for him to see that, just 15 years after the genocide in Rwanda.

He expressed appreciation to the troops for their work, urged them to continue serving with a high level of professionalism and integrity according to their mandated tasks, and reminded them to respect the culture, religion and customs of the population.

Meanwhile, during the past 72-hours, the mission reports that the security situation in Darfur has been relatively calm.

A UN vehicle was carjacked over the weekend near Zalingei airstrip and was later recovered by government Police on the same day, 9 km south east of Zalingei without any tyres. The vehicle was taken to Zalingei Police station after getting tyres from UNAMID Transport section.

UNAMID says it has conducted 24 confidence building patrols, 33 escort patrols and 7 night patrols covering 55 villages/IDP Camps. Similarly, UNAMID police conducted 95 patrols in and around the IDP camps and a total of 29 patrols in and around the villages.

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posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 4:40 PM 0 Comments

Rwanda: Restore BBC to the Air

Growing Media Restrictions Cast Doubt on Nation’s Commitment to Free Speech
By Human Rights Watch
April 27, 2009

"This suspension of the BBC reflects the Rwandan government's growing crackdown on free speech. If Rwanda is truly committed to the fundamental right of free expression, it should allow differing viewpoints on genocide issues and related government policies".
Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

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(New York) - The Rwandan government should immediately reverse its suspension of the Kinyarwanda radio service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Human Rights Watch said today.

The Rwandan minister of information, Louise Mushikiwabo, justified the suspension on the grounds that the program amounted to a "blatant denial of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi of Rwanda" and called it "unacceptable speech."

Up to 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed by the extremist elements in the majority Hutu population during the genocide. It ended with the military victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi rebel group founded by Rwandan exiles and led by Paul Kagame, now the president. Since the genocide, the Kagame-led government has sought to portray an image of national unity in Rwanda and it allows no public references in any form to Hutu or Tutsi ethnicity.

"This suspension of the BBC reflects the Rwandan government's growing crackdown on free speech," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "If Rwanda is truly committed to the fundamental right of free expression, it should allow differing viewpoints on genocide issues and related government policies."

The BBC's suspension is part of a broader pattern of increasing government interference in the Rwandan media, including threats to suspend major media outlets such as the BBC and Voice of America and the banning of independent Rwandan journalists from government news conferences.

The BBC suspension on April 25, 2009 occurred after the station broadcast a coming attraction for its weekly program Imvo n'imvano ("Analysis of the Source of a Problem") that was to include a debate on forgiveness among Rwandans after the genocide. The advance segment included comments by a former presidential candidate, Faustin Twagiramungu, opposing the government's attempt to have the country's entire Hutu population apologize for the genocide, since not all Hutu people had killed Tutsi or otherwise participated in the genocide.

It also included a man of mixed Hutu-Tutsi ethnicity questioning why the government had refused to allow relatives of those killed by the RPF forces to grieve for their loved ones. According to estimates from experts working for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the group's soldiers killed between 25,000 and 45,000 people between April and August 1994.

The suspension comes days before Rwanda is to host a regional conference celebrating "World Press Day," to be attended by high level delegates from the East African Community. The theme of this year's event is the role of media in reconciliatory dialogue.

"Meaningful and open discussion on the genocide and its aftermath could help foster reconciliation and stability in Rwanda," said Gagnon. "Repressive restrictions on such discussions by branding them as ‘unacceptable speech' may achieve the opposite."

Recent legislation, currently awaiting presidential approval, proposes to ban all national journalists without a university degree or certificate in journalism. Most independent Rwandan journalists have neither. The legislation would make defamation a criminal offense in addition to other civil and administrative sanctions, and would impose a wide range of restrictions on gathering and reporting information.

In March, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concerns over reports that the Rwandan government had subjected journalists critical of government policies to intimidation and harassment and had charged other journalists with "divisionism," a crime vaguely defined under Rwandan law as spreading ideas that encourage ethnic animosity between the country's Tutsi and Hutu populations. "Divisionism" is often used interchangeably with the term "genocide ideology" - a crime that was first adopted into Rwanda's law in 2008 but that the government has used for at least five years to punish expression of any ideas that could lead to genocide. The government lodged complaints against the BBC radio station in 2004 after a parliamentary report accused it of propagating "genocide ideology." Rwanda's international donors and human rights organizations have criticized the terms as too sweeping and punishing speech that is intended neither to incite violence nor to deny the existence of the genocide.

The UN committee urged the Rwandan government to guarantee freedom of expression for the press and all citizens in accordance with the government's international obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In August 2008, shortly before Rwanda's parliamentary elections, the country's information minister warned the BBC that it would be suspended it if failed to abandon its "non-factual reporting." BBC journalists from the Kinyarwanda service have been excluded from several government events since that time.

During World Press Day celebrations in Kigali in May 2008, the government removed three leading independent journalists - Charles Kabonero of Umuseso, Jean Bosco Gasasira of Umuvugizi, and Jean Grober Burasa of Rushyashya - from the celebrations and barred them from all official news conferences. The journalists were also prohibited from interviewing government officials, with both prohibitions continuing to this day. A diplomatic incident occurred in September 2008 when a scheduled news conference marking the signature of a new US Millennium Challenge Corporation partnership agreement with Rwanda had to be cancelled by the US embassy in Kigali because the Rwandan government refused to allow the three journalists to attend.

In late 2007, the government accused a BBC journalist, Yusuf Mugenzi, of exacerbating ethnic differences through the Imvo n'imvano program, which brings together leading - and at times controversial - figures from the Rwandan diaspora. Government officials accused the program of giving airtime to "genocide fugitives," referring to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu rebel group based in eastern Congo, some of whose members took part in the 1994 genocide and continue to threaten stability in the region. The government also warned that BBC's license might not be renewed if the program did not assume a more positive tone.

"Rwanda's targeting of the media, including the suspension of the BBC, calls into question Rwanda's respect for press freedom," said Gagnon. "With presidential elections scheduled for 2010, it is critical that the government guarantee free and fair discussion of issues, failing which Rwanda cannot be viewed by it partners as a thriving democracy."

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allAfrica.com Mobile: Govt Silences BBC

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 4:04 PM 0 Comments

Rwanda: The unresolved FDLR issue

By Elia Varela Serra

Global Voices
April 22, 2009


Photo:

A young FDLR combatant wishing to demobilize speaking with Amani from South Kivu (picture by Steve Hege).

Note:
This post is also available in:
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Rwanda : La question du FDLR n'est pas réglée...

Last January the conflict in North Kivu shifted once again with the arrest of CNDP rebel group leader Laurent Nkunda in Rwanda and the entry of the Rwandan national army (RDF) into the DR Congo to root out the FDLR rebel group in joint operations with the national Congolese army (FARDC). The joint offensive was hailed as a success and as a powerful symbol of a new spirit of collaboration between Congo and Rwanda. As Rebecca Feeley of the Enough Said blog explains, the Congolese Minister of Defense, Charles Mwando Nsimba, even went so far as to say that the FDLR threat had been “neutralized.”


Refugees International, a Washington based advocacy organization specialized on refugee issues, released a report in March on the situation in the Kivus. Their conclusions about the joint RDF-FARDC military operation against the FDLR were:

The attempted military solution to the FDLR appears far from having succeeded in crippling the rebel group, despite the recent disarmament of over 400 combatants by MONUC. Instead, the operations led to serious consequences for the Congolese in North and South Kivu, including significant new displacements.

Not many organizations say publicly that the joint military operation has not been a success. I agree 100% with their analysis.

Refugees International also makes the point on the importance of dialogue as the only path for a durable solution to the FDLR presence in the DRC. Eurac expressed the same opinion a few weeks ago. Military solutions to political problems are, in most of the cases, a recipe for disaster.

Historically, the Rwandan government has sought to implicate the entirety of the FDLR in the genocide. In 2004, the International Crisis Group estimated that the number of genocidaires amongst the rebels was roughly ten percent, with the vast majority having been small children in 1994.

However in 2008, the Rwandan government provided the Congolese government with a list of suspected FDLR genocidaires containing 6,974 names, coincidentally the common estimate for the total number of rebels.

Desde que la ofensiva diplomática de los Estados Unidos y el Reino Unido propiciara el acercamiento entre la RDC y Ruanda, el único discurso con respecto al FDLR ha sido el del abandono inmediato de las armas y la completa derrota militar. Nadie osa hablar de la posibilidad de una negociación, por limitada que sea, con este grupo. Esto resulta sorprendente si tenemos en cuenta que el país al que los integrantes del FDLR aspiran a volver adolece de un extraordinario déficit democrático.

El pasado 19 de marzo, la experta norteamericana Ruth Wedgwood afirmaba ante el Comité de Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas que, a día de hoy, formar un partido político en Ruanda parece virtualmente imposible. Wedgwood hizo una reflexión interesante: recordó que las facciones hutu responsables del genocidio habían sido capaces de fomentar la masacre precisamente porque habían alimentado el miedo de que la población hutu sería oprimida y marginada. Lamentablemente, y con independencia de su indudable desarrollo económico, ese temido escenario se asemeja a la realidad actual de Ruanda, según muchos expertos. Filip Reyntjens, catedrático de la universidad de Amberes y uno de los mayores expertos en la región de los Grandes Lagos, afirmaba recientemente que no sólo las últimas elecciones locales ruandesas fueron manipuladas, sino incluso el informe mismo de los observadores electorales de la UE, que las consideró como válidas. Dado este déficit democrático, organizaciones como el European Network for Central Africa (EURAC), han abogado por una negociación política con el FDLR. Sin embargo, la cuestión continúa siendo tabú.

Since the diplomatic offensive headed by the US and the UK brought about an approach between the DRC and Rwanda, the only discourse regarding the FDLR has
been that of immediate surrender and complete military defeat. No one dares to talk about the possibility of a negotiation, no matter how limited it may be, with this group. This seems surprising if we take into consideration that the country the FDLR aspire to return to suffers from an extraordinary democratic deficit.

Last March 19th, the American human rights expert Ruth Wedgwood affirmed at the UN Human Rights Comittee that forming a political party in Rwanda today seems virtually impossible. Wedgwood made an interesting reflection: she reminded that hutu factions responsible for the genocide had been capable of fostering the massacre because they had nourished the fear of hutu population being oppressed and marginalized. Unfortunately, and leaving aside the economic sucess Rwanda is undoubtedly experiencing, that feared scenario seem to be similar to actual Rwanda, according to many experts. Filip Reyntjens, Professor in the University of Antwerp and one of the most respected scholars in the Great Lakes region, recently affirmed that not only the last local elections in Rwanda were manipulated, but even the
report of the EU electoral observers itself, which considered them as valid. Given this democratic deficit, organizations like the European Network for Central Africa (EURAC), have advocated for a political negotiation with the FDLR. However, this issue continues to be a taboo.

Congolese diaspora blogger Colored Opinions, quoted a former Force Commander of MONUC (UN peacekeeping in the DRC) that was also advocating for a political solution to the FDLR problem:

Former MONUC Force Commander, General Patrick Cammaert, was interviewed recently on dutch tv concerning the war in Congo. He said: “The problems have to be solved politicallly. That is true also concerning the genocidal hutus. President Kagame is strongly (involved) in that. The president of Rwanda sees the genocide-hutus as a threat to his country, I don't agree with that, I don't think that those genocide-hutus represent a threat to his country at all […]”

Matthew Hugo, who has worked in the Great Lakes region for a few years, illustrates the taboo that the FDLR issue is in Rwanda and the difficulties of the return and reintegration programs of FDLR combattants, with the story of former FDLR General Seraphin Bizimungu, known as Amani Amahoro, that he followed first-hand:

I first met Gen. Amani while I was conducting research on Rwandan refugees in 2005. He was the widely celebrated leader of an internal mutiny within the FDLR. Just five months prior, the FDLR’s political leadership surprisingly declared that they would unilaterally disarm and return en masse to Rwanda.

[…]Amani emerged with the support of the Congolese government, and promised to lead the return movement despite the lack of security guarantees. In a press conference, he accused the group’s leadership of sabotaging the historic opportunity to remove themselves from the military equation of the region. The pretext of the rebel threat is what permitted the Rwandan government to continue to wage a proxy war against the Congo according to him.

By all accounts, including the Rwandan government itself, Amani was not suspected of any participation in the genocide and was widely considered a political moderate. During an interview I had with him, he claimed that fighting non-violently for political opening from within Rwanda was the only path to truly sustainable peace for the region.

[…] in December [2005] Amani fulfilled his promise and returned to Rwanda with over 150 loyal soldiers, one of the largest groups of ex-combatants since the inception of the UN’s demobilization and repatriation program (DDRRR).
[…]

Following his departure, Gen. Amani was rapidly transformed into the poster child of the UN’s sensitization efforts to promote future desertion amongst the FDLR. He was featured prominently in numerous pamphlets distributed to rebels throughoutremote mountains and jungles as the quintessential example of how warmly Rwanda welcomed its brethren who chose to return home.

[…]So compelling was Amani’s message that when I began working with DDRRR, I frequently put FDLR combatants in touch with him directly by Satellite phone from isolated areas of the Congolese jungle. His personal testimony was often enough to put to rest their fears of reprisals and incarcerations in Rwanda which were widely shared amongst the young rebels. Amani always sounded quite eager to respond to these calls and he often reiterated to the FDLR that real political change could only be achieved from within Rwanda.

And so compelling was Amani's message that, according to Matthew Hugo, Amani was featured in numerous DDRRR pamphlets distributed to rebels throughout remote mountains and jungles “as the quintessential example of how warmly Rwanda welcomed its brethren who chose to return home” and became “the poster child of the UN’s sensitization efforts to promote future desertion amongst the FDLR”. However, and in spite of the good example Amani set, genocide charges were brought against him in late 2008 and he was then summoned before the traditional Gacaca courts conducted by village elders. On January 22nd, two days after the Rwandan army began its joint military operations against the FDLR in the eastern Congo, the Gacaca elders condemned Amani to life in prison.

Matthew Hugo concludes his story expressing frustration at the seemingly permanent stalemate on the FDLR issue:

Thanks to this strategy of associating all political opposition with the genocide, the RPF’s Ugandan clique has managed to systematically tighten their stranglehold over power in Kigali. Not only did informal EU electoral observer reports suggest that they might have won as much as 98% of the vote in recent local elections, but even the U.S.’s legal expert on the UN Human Rights Committee stated that it is “virtually
impossible to set up a political party in Rwanda“.

Nevertheless, despite resounding support for peace processes with the ruthless rebel groups in the region like the LRA and the FNL, the mere notion of political dialogue between Rwanda and the FDLR remains utterly inconceivable.

The blog Mo’dernity, Mo’problems recently commented on an article written by the director of Human Rights Watch on the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide:

In memory of the Rwanda genocide, Ken Roth keeps up the quality of Human Rights Watch Rwanda analysis after Allison Des Forge’s passing and writes:

[…] “The best way to prevent another genocide is to insist that Kagame stop manipulating the last one”.

As memories of the genocide turn 15, it seems like Rwanda is facing a tumultuous media anniversary. Recent coverage of the anniversary have attacked the ways in which the current Rwandan administration abuses the genocide as a form of political repression and a justification of warmongering.

Le blog aboumashimango [Fr], a Rwandese diaspora blogger, calls for an end to civil and political rights violations in Rwanda :

Le génocide des Tutsi et massacres des Hutus démocrates (opposants politiques, défenseurs des droits de l'homme, journalistes… et populations civiles innocentes) de 1994 trouvent leur racines dans l'histoire politico-ethnique du pays, la fracture sociale, l'angoisse et la terreur, ainsi que la mauvaise gestion politique de la question ethnique. A cela s'ajoute l'absence de l'espace démocratique et de la culture des droits de l'homme.

[…] En ces moments où nous commémorons le 15ème anniversaire de Génocide des Tutsi et massacres des Hutus démocrates, j'appelle à la conscience de la Communauté internationale de faire preuve de courage pour mettre fin à des situations des violations flagrantes des droits civils et politiques que connaît le Rwanda, notamment le droit d'avoir une justice équitable…

The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and the massacres of democrat Hutu (political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists… and innocent civilian peoples) have their roots in the political and ethnic history of the country, the social dislocation, the fear and the terror, as well as the bad political management of ethnic issues. Added to all that is the absence of democratic space and of a human rights culture.

[…] At this moment when we commemorate the 15th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi and the massacres of democrat Hutu, I appeal at the conscience of the international community to show the courage to put an end to the blatant situations of civil and political rights violations happening in Rwanda, especially the right to a fair trial…

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posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 5:09 PM 0 Comments

Rwanda: Genocide Fugitive Arrested in the U.S.

By Felly Kimenyi
25 April 2009

A Burundian national suspected to have participated in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi has been arrested in the United States.

Lazare Kobagaya, 82, is a naturalised US citizen who was arrested in the State of Kansas after it was found that he had misinformed the authorities there when he applied for citizenship in 2005.

Kobagaya, according to an indictment issued by the US Department of Justice, is accused of having spearheaded killings in the former Nyakizu Commune in the Southern Province.

Besides having had a role in the Genocide, the Burundian who resided in the former Butare Prefecture during the Genocide is accused of perjury, giving false information to the US immigration officials in his quest for citizenship.

While under oath, he had told the immigration officials in the US that he was in Burundi between 1993 and 1995, a time when the Genocide took place but after investigations, it was established that he was in Rwanda.

The National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) has welcomed the development saying that other countries should take heed and act on Genocide fugitives they are harbouring.

"The arrest of this man by the United States authorities sends a clear signal that anyone who had a role in the Genocide will not permanently keep out of reach of the arm of justice," said NPPA spokesperson Augustin Nkusi.

According to a Thursday release from the US department of Justice, Kobagaya is subject to automatic revocation of his citizenship if convicted and faces imprisonment of up to 10 years.

The statement says that the accused was scheduled to appear in court yesterday before a judge in the District of Kansas.

A source from Prosecution intimated that the arrest is subsequent to an inquiry that has been ongoing which saw officials from the US Department of Justice visit Rwanda to investigate Kobagaya's alleged role in the Genocide that left over a million Tutsi dead. He is one of the many Burundian nationals suspected in having played a role in the Genocide.

Last year, the NPPA said they had compiled a list of over 6,000 Burundians suspected of participating in the Genocide and had said that negotiations were underway to have them brought to book either in Burundi, where most of them have since returned, or in Rwanda.

Kobagaya's arrest comes just months after; a college in the US suspended Leopold Munyakazi, another fugitive, to pave way for a judicial process to bring him to justice.

Several fugitives remain at large in the US despite most of them having Red Notices on their heads.

In an effort to apprehend those responsible for Genocide who are still at large, the Rwandan Cabinet last year mandated the Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit (GFTU), an entity that operates under NPPA, find them and have them arrested.

The team, composed of prosecutors and investigators, is headed by John Bosco Mutangana, a senior prosecutor.

Source:
Hughpages

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posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 7:45 AM 0 Comments

Rwanda: Genocide of Hutus versus Genocide of Tutsis

By NKB
Les Nouvelles de Kigali à Bruxelles
April 26, 2009


Has there been any genocide of Hutus in Rwanda? Some people say yes and proudly affirm that it might have been perpetrated by the RPF troops. Such a learnedly planned genocide against Hutus of Rwanda might still be going in stoemelincks.

Strangely, those who accuse the RPF regime in power since July 1994 of continuing genocide against Hutus do not correctly name it as do members and representatives of various sections of Ibuka who insist that from now on we say “genocide committed on Tutsis” in Rwanda instead of Rwandan genocide or genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus as it already is known worldwide.

Proponents of the « genocide of Tutsis » terminology do not support the “Rwandan genocide” terminology. They assert that this terminology does not precisely mention who were the victims of the genocide that took place in Rwanda between April and July 1994.

Although the “Rwandan genocide” has been dismissed by some people, this terminology nevertheless has become a must for others who in recent years consider it to be the best way to describe what really happened in Rwanda in 1994.

Indeed, it is the entire Rwanda as a nation- and why not all "Bantu" people in the African Great Lakes Region – who was targeted following the RPF's armed attack from Uganda in October 1990, the destabilization of the Habyarimana regime and the assassination Habyarimana on April 6, 1994.

The “Rwandan genocide” was planned by the RPF leadership and their Anglo-Saxon sponsors to oust France in the African Great Lakes region with the ultimate goal aimed at looting the mineral resources of DR Congo!

The above theories have the advantage of simplicity and/or simplification of the Rwandan tragedy not to mention that they contain some inconsistencies and contradictions.

The RPF might have indeed planned the genocide against both the Tutsis and Hutus and put forward division and death as a path to power.

Clearly, as RPF was gaining ground over the up-rooted FARs, RPF soldiers massacred innocent civilians Hutus and Tutsis alike who were reluctant to quickly embrace the RPF ideology in order to gain full power in Rwanda and help establish the Anglo-Saxon hegemony in the region!

In the same vein, to install its unyielding domination on the Congo’s mineral ressources, it was also essential for the RPF to plan and execute the genocide against millions of Congolese (not Tutsis but Bantus)!

Wait a minute, is it possible that RPF organized a genocide that had to partially be subcontracted to its opponents in order to gain and hold on power?

Incredible but true!

To precipitate Rwanda into the unprecedented but planned apocalypse, first the RPF shot down the aircraft carrying the Head of State of Rwanda, then the same RPF threatened the international commnity of retaliation should they intervene, and finally RPF prevented its troops from intervening early on to stop the killings until genocide was fully be consumed nationwide!

The “Rwandan genocide” terminology is more interesting than the “genocide of Hutus” terminology because the later terminology has never been recognized by international institutions, and most importantly, with the later terminology it is quite difficult to prove the RPF’s conspiracy and prior planning in order to tirelessly exterminate the Hutus of Rwanda.

Within these past 15 years, considering the untold efficiency of the “grinding machine” installed in Kigali, with such a conspiracy, I bet there would be no Hutus left in Rwanda!

It is true that the power of horror in Rwanda will do everything in its sights to strengthen its power. It will particularly rely on stifling any political resistance and challenge, disinformation and distortion of the truth about the Rwandan tragedy not to mention attempts to cover up its many war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Fortunately, the RPF regime in Rwanda should not assume that its hold on power would go handy with the disenfranchisement and/or the extermination of Hutus in Rwanda. The RPF regime won’t certainly commit such a fatal mistake.

Given that the Rwandan authorities are still bringing millions of Rwandans before the Gacaca courts this is a tangible proof that the RPF did not systematically eliminate them over these past 15 years. Furthermore, there is no proof that the RPF might intend to do so slowly through “one sided” justice.

However, there is no doubt that the RPF regime has legally managed to not only find a simpler way to liquidate its huge judicial backlogs but also to control the Rwandan population by a very effective instrument of inquisition, repression, and mobilization.

It is the power that is at stake and if the RPF can keep it using the Hutus, it will surely keep them!

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 12:59 PM 1 Comments

Rwanda Suspends BBC Radio Service

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
April 25, 2009

KIGALI, Rwanda — The Rwandan government on Saturday suspended the British Broadcasting Corporation’s local-language radio service in the country saying it threatened the country’s national reconciliation.

According to a news release from information minister Louise Mushikiwabo, the closing was because BBC’s Kinyarwanda service had broadcast “unacceptable speech” on the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

“The divisive and disparaging nature of these programs — as they stand today — is no longer acceptable, in light of the hard-earned peaceful coexistence of the people of Rwanda over the last 15 years,” the statement read.

At least 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in the 1994 genocide. The country has since banned the use of ethnic labels and established strict but vague laws against divisionism.

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posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 9:37 AM 0 Comments

Cindy McCain Makes Humanitarian Visit to Eastern DRC

By Joe DeCapua
VOANews/English
Washington D.C
April 24, 2009

The crisis in the eastern DRC is the reason behind a visit to the country by Cindy McCain, wife of US Senator John McCain, the former presidential candidate. From Goma, Mrs. McCain spoke to VOA about why the Congolese humanitarian crisis is important to her.

"My first visit here was in 1994 during the (Rwandan) genocide. I'm been doing relief work…since the early 80's. And through the course of coming back to Africa and doing the work that I do through other organizations…it became very necessary. And I've been urged from many different avenues to come to Congo and take a look to see exactly what's going on," she says.

Her trip is sponsored by the UN World Food Program and other organizations.

"To compare it from 1994 till now is very educational and it's also very sad," she says.

Asked what differences she sees upon her return to the DRC, McCain says, "Not much, to be honest with you. It's still a country that has no infrastructure. It can't feed its population. It's unable to produce a living and give…young people particularly, an opportunity. And so, I don't see any differences from what I saw in 1994, and I'm sorry to say that, other than the production of cell phone towers."

She adds, though, "This is a wonderful country and could be a prosperous country, given a government that was strong and working for its people."

Cindy McCain met Friday with a number of women who've been raped or otherwise sexually assault by members of armed groups.

"I just left a group of women that I sat down with in one of the IDP (internally displaced persons) camps here. And…just sit and listen to not only what their problems were, but just where they needed to go and where they wanted to go, quite frankly. And many of these women don't understand that they have rights. More importantly, the inability of their own government to protect them so they can go and collect firewood and protect their own children is terrible. It's almost a societal thing…it's devastating. I'm almost surprised to see a group of women still very determined to raise their children and keep their families together even under such gruesome circumstances," she says.

She says she plans to meet with the media upon her return to the United States at the end of the month to describe the conditions she found in the DRC.

"It's raising awareness and making sure that we don't let people forget about the DRC and about what's going on here because this is an ongoing conflict," she says.

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 6:33 PM 0 Comments

Rwanda-USA: Family of genocide suspect says he is innocent

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press Writer
April 24, 2009

Source:
The Hays Daily News

WICHITA, Kansas (AP) -- The family of an 82-year-old immigrant suspected of participating in Rwanda's 1994 genocide say the man is innocent, contending he was too old and sick to commit such atrocities.

Lazare Kobagaya, of Topeka, made his first appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in Wichita to face a two-count federal indictment charging him with unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2006 and with fraud and misuse of an alien registration card. The indictment, filed in January and unsealed Thursday, also seeks to revoke his U.S. citizenship.

The indictment alleges Kobagaya lied during naturalization proceedings in Wichita by claiming he had lived in Burundi from 1993 to 1995. It contends he concealed that he had lived in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide and participated in the attacks and slaughter of hundreds of Tutsis.

During Friday's hearing, the charges were read to Kobagaya, who did not enter a plea. The court appointed an attorney for the hearing, but Kobagaya said he planned to hire his own lawyer. One of his sons, Dr. Andre Kandy, and a government translator helped translate for Kobagaya.

Outside the courtroom, Kandy acknowledged Friday that his father was in Rwanda during the time in question as a Burundi refugee. But Kandy said his father speaks little English and probably misunderstood what was being asked during the naturalization proceedings. He said his father considers himself to be from Burundi.

"What they want to do is revoke his citizenship so he can be deported and killed," Kandy said during a break in Friday's court hearing.

Another son, Jean-Claude Kandagaya, said his diabetic father was bedridden when he was at a Burundi refugee camp in Rwanda.

"It cannot be as they are saying," he said.

Court papers filed in Kobagaya's case show U.S. investigators enlisted the help of authorities in Finland who were investigating another Rwandan genocide suspect, Francois Bazaramba, living in Finland.

The family said Kobagaya gave a sworn statement in support of Bazaramba, who had been his neighbor. Kobagaya's family say the Rwanda government is retaliating by falsely accusing him of participating in the genocide.

The Justice Department alleged in its court filing that in April 1994 Kobagaya directed a gathering of Hutus to burn down houses belonging to the Tutsis. Prosecutors also contend he mobilized attackers and ordered and coerced them to kill hundreds of Tutsis.

Those crimes in Rwanda were cited to support allegations that Kobagaya lied when he said he had not committed a crime during his application and subsequent interviews under oath for U.S. citizenship.

The charge of fraud and misuse of an alien registration card refers to claims Kobagaya made on his immigrant visa application that the government contends are false.

If convicted, Kobagaya faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the charges.

Kobagaya is scheduled for a detention hearing Wednesday.

Related Materials:

Kansas man in Rwanda genocide cover-up - JTA

US government to try African in Kansas on Rwanda-linked charges

Finnish investigation of Rwandan accused of genocide

Finland police conclude investigations into Rwandan suspect

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 12:48 PM 0 Comments

CHARLES ONANA: BREAKING THE SILENCE ON THE CONGO

By Congoindependant
April 23, 2009

Book preview also available here in French.

BRUSSELS-Charles Onana, an investigation journalist from Cameroon, will present his new book "These Tutsi killers- In the Center of the Congolese tragedy" on Thursday April 30, 2009 at 17.30.

Foreword by Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Senator and Special Envoy of Bill Clinton in Africa.

To subscribe to the Conference, click here.

« Supported by the West they exterminate Africans ».

Actively exploiting the memory of the Jewish Shoah, they describe themselves as victims of genocide in Rwanda. Yet in 1994 they murdered two African heads of state, thousands of Rwandan innocent people and French, Spanish and Canadian witnesses. They are also suspected to have cold bloodly killed the family of Cornelius (Corneille) Nyungura, a Canado-Rwandan singer, during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. In 1997, they invaded the Congo where they exterminated thousands of Hutu refugees. Enjoying total impunity, they rape women, kill innocent civilians (more than 6 million Congolese people have been killed) and have been also involved in the assassination of former Congolese President Laurent-Desire Kabila. Supported by some western powers, they massively loot the mineral resources of the DRC to sell them in Kigali City. These mercenaries of horror have a name: "the extremist Tutsi of Rwanda."

Supported the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and by multinational corporations, they became bloodthirsty official subcontractors of the globalization in Africa. Besides the French Foreign Affairs Minister, Bernard Kouchner, who is busy strengthening his relationship with the Tutsi regime in Kigali and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now "advisor" of the dictator Paul Kagame, the European Commissioner Louis Michel has become one of their most active supporter within the European Union.

Using confidential documents from the European Union and reports of the CIA, the author reveals that since 2005, the President of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, would be willing to share the wealth of his country with Rwanda, a curious idea also echoed by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in early 2009. This exceptional documents also detail how the uranium from Congo was used to build the American atomic bomb in 1942 and how the U.S. government has trained Tutsi extremists to destabilize African Great Lakes Region with the complicity of the international community and the "World’s great democracies ".

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 8:21 AM 7 Comments

UN and Canada Complicit in Rwanda Cover-Up: Americans and Rwanda Patrotic Front (RPF) Planned and Launched Aircraft Attack

By Wayne Masden
Freelance journalist
September 2000

Source:
Centre for Research on Globalizatiuon

Senior officials of the United Nations and Canadian government were involved in covering up important details and evidence concerning the April 6, 1994 attack on the aircraft carrying the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, according to former UN investigators who looked into the affair. The dual assassination resulted in a genocide and counter-genocide that resulted in the deaths of possibly one and a half million Tutsis, Hutus, and others.

The most dramatic revelation concerns the whereabouts of the downed Mystere Falcon 50's cockpit voice recorder or "black box." According to officials involved with UN air movements in the region, the black box was secretly transported to UN Headquarters in New York where it remains to this day. Officially, the Rwandan government claims the black box went missing. According to the UN sources, data from the black box is being withheld by the UN under pressure from the government of the United States.

There may be good reason for this. According to former UN investigators who were on the ground in Rwanda, it was their belief that the missiles that downed the presidential aircraft came from the United States and were delivered to the RPF. This bolsters similar claims made by by senior French government officials to the French National Assembly's Commission that investigated the Rwanda genocide and claims by former Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) intelligence agents.

According to the well-placed UN sources, Canadian Justice Louise Arbour, who served as special prosecutor for the International War Crimes Tribunal looking into the Rwandan genocide, ordered that events leading up to the April 6 aircraft downing not be investigated. UN investigators were constrained by Arbour to only deal with events that followed the downing of the aircraft.

In addition, Arbour -- who is now a Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada -- ordered her subordinates , who included former Royal Canadian Mounted Police deputy commissioner Al Breau, to cut short their investigation when it became clear that it was leading to the conclusion that the RPF and their American patrons were involved in planning the aircraft attack. This included evidence that RPF forces controlled three major approaches to Kayibanda International Airport on the evening of the attack and that European mercenaries , in the pay of the RPF and US Intelligence, used nearby warehouses leased by a Swiss company to actually plan and launch the missile attack on the Mystere-Falcon.

In addition, UN and Canadian investigators uncovered evidence that during 1996 and 1997, the Canadian International Development Authority (CIDA) provided humanitarian and development assistance to the RPF government that was instead used to buy arms. When this became known to CIDA internal auditors, the investigation was abruptly halted by the Canadian government.

According to UN and US government sources, the UN's covert activities in Rwanda on behalf of the United States and Canada were supported by then -UN Peacekeeping Operations under secretary Kofi Annan, who acted on the instructions of then- US ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright and Susan Rice, who was, at that time, posted to the National Security Council. Rice is now the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and reports to Albright in that role. Then- UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali was specifically kept out of the picture by the United States, which succeeded in dumping him from his post in 1996, replacing him with Annan.

Congressional sources report that some members of the House of Representatives want to proceed with an full commission inquiry into the US role in the Rwandan genocide along the lines of those previously conducted by the UN, OAU, France, and Belgium.

Related Materials:
Explaining the Ultimate Escalation in Rwanda:How and Why Tutsi Rebels Provoked a Retaliatory Genocide

Rwandan Military Leaders Found Not-Guilty of Conspiracy and Genocide Planning

Rwanda: No Conspiracy, No Genocide Planning ... No Genocide?

The Rwanda Catastrophe: Its root-cause and remedies to pre-empt a similar situation in Rwanda

Provoking genocide: a revised history of the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

Rwanda: Declaration on the shooting down of Habyarimana's aircraft on April 6, 1994

Major General Paul Kagame behind the shooting down of late Habyarimana's plane: An eye witness testimony

Testimony of Abdul Ruzibiza about how mistakes by both the Rwandan Government and the RPF led to the Rwandan genocide of 1994

Paul Kagame, the Mastermind of the Genocide of Interior Tutsis

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 10:43 PM 0 Comments

DRC: A Comprehensive Approach to Conflict Minerals

By the Enough Project Team with the Grassroots Reconciliation Group
April 24, 2009

The Enough Project is sounding the alarm. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, scene of the deadliest conflict since World War II, remains the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman or a girl-in significant part because of the international demand for electronic products that requires minerals found in the eastern Congo. While eastern Congo is a complex crisis-fuelled by tensions over land, rights, identity, regional power struggles and the fundamental weaknesses of Congo as a state-the trade in conflict minerals remains one of the key drivers of the conflict.

Enough's latest strategy paper analyzes the political economy of the crisis in eastern Congo and lays out a four part strategy to curb illegal profiteering from the trade in conflict minerals. "It is no accident that the majority of the violence in eastern Congo has been carried out in areas rich with minerals. Conflict minerals remain a key source of financing for some of the most reprehensible armed groups in the world," said John Norris, Enough's executive director. "Bringing transparency to the consumer electronics supply chain is an essential first step if we want to transform Congo's mineral resources from a curse into an engine of growth for millions of people who remain trapped by both violence and poverty."

"As consumers and global citizens, we have a critical role to play in demanding that companies and governments exercise leverage over the supply chain," says Enough Co-founder John Prendergast. "At the same time," adds Enough Research Associate David Sullivan, "a more comprehensive approach will be necessary-one that embraces a significant, sustained, and long-term investment in Congo's security, governance, and livelihoods."

READ the full strategy paper

SIGN the Congo Minerals Pledge

EMAIL the 21 largest electronics companies

Notes:
Enough Project 1225 Eye Street NW, Suite 307 Washington, D.C. 20005
Enough is a project to end genocide and crimes against humanity.
For more information, go to www.enoughproject.org.

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 3:16 PM 0 Comments

DRC: Thousands of civilians trapped in east as clashes resume

By IRIN-AFRICA
April 24 2009

KINSHASA, (IRIN) - Thousands of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are trapped amid clashes between government forces and Rwandan rebels.

“The two sides accuse the civilians of helping their enemies. Some houses have been occupied by the army,” said Nestor Yombo, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

He identified the areas in Lubero territory affected by clashes between the DRC army and the Forces democratique pour la liberation du Rwanda (FDLR) as Kanyabayonga, Kirumba, Kayna, Luofu, Kasiki, Miriki, Masika, Kanyatsi, Kalonge, Bingi, among others.

The FDLR presence here follows their forced departure during a joint operation by troops from both DRC and Rwanda in mid-January.

Yombo said that during the heaviest recent fighting on 17 April in Luofu and Kasiki, 16 people were killed, including six children who were burned to death. Hundreds of houses were torched and the local health centre looted.

The DRC army and the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, known as MONUC. are currently setting up a joint operation against the FDLR.

MONUC military spokesman Jean-Paul Dietrich said the FDLR attacked Luofu while peacekeeping troops were deployed in a nearby village.

“They [peacekeepers] reacted as soon as we learnt there was gunfire in Luofo. The FDLR was targeting the army and not civilians and some huts caught fire because of the gunfire,” he said.

Some aid agencies have delivered essential humanitarian supplies to Luofu, said Yombo.

Notes:
Integrated Regional Information Networks, commonly known as IRIN, acts as a news agency focusing on humanitarian stories in regions that are often forgotten, under-reported, misunderstood or ignored.

The main purpose of this project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to create greater awareness and understanding of regional issues and events, and to contribute to better-informed and more effective humanitarian action, media coverage and advocacy.

It is widely used by the humanitarian aid community, academics and others who simply want to know what’s happening in the world that doesn’t always make the headlines.
Editorial independence ensures impartial coverage, analysis and sourcing in news-rich Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, providing a fresh perspective on the tapestry of people and events in these regions of the globe. Every IRIN article carries a disclaimer that it may not reflect the views of the UN.

IRIN came into being in 1995 after the Great Lakes refugee crisis resulting from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide overwhelmed the existing information management systems set up by the humanitarian aid community. With its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, it now covers 82 countries, including Papua New Guinea, since 2008, for more than a million readers. IRIN has regional news desks in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Dakar, Dubai and Bangkok, with liaison offices in New York and Geneva.

The main language is English, with a smaller amount of articles available in French, Swahili and Dari. A limited service in Russian, Arabic and Portuguese is planned.

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 2:29 PM 0 Comments

Burundi: FBI to help probe murder of Burundi anti-corruption activist

By AFP/April 22, 2009

BUJUMBURA (AFP) -Burundi has accepted a US offer to send a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) team to probe the murder here early in April of a prominent anti-corruption campaigner, the government said on Wednesday.

Justice Minister Jean Bosco Ndikumana said that help in finding the killers of Ernest Manirumva was "welcome, especially since our police lack means, above all the forensic police."

Manirumva, the vice-president of OLUCOME (the Anti-corruption and Economic Malpractice Observatory), was stabbed to death on the night of April 8 when his offices and home were ransacked and documents stolen, police said.

Urged to co-operate fully.

Ndikumana said that the United States would be informed on Wednesday of Burundi's acceptance of the offer, while Burundian prosecutors and police will be urged to co-operate fully with the agents from the FBI when they arrive.

The day after the murder, deputy police chief Gervais Ndirakobuca stressed that it was not "an ordinary crime during a robbery," while OLUCOME requested an international probe, saying it was evident that Manirumva was killed because he was working on sensitive cases.

The observatory team has in recent years unearthed several graft schemes, among them the fraudulent sale of the presidential jet in 2006 in an incident that led to the sacking of the then finance minister.

The watchdog also blew the whistle on double billing of oil imports, resulting in the imprisonment of the Central Bank chief and another finance minister fleeing into exile in 2007.

On April 16, more than 200 civic associations in Burundi presented an open letter to President Pierre Nkurunziza before several Western diplomats, in which they asked for an end to "assassinations and intimidation."

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 12:06 AM 0 Comments

Rwanda: ORINFOR board dissolved

By Edwin Musoni
The Kigali New Times
April 22, 2009

KIGALI - Merely two days after the arrest of the Director of the state-run media agency, ORINFOR, Oscar Kimanuka, the government has dissolved the agency’s board.

The board, appointed by the cabinet meeting of June 20, 2008 was composed of Paul Mbaraga who was the chairman, and deputised by Henriette Zimurinda.

Others are Prisca Mujawayezu, Anaclet Kalibata, Rosemary Mbabazi, Joseph Habumukiza and Bakuramutsa Nkubito.

“The suspension of the board comes as a result of its ignorance and failure to unearth and solve the irregularities that have long characterised ORINFOR,” said the Minister of Information, Louise Mushikiwabo.

Speaking during a press briefing, Mushikiwabo said that this is part of reforming ORINFOR to iron out the long-existing financial and managerial inconsistencies. She said that during the reform process, more staff are likely to be laid off.

“Following the arrest of Kimanuka, more people within ORINFOR may also be arrested.”

According to her, the arrest of Kimanuka follows the audit report released on April 17 with detailed alleged financial mismanagement, but the minister declined to reveal how much money was mismanaged. Meanwhile, the Police have handed over Kimanuka to the Prosecution.

According to the spokesman of the Prosecution, Augustin Nkusi, some of the charges against Kimanuka are related to the new printing press and involves huge sums of money released in different double payments.

“The government purchased the web-machine at Euro 1,250,000 (Approx Rwf 921m); the contract signed during the purchase of this machine also involved its installation,” he revealed.

“However, there was another contract of Euro 600,000 (Approx Rwf442m); that was signed for installing this machine yet the installation fee had been paid for in the previous contract.”

Nkusi pointed out that Kimanuka is alleged to have illegally released another Euro 60,000 (Approx Rwf44m) to the engineers as their payment.

According to the law, extra payments are not supposed to exceed 20 percent of the initial amount spent on any item purchased, added Nkusi.

The installation of the web machine is in its final stage and is expected to be operational soon.

Oscar Kimanuka is also charged with paying his staff commissions on advertisement revenue which Nkusi said “is by law illegal.”

He added that the Prosecutor’s office will continue in its crackdown against all who break the law and will not have to wait for the annual Auditor General’s report, but would act even if internal auditors unearth anomalies.

Sources in the prosecution revealed that the saga is likely to affect as many as eleven people in Orinfor. Police sources said that one of them is already in custody.

Alexis Twahirwa, the head of the marketing department of Orinfor was reportedly arrested Monday.

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 12:14 PM 0 Comments

Rwanda Looking for Legal and Political Solution to Nkunda Case

By Thomas Rippe
VOANews/English
Kigali
April18, 2009

Rwanda shocked many earlier this year when it arrested its former ally, Laurent Nkunda. Now Rwanda has to decide what to do with him.

What do you do with a dissident general from another country arrested in your territory? That is a question Rwanda's judiciary system has been working to answer since Laurent Nkunda's arrest in January.

Nkunda is a former general in the Congolese army, whose armed rebellion has destabilized much of eastern Congo for years. He is not accused of committing any crimes in Rwanda. But Rwanda's constitution forbids the extradition of anyone to a country where they could face a death sentence.

Nkunda is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Congo and could face the death penalty if tried there.

Rwandan Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama is well aware of the difficulties.

"This is not a particularly easy case, because it sets out, or calls to question a number of legal issues that have to be examined, that have to really be given legal treatment for them to arrive at a decision that is legal in the eyes of the region and the eyes of the international law," he said.

In addition to the legal issues raised in Nkunda's case there are also important political considerations. Nkunda claimed he was fighting to protect ethnic Congolese Tutsis from the FDLR, another rebel group made up of remnants of the former Rwandan military and militias that carried out the genocide here 15 years ago.

Many Tutsis, both in Congo and in Rwanda, still see Nkunda as a hero. But his CNDP rebels have displaced hundreds of thousands in Congo, and the Congolese government has filed a formal request for extradition.

Minister Karugarama says that therefore the solution must be political as well as legal.

"The peace in eastern Congo is very, very important. But that raises political questions," he said. "The fate of Nkunda therefore has both legal and political connotations, both for the justice system and for the political questions posed in eastern Congo. We think that there is a need, while we are treating this matter, to examine the effect, or the impact of whatever decision that will be taken on the peace process in eastern Congo."

Minister Karugarama says discussions will continue between Kinshasa and Kigali, as well as between the Congolese government and various rebel factions. He also says the legal process will require time and patience, and he is unwilling to make a guess at Nkunda's future.

"If I did that I would be doing what we call legal speculation, and that's always dangerous," he said. "You have to avoid being speculative in law. A matter before a court of law is really best handled by waiting to hear a court verdict."

At the request of Nkunda's lawyers a preliminary hearing was held yesterday April 17, 2009 in Gisenyi, near the Congolese border. The hearing was over legal procedures and was not a criminal proceeding, nor did it bear on Nkunda's potential extradition to Congo.

Related Matereials:
Former Congolese Rebel Leader Nkunda to Face Trial in Rwanda Friday

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Laurent Nkunda and Bosco Ntaganda must face justice

Rwanda asked to Extradite Nkunda to ICC: Kabila & MONUC to arrest Ntaganda

DR Congo: Nkunda accused of massacre, UN unable to stop the atrocities

DRC: Nkunda responds to possible ICC indictment

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 5:03 PM 0 Comments

Rwanda to host International Press Freedom Day at regional level

By Edwin Musoni

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 12:44 PM 0 Comments

Rwanda: National Electoral Commission (NEC) and Parties draft new Electoral Code

By Edmond Kagire

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 12:25 PM 0 Comments

Rwandan genocide figitives will not be left off the hook

Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
March 31, 2009

On Thursday last week, the UN Legal chief held talks with top authorities of ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania before flying out to Nairobi on Friday.

"Rwandan genocide fugitives will not be left off the hook." The UN Legal Chief Patricia O' Brien says the remaining war crimes suspects will be tried by a residual mechanism.

"These fugitives will be captured and tried by a residual mechanism," the UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs O' Brien stated at the Arusha-based genocide tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). She said the draft mechanism was ready and submitted to the court for additional input before it will be presented to the UN Security Council for adoption.

O'Brien insisted that she was confident that ICTR, which has to finish all cases before the end of the year, is on the right track to meet the completion strategy. "I have every confidence that all was moving as agreed," she said. She observed that the ICTR has contributed to reconciliation in Rwanda by bringing to justice key perpetrators of the slaughter of about 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutu's.

O'Brien also pressured Kenya to arrest Felicien Kabuga. However, Nairobi denies that Kabuga is in Kenya.

The ICTR Prosecutor, Hassan Jallow says that intelligence reports point that Kabuga is hiding in Kenya.

O'Brien reiterated that UN member states have an obligation to assist in arresting the fugitives. In particular, she urged the DRC, like in the past, to track down the suspects.

Related Materials:
Rwanda: Mrs O'Brien - Transfer of Cases to Kigali Rested in Hands of UN Security Council, ICTR Judges

Rwandan Government Protests UK’s Refusal to Extradite Genocide Suspects

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 8:38 AM 0 Comments

Rwanda: Mrs O'Brien - Transfer of Cases to Kigali Rested in Hands of UN Security Council, ICTR Judges

Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
March 31, 2009

Arusha — The transfer of genocide cases to Rwanda was entirely in the hands of the UN Security Council and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) judges, according to UN Legal Counsel boss, Patricia O'Brien.

Mrs O'Brien revealed that she sympathized with Rwanda's demands to take on the remaining cases at ICTR after its completion, but the decision on the transfers rested in the hands of Security Council and ICTR judges, reported Tuesday New Times of Rwanda.

The ICTR is set to wind up its all first instance trials by end of the year and appeals by 2010.

Mrs O'Brien expressed this after Monday's meeting with Rwanda's Prosecutor General, Martin Ngoga, over ICTR's residual mechanisms.

She however expressed optimism that a final stand will be reached, adding that the UN appreciated and was supportive of Rwanda's continuous efforts to discuss the issue of residual mechanisms and the legacy of the Tanzania-based tribunal.

Rwanda has made its intentions clear that it wants the untried suspects to be transferred to Rwanda to stand trial and convicts brought in the country to serve their respective sentences.

However, Rwanda's applications to do so have been turned down by the UN tribunal on the grounds that the suspects might not get a fair hearing.

Last year, ICTR Chief Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow moved a motion to have five suspects, four of whom are in the tribunal's custody, transferred to Rwanda but was turned down by the judges.

Ngoga reiterated that Rwanda was interested to have the untried cases transferred to Kigali when the Tribunal ends its mandate.

The ICTR was established by the UN Security Council in 1994 to try masterminds of genocide against mainly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Mrs O'Brien who also visited Kenya to discuss with the authorities there about the issue of Kenya failing to apprehend one of the most wanted fugitives, Felicien Kabuga, said that she was optimistic that concrete steps will be taken to address the issue.

On Thursday last week, the UN Legal chief held talks with top authorities of ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania before flying out to Nairobi on Friday.

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 8:33 AM 0 Comments

Rwanda: Ibuka Exhorts West to Bring to Justice Genocide Fugitives

Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
April 15, 2009

Arusha — The umbrella association of genocide survivors (IBUKA) has said that western world has duty to help in tracking down fugitives of 1994 Rwandan genocide, decrying slow justice system or showing insensitiveness to the crimes committed by the suspects.

Speaking during a ceremony in Kigali Tuesday to pay homage to 25 United States Embassy staff who were among victims of the 15 years ago heinous killings, IBUKA President, Theodore Simburudali, said that some of these fugitives were freely enjoying freedom in the western world, according to New Times of Rwanda.

He considered that concerted efforts were needed to fight perpetrators of the genocide and bring them to justice, adding that efforts by western countries to tackle the issue seem to be slow and not very helpful.

"Genocide survivors are disappointed in the way western countries handle cases involving genocide perpetrators," he said.

The IBUKA president was apparently referring to the recent decision by British Court not to extradite genocide suspects to Kigali.

The four top former officials-- Vincent Bajinya, Charles Munyaneza, Celestin Ugirashebuja and Emmanuel Nteziryayo -- all indicted by the Rwandan Prosecutor General's Office for masterminding the genocide.

He also pointed to Canada, which has up to now failed to extradite Leon Mugesera, whose alleged hate speech made him famous as one of the most prominent preachers of genocide, as he called on Hutus to kill Tutsis and send them to Abyssinia (current Ethiopia) through Nyabarongo River.

He also condemned the United States for the same cause against people like a certain Eliezer Zihirambere and Leopold Munyakazi.

"You should alert your population, because these guys may rape and violate your girls and women if you don't bring them to justice," he warned.

US Ambassador to Rwanda, Stuart Symington, said that it is a pity that the world failed Rwanda by not coming to its rescue, which according to him could mean that the world failed the world.

Charles Mugabo who spoke on behalf of the embassy staff said that hope can be perceived through the young survivors who are struggling in university studies, which sends a message that the future has a different story from the past.

"Fifteen years after the genocide, Rwanda has a lot to tell to the rest of the world, demonstrating that it is possible to go beyond atrocities and work for development," he said, adding that their thoughts and support go to survivors of genocide."

The US Embassy also promised school fees for the orphans for the second term which is expected to open next week, reported New Times.

Related Materials:
Rwandan Government Protests UK’s Refusal to Extradite Genocide Suspects

Rwandan Genocide and Reconciliation: Samputu dismisses IBUKA ‘Negationist’ accusations

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 8:16 AM 1 Comments

Rwanda: Iyamuremye owns up, seeks forgiveness

By Edwin Musoni and Edmund Kagire

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 7:45 AM 1 Comments

Rwanda 2010: Another Kenya? Another Zimbabwe?

By Olivier Nyirubugara
olny.nl on Vimeo

The 2010 polls in Rwanda promise to be different from the 2003 ones. No candidate is officially known but there is little doubt about president Paul Kagame running for another term, as the Constitution allows him to do so.

There is also little doubt about opposition leader Victoire Ingabire’s ambitions.
For her, things are yet to go through bureaucratic and administrative procedures that might pose serious problems.

She has first to go back to the country she left 15 years ago and where those she fights politically are the masters of the land.

Ingabire seems to have started her European campaign. She is going from one conference to another, from one lecture to another. International media are dedicating long reports on her, which is rather making her popular at least among the Rwandan diaspora and the Westerners.

Since these will not take part in the election, she will have to conquer the Rwandan populations inside Rwanda, a country she describes as a land of anguish and repression.

This video report is about the lecture Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza held on April 15, 2009 at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.

She was invited by the United Nations Students Association to discuss Rwanda’s history and politics, as well as her presidential ambitions.

***Watch: Victoire competently answering the questions***

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posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 6:53 AM 1 Comments