Toronto (Canada): Protesters rally against Rwandan president Kagame in style
TORONTO (CANADA) (AFP) – Demonstrators rallied in Toronto Saturday against a private visit to Canada by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, urging his arrest.
Shouting “No more killing!” and “Kagame is an assassin!” through megaphones, protesters brandished placards with photos of bloodied victims outside a luxury hotel where Kagame and his delegation were believed to be staying ahead of a meeting to mark Rwanda Day.
Toronto police, who along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are providing security for the visit, escorted the roughly 200 demonstrators off the hotel grounds and onto the street. The protesters then set off recordings of sirens and called for Kagame’s arrest.
Kagame is expected to address members of the Rwandan diaspora in Canada, and speak about his country’s political and economic progress since 1994, when he rose to power after routing ethnic Hutu extremists responsible for a genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 people.
The Rwanda Day event has been shrouded in secrecy in order to deter demonstrators.
“We came here to protest against Kagame because he’s a criminal,” Pierre-Claver Nkinamubanzi, one of the organizers.
“He killed a lot of people not only in Rwanda but in the Congo. He’s responsible for the deaths of millions of people.”
Kagame’s government has come under fire for supporting a new militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the M23, which has raped, killed and displaced thousands of civilians in the eastern Kivu provinces.
Wiesel is a Hero, Kagame has Blood on His Hands
By Paul Rusesabagina
As a Rwandan genocide survivor, Paul Rusesabagina was disturbed to hear that the NYU Bronfman Center and Jewish Values Network is providing a forum for Rwandan President Paul Kagame to polish his image & tell more lies to the international community.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sep. 24, 2013
One is a Hero, the Other has Blood on His Hands
Paul Rusesabagina released this statement today regarding the upcoming event with Elie Wiesel and President Paul Kagame sharing the same stage in New York.
“As a Rwandan genocide survivor, I was very disturbed to hear that the NYU Bronfman Center and the Jewish Values Network is providing a forum for Rwandan President Paul Kagame to polish his image and tell more lies to the international community. My foundation and I were even more surprised to see that Elie Wiesel would agree to serve on a panel with Kagame.
We love Elie Wiesel and his work very much. He is a genocide survivor, a great humanitarian, and a well-deserved Nobel Laureate. That being the case, we simply don’t want to see him sitting next to someone with so much blood on his hands. I have met Mr. Wiesel on a number of occasions, and in November of 2011 I was very pleased to receive the Lantos Human Rights Prize, which Elie Wiesel was awarded in 2010. It was an incredible honor to win an award that he had also received.
But now, a man that the entire world respects has been caught in a fishing net by Kagame’s public relations machine. It would be a terrible shame to see Elie Wiesel sitting at the same panel with someone accused by the international community of having killed hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda’s neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These are innocent civilians killed, the elderly, children and the sick, not just “rebel” soldiers.
Since leading a civil war against the Rwandan government from 1990-1994, a mountain of evidence continues to accumulate that Kagame and his forces have been involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity both in Rwanda during that civil war, and now in the neighboring Congo. In the Congo, the 2010 United Nations Mapping Report even states that there is enough evidence to investigate whether the Rwandan government committed genocide against Hutu civilians there. Atrocities continue on a daily basis, with UN and other international reports making it clear that the Rwandan government supports and controls the M23 militia group that is driving the violence, recruiting child soldiers, killing enormous numbers of civilians, and raping women and children daily in the Kivu region.
Kagame and his propaganda machine would like us to close our eyes to the current reality, and only remember the day in 1994 when his forces won the civil war in Rwanda, ending the terrible genocide. Since that point in time, many have spoken of the economic miracle in Rwanda, with better growth than any other country in Africa. But all of this is a false front for the reality of Rwanda.
Over 800,000 of my countrymen, Tutsis and Hutus, were killed in those terrible months of the genocide, and they must not be forgotten. For a very brief time it even seemed that Kagame might be a hero, but this quickly evaporated. Kagame and his cronies were simply the new bosses in town. It is now clear that they do not rule for the Rwandan people, but merely for their own benefit.
What is the truth here? The evidence is all easy to find for anyone who chooses to look. Kagame and his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Rwandan civil war and genocide in 1990-1994. They did not start the genocide, but they did kill hundreds of thousands of Rwandans in terrible ways that are well documented.
Since taking control of Rwanda, Kagame’s government has become increasingly repressive over the past 20 years. There is no freedom of expression or of the press in Rwanda. Dissidents and reporters who seek the truth are regularly harassed, jailed, exiled, tortured or killed. Political parties who oppose the RPF may not be formed, and opposing politicians are jailed and killed. Even discussions of the genocide are strictly limited, and only the current government’s version of the events is allowed. In this narrative, Tutsis are the victims and heroes of the tale, and all Hutus are evil genocidaires and oppressors. In fact, very few of the millions of Hutus in Rwanda participated in the genocide, and many were victims of the violence. And while many Tutsis were indeed victims, other Tutsis also committed terrible crimes. Many of these war criminals now rule the country.
And now in the Congo, Kagame and his forces are accused of crimes that are just as violent as the terrible Rwandan genocide. But the violence in the Congo, driven by Rwanda, has been going on for over 15 years, and millions of lives have now been lost.
The real story about Kagame’s violent nature is not just told by a few dissidents. These facts are supported by numerous reports from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations, Reporters Without Borders, and even the U.S. State Department. Kagame’s propaganda regularly claims that anyone talking about the reality of Rwanda is a liar, intent on bringing about another genocide and creating more violence in Rwanda. But the world is watching, and he cannot be allowed to pretend that nothing is happening.
We cannot close our eyes and ears to these facts. These are the truths that Paul Kagame seeks to cover up on a daily basis. And whenever he can, he seeks sympathetic audiences in the United States and Europe to hear his very one-sided tale.
When we first saw the ad for this event, we thought “wow, it’s a bad idea for anyone to debate Elie Wiesel on genocide. I wonder why Kagame would do that?” But then we read deeper, and realized the terrible irony of this panel.
It would be a terrible shame to see Elie Wiesel sitting at the same panel with someone who has so much blood on his hands. And it would be an equal disgrace for highly respected Jewish organizations like the NYU Bronfman Center and the Jewish Values Network to allow Kagame a forum to spread his false tale. My understanding was that your organizations stand for justice and stopping violence. Kagame simply stands for impunity and doing whatever it takes to stay in power.
Paul Kagame is a violent dictator who should be on trial for his actions, not celebrated for them. The idea that he can sit with Elie Wiesel and discuss how to protect the weak should be a very bad joke, but it appears that it is instead a bad and embarrassing mistake about to happen.”
Contact: Kitty Kurth 312-617-7288
— End —
Creating African synergies against third terms
By Ambrose NzeyimanaRising ContinentSeptember 24, 2013
Source: Snakes & Leaders – Africa’s political succession. Marshall van Valen/ The African Report
We have had the Arab Spring which started in January 2011 with the suicide of Mohamed Bouazzizi in Tunisia and removed President Ben Ali from power.
After Tunisia, Egypt then Libya followed. Some thought that the movement for change would spread in Sub-Sahara. But it did not happen as expected. However it created the hope among many in the region that nothing was impossible.
Firoze Manji and Sokari Ekine referred to the newly created spirit of change as an Africa Awakening in their book published in 2012. There were encouraging stories from Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Mauritania to Sudan passing through Gabon.
In the next five years, there will be 20 African presidents who will have in one way or another to deal with the third term issue.
Marshall van Valen explains in his article Snakes & Leaders: Africa’s political succession published on Friday 20/09/13 in the African Report that
“Although it’s clear that most of the veteran presidents contemplating political successions over the next five years are scheming to prolong their grip on power, it is equally clear they will face a better organized and equipped opposition well able to exploit information technology and social media.”
Having learnt from the recent possibilities available for political change in Africa, the question that many ask is how Africans can capitalise on the experiences seen elsewhere on the continent, and seek change in their own country but in a much more coordinated way in order to share the learning.
The divisions among Africans have in many areas worked against their own interests. What would for example happen if Rwandans, Ugandans and Congolese worked together to remove their respective dictatorships? As the latter plot their stay in power, their citizens on their part would organize together to get rid of them.
Source: Snakes & Leaders – Africa’s political succession. Marshall van Valen/ The African Report
What if the 20 dictators seeking third terms found themselves not only confronted to their own citizens but also to the rest of other Africans who don’t buy into their abuse of power?
To create such platforms of action, people need to communicate and organize accordingly. They need to overcome their narrow approach of thinking that things aren’t interconnected. A dictatorship in a neighbouring country impacts in some ways on lives and leadership in one given country. The same way goes for democratic rule.
An African Coalition Against Third Terms – ACATT would be a concept worth exploring seriously by forces seeking change across the continent. Its advantage on the current situation would be that it would help create synergies for change which are today lacking.
It is true the African Union has dispositions that deal with governments which become unconstitutional by changing the fundamental law to extend the time in office of their leaders. So far these directives have not been very effective as many examples are there to prove that the Union is not having some tangible impact in that area.
While some dictators are strategizing among themselves on how to remain in power, sometimes helped by external powers interested in the status quo, it is time citizens too across the African borders come together to defeat their clinging onto power which does not improve the well being of the populations.
COLLOSAL ERROR TO INVITE KAGAME TO PANEL ON GENOCIDE, AMBASSADOR ROBERT KRUEGER
To those wishing to lessen genocide:
It would be a colossal error to invite Pres. Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who is himself one of the foremost genocidists in the world, as a panelist to discuss this topic on Sept. 29. Why do I say this? Because from June, 1994-August, 1996, I served as U.S. Ambassador to Burundi, neighbor to Rwanda, as 1,000 refugees per day were fleeing from Rwanda to Burundi.
Ambassador Robert Krueger, former US Ambassador to Burundi
I interviewed hundreds of them in the UN camps. My question was: Why are you fleeing Rwanda to come here, and when will you return to Rwanda? Their answer was always the same: “We will return only when Kagame and his troops stop massacring us.”
I personally visited with Kagame in September, l994, when I accompanied Undersecretary Tim Wirth, and U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda, David Rawson, to meet with the Rwandan leader. In that meeting he could not deny that his soldiers engaged in vengeance, but he refused to be held accountable for the massive number of killings, and claimed he could not control the actions of his troops . One Danish missionary whom I knew who had served 30 years in Burundi and Rwanda, told me: “Paul Kagame is the most ruthless dictator on the continent of Africa; there is blood all over his hands.”
I describe my visit with Kagame in chapter 8 of my book “From Bloodshed to Hope in Burundi: Our Embassy Years during Genocide,” a work that has been endorsed by three Nobel Peace Prize winners: Presidents Carter and Clinton, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who wrote the foreword to the book.
To support my legitimacy in making this criticism, I will offer several quotes. President Clinton: “In Burundi, or Rwanda, if we didn’t have brave people there, like Ambassador Krueger, it would be even harder to avoid human tragedy. Our symbols need to be people like Ambassador Krueger, who risked his life to keep people alive in Burundi”; Ted Koppel, in his Nightline program, “Mr. Ambassador,” on my work in Africa: ”There is a lot about Bob Krueger that exemplifies the best in America….a man with a profound sense of right and wrong…” Jean Marie Ngendahayo, former Foreign Minister of Burundi: “Robert Krueger is certainly the most influential and the best ambassador ever to serve in Burundi.
He fought for the preservation and consolidation of democracy with all his heart and his intelligence….He saved many lives and gave hope to those who lost their cherished ones…Norbert Ndihokubwayo, Member of Burundi Parliament, “As ambassador…he would go to the countryside to see for himself the atrocities committed against a population too afraid to speak out…He went wherever there were massive violations of human rights…he even risked his own life in an ambush planned by those who feared his outspokenness.” (I believe I’m the only living American ambassador to have had gunfire pass through his car– in an ambush that left two dead and eight grievously wounded.)
The fact is that the U.S. did nothing to stop the first Rwandan genocide in 1994, and, having done nothing, did not want to admit that the leader who had been trained at American military bases in Kansas, Paul Kagame, was no less a genocidist than those whom he replace
If the panel includes Kagame, it will have invited perhaps the world’s most vengeful living genocidist, sitting in judgment of others, and speaking of reconciliation, at the table. It would be comic, if it were not so tragic.
Ambassador Robert Krueger
Canada: Demande d’interdiction de séjour du président rwandais Paul Kagame au Canada
Le 19 septembre 2013
Honorable John Baird
Ministre des Affaires étrangères
2249 Carling Avenue
Suite 418
Ottawa (Ontario)
K2B 7E9
Honorable Steven Blaney
Ministre de la sécurité publique
269, avenue Laurier Ouest Ottawa (Ontario)
K1A 0P8
Honorable Chris Alexander
Ministre de la citoyenneté et de l’immigration
100 Westney Road South, Unit E101
Ajax (Ontario)
L1S 7H3
Objet: Demande d’interdiction de séjour du président rwandais Paul Kagame au Canada
Honorables messieurs les Ministres
Les 22 Août 2013, nous vous avons envoyé une lettre concernant une visite que le président du Rwanda, le Général Paul Kagame, envisageait d’effectuer au Canada. Les informations qui étaient disponibles à ce moment indiquaient que cette visite devait avoir lieu entre le 29 août et le 2 septembre 2013 lors des cérémonies appelées « Rwanda Week ». Ces dernières ont finalement été annulées et le Haut commissariat du Rwanda au Canada a émis l’annonce ci-jointe selon laquelle le président Paul Kagame va plutôt être au Canada lors des cérémonies appelées « Rwanda Day 2013» qui se tiendront à Toronto du 27 septembre au 28 septembre 2013.
Par la présente, nous réitérons notre demande de ne pas permettre au président Kagame d’entrer sur le territoire canadien étant donné les accusations de crimes contre l’humanité qui pèsent sur lui, ses discours de nature à susciter la haine et la violence ainsi que d’autres graves violations des droits de la personne dont son régime est responsable.
Nous vous soumettons, une fois de plus, les quelques éléments ci-après qui montrent que le séjour du président Paul Kagame au Canada serait non seulement néfaste pour l’image du Canada, mais aussi pourrait perturber la paix sociale des ressortissants du Rwanda et d’autres pays de la région des Grands Lacs africains installés au Canada :
1. Les rapports d’experts des Nations Unies attestent que le Rwanda soutient en hommes, armes et munitions les rebelles congolais du M23 qui sévissent dans l’Est de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC). Ces rebelles sont responsables de crimes contre l’humanité, de multiples viols ainsi que des enrôlements forcés de jeunes enfants. Étant donné la co-responsabilité de l’armée du président Paul Kagame dans ces crimes, beaucoup de pays donataires, tel que la Grande Bretagne, les États-Unis, l’Allemagne et les Pays Bas ont considérablement réduit l’aide qu’ils accordaient au Rwanda.
2. Le rapport des Nations Unies Projet Mapping concernant les violations les plus graves des droits humains commises entre 1993 et 2003 sur le territoire de la République Démocratique du Congo impute à l’Armée Patriotique Rwandaise sous le commandement du Général Kagame de graves violations des droits de l’homme et du droit humanitaire international. Il affirme que les crimes qui ont été commis pendant la période couverte sur les populations congolaises ainsi que des réfugiés hutus rwandais peuvent être qualifiés de génocide, si des éléments de preuve étaient apportés devant un tribunal compétent. Le gouvernement canadien est parfaitement au courant de cette situation parce que le Canada a accueilli beaucoup de rwandais et de congolais rescapés de ces horribles crimes.
3. Comme ne cessent de le dénoncer des grandes organisations de défense des droits de la personne et de liberté d’expression tel que Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International et Reporters sans Frontières, le régime de Kigali persécute quotidiennement, emprisonne et même tue ses opposants politiques et les journalistes indépendants. À titre illustratif, il y a lieu de citer le cas de l’ancien vice-président du Parti Vert, M. André Kagwa Rwisereka, qui est mort décapité un mois avant les élections présidentielles d’août 2010, l’assassinat du journaliste Jean Léonard Rugambage ainsi que l’emprisonnement de Mme Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, M. Déogratias Mushayidi et Me Bernard Ntaganda, respectivement présidents des partis FDU-Inkingi, PDP-Imanzi et PS-Imberakuri, ainsi que de beaucoup d’autres opposants.
Le régime de Kigali envoie même à l’étranger des escadrons pour assassiner les opposants et les journalistes indépendants qui l’ont fui. À ce niveau, il y a lieu de citer notamment l’assassinat en Ouganda du journaliste Charles Ingabire, la tentative d’assassinat en Afrique du Sud du Général Kayumba Nyamwasa ainsi que celle de M. Jonathan Musonera et M. René Mugenzi en Grande Bretange.
Certains des escadrons qui commettent les crimes sur des personnes que le régime de Kigali considère comme ses opposants s’introduiraient dans divers pays à la faveur des visites du Président Kagame qui les amènerait comme membres de sa délégation. Cette situation risque de se produire au Canada advenant que les services des ministères placés sous vos responsabilités lui permettent d’y entrer.
4. Le président Kagame ne cesse de s’illustrer par des discours incendiaires susceptibles de replonger le Rwanda dans des violences à grande échelle. Ainsi, en date du 30 juin 2013 devant près d’un millier de jeunes rwandais réunis au sommet du Youth Connekt dialogue, il a déclaré que tous les hutu doivent porter collectivement l’opprobre du génocide des tutsi de 1994 et s’excuser, parce que ce sont leurs congénères qui ont tué des tutsi dans cette tragédie. À la même occasion, il a déclaré qu’il assassinerait lui-même quiconque prétendrait tuer en son nom.
Ces déclarations du président Kagame sont dangereuses à plusieurs égards et ont été dénoncées par plusieurs organisations politiques rwandaises et de la société civile dont l’association IBUKA qui regroupe des rescapés du génocide des tutsi de 1994. D’abord, le fait d’imputer la responsabilité du génocide de 1994 à tous les hutu, même ceux qui n’étaient pas encore nés en 1994 et ceux qui ont protégé leurs voisins tutsi, viole le principe de responsabilité individuelle qui constitue un des piliers des règles de droit. Ensuite, l’histoire montre que la plupart des grandes tragédies commencent par la présentation des personnes issues d’un certain groupe comme des êtres collectivement mauvais ou inférieurs. Enfin, le fait pour un chef d’État de promouvoir publiquement le règlement des différents par des assassinats plutôt que devant les tribunaux constitue le comble d’incitation à la violence au sein d’une population.
5. Le président Kagame a révélé publiquement ses intentions d’assassiner le président de la Tanzanie et ainsi perturber davantage la paix dans la région des Grands Lacs africains. Dans le même discours du 30 juin 2013 ci-haut mentionné, il a promis d’attenter à la vie de son excellence Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, dans ces termes sans équivoque : «I will just wait for you at the right place and I will hit you ».
Le geste qui a valu au président Tanzanien de telles graves menaces de la part du président Kagame est d’avoir proposé, à l’occasion du 21ième sommet de l’Union Africaine du 26 mai 2013 à Addis-Abeba, la tenue de négociations générales de tous les acteurs impliqués dans la guerre au Congo. Il a déclaré que, si Kinshasa négocie avec ses adversaires du M23, il faut aussi que Kigali et Kampala engagent un dialogue avec les rebelles opposés à leurs régimes.
Honorables messieurs les Ministres, le Canada interdit d’entrer sur son territoire et expulse régulièrement des personnes soupçonnées d’avoir commis des crimes de génocide, des crimes de guerre, des contre l’humanité ou d’avoir prononcé des discours d’incitation à la haine et à la violence. Ces quelques éléments montrent clairement que le président Paul Kagame tombe dans la catégorie de ces personnes qui ne doivent pas séjourner sur le territoire canadien.
Les organisations signataires de la présente lettre vous demandent de ne pas autoriser au président Paul Kagame d’entrer sur le territoire Canadien. Le Canada ne gagne rien à accueillir sur son territoire une personne qui n’a aucun respect pour la vie humaine et qui prône la haine et la violence, fut-ce même un chef d’État. De même, les canadiens d’origine rwandaise ainsi que d’autres pays de la région des Grands Lacs africains ont embrassé les valeurs de respect des droits de la personne, de paix ainsi que de primauté du droit qui sont chères au Canada. Ils n’ont pas besoin de discours d’une personne qui prône le contraire de ces valeurs et qui de surcroît, risque de porter atteinte à leur sécurité.
Pour le parti Amahoro Congrès du Peuple
Sé
Etienne Masozera, Président
Pour RNC-Section Canada
Sé
Emmanuel Hakizimana, Ph.D., Coordinateur
23, rue de la Terrasse Eardley 5, 5e avenue, Laval, Qc
Gatineau, Québec, J9H 6B5 H7H 2H9
Tél. (613) 302-1256 Tél. (514)777-4809
C.C.
Directeur général de la GRC Immeuble QG 73 promenade Leikin Ottawa, (Ontario) K1A 0R2
LE PRÉSIDENT KAGAME À TORONTO : LE WEEK-END PROCHAIN PROMET D’ÊTRE CHAUD
23 septembre 2013
Pendant que la guerre en Syrie défraie quotidiennement les chroniques de grands journaux, celle dans la région des Grands Lacs africains, qui dure depuis plus de vingt ans, continue de faucher des vies humaines sans créer de remous dans les médias occidentaux.
Profitant de cette léthargie médiatique, les responsables de cette folie meurtrière qui a déjà emporté plus de huit millions de victimes se délectent en sillonnant les capitales et les grandes villes occidentales pendant que leurs hommes de main rasent des familles entières.
C’est ce que s’apprête à faire le président rwandais Paul Kagame qui, selon une annonce de l’ambassade du Rwanda au Canada, séjournera à Toronto les 27 et 28 septembre prochains.
Les ressortissants de la région des Grands Lacs africains, Rwandais, Congolais, Burundais et Tanzaniens fortement indignés de cette situation ont envoyé des lettres de protestation au gouvernement canadien.
Ils ont demandé que le président Kagame ne soit pas autorisé à entrer au Canada étant donné les accusations de crimes contre l’humanité qui pèsent sur lui, ses discours incendiaires ainsi que d’autres graves violations des droits de la personne dont son régime est responsable.
Ils ont aussi prévenu les autorités canadiennes de l’insécurité qui risque de provenir de cette visite, le président Kagame étant réputé laisser sur son passage des agents destinés à pourchasser ses opposants.
Cependant, ceux-ci se préparent aussi à son éventuel arrivé et promettent d’affluer de partout au Canada et aux États-Unis pour manifester contre celui qui est désormais qualifié de plus grand criminel au monde encore en fonction.
De fait, le bilan du président Kagame en matière de criminalité est extrêmement lourd. En voici quelques éléments :
Les rapports d’experts des Nations Unies attestent que le Rwanda soutient en hommes, armes et munitions les rebelles congolais du M23 qui sévissent dans l’Est de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC). Ces rebelles sont responsables de crimes contre l’humanité, de viols systématiques ainsi que des enrôlements forcés de jeunes enfants. La responsabilité de l’armée de Paul Kagame dans ces crimes a amené beaucoup de pays donataires dont la Grande Bretagne, les États-Unis, l’Allemagne et les Pays Bas à réduire considérablement l’aide qu’ils accordaient au Rwanda.
Le rapport des Nations Unies Projet Mapping concernant les violations les plus graves des droits humains commises entre 1993 et 2003 sur le territoire de la RRDC impute à l’armée rwandaise sous le commandement du Général Kagame de graves violations des droits de la personne et du droit humanitaire international. Il affirme que les crimes qui ont été commis pendant la période couverte sur des populations congolaises ainsi que des réfugiés hutus rwandais peuvent être qualifiés de génocide, si des éléments de preuve étaient apportés devant un tribunal compétent.
Le régime de Paul Kagame est également régulièrement dénoncé par les grandes organisations de défense des droits de la personne et de liberté d’expression tel que Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International et Reporters sans Frontières pour la persécution, l’emprisonnement et l’assassinat d’opposants politiques et de journalistes indépendants.
À titre illustratif, il y a lieu de citer le cas de l’ancien vice-président du Parti Vert, M. André Kagwa Rwisereka, qui est mort décapité un mois avant les élections présidentielles d’août 2010, l’assassinat du journaliste Jean Léonard Rugambage ainsi que l’emprisonnement de Mme Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, M. Déogratias Mushayidi et Me Bernard Ntaganda, respectivement présidents des partis FDU-Inkingi, PDP-Imanzi et PS-Imberakuri.
Le président Paul Kagame envoie même à l’étranger des escadrons pour assassiner les opposants et les journalistes indépendants qui l’ont fui. L’assassinat en Ouganda du journaliste Charles Ingabire, la tentative d’assassinat en Afrique du Sud du Général Kayumba Nyamwasa ainsi que celle de M. Jonathan Musonera et M. René Mugenzi en Grande Bretange sont l’œuvre de ces escadrons.
À en croire ses propres dires, le président Kagame prévoit étendre sa zone de criminalité à la Tanzanie. Dans un discours incendiaire prononcé le 30 juin 2013 devant un millier de jeunes, il a promis « d’attendre le Président Kikwete au bon moment et de le frapper ».
Le geste qui a valu au président Tanzanien de telles menaces est d’avoir proposé, à l’occasion du 21ième sommet de l’Union Africaine du 26 mai 2013 à Addis-Abeba, la tenue de négociations générales de tous les acteurs impliqués dans la guerre au Congo. Selon le président Kikwete, si Kinshasa négocie avec ses adversaires du M23, il faut aussi que Kigali et Kampala engagent un dialogue avec les rebelles opposés à leurs régimes.
Toutes ces raisons poussent des milliers de Congolais, de Rwandais, de Burundais et de Tanzaniens qui ont immigré en Amérique du Nord à se mobiliser en vue d’une grande manifestation à Toronto contre le président Kagame, advenant que le Canada lui accorde un visa d’entrée.
Mais il y a lieu de se demander pourquoi, si le Canada expulse régulièrement des personnes soupçonnées d’avoir commis des crimes de génocide, des crimes de guerre, des criomes contre l’humanité ou d’avoir prononcé des discours haineux, il accueillerait sur son territoire une personne, fusse-t-elle un chef d’État, qui a fracassé tous les records historiques en matière de criminalité.
Canada: Protest letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet Members
CHRISTOPHER C. BLACK
BARRISTER
Counsel List, International Criminal Court
Lead Counsel, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
September 23, 2013
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C, M.P. Prime Minister
Honourable Steven Blaney, P.C, M.P. Minister of Public Safety,
Honourable John Baird, P.C., M.P. Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Honourable Peter Mackay, P.C. M.P. Minister of Justice
House of Commons,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A
0A6
Dear Prime Minister and Ministers
Re: Visit of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda September 28, 2013
I have been asked to convey to you the attached statement of protest
against the visit to Canada of Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, scheduled to
make a speech in Toronto on September 28, 2013.
The statement of protest is clear and I will not repeat its contents
here. Pursuant to the facts contained in that statement the organisations and
political parties concerned hereby seek your reconsideration in allowing this
visit to take place and request that it be interdicted. They also ask your
assistance in prosecuting Paul Kagame under the laws governing Canada’s universal
jurisdiction with respect to war crimes.
You will understand that the visit of this man, whose war crimes are
notorious, is causing great distress to the organisations concerned and all
concerned Canadians and can only bring dishonour to the Canadian people and
government and is not in the interests of this country.
The evidence of his crimes is contained in the files and trial
transcripts of the proceedings before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and
are before the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. I would be
pleased to provide you with some of this evidence if you so require.
If you have any questions of me I am pleased to assist further. I thank
you for your time and consideration.
Please accept my highest regards,
Yours Sincerely,
Christopher C. Black
188 Olde Bayview
Avenue, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4E
3C9
CANADA: WE PROTEST THE VISIT OF KAGAME, BARRISTER CHRISTOPHER BLACK
WE PROTEST.
The people of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, hereby
represented in all their ethnic and cultural diversity by the Amahoro People’s
Congress, the Rwanda National Congress (RNC-Ihuriro) the United Democratic Forces
(FDU-Inkingi) and the Social Party PS-Imberakuri, protest the visit to Toronto
of Paul Kagame, a war criminal of the first order.
WE PROTEST the visit of a man who has murdered hundreds of thousands of
Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda
since 1990.
WE PROTEST the presence, in Canada, of
a man who has murdered three African heads of state; President Juvenal
Habyarimana of Rwanda,
and President Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi in
1994 and President Laurent Desire Kabila, of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) in
2001.
WE PROTEST the mass murder of over 6 million Rwandans and Congolese
peoples since 1996 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a mass murder committed
by Paul Kagame, in a continuous war waged on behalf of western interests, and
with their assistance.
WE PROTEST the Canadian government’s permission for the visit and its
shameful support of a man who has crushed any attempt at democracy in Rwanda; of
a man who has nothing but contempt for the human, civil and political rights of
the Rwandan people, of a man who uses cruel tortures and assassination against
those who speak out.
WE PROTEST the protection from prosecution granted him by the
International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal For
Rwanda, which, though in possession of overwhelming evidence of 20 years of
mass atrocities committed by Kagame in the Great
Lakes region of Africa,
have granted him complete immunity from prosecution, and thereby encouraged his
crimes.
WE PROTEST AND WE DEMAND that Paul Kagame be charged with war crimes by
the ICC, the ICTR and the Canadian government under its claimed universal
jurisdiction under the Criminal Code and that the Prime Minister direct his
Minister of Public Safety and the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police and Border Services Agency to immediately arrest Paul Kagame on his
entry into the country and direct the Minister of Justice to commence criminal
prosecutions against him forthwith.
WE PROTEST AND WE DEMAND that the Sheraton Hotel or any other hotels in
Canada,
refuse permission for Paul Kagame to stay on their premises and stain their
reputation.
THE RWANDAN AND CONGOLESE PEOPLE PROTEST AND DEMAND ACTION AND JUSTICE.
NO IMMUNITY FOR MASS MURDERERS!
JUSTICE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE GREAT LAKES!
JUSTICE FOR AFRICA!
NO MORE DICTATORSHIP OF PAUL KAGAME!
NO MORE WARS!
ARREST KAGAME-GIVE US
PEACE!
Press and Public Contact for the Organisers:
Christopher C. Black,
Barrister, bar@idirect.com,
1-416-453-0537
COLLOSAL ERROR TO INVITE KAGAME TO PANEL ON GENOCIDE, AMBASSADOR ROBERT KRUEGER
To those wishing to lessen genocide:
It would be a colossal error to invite Pres. Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who is himself one of the foremost genocidists in the world, as a panelist to discuss this topic on Sept. 29. Why do I say this? Because from June, 1994-August, 1996, I served as U.S. Ambassador to Burundi, neighbor to Rwanda, as 1,000 refugees per day were fleeing from Rwanda to Burundi.
Ambassador Robert Krueger, former US Ambassador to Burundi
I interviewed hundreds of them in the UN camps. My question was: Why are you fleeing Rwanda to come here, and when will you return to Rwanda? Their answer was always the same: “We will return only when Kagame and his troops stop massacring us.”
I personally visited with Kagame in September, l994, when I accompanied Undersecretary Tim Wirth, and U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda, David Rawson, to meet with the Rwandan leader. In that meeting he could not deny that his soldiers engaged in vengeance, but he refused to be held accountable for the massive number of killings, and claimed he could not control the actions of his troops . One Danish missionary whom I knew who had served 30 years in Burundi and Rwanda, told me: “Paul Kagame is the most ruthless dictator on the continent of Africa; there is blood all over his hands.”
I describe my visit with Kagame in chapter 8 of my book “From Bloodshed to Hope in Burundi: Our Embassy Years during Genocide,” a work that has been endorsed by three Nobel Peace Prize winners: Presidents Carter and Clinton, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who wrote the foreword to the book.
To support my legitimacy in making this criticism, I will offer several quotes. President Clinton: “In Burundi, or Rwanda, if we didn’t have brave people there, like Ambassador Krueger, it would be even harder to avoid human tragedy. Our symbols need to be people like Ambassador Krueger, who risked his life to keep people alive in Burundi”; Ted Koppel, in his Nightline program, “Mr. Ambassador,” on my work in Africa: ”There is a lot about Bob Krueger that exemplifies the best in America….a man with a profound sense of right and wrong…” Jean Marie Ngendahayo, former Foreign Minister of Burundi: “Robert Krueger is certainly the most influential and the best ambassador ever to serve in Burundi.
He fought for the preservation and consolidation of democracy with all his heart and his intelligence….He saved many lives and gave hope to those who lost their cherished ones…Norbert Ndihokubwayo, Member of Burundi Parliament, “As ambassador…he would go to the countryside to see for himself the atrocities committed against a population too afraid to speak out…He went wherever there were massive violations of human rights…he even risked his own life in an ambush planned by those who feared his outspokenness.” (I believe I’m the only living American ambassador to have had gunfire pass through his car– in an ambush that left two dead and eight grievously wounded.)
The fact is that the U.S. did nothing to stop the first Rwandan genocide in 1994, and, having done nothing, did not want to admit that the leader who had been trained at American military bases in Kansas, Paul Kagame, was no less a genocidist than those whom he replace
If the panel includes Kagame, it will have invited perhaps the world’s most vengeful living genocidist, sitting in judgment of others, and speaking of reconciliation, at the table. It would be comic, if it were not so tragic.
Ambassador Robert Krueger
