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News and Information about Africa issues and problems, Human Rights Abuses, Unpunished War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Africa, UK's Policy in Africa and UK-Africa Politics and Foreign Relations, e.g. UK's Proxy Wars in Africa: The Case of Rwanda and D.R. Congo.
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Fw: *DHR* Canada: Stop Training Militia Members for Rwanda
Canada: Stop Training Militia Members for Rwanda Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa for Salem-News.com The Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) has re-established a one-party, authoritarian system of government that is even more repressive than the government that was in power prior to the genocide.
(KIGALI, Rwanda) - RWANDA NATIONAL CONGRESS The Right Honorable Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A OA2 Canada VERY URGENT 2nd August, 2011 Dear Rt. Hon. Harper, Re: PETITION FOR THE PREVENTION, SUPPRESSION AND PUNISHMENT OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES OF MILITIA GROUPS IN THE SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF RWANDA ON CANADIAN TERRITORY We, the members of the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), hereby petition the Government of Canada and the Council of Gatineau City to cancel a program of the Government of Rwanda to recruit Canadian citizens and Rwandans living in Canada into a Rwandan militia group and provide indoctrination and military training to the group in Gatineau city. The training of the 'Intore' militia is scheduled to take place from August 4th to August 8th, 2011. In the early 1990s, elements of the Government and party that were in power at the time established, trained and armed militia groups, known as Interahamwe and Impuzamigambi, to help them resist and frustrate popular demand for democratic reform. Members of these militia groups, comprising mainly the youth, were indoctrinated to violently defend the agenda of the dictatorial regime that was in power at that time, by harassing, hunting down and killing government critics, especially members of opposition political parties. The Interahamwe and Impuzamigambi militia degenerated into murderous gangs that became very instrumental in carrying out the genocide against the Tutsi and crimes against humanity and other gross human rights violations against opponents of the regime. Political leaders who were opposed to democratic reform used these militia groups to carry out atrocities in which hundreds of thousands of innocent Rwandan men, women and children perished. The Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), the rebel group that took over government after the genocide, has failed to lead the country to democracy. Instead, the organization has re-established a one-party, authoritarian system of government that is even more repressive than the government that was in power prior to the genocide. The Government that rules Rwanda today has no legitimacy in reality and in the perception of the people of Rwanda. The RPF Government of Rwanda maintains its hold onto power through acts of repression, including arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings of critics and opponents of the regimes. Persons who have been targeted by these acts of persecution include political leaders, journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society activists. These acts of politically motivated persecution and violence have been committed in and outside Rwanda, and especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and have been documented throughout the years by all major international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, and the United Nations Human Rights Commission, to name but a few. Over the past several years, the current Government of Rwanda and President Kagame have established, indoctrinated, provided military training to, and created and armed two new militia groups, known as the Local Defence Forces and Intore. Members of the Intore militia in particular include recruits living in foreign countries, including Canada. The modus operandi of these new militia groups is similar to that of the Interahamwe and Impuzamigambi militia of the early 1990s. The Local Defence Forces and Intore receive both ideological and military training to prepare them for the tasks of suppressing legitimate exercise of civil and political rights by Rwandans who are not members of the RPF. The objective of Local Defence Forces and Intore is to harass and, if necessary, liquidate all political opposition to the regime, including critics of the government living in foreign countries such as Canada. President Paul Kagame regularly and personally attends part of the training and the passing out parade for the Local Defence Forces and Intore. The Intore militia training in Canada is scheduled to be conducted in Gatineau, Quebec from 4th-8th August, 2011. The objective for the establishment of a Canada branch of the Intore militia is to persecute Rwandans living in Canada and the United States of America who are critical of President Paul Kagame. It is also likely that some of the members of the Intore militia trained at the Canadian camp may in future be deployed in Rwanda where they are likely to be involved in torture and extra-judicial killings of political opponents of the Government of Rwanda and to commit war crimes, war against humanity and other offences against innocent civilians in Rwanda. We are apprehensive that some of the militia members who participate in the training in question will be used to intimidate and possibly harm the lives of critics of the Rwandan government living in Canada and the United States. We consider it extremely regrettable that the Government of Rwanda should be permitted to organize indoctrination and military programs of militia groups which are instruments of repression and the suppression of the fundamental and inalienable human rights of the people of Rwanda. We are appalled in particular that youth who are Canadian citizens should be exposed to indoctrination that preaches intolerance of the political views of other citizens and incitement to participate in criminal activities against opponents of the Rwandan government of the day. In view of these worrying developments, we wish to draw to your urgent attention, and to the attention of the Canadian government and public, the following facts: 1. President Paul Kagame is a notorious war criminal who has caused horrendous loss of innocent lives in both Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 2. President Kagame is a dictator who has suppressed the Rwandan people's aspirations for freedom by outlawing opposition political parties, closing independent media outlets, restricting the freedom of civil society organizations to hold government accountable and torturing, imprisoning and sometimes killing government critics. 3. It is against the values of Canada that a dictatorial regime which denies its people of fundamental freedoms should be allowed to indoctrinate hatred and intolerance among Canadian youth. 4. It is a flagrant and intolerable violation of the laws of Canada for the Government of Rwanda to recruit and train, on Canadian territory, Canadian and Rwandan youth into a criminal militia entity that is an instrument of political repression and is likely to be used to commit grave human rights abuse inside Rwanda and in foreign countries, including Canada. 5. The Canadian government will in future be held accountable for the violations of international human rights laws and international humanitarian laws that may be committed by such unofficial militia of the Government of Rwanda whose development the government of Canada is facilitating indirectly by allowing such training to take place on Canadian territory. Members of the opposition movement, especially its leaders who now languish in prison in Rwanda on account of their political views and many Rwandans who aspire for political freedom do not countenance how the Canadian Government would condone and allow such actions of the dictatorial regime of President Paul Kagame. 6. It is most regrettable that the city of Gatineau will host the activities to support a murderous leader who has committed heinous acts of human rights violations at home and in neighboring countries. In view of the foregoing, we call upon the city of Gatineau, the province of Quebec and the Canadian Government to: (1) Cancel the training of Intore militia that is scheduled to be conducted at Gatineau, Quebec,from 4th to 8th August, 2011; (2) Monitor the criminal activities of Rwandan diplomatic and under-cover personnel in charge of organizing the training of the above-mentioned militia; (3) Prosecute agents of the Rwandan Government known or found to be planning criminal or terrorist activities against Rwandan and Canadian citizens on Canadian territory; (4) Warn the Government of Rwanda to stop all criminal activities which endanger the lives of Rwandans and Canadian citizens of Rwandese ancestry living in Canada whom the Government of Rwanda is persecuting because they are critical of the Rwanda's government; (5) Demand an end to persecution (including arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, involuntary disappearances and extra-judicial killings) of government opponents and critics and their relatives; (6) Condition the provision of the development assistance that Canada extends to the Rwandan government on political reforms, including opening up political space for political participation and allowing opposition parties and civil society to function freely; (7) Ensure that the financial aid that Canada provides to Rwanda does not fund operations of entities and individuals serving the Government of the Rwandan state that are involved in terrorist or criminal activities or activities that violate fundamental human rights; and, (8) Advise the Government of Rwanda to agree to a comprehensive dialogue with the opposition on ways for resolving the political impasse engulfing Rwanda. Rwanda's tragedy of 1994 left so many in the international community, including Canada, with a sense of guilt that they wish they had known and done better to prevent or stop the carnage that engulfed Rwanda, leaving more than a million of its citizens dead. Unfortunately, Rwanda's tragedy continues unabated. It is the expectation of the majority of Rwandans that Canada will support all Rwandans to build a free, united, democratic, stable and prosperous Rwanda that will begin to reconcile and heal at last. If Canada is unable to provide help to respond to the plight of ordinary Rwandans, at least it should do no harm. As the English sayings go: "a stitch in time saves nine", and "forewarned is forearmed". Please accept, the Right Honorable Prime Minister, the assurances of our highest consideration. Sincerely, Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa Co-ordinator Rwanda National Congress (RNC) Contact: E-mail: ngombwa@gmail.com Copy: 1. Hon. Mayor Marc Bureau, City of Gatineau 2. Hon. William J.S.Elliot, Commissioner, Royal Canadian Mounted Police 3. Hon. John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs _________________________________ Submitted by: Jennifer Fierberg, MSW; a correspondent, Assistant Editor, and Volunteer Coordinator for NGO News Africa through the volunteer project of the UN. Jennifer is also the media co-coordinator and senior funding executive for The Africa Global Village (www.africaglobalvillage.com) |
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Britain and EU increase aid to Ethiopia while ignoring human rights warnings
Britain and EU increase aid to Ethiopia while ignoring human rights warnings
Britain and the EU have increased aid to Ethiopia while ignoring repeated diplomatic warnings of human rights abuse and concerns that Western funding is being used as a tool of repression by the country's regime.
Britain and EU increase aid to Ethiopia while ignoring human rights warnings
Britain and the EU have increased aid to Ethiopia while ignoring repeated diplomatic warnings of human rights abuse and concerns that Western funding is being used as a tool of repression by the country's regime.
By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels
10:30PM BST 04 Aug 2011
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and BBC Newsnight has found that as Ethiopia is hit by drought and famine, communities are being denied basic food, seed and fertiliser for failing to support Meles Zenawi, the country's authoritarian leader.
Senior Brussels officials ignored 61 email warnings from its EU ambassador in Ethiopia about human rights abuses, evidence that European governments, including Britain, were prepared to turn a blind eye to repression in order to woo a key African ally.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism investigation has also gathered evidence of continuing ethnic cleansing, mass detentions, the widespread use of torture and extra-judicial killings by Ethiopian government forces.
The Daily Telegraph understands that last summer the EU failed to condemn crack downs on opposition politicians and journalists in return for Ethiopian support in critical climate change negotiations in December 2009.
Ethiopia receives £1.8 billion in development aid every year, with Britain the second largest donor after the US.
This year the UK will hand out £290 million, not including the £48m in emergency aid announced last month, a 24-fold increase over the past decade. The EU provided a further £152m last year.
Leaked emails reveal that both the EU and Britain failed to act on confidential daily diplomatic telegrams from Timothy Clarke, the EU's former ambassador in Ethiopia.
The emails were sent over three months in the days after elections in 2005 and express increasing concern about reports of murders and arrests of thousands of civilians by government forces.
"Basic human rights abuses are being committed by the government on a daily basis - the EU must respond firmly and resolutely," he wrote on June 12 2005.
Despite the warnings, Brussels commended Ethiopian conduct of the elections a pattern that was mirrored in 2010 when the EU welcomed as "an important moment in the democratic process" a result that saw Zenawi's regime won 99.6 per cent of the vote amid reports of widespread human rights abuses.
Ana Gomes, a Portuguese MEP who was the chief election observer for the EU during the 2005 Ethiopian elections, has accused European officials of "watering down all the most difficult passages" which detailed repression.
"There is this industry of aid not only in the European Commission but in the different member countries, namely those who are the biggest aid donors to Ethiopia, like Britain, like Germany who want the business to continue as usual because they have their own interests at stake," she said.
A spokesman for the EU diplomatic service said: "Protection of human rights is a priority for the EU and it features prominently in our dialogue with all external partners. This also applies to the EU dialogue with Ethiopia, where we raise human rights issues regularly."
Rwandans don’t need to claim genocide or else to feel or honour their losses
Christopher Black, Lead Counsel, General Ndindiliyimana
Discussions on how to call atrocities committed in Rwanda since October 1st, 1990 and in the whole Great Lakes region of Africa since 1996, this until today, appear ongoing. They may not even have an end at any time. As evidence, even survivors of the holocaust continue reminding the world that what happened to the Jews in Hitler's Germany was genocide. It is their right to do so.
However, motives of those who fight nails and toes out to claim that mentioned atrocities were genocide or else seem often not genuine or disinterested. They come out as defending a brand name instead of a humanitarian cause. I lost lots of my family, friends and neighbours in the Rwandan atrocities. The Rwandan government even denies thousands of survivors the right to be called survivors, only because they are Hutus. Yet Tutsi survivors seem to have become magnets to attract external aid and enrich the Tutsi ruling elite. Those still alive among the two ethnic groups who have been marginalised are imprisoned or treated as citizens of second class. (Read more...)
"Les grands ne sont grands que parce que nous sommes à genoux: levons-nous" ( Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud)
Eugène Shimamungu
Blog: http://editions-sources-du-nil.over-blog.com/
Site: http://www.editions-sources-du-nil.fr/
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