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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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A second Rwanda genocide is revealed in CongoU.N. report ties Tutsi soldiers to deaths of thousands of HutusBy Michelle Faul The Associated Press updated 10/10/2010 12:25:15 PM ET 2010-10-10T16:25:15 MUSEKERA, Congo — The mass graves are hidden in the darkening shade of a hard-to-reach banana plantation, high up a mountain above the cloud line, at the end of a treacherous dirt track slippery with mud and animal dung. Those who survived say they did not go to the meeting called by Rwandan soldiers.
The Congolese Hutu peasants who did were brought out of the thatched-roof meeting house two by two, to be bludgeoned to death with their own hoes, picks and axes. Some 300 villagers died that morning of Oct. 20, 1996, according to the local Observation Center for Human Rights and Social Assistance. The story of the 1994 genocide of more than a half million Tutsis slaughtered by Hutus in Rwanda has been told in the world's press, in books and in movies such as "Hotel Rwanda." But the subsequent slaughter of Hutus in neighboring Congo is little known, and its perpetrators never have been brought to justice. The discovery of mass graves prompted investigations that led to a controversial U.N. report published on Oct. 1, which accuses invading Rwandan troops of killing tens of thousands of Hutus in 1996 and 1997. "There are many, many such mass graves. We've identified 30 just in this Rutshuru district, but our research indicates that this was the first massacre committed by Rwandan troops," the center's coordinator, Herve Nsabimana, said beside the banana trees. Many victims told their wives to take the youngest children and hide in the fields. Today, Musekera is a village of widows. The only man over 50 was at a nearby health center during the massacre. Matata Ihigihugo has relatives in three mass graves: her husband and two sons in the one reserved for males, a sister in the women's grave, and her 8-year-old daughter in the one where children's small bodies were buried. |
FACTBOX-Key political risks to watch in RwandaKIGALI | Tue May 3, 2011 2:34pm BST May 3 (Reuters) - President Paul Kagame's landslide election win in August 2010 paves the way for political continuity at a time critics accuse him of turning the screws on his rivals and dissenters. Victoire Ingabire, one of Kagame's chief political opponents, remains in detention after authorities said she had been implicated in an investigation into a former rebel commander facing terrorism charges. Former chief of staff Kayumba Nyamwasa and a former chief of military intelligence, Patrick Karegyeya, have been tried and sentenced to 20 years in jail in absentia by a military court. Other Kagame allies turned foes, former director of cabinet Theogene Rudasingwa and former prosecutor general Gerald Gahima, were also sentenced in absentia for threatening state security and insulting the president. [ID:nLDE70D1DZ] The four exiles accuse Kagame of conspiring to have them jailed on politically trumped up charges. The reputation of Kagame, long a favourite with foreign donors, has also been dented by a U.N. report charging his army with committing war crimes in Democratic Republic of Congo. The International Monetary Fund projects Rwanda's economy will grow 6.5-7.0 percent in 2011-12, higher than for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. Rwanda is also developing its nascent capital markets and it held a successful first initial public offering. [ID:nLDE70H210] Here are some of the risk factors: POLITICAL SPACE Kagame's election win underlined his domination of the political arena. He has been praised for restoring stability after the 1994 genocide and engineering Rwanda's rapid economic recovery and its vision to be a middle-income country by 2020. Investment doubled to $1.6 billion in 2009, a year after the country was named top global business reformer by the World Bank. But critics accuse Kagame of being authoritarian and of trampling on media and political freedoms. What to watch: -- The arrest of Nyamwasa. Rwanda has issued a notice to 188 member states of Interpol to have the convicted exiled army officer arrested and extradited to Rwanda. Nyamwasa has been accused of harbouring and training a group of close to 200 militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo with intent to destabilize the region and particularly Rwanda. The four exiled army officers say they are innocent and have challenged the government to produce evidence other than their writings and press interviews that they claim are protected by constitutional guarantee of free speech. -- Trial of Ingabire. Ingabire remains in detention and the case remains a major test of the independence of Rwanda's judiciary. Legally, the charges should be dropped, or a trial should start. [ID:nLDE6BG1S1] Ingabire was originally refused bail on the grounds that her release could threaten state security. She denies funding FDLR rebels and says her detention is politically motivated. -- A court summons for American lawyer Peter Erlinder. Erlinder was arrested last May on charges of genocide denial after he flew in to represent Ingabire. He was released on bail a month later on health grounds. Erlinder's case has also caused friction between Rwanda and the Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where Erlinder is defending genocide suspects. -- Arrest of Paul Rusesabagina who saved 1,200 people from genocide in events depicted in the Oscar-nominated film "Hotel Rwanda", over allegations he helped fund a rebel force. His detention would likely generate more media interest than any crackdown on Kagame's other critics. -- Outcome of French inquiry into shooting down of former President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane in 1994. Any repeat of the 2006 claim by a French judge that Kagame's forces were to blame could harm diplomatic relations with France. RIFTS Diplomats and sources close to the government say rifts within the Tutsi elite, including those in exile, risk undermining national stability. The Ministry of Defence has said senior party and army officials in exile are not a threat. However, there is a risk Kagame's erstwhile allies, who are sounding increasingly belligerent, could coalesce into a serious opposition force, or form a rebellion of their own. Kagame's war on graft, which has led to Rwanda being ranked the least corrupt nation in east Africa, has seen former political associates locked up. Diplomatic sources say the arrest of Congolese Tutsi rebel Laurent Nkunda has also fuelled tensions within the ruling elite. A U.N. panel reported in 2008 that the Rwandan army had supported Nkunda's rebel war in eastern Congo. Rwanda government officials say they are in talks with counterparts in Democratic Republic of Congo to find a common ground on Nkunda. General Nyamwasa, Kagame's former chief-of-staff turned arch-critic who fled to South Africa in February, has formed a political body that includes other former high-level political and military allies of Kagame, also now exiled. Nyamwasa's political group has formed an alliance with Ingabire's FDU party criticizing the government for alleged harassment of the media and intimidation of the opposition. The alliance says it wants to eradicate alleged human rights violations in Rwanda and create a political environment that will nurture democratic governance. What to watch: -- Signs of deepening rifts within the military. Some observers say Nyamwasa's political moves could expose further divisions within the ruling party. What would come out of the alliance between Nyamwasa and Ingabire's party and how government in Kigali would react to it could expose weakness among a section of political elites close to Kagame. -- The fate of Nkunda. Nkunda's arrest heralded a new era in relations between Rwanda and Congo. But what happens to Nkunda could still influence relations. Congo wants him extradited for war crimes, but Rwanda says it should be done in a way that it avoids "conflict of law". If Nkunda were to stand trial in Congo, and he confirmed the U.N. allegations of Rwandan support, it would be embarrassing for Kagame and could harm relations with Congo anew. UGANDA PROTESTS Rwanda will be casting an eye at neighbouring Uganda where protests against high prices and the brutal arrest of the country's main opposition leader Kizza Besigye threaten to escalate after the deaths of at least seven people. Land-locked Rwanda depends on its neighbours for the safe passage of its petrol, diesel and heavy oil which must be transported by truck from ports in Kenya and Tanzania. What to watch: -- If the violence spreads beyond the capital Kampala it risks choking key transport links, isolating Rwanda. (Editing by Richard Lough) |
Kagame criminally alters USA-Rwanda Treaty Document(http://www.africandictator.org/?p=4864) Kayonga, an AD contributor, discovered this blog post (by Ann Garrison) which points out that the Rwandan dictator and his Newspaper's criminally altered a United States Government's document – i.e., US-Rwanda Bilateral Investment Treaty. If there was any lingering doubt, this proves once again how the Kagame regime is morally bankrupt and a pathological manipulator. The article titled "RWANDA'S OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER MISQUOTES THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT" goes as follows: I can't believe that a government, and its newspaper, that were really confident of itself and its history would feel the need to misquote a U.S. State Department document, as Rwanda's The New Times, "Government Supporting Daily" has here: Rwanda: Gov't Welcomes U.S. Investment Pact, 10.03.2011 "This treaty demonstrates Rwanda's commitment to the economic reforms that will help enable sustainable economic development and opportunity. Since the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda has made remarkable progress in implementing economic reforms that have helped rebuild the Rwandan economy and society." [Now compare] with State Dept. Doc: United States Senate Approves U.S. – Rwanda Bilateral Investment Treaty, 09.27.2011 "This treaty demonstrates Rwanda's commitment to the economic reforms that will help enable sustainable economic development and opportunity. Since the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has made remarkable progress in implementing economic reforms that have helped rebuild the Rwandan economy and society." ———– And don't imagine for one moment that New Times is an independent entity responsible for such forgery. This is a Kagame paper through and through, controlled strictly by the Presidency at Urugwiro village. Every article and every photograph has to please Kagame – this is the task of the entire communications department answerable to the Chief of Staff and the dictator himself. Further, Alfred Ndahiro in the Presidency is a member of New Times Board. The only factor that is unclear at present is the role of the fired spy chief Emmanuel Ndahiro that used to be the Chairman of the Board of New Times. Ann Garrison's words need to be repeated once again. How can a government, and its newspaper, that "were really confident of itself and its history" feel the need to manipulate a document of a supportive government – in this case the United States government? How can a sane government add words to a legal document? Paul Kagame, you owe the American people and the United States government an apology. For the Rwandan people, if only we knew how to get rid of you peaceful, you would be history by now. Kagame, you are a disgrace, and an embarrassment to Rwanda and Africa at large. You should hang your head in shame. AD would like to thank struggle partner's like Ann Garrisson for her eagle eye at catching out the dictator Kagame. Source: http://www.anngarrison.com/content/rwandas-official-newspaper-misquotes-the-us-state-department Related articles
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