The dictator Kagame at UN

The dictator Kagame at UN
Dictators like Kagame who have changed their national constitutions to remain indefinitely on power should not be involved in UN high level and global activities including chairing UN meetings

Why has the UN ignored its own report about the massacres of Hutu refugees in DRC ?

The UN has ignored its own reports, NGOs and media reports about the massacres of hundreds of thousands of Hutu in DRC Congo (estimated to be more than 400,000) by Kagame when he attacked Hutu refugee camps in Eastern DRC in 1996. This barbaric killings and human rights violations were perpetrated by Kagame’s RPF with the approval of UK and USA and with sympathetic understanding and knowledge of UNHCR and international NGOs which were operating in the refugees camps. According to the UN, NGO and media reports between 1993 and 2003 women and girls were raped. Men slaughtered. Refugees killed with machetes and sticks. The attacks of refugees also prevented humanitarian organisations to help many other refugees and were forced to die from cholera and other diseases. Other refugees who tried to return to Rwanda where killed on their way by RFI and did not reach their homes. No media, no UNHCR, no NGO were there to witness these massacres. When Kagame plans to kill, he makes sure no NGO and no media are prevent. Kagame always kills at night.

14 Dec 2012

Keeping the peace: Life in Rwanda post genocide - Mail & Guardian Mobile


Keeping the peace: Life in Rwanda post genocide

During her recent visit to Rwanda, Cara Meintjes spent time with young citizens who are still grappling with the legacy of the 1994 genocide.
Keeping the peace: Life in Rwanda post genocide
Rwandan President Paul Kagame. (AFP)

Any urbanite, even a Capetonian, will reach for their camera at the sight of the landscape of Rwanda, known as the land of a thousand hills. Standing in the busy centre of a rural town, a shopper can look up and out to enjoy the surrounding sloping patchwork of green crops and red, freshly hoed earth. Glance at the hills and along the footpaths you will see villagers, carrying bags of grass on their heads for their cows, or bundles of sweet potato cuttings for a new field. 

On a short visit to Rwanda this November, I was struck by the beauty and apparent tranquility of a country that only 18 years ago experienced a massive genocide. More than 500 000 Tutsis were systematically murdered by Hutus, but hundreds of thousands of others, including moderate Hutus, also died and over two thirds of Rwandans of all ethnicities were displaced. In short, it was an utterly devastating period in the country's history. But order has been restored, sites of the massacre were cleaned up (with some turned into monuments), and most survivors and refugees have been resettled. Today it seems that Rwandans are simply living their lives. During my visit, I tried to immerse myself in their culture by staying with local families. From this I concluded that young Rwandans concern themselves with their social lives, family relationships, church and education, and in the rural areas, balancing subsistence agriculture and formal employment.

As a South African, I naturally identified with Rwanda's history of ethnic strife and was keen to observe how it is being dealt with today. However, I found that if you ask Rwandans about ethnicity they might pretend to misunderstand you the first time. Ask them about the genocide and they might point dismissively to a monument, or give you a short, evasive answer. Only sporadically, more frequently in the capital Kigali, you may come across someone who looks around cautiously before answering that things are not as tranquil as they seem. There are complexities about living in Rwanda in 2012.

One day, Eugene (25) confided in me about his struggle for education. His Tutsi school friends who lost family in the genocide are all pursuing their tertiary education on government bursaries, but he, a Hutu, finds his way barred at every turn with administrative difficulties. He considers this deliberate, though unofficial, ethnic discrimination. His family members also died during the genocide, but their deaths are not acknowledged like those of Tutsis, nor does he receive support in overcoming the losses and disruption that his family experienced. He feels overlooked as he struggles to get by.

Government's heavy hand
Later I spoke to Grace (23), a university student. She agrees that Hutus are discriminated against while she, a Tutsi, is favoured by the government. "But that's only right," she shrugged. "We Tutsis suffered for a long time." "Is there justice in Rwanda then?" I asked. I was curious to know whether those benefiting from the current government are wholly supportive of it. She began to nod, but then she frowned. "No. Not for the opposition parties." She explained that people like Victoire Ingabire, an opposition politician whose recent conviction on charges of genocide denial made headlines around the world, are unjustly prosecuted by the government. According to the Grace, Ingabire had said nothing untrue and had certainly not denied the genocide. 

She also mentioned the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, which has been prevented from registering as a political party and whose vice-president was found beheaded in the run-up to the 2010 elections. They were no threat to stability or peace, she said. 

"Are there many young people who agree that the government is repressing legitimate political participation?" I asked her.

She hesitated. "Maybe, but we can't talk about it. If I criticise the government, I would certainly lose my bursary. We have no voice."

We finished our conversation before heading back onto the streets, where armed soldiers stand guard and surveillance cameras are common.

The picture is, however, not as simple as a repressive government and a suffering people. Under the current government (which ended the genocide and took over the country in 1994), Rwanda has made tremendous strides in development. The brief impressions I collected during my stay confirmed this. Stroll around Ruhango, Runda, Gitarama or just about any village in Rwanda and you are likely to come across an adequately stocked, functional health centre – a component of the decentralised, universal health system that has pushed life expectancy up by eight years since 2000. Education institutions, which were almost non-existent after the genocide, have proliferated. Given the advances in infrastructure and investment in the country, a young person who speaks good English and manages to obtain a post-graduate degree has a chance of finding a good job. Development analysts praise the government's strong leadership, vision and accountability mechanisms for this progress. 

In terms of their personal lives, things are stable and getting better for most citizens. The Rwandans I met – even those who feel they are being discriminated against – say that above all, they want peace for Rwanda. Those in government circles can possibly debate the status quo a bit more, but ordinary youngsters lack public forums where they can develop the capacity to grapple with their confusion and discontent. So they suppress it in their desire to promote unity. A young woman told me that Hutus desire more acknowledgement of the losses they suffered during and after the genocide, but then she concluded: "I wish we could all just forget these ethnicities and these negative emotions. That is how we will keep the peace. But it is difficult."

Plenty of photographs later, my fellow South Africans and I left Rwanda with many contrasting impressions, and you know what we did? We debated them. Freely. I came to appreciate anew my freedom to get involved inbuilding peace. We can talk about, explore and affirm our many histories. We can criticise our leaders where they fail; and get involved in lobbying for injustices to be addressed. Indeed, it is becoming clear to many that the critical involvement of ordinary South Africans in public life is a matter of national survival. This is in stark contrast to my impressions of young Rwandans, who seem inclined to believe that peace is only possible if they keep silent and just hope things work out. I find myself hoping for signs that this is not true, and that they exert their full potential in rebuilding their country.

Cara Meintjes lives in Cape Town and has an MA in political science from Stellenbosch University. She has a keen interest in how Africans deal with the past. 

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-“The enemies of Freedom do not argue ; they shout and they shoot.”

The principal key root causes that lead to the Rwandan genocide of 1994 that affected all Rwandan ethnic groups were:

1)The majority Hutu community’s fear of the return of the discriminatory monarchy system that was practiced by the minority Tutsi community against the enslaved majority Hutu community for about 500 years

2)The Hutu community’s fear of Kagame’s guerrilla that committed massacres in the North of the country and other parts of the countries including assassinations of Rwandan politicians.

3) The Rwandan people felt abandoned by the international community ( who was believed to support Kagame’s guerrilla) and then decided to defend themselves with whatever means they had against the advance of Kagame’ guerrilla supported by Ugandan, Tanzanian and Ethiopian armies and other Western powers.

-“The enemies of Freedom do not argue ; they shout and they shoot.”

-“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”

-“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

-“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.”

The Rwanda war of 1990-1994 had multiple dimensions.

The Rwanda war of 1990-1994 had multiple dimensions. Among Kagame’s rebels who were fighting against the Rwandan government, there were foreigners, mainly Ugandan fighters who were hired to kill and rape innocent Rwandan people in Rwanda and refugees in DRC.

READ MORE RECENT NEWS AND OPINIONS

SUMMARY : THE TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE BRITISH BUDGET SUPPORT AND GEO-STRATEGIC AMBITIONS

United Kingdom's Proxy Wars in Africa: The Case of Rwanda and DR Congo:

The Rwandan genocide and 6,000,000 Congolese and Hutu refugees killed are the culminating point of a long UK’s battle to expand their influence to the African Great Lakes Region. UK supported Kagame’s guerrilla war by providing military support and money. The UK refused to intervene in Rwanda during the genocide to allow Kagame to take power by military means that triggered the genocide. Kagame’s fighters and their families were on the Ugandan payroll paid by UK budget support.


· 4 Heads of State assassinated in the francophone African Great Lakes Region.
· 2,000,000 people died in Hutu and Tutsi genocides in Rwanda, Burundi and RD.Congo.
· 600,000 Hutu refugees killed in R.D.Congo, Uganda, Central African Republic and Rep of Congo.
· 6,000,000 Congolese dead.
· 8,000,000 internal displaced people in Rwanda, Burundi and DR. Congo.
· 500,000 permanent Rwandan and Burundian Hutu refugees, and Congolese refugees around the world.
· English language expansion to Rwanda to replace the French language.
· 20,000 Kagame’s fighters paid salaries from the British Budget Support from 1986 to present.
· £500,000 of British taxpayer’s money paid, so far, to Kagame and his cronies through the budget support, SWAPs, Tutsi-dominated parliament, consultancy, British and Tutsi-owned NGOs.
· Kagame has paid back the British aid received to invade Rwanda and to strengthen his political power by joining the East African Community together with Burundi, joining the Commonwealth, imposing the English Language to Rwandans to replace the French language; helping the British to establish businesses and to access to jobs in Rwanda, and to exploit minerals in D.R.Congo.



Thousands of Hutu murdered by Kagame inside Rwanda, e.g. Kibeho massacres

Thousands of Hutu murdered by Kagame inside Rwanda, e.g. Kibeho massacres
Kagame killed 200,000 Hutus from all regions of the country, the elderly and children who were left by their relatives, the disabled were burned alive. Other thousands of people were killed in several camps of displaced persons including Kibeho camp. All these war crimes remain unpunished.The British news reporters were accompanying Kagame’s fighters on day-by-day basis and witnessed these massacres, but they never reported on this.

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25,000 Hutu bodies floated down River Akagera into Lake Victoria in Uganda.

25,000  Hutu bodies  floated down River Akagera into Lake Victoria in Uganda.
The British irrational, extremist, partisan,biased, one-sided media and politicians have disregarded Kagame war crimes e.g. the Kibeho camp massacres, massacres of innocents Hutu refugees in DR. Congo. The British media have been supporting Kagame since he invaded Rwanda by organising the propaganda against the French over the Rwandan genocide, suppressing the truth about the genocide and promoting the impunity of Kagame and his cronies in the African Great Lakes Region. For the British, Rwanda does not need democracy, Rwanda is the African Israel; and Kagame and his guerilla fighters are heroes.The extremist British news reporters including Fergal Keane, Chris Simpson, Chris McGreal, Mark Doyle, etc. continue to hate the Hutus communities and to polarise the Rwandan society.

Kagame political ambitions triggered the genocide.

Kagame  political  ambitions triggered the genocide.
Kagame’s guerrilla war was aimed at accessing to power at any cost. He rejected all attempts and advice that could stop his military adventures including the cease-fire, political negotiations and cohabitation, and UN peacekeeping interventions. He ignored all warnings that could have helped him to manage the war without tragic consequences. Either you supported Kagame’ s wars and you are now his friend, or you were against his wars and you are his enemy. Therefore, Kagame as the Rwandan strong man now, you have to apologise to him for having been against his war and condemned his war crimes, or accept to be labelled as having been involved in the genocide. All key Kagame’s fighters who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity are the ones who hold key positions in Rwandan army and government for the last 15 years. They continue to be supported and advised by the British including Tony Blair, Andrew Mitchell MP, and the British army senior officials.

Aid that kills: The British Budget Support financed Museveni and Kagame’s wars in Rwanda and DRC.

Aid that kills: The British Budget Support  financed Museveni and Kagame’s wars in Rwanda and DRC.
Genocide propaganda and fabrications are used by the so-called British scholars, news reporters and investigative journalists to promote their CVs and to get income out of the genocide through the selling of their books, providing testimonies against the French, access to consultancy contracts from the UN and Kagame, and participation in conferences and lectures in Rwanda, UK and internationally about genocide. Genocide propaganda has become a lucrative business for Kagame and the British. Anyone who condemned or did not support Kagame’s war is now in jail in Rwanda under the gacaca courts system suuported by British tax payer's money, or his/she is on arrest warrant if he/she managed to flee the Kagame’s regime. Others have fled the country and are still fleeing now. Many others Rwandans are being persecuted in their own country. Kagame is waiting indefinitely for the apologies from other players who warn him or who wanted to help to ensure that political negotiations take place between Kagame and the former government he was fighting against. Britain continues to supply foreign aid to Kagame and his cronies with media reports highlighting economic successes of Rwanda. Such reports are flawed and are aimed at misleading the British public to justify the use of British taxpayers’ money. Kagame and his cronies continue to milk British taxpayers’ money under the British budget support. This started from 1986 through the British budget support to Uganda until now.

Dictator Kagame: No remorse for his unwise actions and ambitions that led to the Rwandan genocide.

Dictator Kagame: No remorse for his unwise actions and ambitions that led to the  Rwandan genocide.
No apologies yet to the Rwandan people. The assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana by Kagame was the only gateway for Kagame to access power in Rwanda. The British media, politicians, and the so-called British scholars took the role of obstructing the search for the truth and justice; and of denying this assassination on behalf of General Kagame. General Paul Kagame has been obliging the whole world to apologise for his mistakes and war crimes. The UK’s way to apologise has been pumping massive aid into Rwanda's crony government and parliement; and supporting Kagame though media campaigns.

Fanatical, partisan, suspicious, childish and fawning relations between UK and Kagame

Fanatical, partisan, suspicious, childish and fawning relations between UK and Kagame
Kagame receives the British massive aid through the budget support, British excessive consultancy, sector wide programmes, the Tutsi-dominated parliament, British and Tutsi-owned NGOs; for political, economic and English language expansion to Rwanda. The British aid to Rwanda is not for all Rwandans. It is for Kagame himself and his Tutsi cronies.

Paul Kagame' actvities as former rebel

Africa

UN News Centre - Africa

The Africa Report - Latest

IRIN - Great Lakes

This blog reports the crimes that remain unpunished and the impunity that has generated a continuous cycle of massacres in many parts of Africa. In many cases, the perpetrators of the crimes seem to have acted in the knowledge that they would not be held to account for their actions.

The need to fight this impunity has become even clearer with the massacres and genocide in many parts of Africa and beyond.

The blog also addresses issues such as Rwanda War Crimes, Rwandan Refugee massacres in Dr Congo, genocide, African leaders’ war crimes and crimes against humanity, Africa war criminals, Africa crimes against humanity, Africa Justice.

-The British relentless and long running battle to become the sole player and gain new grounds of influence in the francophone African Great Lakes Region has led to the expulsion of other traditional players from the region, or strained diplomatic relations between the countries of the region and their traditional friends. These new tensions are even encouraged by the British using a variety of political and economic manoeuvres.

-General Kagame has been echoing the British advice that Rwanda does not need any loan or aid from Rwandan traditional development partners, meaning that British aid is enough to solve all Rwandan problems.

-The British obsession for the English Language expansion has become a tyranny that has led to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, dictatorial regimes, human rights violations, mass killings, destruction of families, communities and cultures, permanent refugees and displaced persons in the African Great Lakes region.


- Rwanda, a country that is run by a corrupt clique of minority-tutsi is governed with institutional discrmination, human rights violations, dictatorship, authoritarianism and autocracy, as everybody would expect.