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.

17 Dec 2012

US Congress Tackles Rwandan Government Support to M23 Rebels: Rwanda and Uganda Led by A Mafia-Like Network?


US Congress Tackles Rwandan Government Support to M23 Rebels: Rwanda and Uganda Led by A Mafia-Like Network?

by AFROAMERICA NETWORK on DECEMBER 13, 2012

On Tuesday December 11, 2012  afternoon, the United States House of Representatives held hearings on the crisis in Eastern Democratic Republic of the  Congo (DRC) and the support  by the Rwandan Government and Military to the Congolese rebels known as M23. Those who testified include US  Assistant Secretary  of African Affairs Johnnie Carson, Enough Project Co-Founder John Prendergast, Former Coordinator of UN Group Experts on the DRC Steve Hege, and  Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. They testified in front of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights.

From the hearing briefs and the documents received by AfroAmerica Network,  major themes were developed by those who testified in front of the US Congress:

  • Rwandan and Ugandan governments overwhelmingly condemned of being the root cause of current instability in eastern the DRC;
  • Rwanda and Uganda  were accused to be led by a mafia-like network;
  •  Rwanda is seeking federalism in the DRC;
  • M23 rebel leaders and its supporters, namely Rwandan leaders must be sanctioned;
  •  the UN Secretary General  and the US Government must appoint their special envoys to the Great Lakes region.

Rwandan and Ugandan governments overwhelmingly condemned for being the root cause of current instability in Eastern the DRC.

All the testimonies clearly denounced Rwandan and Ugandan governments and military for supporting  M23 rebels for geopolitical and economical interests. But, the forceful and blunt assessment by US Assistant Secretary of State was yet  the strongest position by the US Government on the matter. According to Johnnie Carson:  "The M23 would not be the threat it is today without external support, and we will continue to discourage outside parties from providing any assistance to the M23. There is a credible body of evidence that corroborates key findings of the Group of Experts' reports – including evidence of significant military and logistical support, as well as operational and political guidance, from the Rwandan government to the M23. The British government has recently indicated that it shares this assessment. We do not have a similar body of evidence that Uganda has a government-wide policy of support to the M23."  So,  the US and the British governments are aligned on the condemnation of Rwandan and Ugandan involvement in the chaos in Eastern DRC.

Rwanda and Uganda led by a mafia-like network.

The following strong statement came from the highly respected Enough Co-Founder John Prendergast, who is also a former US Government official under President Clinton's Administration. According to John Prendergast, "This[NDLR: current crisis] is the latest chapter of a long story involving competing mafia-like networks controlled by leaders in the capitals of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, all of whom wrap themselves in national security concerns to mask economic and political interests. Sometimes these competing elites fight and sometimes they cooperate for control of lucrative land, livestock, mineral, and timber resources. " 

Rwanda Seeking Federalism in the DRC.

Steve Hege, who has been vilified by the Rwandan government after the UN Group of Experts,  he led,  documented the involvement of Rwandan government and military in founding, funding, training, recruiting, commanding and reinforcing M23 rebels and other militia, gave a strong academic argument on why the Rwanda government  seeks chaos in Eastern DRC. According to Steve Hege,  Rwandan military leaders want a Juba-South Sudan type of solution in Eastearn DRC. The difference being that Eastern DRC will be under the control of the Rwandan military government. This is how Steve Hege put it: "Prior to the November 2011 elections, one of the most senior intelligence officers within the Rwandan government discussed with me several possible scenarios for the secession of the eastern Congo. Reflecting the thinking of many of his colleagues, he asserted that because the Congo was too big to be governed by Kinshasa, Rwanda should support the emergence of a federal state for the eastern Congo. He said, "Goma should relate to Kinshasa in the same way that Juba was linked to Khartoum," prior to the independence of South Sudan."  Clear enough.

M23 Rebels  are and remain a Rwandan creation.

Mvemba Phezo Dizolele explained it very well in these terms: "M23, which is primarily a Tutsi mono-ethnic armed group, sought to exploit these dormant grievances, citing discrimination against Tutsis as one reason for the rebellion. But they failed to generate support from important Tutsi communities, such as the Banyamulenge who have so far refused to join M23. Instead the Banyamulenge are serving with DRC army and fighting the rebellion. The rebellion had threatened to take over Goma, march on to Kinshasa and liberate DRC. But when Goma fell to M23 elements, spontaneous protests broke out in Bukavu, Kisangani and Kinshasa, denouncing Kinshasa's failure to protect the city and expressing ire against the rebellion."

Appoint the UN Secreatary General Envoy  and the US Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region.

In 2009, an umbrella on Rwandan rebels and political opposition, known as the National Democratic Congress (NDC)  signed an agreement with the government of Democratic Republic of the Congo  in Rome, after lengthy  negotiations mediated by the Sant' Egidio Community,  SIK-Norway, and Eglise du Christ au Congo (ECC).  The major provision in the agreement was for the Democratic Republic of the Congo government to ask the UN Secretary General to appoint a Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa to help resolve the problem of refugees and get to the root of the problem.

Instead of heeding the call, the DRC government, notorious for its inconsistency, signed a parallel secret agreement with the Rwandan  government to attack Rwandan refugees disarmed by NDC leaders. The attack of disarmed refugees and their dependents, including children women and elderly, regrouped in  camps in Kasiki, Eastern DRC by Rwandan Defense Forces eventually put an end to the agreement. But,  apparently, the idea of the UN Envoy has lived on.

This is how each those who testified  put it:

 Johnie Carson, US Assistant Secretary of State: "We encourage the UN Secretary-General to appoint a UN Special Envoy to engage on a sustained basis to facilitate ongoing discussions toward a long-term solution of these long-standing problems. We need such a high-level Special Envoy to be dedicated to the hard work of helping develop this long-term solution with all of the relevant stakeholders and to ensure that the solution is implemented over the long run, especially when the world's attention turns to the next crisis."

John Prendergast, Enough Co-Founder: "A highly respected senior UN envoy should be appointed to work with the African Union envoy in crafting and leading a transparent and inclusive peace process. Beyond the Congolese, Rwandan and Ugandan governments, the initiative should involve armed and unarmed representatives from throughout eastern Congo, in particular civil society and political party officials, to ensure that any agreement might have the buy-in of a wide swathe of stakeholders. Key regional governments such as South Africa and Angola must also be involved to help build leverage for a solution. A senior US Special Envoy should be appointed to support the mediation and better organize international leverage opportunities, including UN sanctions and war crimes accountability. 

Therefore, I strongly recommend that the United States urgently take the following actions in support of peace in the Congo: 

• Appoint a Presidential Envoy: The current U.S. policy structure does not allow the U.S. to exercise fully its latent leverage, creativity and coordinating function with respect to supporting peace in Congo. Appointing a Presidential Envoy would help rectify that. The Envoy should be a high-level individual with experience and relationships in the region who would be responsible for developing a unified policy toward the regional crisis and be able to fully invest in helping to widen and deepen the peace process to address its gaping deficiencies. Such an Envoy would leverage America's economic, political, and military influence to ensure that all parties fully cooperate with an international political process, and also work closely with the current AU Envoy and a proposed UN Envoy. 

• Call for a UN Envoy to the Great Lakes: The current peace initiative sponsored by ICGLR lacks internationally coordinated leverage and strong external voices that can help ensure that the real drivers of conflict are eventually addressed within a political framework. The UN should play a major role in this. Therefore, the United States should work within the UN Security Council to ensure the appointment of a high-level envoy to work with the ICGLR and the AU to build a credible international political process that addresses the continual cycles of violence and regional interference. 

Impose Sanctions on the  M23 rebels and their external supporters .

All those who testified  expressed their support for UN Experts and the sanctions they requested against M23 and the Rwandan and Ugandan leaders cited in the report. This may have been music in the ears of Steve Hege, who has had his  share of the abuses from the Rwandan governments and its powerful lobbies and was, clearly, the star witness during the hearings. The sanctions were highlighted in the following statements:

Johnie Carson:  "The Department continues to closely monitor reports of external support and we will continue to respond appropriately, including by reviewing our assistance, to deter this support as the situation develops."

John Prendergast:"• Support robust UN Sanctions: The international community is leaving a huge reservoir of leverage on the table by not following the recommendations of the UN Group of Experts and others. There must be accountability for those who have restarted Congo's war, and those who are orchestrating or funding war crimes and crimes against humanity. As a responsible supporter of the UN sanctions regime, the United States should push to impose sanctions on all individuals identified in the UN Group of Experts final report and those individuals and entities supporting criminal networks through the trade in natural resources, one of the main but unspoken drivers and motivations of the current round of conflict."

Now, it is up to the US Congress and the US President to act. As John Prendergast put it:

"There is no excuse for this sorry state of affairs. Rectification does not require huge amounts of money or wrenchingly divisive moves within the UN Security Council. It requires leadership – from the African Union, from the UN Secretary General, and from President Obama, who has a strong history of clarity on Congo going back to his days in the U.S. Senate when he sponsored legislation that – had it been implemented then – would have addressed many of today's deficiencies."

©2012 AfroAmerica Network. All Rights Reserved.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

-“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.

Jobs

Download Documents from Amnesty International

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.