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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28 Feb 2013
Ambassador KIKAYA takes on Tony Blair
USA/Rwanda: Munyenyezi’s fate far from decided
(Published in print: Thursday, February 28, 2013)
yenyezi's husband and mother-in-law, a Cabinet member, were prominent party officials convicted by an international tribunal of playing an active role in the genocide. If Munyenyezi played a role herself, why, during proceedings and investigations spanning some 16 years, did her name not come up? Why were no charges filed against her?
Audio: BBC Newsday: Opposition politician says Rwanda responsible for eastern DRC
Kagame naturalises Tanzanian, appoints him Cabinet minister: News-africareview.com
Kagame naturalises Tanzanian, appoints him Cabinet ministerBy THE CITIZEN | Thursday, February 28 2013 at 09:23
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has appointed a professor of Tanzanian origin, Silas Lwakabamba, as his minister for Infrastructure in Cabinet changes announced Tuesday.
President Kagame reshuffled his Cabinet, bringing in new faces as well as creating new portfolios.
Among the newcomers include Prof Lwakabamba, who originates from Tanzania.
According to information obtained from The Citizen sources in Rwanda, Mr Kagame has been impressed by Prof Lwakabamba's performance in previous posts he has held.
The don was also granted Rwandese nationality.
The paper's source said Rwandese have praised their head of state for putting interests of Rwanda first when appointing Prof Lwakabamba.
"The people here in Kigali have commended the appointment and they praise President Kagame...I have not heard anyone complain on the origin or nationality of the appointed minister," said the source who could not be named.
Born and educated in Tanzania, Prof Lwakabamba trained in engineering at the University of Leeds in the UK. After graduating with a BSc (1971) and a PhD (1975) in Mechanical Engineering, he returned to Tanzania to join the staff of the Faculty of Engineering, which had just started at the University of Dar es Salaam.
He progressed rapidly through the ranks and attained his professorship in 1981, gaining managerial experience along the way. He became Head of Department, Associate Dean, and eventually Dean of the Faculty of Engineering.
In 1985, Prof Lwakabamba joined the UN- sponsored African Regional Centre for Engineering Design and Manufacturing based in Nigeria, as a founding Director of Training and Extension Services.
He became the founding Rector of Rwanda's Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in 1997.
In 2006, he was appointed the Rector of the National University of Rwanda, the largest public institution of higher learning in that country, a position he occupied until Tuesday's appointment.
Kenya's new imperialists | Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Kenya's new imperialists
On Monday Kenyans elect a new generation of leaders, forged not by the independence struggle but western corporate greed
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
When Kenya goes to the polls on Monday, it will mark a generational change – no matter who wins. For the first time in its history, the country will be run by a leadership with hardly any direct experience of colonialism. There are risks to this development: the new leadership might trivialise what it means to be colonised, and the insidious ways in which imperialism is reproduced.
The outgoing president, Mwai Kĩibaki, is the last of the generation that led the country to independence, and for whom, whatever the policy, imperialism and anti-colonial resistance were not just slogans. They had seen blood in the streets and mass incarceration; the Hola massacre was mere smoke at the gates of hell. The first lady, Lucy Kĩbaki, was brutally tortured.
For them, Churchill – who presided over the concentration camps and villages and brutal mass relocations of people – can never be a hero. And whatever their shortcomings, they still have memories of the heroic deeds and sacrifices of ordinary Kenyans of whatever ethnic hue; they know in their bones that it was the unity of the Kenyan people that made independence possible.
The next leaders will not be encumbered by memories of humiliation and triumphant resistance. This may make them act with more confidence relative to Europe and the outside world. But it may also make them gullible to the machinations of the corporate west, without regard to a national vision. Chillingly, Kenya is on the brink ofcommercial oil production, and western firms are lining up for a slice of the cake.
We can get glimpses of the future by looking back to the last parliament. Asked to set up local tribunals to deal with crimes emanating from the horrific 2007/8 electoral violence, the MPs vehemently rejected the idea and shouted: "Don't be vague; let's go to The Hague." When the Hague-based international criminal court responded with summons, the politicians shouted: "Imperialism! We are no longer a colony!"
The rejection of homegrown institutions as vehicles for redress was the main abetter of that violence they refused to address internally. You cannot say the elections are rigged, and then refuse to utilise, even exhaust, the available democratic channels, however flawed they might be. The muscular tension that had built up during the hotly contested elections had no established channels for release. National institutions may not be the best, but they are often the basis of sober evaluations of claims and counter-claims.
Their contempt for national institutions can be seen in other ways.
Throughout the anti-colonial struggle and into the first years of independence, there were well established political parties, with differing visions: institutions with policies and clear guidelines on electing and rejecting leaders. The political class destroyed these. The contending parties in Monday's elections are all paper parties – or less politely they are regional mafia blocks under a boss. The party is the boss and the boss is the party: no history, no institutional memory, nothing to help regulate political behaviour and practice even within the boss party.
Some of the more infamous acts of the last parliament include passing a motion to ban African languages in official premises; a rural peasant would now have to bring an interpreter to a government office to have his needsattended to.
Moreover, more than 200 MPs – already some of the most highly paid in the world – voted themselves aseverance package that included over $80,000, diplomatic passports for themselves and their families, armed protection for life, and state burials for each of them. The president did not sign the bill, but it gives a clue as to the ruling mentality – a mentality that looks at the state as a looters' paradise.
This mentality finds a good partner in the bribing culture of the corporate west. In the US, bribery is official in the system of registered lobbyists. But there are the established institutions of the press and the courts that sometimes help cushion the impact of the fallout from corporate greed. For Kenya and Africa, however, the combination of local and outside raiders is deadly for the country and emerging democracies.
I am cautiously optimistic that there will be peaceful acceptance of the election results. But I fear that the governing class will continue to be no more than mimic men – copying their western counterparts in greed and contempt for the regular folk, while happily shouting "imperialism" when the slogan helps them cover up their looting tracks in the face of an angry populace.
U.N.'s Ban tones down criticism of Rwanda over Congo claims
U.N.'s Ban tones down criticism of Rwanda over Congo claims
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS |
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - In a special report to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon toned down criticism of Rwanda over accusations that it supports rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but still warned against external support for the revolt.
A draft of Ban's report seen by Reuters on Monday had applauded states who suspended aid to Rwanda after U.N. experts, who monitor compliance with sanctions and an arms embargo on Congo, accused Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels in eastern Congo.
The draft report read: "Actions taken by some bilateral donors to suspend aid and funds to those countries reportedly supporting in particular the M23 send a strong message that such practices must cease immediately.
But in the final report, sent to the 15-member Security Council on Wednesday, that statement was removed. Ban did not name any countries in his report, but that paragraph was a clear reference to Rwanda.
Rwanda has strongly denied any involvement in the M23 rebellion in resource-rich eastern Congo.
Ban's final report did provide a less specific warning that "ongoing support to armed groups by neighboring countries continues to be a source of serious instability, and should have tangible consequences for perpetrators."
M23 began taking parts of eastern Congo early last year, accusing the government of failing to honor a 2009 peace deal. That deal ended a previous rebellion and led to the rebels' integration into the army, but they have since deserted.
The U.N. Security Council's Group of Experts, which monitors compliance with sanctions and an arms embargo on Congo, said in a report last year that Rwanda's defense minister was commanding the M23 revolt in Congo and that Rwanda was arming the rebels and supporting them with troops.
The United States, Sweden, the Netherlands, Britain and the European Union reacted to the experts' accusations by suspending some aid to Rwanda, which relies on donors for about 40 percent of its budget.
The U.N. Security Council had requested the report from Ban on the Democratic Republic of Congo. As expected, Ban recommended that an intervention force of several thousand troops be created within the existing U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo to fight armed groups, including M23.
Ban is due to brief the council on his proposals next week.
The Security Council will now need to pass a new resolution authorizing the force and diplomats have said it will likely be supported. African leaders signed a U.N.-mediated deal on Sunday aimed at ending two decades of conflict in Congo's east and approving the creation of the intervention brigade.
Ban recommended that the intervention brigade initially be deployed for one year. It is a peace enforcement mission, which allows the use of lethal force in serious combat situations. Diplomats say South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique are the most likely candidates to supply the troops for the new force.
In practical terms, U.N. diplomats say, troops in the brigade will have more freedom to open fire without having to wait until they are attacked first, a limitation that is standard for U.N. peacekeepers deployed around the world.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Christopher Wilson)
27 Feb 2013
G8 must act on Congo human rights abuse
Vava Tampa Founder, Save the Congo!
Adrian Sanders MP
Alex Cunningham MP
Bob Russell MP
David Amess MP
John Hemming MP
Dr. John Pugh MP
Mike Hancock MP
Paul Flynn MP
Lord Nicolas Rea
Baroness Cox of Queensbury Deputy speaker, House of Lords, 1986-2005
Baroness King of Bow Founding chair, APPG on the Great Lakes
Lord Hannay of Chiswick UK ambassador to the UN, 1990-1995
Lord Alton of Liverpool Patron, Save the Congo
Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Chairman, Conservative party, 1987-89
Lord Joffe of Liddington Lawyer for the 1963-64 Rivonia trial, representing Nelson Mandela
Lord Anderson of Swansea Co-founder, Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa
Kagame Says, ’I dont Need a 3rd Term’
Published on 27-02-2013 - at 04:08' by
A Living Text: Rwandan Dissident Paints a Gruesome Picture
2.25.2013
Rwandan Dissident Paints a Gruesome Picture
Rwanda: RPF Crimes in DRC, an exiled ex-soldier testifies
"I'll give you my testimony about what happened in the Congo, where I was a soldier of the RPA (now the RDF Rwandese Defence Force) before being assigned to the DMI (Directorate of Military Intelligence). We were sent to kill the refugees in Kisangani at the command of Captain Shema of the DMI and Lieutenant Frank Bashimake. Refugees...walking on the road, arrived at Kigangani, where they were blocked by the river, this is where they perished. This is what happened there..." said the former DMI member who recognizes himself to be a former RPF killer, now a refugee in Europe, and did not want to reveal his name or address for his safety and that of his family. He delivered his story on the radio in Kinyarwanda Itahuka Saturday…Transformed into a refugee killer
Born in Rutshuru in the eastern Congo, the former DMI member is a descendant of the former Tutsi refugees expelled from Rwanda in 1959. He joined the RPF rebellion in 1993, one year before the victory of the movement over the Habyarimana regime. Soon after, he was assigned to the famous DMI, the Rwandan military intelligence agency indicted for its role in the execution of thousands of Rwandans and foreigners."I want to give my testimony on overall Rwandan leaders and what they have done since the RPF launched the war of liberation, I'll tell you because it makes me very sick at heart and that is what pushed me into exile again, "he says.Objective: to liquidate any Hutu on Congolese soil
"We attacked and massacred Rwandans brutally and in unimaginable ways. Jacques Nziza commanded us, who was in turn under the command of General Paul Kagame. They asked that all Hutu refugees on Congolese soil be assassinated, and announced that whoever refuses to do so will be executed on the spot. (...) Among my colleagues there were some who were executed because they refused to obey orders.""We placed refugees fleeing Tingi-Tingi (a NDRL refugee camp) in trucks and sent them off in several places: there we drove on the other side of the river to a place called the "left bank". Thousands and thousands that were killed. Another place is Devansende, 59 kilometers from the city of Kisangani; in that place we massacred thousands of people. We dug holes where they threw the bodies, we did not distinguish [between] children, women and aged people, everyone had to go because the orders were to kill everything Hutu on Congolese soil. We employed all means at our disposal: bullets, agafuni (hoes), plastic bag over the head, tie his hands behind, etc....." he continues."We killed until they were depleted. Some refugees were even dying of hunger. Captain Shema told us that we toiled in giving to our country. "There are many that if we do not wipe them out they will come back in the country," he liked to repeat.He also sheds light on the massacres in Mbandaka, in the Équateur region: "On the left bank of Mbandaka, we also slaughtered many people, because the refugees were stuck, they could not advance. The religious (monks?) who tried to intervene in turn suffered the same fate. After their death we looted the vehicles being used to transport and subsequently burn the bodies.""The People being massacred were all civilians, for example Rafasenti was made to believe that they would be refugees back to Rwanda, they were brought up in several trucks...of mostly men, over 4000 at all. They were all killed on the same day.""Those who escaped death, are those that UNHCR gathered around the forests, they are the only ones who were able to escape. (...) Our criminal activity took place from 1997 until 1998...says the former agent of the DMI.Leave no trace
According to the witness, every effort was made not to leave traces of these massacres, because the international community was already following the situation of these refugees. "We dug pits in the vicinity of the city of Kisangani, everything was well planned and controlled from on high by General Paul Kagame. We piled the bodies in the graves like cords of firewood. Above, they were covered with tarpaulins, it allowed us to easily open them and then get other bodies to burn once the holes were filled. Every night we used a motor boat to carry the ashes and throw them in the river Zaire. In everything we did, we were ordered not to rest, we were obliged to execute the orders not to leave...It was small soldiers under the command of General Paul Kagame, General Nziza, and General Kabarebe who was our leader directly on the ground...The killers were carefully selected
According to the witness, the killers were carefully selected, they were selected from the Tutsi from Congo because according to him the command of the APR did not trust the Tutsi from Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania to perform this mission, which was to be fast, well made and especially quiet. The choice was largely the Tutsi from the Congo. The same witness testified that the guards closer to Paul Kagame, who ensure his security and property are those coming from Congo, as the strong man of Rwanda would not trust his countrymen from Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi."Before the massacre, a meeting was held one evening in the city of Kisangani, led by Captain Major Shema today, and his deputy Lieutenant Bashimake who is now Captain and Chief of Police Brigade 408 Ruhengeri. During this meeting, a question was asked: "why do you think you here are from only one ethnic group? "We replied," We do not know. " So they told us that if we are only Tutsi, is that we have a job to do without specifying what it was. " "We knew it was not because of different battalions (...). Captain Shema told us that it was the Staff that who had chosen us for this work, which is why you should not say "I refuse to do it or I'm sick." In Kigali we were selected, they looked at where we were born, our family and our country, "said the witness.Keep away unwanted witnesses
The book also witnesses his account that his squadron was to take away the witnesses, especially the NGOs that were likely to take steps in order to know the situation of the refugees on the ground. "We were ordered to withhold aid in the city of Kisangani, and if necessary, to shoot them to make them believe that some places were dangerous. I will give you the example of the Red Cross: they killed some of its members. Because they were stubborn to know the truth, "he said.According to him, the aid workers were prevented from reaching the scene of massacres before the executioners had finished their work. "We contained the humanitarians in Kisangani until transferring bodies 150km inside the forest to leave no evidence to the investigators. (...) Captain Shema and Lieutenant Frank Bashimake ordered us to work over 24 hours...without resting. " he said before adding that they even fired heavy weapons on UN planes that were flying over the area of the killings to try to understand what was happening. "..."When the United Nations began to raise suspicions about our atrocities in Kisangani, the press asked Paul Kagame about the massacres that were committed on the ground. ...Kabarebe who led Rwandan soldiers in the Congo answered the same thing, Kabila (father NDRL) also denied the facts. They were all saying that no Hutu refugee was killed on Congolese soil. We were there, [and] we were surprised to hear that, we followed the BBC all the time. "The former soldier even gives examples of some officials who were eliminated because they supervised the killings, "the regime wanted to ensure their eternal silence." This is the case of major Ruzindana and Birasa, who were eliminated by the DMI. Bagire died [by being] poisoned. "What I am sure is that everyone used in the massacres, went into exile or was killed. Me too, when I left the country in March 2006, they wanted to kill me. - Major Birasa, Chief Warrant Officer Abbas who oversaw the massacre in camp Kami, and Lieutenant Rushoke who was known as the most cruel of all, they were all murdered in the camp and then transported to Kami Nyungwe" said the witness.The massacres in Rwanda
The witness also [spoke of] cases of massacres in Rwanda he attended directly or indirectly. He returned to the massacres committed at the regional stadium of Ruhengeri (northern Rwanda) in 1998, on the orders of Gasheja who ran the 408 Ruhengeri battalion and Gasana who led the 408 Ruhengeri brigade. According to him, these officers picked people from Nyakinama Kinigi, and from Nyamutera Giciye, and gathered them in the stadium of Ruhengeri. People arrived at the stage tied in container trucks, and they were gradually carried to the Mukamira camp to be finished off. According to the witness, the bodies were transported in the same trucks to Nyungwe forest in a place they called "Icyokezo" to be burned.The witness states that he served the DMI in Nyungwe in 1997 and 1998, where they burned the bodies of people killed across Rwanda. According to him, at Kugiti Kinyoni (all near Kigali) there were feared barriers. People from Ruhengeri, Kibuye, Gitarama and Butare were arrested; we looked at the origin of the person and [their] facial characteristics. "We chose especially those who still have the strength to fight, it was called" guca Imbaraga Abahutu" (discourage Hutu)." He says that this climate of terror had finally persuaded people to take taxis because...it was not safe to go, especially ...from Gisenyi and Ruhengeri...They were arrested and taken to Camp Kami, a camp sheltering them as in 1998, in the basement, a prison where people were kept before being killed. "All these killings were coordinated and supervised by Jacques Nziza" he said. To carry the bodies to camp Kami in Nyungwe forest, the witness said they used a blue Benz brand truck looted from Congo.Massive use of poison
The witness also mentions the case of murder by poison. "There were also people who were murdered...the poison market was in the hands of the Indians, they are the ones who imported [it] in Rwanda for selling to the DMI. This poison was often injected by syringe. The poison was most often used to kill people...that it was impossible to remove...without attracting attention….the person to be removed was either invited to a meeting or approached at a party, "we expect him to be distracted to put the poison into his glass," said the witness who said that he had been given an assignment to eliminate a colleague"They gave me a day to put poison in the milk of Sankara who was in prison at that time. I did not do so because he was a man of integrity in his songs, he defended the rights of soldiers. They did not know that I had not poisoned Sankara's milk, and said to him, "you're really lucky, you ingested poison and you're still alive. '"The massacres of Tutsi refugees at Mudende
The former DMI officer also returned to the massacres of Tutsi refugees from 1959 who returned to Rwanda in 1995 after 30 years of exile in Congo. The witness said he was shocked that Paul Kagame and Nziza decided to attribute their death to the Hutu rebels (abacengezi) from Congo, while in this period, the eastern border of Congo was under the control of the new Rwandan government.Indeed, these refugees upon their return to Rwanda were installed at Mudende, not far from the university that bears the same name, and at Nkamira. "The killings took place at night, in the morning all the soldiers who were guarding the camp had been recalled." General Munyakazi who led Brigade 211 of Gisenyi, and who victims had called during the events, wanted to go to the scene of the massacres to intervene but was prevented because those who committed these murders were Kagame's men from Kigali. But the bodyguard of Paul Kagame is largely composed of these people's murdered sons. "The guards did not know, that's why I wrote this testimony," said the former agent of the DMI."
Reported by Jean MitariSee this link for news of this massacre from that time.
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