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.

16 Mar 2013

DRC coup plot: Rebels claim they have access to weapons stashed by ‘Merchant of Death’


AFRICA
DRC coup plot: Rebels claim they have access to weapons stashed by 'Merchant of Death'
de wet potgieter on DRC and Bout.jpg

Echoes of the bloody legacy of one of the most notorious international dealers in weapons of war on the African continent – the former Red Army officer Victor Bout, also known as the "Merchant of Death" – rang through the Pretoria Magistrates' Court on Monday in the bail hearing of 21 Congolese men charged with planning a coup against the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In opposing bail, state prosecutor Shaun Abrahamson said members of the group had told undercover agents they have access to weapons arsenals stashed by Bout in the DRC. The weapons were shipped by Bout in the 1990s from Bulgaria and Romania to Hutu forces in the DRC who were fighting the government of Rwanda at the time, writes DE WET POTGIETER.

Reading from the statement of the investigating officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Noel Zeeman, state prosecutor Shaun Abrahamson yesterday spent the whole day in court meticulously pinpointing all the reasons for the state being determined to keep the 21 Congolese coup plotters behind bars.

He told magistrate Solly Mkhabela during the official bail application hearing that the ringleaders of the rebel group told agents they have 3,000 rebels deployed inside the DRC and a further 4,000 men in Rwanda and Uganda, as well as loyal supporters in other foreign countries including the United States,Canada and France.

Members of the rebel group also told agents they regarded the M23 group in the DRC as enemies being supported by the Ugandan government. 

The alleged coup plotters were arrested last month in a raid on a game farm in Limpopo. The raid was the culmination of a six-month undercover operation by the South African Police Service's crime intelligence counter-terrorism division, and was was executed with little fuss by members of the SAPS special task force, crime intelligence and the crimes against the state units (the Cats).

Abrahamson told the court the rebels were not interested in any negotiations with the government of President Joseph Kabila and were adamant that the president be arrested and stand trial. "If he was killed by a stray bullet, so be it," the rebels told the undercover agents.

"A full scale war was their only solution," said Abrahamson. "They wanted to take over the DRC within 90 days."

In a startling revelation Abrahamson said the rebels knew where arsenals of weapons of war lay hidden in the Great Lakes area and intimated that they had access to arms caches of Viktor Bout.

Bout, a former Red Army lieutenant, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012 in the United States, following his conviction on terrorism charges resulting from a US sting operation. He was arrested in Thailand five years ago, and held there until his extradition to the US for trial in late 2010.

The notorious arms smuggler rose to stardom a few years ago when Nicholas Cage played a character based him in the Hollywood movie,Lord of War. Although the producers never officially admitted that the movie was Bout's life story, the biographical link was common knowledge.

Watch: Lord of War trailer

Bout's successes as an international arms smuggler resulted in close ties with the South African contraband market and it was one of his South African partners who hammered home the final nail in his coffin, sending him to jail last year.

The former Russian lieutenant became one of the world's biggest dealers flying his ageing and battle-worn Soviet planes from one theatre of war to another, providing the armaments to fuel wars in places as far apart as Liberia and Afghanistan.

He did business with the US government, the Taliban, African warlords and even flew humanitarian relief flights for the UN to Somalia and to Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami.

He started off offering cheap flights to anybody prepared to pay – be it the Angolan government or Unita rebels, the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan or the Taliban harbouring al-Qaeda terrorists.

He even transported humanitarian supplies to the war zones where his weapons and attack helicopters were used in the same bloody conflicts.

It was in Africa that Bout built his aviation empire. After only eight years, by 2000 Bout had expanded his aerial armada from three to nearly 60 aircraft, operated under the guise of a massive array of shell companies.

In 1996 UN experts claimed Bout was shipping arms from Bulgaria and Romania to Hutu forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who were fighting the government in Rwanda. No action was taken because Bout's activities were deemed extra-territorial.

Between 1997 and 1998, Air Cess shipped S$14 million of weapons from Bulgaria via Togo to Angolan rebel group Unita and the Liberian-backed Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone, violating UN embargoes.

More than 50,000 people died in the Sierra Leone conflict while the Angolan civil war claimed the lives of more than 500,000 people.

Expanding his operations in 1997, Bout registered a company called Air Pass in South Africa. Air Pass began operating in conjunction with Norse Air and Pietersburg Aviation Services and Systems, but later that year Bout transferred his base of operations to Swaziland. Bout's African client list would eventually expand beyond Angola to include Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Sierra Leone.

Bout's pilots knew how to evade radar, used false identification markings and observed radio silence, flying with their aircraft navigation lights turned off. African clients would set up temporary airstrips, deceiving American satellites by only cutting down underbrush to slightly below wing level rather than clear-cutting an identifiable runway for the rugged former Soviet military aircraft.

Bout's pilots specialised in precise parachute cargo drops onto pre-arranged coordinates. For such services the money in the early 1990s was, in Russian terms, extraordinary.

In 1998, as South African authorities moved to indict Bout with 146 breaches of civil aviation regulations, he moved his operations to Swaziland. When authorities there subsequently grounded 43 of his aircraft because of inadequate documentation, the aircraft magically reappeared in Bangui in the Central African Republic.

In 2000 and 2001, Bout shuffled dozens of flights through South Africa using front companies.

After the December 2000 publication of two UN reports on African gun-running, many European diplomats expressed outrage during UN meetings that Bout was working so openly in Africa's war zones, causing him yet again to relocate his Air Pass organisation.

A former South African spy, who is also a former business associate of Bout, described to the Daily Maverick business dealings with Bout and the South African wheeler and dealer who testified against him in the US.

Bout ran his international arms bazaar in the 90s from lavish offices in Sandhurst, Sandton (now the Chinese Consulate).

According to the former spy, he met Andrew Smulian, the main witness in the Bout trail, in the 1980s while he was the manager of Lanseria Airport, west of Johannesburg.

"Smulian had a long history of involvement in African conflicts and was also involved in the Biafra conflict arranging flights into the war zones," the spy said.

"When I met him at Lanseria, he was also wheeling and dealing in various aircraft charter schemes as well as having deep interests in the weapons trade."

At the time he got mixed up with another arms dealer, the Frenchman Jean-Bernard Lasnaud, whom he got to know under one of his various operational pseudonyms, François Laroche.

Lasnaud has been in the arms trafficking business since 1978 and was convicted in absentia in Belgium in May 1983 on charges of illegal arms dealing.

According to the spy, he used his wife as a front to set an arms company called Acromar in Johannesburg and through Smulian they managed to deal with Armscor, supplying specialist weapons to the then Transkei Defence Force's controversial Special Forces unit, which was run by the late Charles Sebe.

Included in the deals were special sniper rifles fitted with silencers.

Through the connections of Smulian with Lasnaud (aka Laroche), Acromar proposed a deal with the French arms dealer to supply arms on behalf of Armscor for the conflict in Uruguay. The deal never went through.

When Bout moved his operations from Maputo to South Africa, Smulian started working for him as a kind of "Mr Fix-it", sorting out problems with permits and visas relating to flying the huge cargo planes initially from Lanseria and later on from the Pietersburg air force base outside Polokwane.

Smulian's good connections with the Civil Aviation Authority in South Africa also came in handy for Bout's operation.

A former business associate of Smulian in Tanzania, "Stonehunter", told the Daily Maverick they started a diamond company, Dolorite Resources, in Tanzania in 2006.

"Smulian, whose nickname is Axel, introduced me to Viktor Bout," said "Stonehunter", who spoke on condition of anonymity. When they parted ways, Smulian left for the Dutch Antilles. "Stonehunter" last heard from Smulian two years ago when he phoned from Thailand saying that he was going to make big money because the "Russian" (Bout) was due to meet him in Thailand for a business deal.

That was the CIA sting operation that lured Bout to Thailand, the rest was history.

The bail hearing of the 21 rebels was postponed to 15 March. DM

Photo: Victor Bout (Wikimedia Commons)

 


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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.