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.

19 Feb 2013

Rwandans still have reasons to flee

"Rwandans still have reasons to flee"

Scott Erlinder, an American cinematographer, in collaboration with several Rwandan refugees, American experts and UN staff members, has released a short film 'Stateless' as part of a campaign to stop the Cessation Clause of the UNHCR that is supposed to be implemented on June 30th 2013.

Rwandans in Zambia demonstrating against the Cessation Clause in January 2012

Rwandans in Zambia demonstrating against the Cessation Clause in January 2012

On the website of the film, it states that 'the UN in agreement with host countries in Africa, will institute the Cessation Clause and with this remove the refugee status or make those who were refugees seeking asylum between 1959 and 1998 stateless people if they will not return to Rwanda after the invocation.'

The producer and those who participated in the 43 minutes film clearly disagree with the UNHCR's plan and argue that 'such action would put many at risk at a time when the fundamental, durable and positive changes required to invoke the Cessation Clause have not yet been achieved', according to their website.

Criticism

Stateless features a range of interviews given by ordinary Rwandans in exile, refugees in African countries as well as residents in European countries and in America. People such as Paul Rusesabagina Hotel Rwanda foundation and Theogene Rudasingwa, former Rwanda ambassador to the US are also interviewed. The interviewees comment on the current situation inside Rwanda and share some of their experiences with the UNHCR's policies and/or with the Rwandan government. UN's staff members such as the former head of the UNHCR in Goma also participate and the film makes widely use of different international reports. Quotes by individuals who play an important role are frequently added, such as those made by Rwandan president Paul Kagame.

The film is highly critical towards the repatriation policies of the UNHCR and the involvement of different African host countries. 'The UNHCR has tried to institute the clause four times since 2009, but events on the ground have made them rethink their tactics. The latest date chosen for implementation is June 30th 2013', states Hetty MacDowell in the voice of the narrator. She continues: 'On July 23rd 2003, the UNCHR, the Ugandan and Rwandan governments signed an agreement to repatriate the 20 000 refugees living in Uganda. The repatriation agreement failed, considering there could only be repatriated 850 refugees. Between 2004 and 2006 there were continued attempts to send the refugees home but many escaped back to Uganda almost immediately, carrying graphic accounts of their painful experiences'.

Because of a slight contradiction in the Clause, states can misuse it and force refugees to return. 'The guidelines of the Cessation Clause are vague, in the sense that one part states that no refugee can be forced to return to his or her country, whereas another section states that the cessation clause does not require the consent of or a voluntary act by the refugee [Article 7 of section A, General Considerations]', according to Hetty MacDowell.

The narrator also questions the ways in which the UNHCR has assessed the different reasons of fleeing Rwanda and the image the UNHCR has portrayed regarding the progress of Rwanda and its current circumstances. Moreover, it is said that refugees repeatedly sent in petitions to appeal the cessation clause, but that each time these have been denied by the Rwandan government. 'There is a certain profound mismatch between the reality perceived by the refugees, the UNHCR and what Rwandan government claims is true', declares Hetty MacDowell .

Role of host countries

On their part, host countries such as Zambia and Uganda are said to have done little to integrate their Rwandan refugees but instead are waiting for an opportunity to send them back. In addition, it is suggested that the heavy burden placed on these host countries could be 'the real reason' behind the Cessation Clause. David Kazunga, Ugandan Commissioner of Refugee Affairs argues: 'The Cessation Clause applies to those who left Rwanda in 1959 because of the politics of the monarchy. Are people in Rwanda still being killed because of the monarchy? The cessation clause applies to the genocide of 1994, people who ran away because of the events of the genocide of 1994. The cessation clause applies to those who ran away because there was insecurity in Rwanda in 1997, 1998. Is it still there? (…) It is an obligation of the government of Uganda, the governments that hold Rwandan refugees together with the UNHCR, to encourage [them] to go back and be part of their national development.'

As for Europe, the film shows that it does not consider Rwanda a safe place to return to and is unlikely to co-operate with the invocation of the Clause. The difference between refugees in Europe and in Africa however, is that those in Africa often face 'severe restrictions to livelihoods', such as land or livestock, and many find themselves as illegal migrants, forced to take on precarious jobs. Furthermore, the film recounts several cases of forced and violent repatriations of Rwandan refugees in Africa. Kazunga comments on the Ugandan incident in 2010: '(..) Some are here on their own..(..) A person might lesve to go to a settlement or go to see his brother and continue to stay there. The same [is] with the Rwandans (..) And I think as a government we have the right to say you are not a person fit or deserving to be on our territory and we encourage you to go home.' Stateless also reports that the Rwandan government has been reluctant to provide refugees abroad with the needed legal documents that could support their demands for a status.

Situation in Rwanda

Rwandans in Zambia demonstrating against the Cessation Clause in January 2012

Rwandans in Zambia demonstrating against the Cessation Clause in January 2012

In addition, the situation inside Rwanda is not regarded as safe enough for people to return. The film points out the ongoing human rights violations, emphasizing the imprisonment of independent journalists and members of the opposition, and the suppressive regime of the ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The narrator comments in saying that the approach of the RPF regime towards reconciliation and genocide denial violates several human rights clauses and only gives Rwandans 'the right to bow their head down and shut up.' Further questions are raised on the equality issue between Hutu's and Tutsi's in Rwanda, challenging the government's policy of 'banning ethnicities' in the country. In using Article 14 of the Rwandan's Constitution which reads 'the genocide committed against the Tutsi', the narrator rightfully asks: 'If there are no ethnicities anymore, why is this in the constitution? If only Tutsi families are getting help to resettle, what happens to the others?'

The video also shows the striking difference in wealth and modernity between Kigali and the rural areas of the country, and concludes that with the cessation of the Clause, the requirement of rural material security upon return will not be met in Rwanda.

After 1998

'Invoking the cessation clause assumes that the reasons for a person becoming a refugee no longer exist and that fundamental, endurable changes have occurred in the country. However, the UNHCR admits that refugees who fled the country after 1998 still have a well-founded fear of prosecution, contradicting the idea of these changes', the film's narrator said.

Cessation Clause

The Clause deals with Rwandans who fled the country between 1959 and 1998 and is a result of ongoing negotiations between the Ugandan government, the Rwandan government and the UNHCR. Already in 2009 Uganda, Rwanda and the UNHCR stated the retention of Rwandan refugees is no longer justifiable and decided to implement the cessation clause. Thousands of refugees are still living outside Rwanda today, most of them in neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Jane Nishimwe

Jambonews.net

Link to the website: http://www.stoprwandacessation.org/Home.html

 

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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.

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.