With the raging controversy over what the ICTR has the jurisdiction to prosecute, I thought I would post the ICTR's official mandate document to allow readers the chance to examine it themselves.
http://webpages.charter.net/jabdmb/UNSecCouncRes955N9514097.pdf
17 March, 2007
Ruyenzi Testimony Part 2.
This document is a follow up to his previous testimony. It chronicles crimes committed in the latter half of the 1990s up to the time Lt. Ruyenzi fled the country. It concerns a number of counterinsurgency operations, including the murder of British nationals in Bwindi National Park.
14 March, 2007
Former RDF Soldiers Integrated Into the FARDC.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=LGBJRJULGCIF5QFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/03/14/wcongo14.xml
The report claims this isn't sanctioned by the RDF. Another convienent case of plausible deniabiliity. Once again, MONUC refuses to publicly state the obvious. This is a campaign to wipe out FOCA and secure the North Kivu border with Rwanda once and for all.
The report claims this isn't sanctioned by the RDF. Another convienent case of plausible deniabiliity. Once again, MONUC refuses to publicly state the obvious. This is a campaign to wipe out FOCA and secure the North Kivu border with Rwanda once and for all.
U.S. allies in Africa may Have Engaged in Secret Prisoner Renditions
By Shashank Bengali and Jonathan S. Landay
McClatchy Newspapers
Ledger-Inquirer
(MCT)
Note: This appears to be connected to the major "terrorist" trafficking scandal that engulfed Europe, where secret CIA flights were transporting real and suspected terrorists to worldwide detention and torture centers in Macedonia, Poland, and elsewhere.
NAIROBI, Kenya - A network of U.S. allies in East Africa is engaged in a secret program of prisoner renditions involving more than 150 people who were captured while fleeing the recent war in Somalia, according to human rights advocates in Kenya.
Kenyan authorities made the arrests as part of a U.S.-backed, four-nation military campaign in December and January against Somalia's Islamist militias, which Bush administration officials have linked to al-Qaida.
The prisoners, who included men and women of 17 nationalities and children as young as 7 months, were held in Kenya for several weeks before most of them were transferred covertly to Somalia and Ethiopia, where they're being held incommunicado, the groups charge.
The transfers, which authorities reportedly carried out in the middle of the night and made public only after a recent court order in Kenya, violated international law, according to the rights groups. They charge that the program is being driven by the United States, which has built a close relationship with Kenya and Ethiopia in the war on terrorism.
One prisoner, an American citizen who appears on a flight manifest only as Amir Mohamed Meshar, was flown from Nairobi to Baidoa, the seat of Somalia's transitional government, on Feb. 10, according to Islamic human-rights groups. His whereabouts, and those of 12 other detainees aboard that chartered flight, are unknown.
American officials in Kenya declined to comment on the allegations that they were involved in the detentions or renditions. In Washington, the State Department had no immediate comment.
Representatives of Islamic groups who'd visited detainees in late January in their jail cells in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, said they'd spotted U.S. diplomatic vehicles outside the holding facilities. They also said some detainees had reported being questioned by U.S. law enforcement agents.
The Bush administration has come under fire for the practice of so-called extraordinary renditions: the transfer of detainees without court proceedings to foreign countries where they can be interrogated, often in secret, and sometimes - according to critics - subjected to torture. The new allegations mark the first time that such renditions have been suspected in East Africa, where U.S.-friendly regimes often are accused of treating prisoners brutally.
December's military intervention in Somalia was a well-orchestrated campaign involving four countries: Somalia's interim government; Ethiopia, whose ground forces drove the Islamists from power; Kenya, which sent troops to seal the border with Somalia and prevent fighters from escaping; and the United States, which gave a green light to the invasion, provided intelligence and training support to the Ethiopians and conducted surveillance of Somalia that apparently was used to track the Islamists' escape. The United States also launched two air strikes on suspected terrorist targets in January.
But the campaign hasn't netted any al-Qaida figures, and U.S. officials think that they're hiding in Somalia. Critics of the intervention charge that the allies now are conspiring to illegally hold prisoners, many of whom are described by family members as teachers or small-business owners who went to Somalia in search of jobs.
"There is clearly some sort of cooperation that if you fight together, you can deal with prisoners together," said Hassan Omar, a member of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights who's followed the issue closely.
"There has been massive foreign interference on the issue of terrorism. Quite a number of foreign agencies' hands are tainted," he said.
Details of the detention program - little reported in the news media in Kenya or overseas - emerged in recent weeks only after a Nairobi-based consortium of community groups, the Muslim Human Rights Forum, challenged Kenyan authorities in court.
After the Ethiopian invasion in late December, Kenyan security forces captured at least 150 people on both sides of the Kenya-Somalia border, including some 17 women and 12 children. The detainees included citizens of Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia and Ethiopia.
According to Muslim leaders, Kenyan police refused them access to the prisoners, among them a woman who had a bullet lodged in her back but was denied medical treatment. The police shuffled the prisoners among several facilities in the Nairobi area to keep them out of sight.
Under a judge's order, authorities produced flight manifests that showed that at least 80 detainees had been transferred to Somalia on three chartered flights: Jan. 20 and 27 and Feb. 10. The manifests appeared to be filled out hastily, with spaces for such details as the departure and arrival airports left blank.
What's happened to the detainees since then is unclear. One detainee phoned the rights group earlier this month from Ethiopia to say that he and several other detainees had been transferred to a prison on the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa. The line went dead before he could say more.
Dozens of detainees are thought to be in a holding facility near the bullet-pocked airport in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, where a mounting insurgency threatens the fragile government's grip on power. But rights groups in Kenya haven't had contact with those prisoners in more than a month.
Ismail Mohammed Hurre, Somalia's foreign minister, confirmed that "quite a number" of detainees were in government custody in Mogadishu, although he declined to offer details. He said they were being treated humanely and that he hoped that foreign governments would order the extraditions of their citizens to face judicial proceedings in their home countries.
"These are people who have Somali blood on their hands," Hurre said. "They have been fighting with jihadi forces. They are, in every sense of the word, international terrorists."
Omar, the member of the Kenyan human rights commission, said returning the detainees to Somalia was a fundamental human-rights violation.
"We are very skeptical of those being deported back to Somalia," he said. "The country does not have peace or stability. All of the prisoners we spoke to told us they were fleeing the hostilities."
Another 45 to 60 detainees - members of Ethiopia's Ogaden and Oromo rebel groups who allegedly fought alongside Somalia's Islamists - were flown directly to Ethiopia, according to a representative of an international human-rights group in Nairobi, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
At least 19 people were set free in Kenya, and some U.S. and British detainees were deported to their home countries.
One of the U.S. citizens who was held in Kenya is Daniel Joseph Maldonado, 28, who FBI agents say has told them that he traveled to Somalia last year to fight alongside the Islamist militias. Maldonado, who converted to Islam and took the name Daniel Aljugaifi, was flown to Houston last month, where he was charged in federal court with receiving training from al-Qaida in Somalia and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.
---
© 2007, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Landay reported from Washington.
Note: This appears to be connected to the terrorist and prisoner trafficking network scandal that engulfed Europe. The CIA was secretly trafficking real and suspected terrorists (including high-ranking officials)from Guantanamo Bay to secret detention and suspected torture camps around the world in Macedonia, Poland, and elsewhere.
McClatchy Newspapers
Ledger-Inquirer
(MCT)
Note: This appears to be connected to the major "terrorist" trafficking scandal that engulfed Europe, where secret CIA flights were transporting real and suspected terrorists to worldwide detention and torture centers in Macedonia, Poland, and elsewhere.
NAIROBI, Kenya - A network of U.S. allies in East Africa is engaged in a secret program of prisoner renditions involving more than 150 people who were captured while fleeing the recent war in Somalia, according to human rights advocates in Kenya.
Kenyan authorities made the arrests as part of a U.S.-backed, four-nation military campaign in December and January against Somalia's Islamist militias, which Bush administration officials have linked to al-Qaida.
The prisoners, who included men and women of 17 nationalities and children as young as 7 months, were held in Kenya for several weeks before most of them were transferred covertly to Somalia and Ethiopia, where they're being held incommunicado, the groups charge.
The transfers, which authorities reportedly carried out in the middle of the night and made public only after a recent court order in Kenya, violated international law, according to the rights groups. They charge that the program is being driven by the United States, which has built a close relationship with Kenya and Ethiopia in the war on terrorism.
One prisoner, an American citizen who appears on a flight manifest only as Amir Mohamed Meshar, was flown from Nairobi to Baidoa, the seat of Somalia's transitional government, on Feb. 10, according to Islamic human-rights groups. His whereabouts, and those of 12 other detainees aboard that chartered flight, are unknown.
American officials in Kenya declined to comment on the allegations that they were involved in the detentions or renditions. In Washington, the State Department had no immediate comment.
Representatives of Islamic groups who'd visited detainees in late January in their jail cells in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, said they'd spotted U.S. diplomatic vehicles outside the holding facilities. They also said some detainees had reported being questioned by U.S. law enforcement agents.
The Bush administration has come under fire for the practice of so-called extraordinary renditions: the transfer of detainees without court proceedings to foreign countries where they can be interrogated, often in secret, and sometimes - according to critics - subjected to torture. The new allegations mark the first time that such renditions have been suspected in East Africa, where U.S.-friendly regimes often are accused of treating prisoners brutally.
December's military intervention in Somalia was a well-orchestrated campaign involving four countries: Somalia's interim government; Ethiopia, whose ground forces drove the Islamists from power; Kenya, which sent troops to seal the border with Somalia and prevent fighters from escaping; and the United States, which gave a green light to the invasion, provided intelligence and training support to the Ethiopians and conducted surveillance of Somalia that apparently was used to track the Islamists' escape. The United States also launched two air strikes on suspected terrorist targets in January.
But the campaign hasn't netted any al-Qaida figures, and U.S. officials think that they're hiding in Somalia. Critics of the intervention charge that the allies now are conspiring to illegally hold prisoners, many of whom are described by family members as teachers or small-business owners who went to Somalia in search of jobs.
"There is clearly some sort of cooperation that if you fight together, you can deal with prisoners together," said Hassan Omar, a member of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights who's followed the issue closely.
"There has been massive foreign interference on the issue of terrorism. Quite a number of foreign agencies' hands are tainted," he said.
Details of the detention program - little reported in the news media in Kenya or overseas - emerged in recent weeks only after a Nairobi-based consortium of community groups, the Muslim Human Rights Forum, challenged Kenyan authorities in court.
After the Ethiopian invasion in late December, Kenyan security forces captured at least 150 people on both sides of the Kenya-Somalia border, including some 17 women and 12 children. The detainees included citizens of Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia and Ethiopia.
According to Muslim leaders, Kenyan police refused them access to the prisoners, among them a woman who had a bullet lodged in her back but was denied medical treatment. The police shuffled the prisoners among several facilities in the Nairobi area to keep them out of sight.
Under a judge's order, authorities produced flight manifests that showed that at least 80 detainees had been transferred to Somalia on three chartered flights: Jan. 20 and 27 and Feb. 10. The manifests appeared to be filled out hastily, with spaces for such details as the departure and arrival airports left blank.
What's happened to the detainees since then is unclear. One detainee phoned the rights group earlier this month from Ethiopia to say that he and several other detainees had been transferred to a prison on the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa. The line went dead before he could say more.
Dozens of detainees are thought to be in a holding facility near the bullet-pocked airport in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, where a mounting insurgency threatens the fragile government's grip on power. But rights groups in Kenya haven't had contact with those prisoners in more than a month.
Ismail Mohammed Hurre, Somalia's foreign minister, confirmed that "quite a number" of detainees were in government custody in Mogadishu, although he declined to offer details. He said they were being treated humanely and that he hoped that foreign governments would order the extraditions of their citizens to face judicial proceedings in their home countries.
"These are people who have Somali blood on their hands," Hurre said. "They have been fighting with jihadi forces. They are, in every sense of the word, international terrorists."
Omar, the member of the Kenyan human rights commission, said returning the detainees to Somalia was a fundamental human-rights violation.
"We are very skeptical of those being deported back to Somalia," he said. "The country does not have peace or stability. All of the prisoners we spoke to told us they were fleeing the hostilities."
Another 45 to 60 detainees - members of Ethiopia's Ogaden and Oromo rebel groups who allegedly fought alongside Somalia's Islamists - were flown directly to Ethiopia, according to a representative of an international human-rights group in Nairobi, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
At least 19 people were set free in Kenya, and some U.S. and British detainees were deported to their home countries.
One of the U.S. citizens who was held in Kenya is Daniel Joseph Maldonado, 28, who FBI agents say has told them that he traveled to Somalia last year to fight alongside the Islamist militias. Maldonado, who converted to Islam and took the name Daniel Aljugaifi, was flown to Houston last month, where he was charged in federal court with receiving training from al-Qaida in Somalia and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.
---
© 2007, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Landay reported from Washington.
Note: This appears to be connected to the terrorist and prisoner trafficking network scandal that engulfed Europe. The CIA was secretly trafficking real and suspected terrorists (including high-ranking officials)from Guantanamo Bay to secret detention and suspected torture camps around the world in Macedonia, Poland, and elsewhere.
Uganda, Congo Disagree on Saleh, Mayombo Censure.
RODNEY MUHUMUZA
Daily Monitor
http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news03141.php
KAMPALA, UGANDA expects to convince DR Congo authorities to drop the names of a Ugandan minister and a permanent secretary from a "most-wanted persons" list drawn up under the auspices of the Tripartite Plus Joint Commission.
A reliable source in Kigali, the Rwandan capital where a three-day meeting of the TPJC opens tomorrow, said Uganda and the DRC were locked in a dispute over the inclusion of Micro-finance State Minister Salim Saleh and Defence PS Noble Mayombo on Kinshasa's list of wanted men.
Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and Burundi are members of the TPJC, a partnership created to achieve synergy in combating threats to regional security. At a meeting of the security sub commission of the TPJC in Kigali last year, according to the source who is familiar with the group's operations, delegations from DRC and Uganda "negotiated until midnight," but Congolese foreign ministry officials were adamant that the names of the Ugandans remain on the list.
At that meeting, the source said, Uganda's technical team was led by Octavius Buturo, the deputy chief of Military Intelligence. "The meeting ended without agreement," the source said, adding that the DRC wants the duo indicted for allegedly plundering Congo's natural resources during the civil wars and internecine upheavals in the late 1990s. The Ugandan armed forces entered the DRC in 1998 to fight insurgents who the government said were destabilising Uganda from eastern DRC.
Although the TPJC had hoped to send a complete list of the most-wanted persons in the Great Lakes region to the U.N. Security Council months ago, there is still no indication of a solution in sight.
And while Rwanda and Burundi are said to have worked out a solution (Burundi had also listed a senior Rwandan army officer), the Uganda-Congo stalemate continues and could weaken the TPJC. Under the TPJC arrangement, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC were required to compile a list of "most wanted persons" that is agreeable to all member states.
If the names of the two Ugandan officials are forwarded to the Security Council together with the others, they risk being blacklisted by the international community, which usually involves a freeze on assets held outside their home country and a travel ban.
Foreign Affairs State Minister Isaac Musumba yesterday confirmed that the DRC had insisted on listing the two Ugandan officials and said Kampala had no option but to object as sternly as it did a year ago. "We objected to the inclusion of those people [Gen Saleh and Brig Mayombo] on that list.
We have good reason to believe that they should not be included on that list," Mr Musumba said by telephone. Mr Musumba said there was hope the DRC would relent because "dialogue has been intensified, [especially] after the [DRC presidential] election. We are intensifying our discussion."
When contacted for comment, Brig Mayombo said the DRC's tactics were laughable. "The issues of Congo will continue to make us laugh for a long time. If they are serious about relations with Uganda, they should take these issues seriously," he said by telephone. It was not possible to reach Gen. Saleh, as his known phones were switched off.
Under what is called the Tripartite Fusion Cell (TFC), the TPJC, acting on recommendations from the sub commissions on security and diplomatic affairs, will be expected to propose the "next steps towards operational effectiveness" and guide the "transition to a virtual TFC."
But all that can be possible only if there is complete agreement among the four member states, the source said. Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga and Mr Musumba, along with a technical team from the intelligence services, will represent Uganda at the Kigali meeting.
According to the draft agenda of the TPJC meeting tomorrow, a copy of which has been seen by this reporter, member states will review the region's security situation, especially in relation to "negative forces" in eastern DRC.
The UN Mission in the DRC (Monuc) and the African Union (AU) are invited to the meeting as observers, and it is expected that Monuc's effectiveness in pacifying the DRC will come under critical discussion, sources said.
At a session for member states only, "strategies aimed at ending regional security threats from negative forces" will be examined and recommendations suggested. But all the other confidence-building measures (such as a planned pact on security in the Great Lakes region), might not advance in the face of disagreement over who is considered a regional enemy.
In 2001, after the UN Panel of Experts investigating the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the DRC concluded that an elite network including Ugandan soldiers, officials, and politicians plundered the DRC, President Museveni appointed an independent commission to investigate the allegations.
The Porter Commission, in its 2003 report, exonerated the Uganda government but reported that high-ranking members of the UPDF had been involved in corrupt activities during their military adventure into the DRC. Former Army Commander James Kazini was named in the report, as was Gen Saleh's wife Jovia.
But the general himself and other senior army officers were exonerated of all wrongdoing, except failing to carry out orders from the President to prevent soldiers from exploiting their presence in the DRC.
Critics, however, said Mr Porter did not investigate the complex web of relationships among soldiers, governments and businesses outlined by the UN panel's report. In 2005, Uganda lost a case filed by the DRC with the International Court of Justice in The Hague and is now obliged to pay damages in compensation for the plunder of DRC's natural resources and loss of lives during its military presence there.
Editor's Note: General Saleh acted as a military advisor to the RPA when they invaded Rwanda on October 1st, 1990. During the war, he was stationed in Mbarara, southwestern Uganda, but he later relocated to the Byumba Prefect in Northcentral Rwanda after the RPA took control of territory there. (Private Correspondence. 2006.) The RPA set up their headquarters at a tea plantation in Mulindi (also in Byumba Prefect), but General Saleh returned to southern Uganda because he did not want to be seen during RPA peace talks and military meetings held there. After his return, it appears the NRA continued supplying arms to the RPA in the demilitarized zone. (“The Prosecutor v. Augustin Ndindilyimana, François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, Innocent Sagahutu, Augustin Bizimungu.” ICTR Case Number 00-56-T. Cross-Examination of General Roméo Dallaire by Ronnie MacDonald. 5 December, 2006. Exhibit Number D. 158 (Bizimungu) 63. “Coded Cable from General Asrato to General Dallaire.” 15 April, 1994.) When the RPA launched its infamous offensive in February 1993, three battalions of the NRA were at General Kagame’s side. (“In the Waiting Room of the Rwandan Genocide Tribunal.” Barrie Collins. Spiked Online. 26 May, 2006. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/322/.)
General Saleh remained in Uganda while the RPA made its final push into Kigali, but Lieutenant Colonel (Ltc.) Walter Ochora (former Local Council [LC] 5 of the Gulu District in Uganda), a former Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) fighter, commanded a unit of former UNLA soldiers that fought in the final battle for Kigali alongside the RPA. (Private Correspondence. 2006.)
General Saleh’s involvement is significant because it demonstrates there is no way President Museveni can say he did not know the Tutsi soldiers in the NRA would defect and attack Rwanda. This is beside the fact General Kagame openly travelled back to Uganda during the war to hold interviews and meet diplomats. NRA officials never arrested him for the mutiny. President Museveni finally admitted his support for the RPA eight years later. (“In the Waiting Room of the Rwandan Genocide Tribunal.” Barrie Collins. Spiked Online. 26 May, 2006. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/322/.)
Daily Monitor
http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news03141.php
KAMPALA, UGANDA expects to convince DR Congo authorities to drop the names of a Ugandan minister and a permanent secretary from a "most-wanted persons" list drawn up under the auspices of the Tripartite Plus Joint Commission.
A reliable source in Kigali, the Rwandan capital where a three-day meeting of the TPJC opens tomorrow, said Uganda and the DRC were locked in a dispute over the inclusion of Micro-finance State Minister Salim Saleh and Defence PS Noble Mayombo on Kinshasa's list of wanted men.
Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and Burundi are members of the TPJC, a partnership created to achieve synergy in combating threats to regional security. At a meeting of the security sub commission of the TPJC in Kigali last year, according to the source who is familiar with the group's operations, delegations from DRC and Uganda "negotiated until midnight," but Congolese foreign ministry officials were adamant that the names of the Ugandans remain on the list.
At that meeting, the source said, Uganda's technical team was led by Octavius Buturo, the deputy chief of Military Intelligence. "The meeting ended without agreement," the source said, adding that the DRC wants the duo indicted for allegedly plundering Congo's natural resources during the civil wars and internecine upheavals in the late 1990s. The Ugandan armed forces entered the DRC in 1998 to fight insurgents who the government said were destabilising Uganda from eastern DRC.
Although the TPJC had hoped to send a complete list of the most-wanted persons in the Great Lakes region to the U.N. Security Council months ago, there is still no indication of a solution in sight.
And while Rwanda and Burundi are said to have worked out a solution (Burundi had also listed a senior Rwandan army officer), the Uganda-Congo stalemate continues and could weaken the TPJC. Under the TPJC arrangement, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC were required to compile a list of "most wanted persons" that is agreeable to all member states.
If the names of the two Ugandan officials are forwarded to the Security Council together with the others, they risk being blacklisted by the international community, which usually involves a freeze on assets held outside their home country and a travel ban.
Foreign Affairs State Minister Isaac Musumba yesterday confirmed that the DRC had insisted on listing the two Ugandan officials and said Kampala had no option but to object as sternly as it did a year ago. "We objected to the inclusion of those people [Gen Saleh and Brig Mayombo] on that list.
We have good reason to believe that they should not be included on that list," Mr Musumba said by telephone. Mr Musumba said there was hope the DRC would relent because "dialogue has been intensified, [especially] after the [DRC presidential] election. We are intensifying our discussion."
When contacted for comment, Brig Mayombo said the DRC's tactics were laughable. "The issues of Congo will continue to make us laugh for a long time. If they are serious about relations with Uganda, they should take these issues seriously," he said by telephone. It was not possible to reach Gen. Saleh, as his known phones were switched off.
Under what is called the Tripartite Fusion Cell (TFC), the TPJC, acting on recommendations from the sub commissions on security and diplomatic affairs, will be expected to propose the "next steps towards operational effectiveness" and guide the "transition to a virtual TFC."
But all that can be possible only if there is complete agreement among the four member states, the source said. Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga and Mr Musumba, along with a technical team from the intelligence services, will represent Uganda at the Kigali meeting.
According to the draft agenda of the TPJC meeting tomorrow, a copy of which has been seen by this reporter, member states will review the region's security situation, especially in relation to "negative forces" in eastern DRC.
The UN Mission in the DRC (Monuc) and the African Union (AU) are invited to the meeting as observers, and it is expected that Monuc's effectiveness in pacifying the DRC will come under critical discussion, sources said.
At a session for member states only, "strategies aimed at ending regional security threats from negative forces" will be examined and recommendations suggested. But all the other confidence-building measures (such as a planned pact on security in the Great Lakes region), might not advance in the face of disagreement over who is considered a regional enemy.
In 2001, after the UN Panel of Experts investigating the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the DRC concluded that an elite network including Ugandan soldiers, officials, and politicians plundered the DRC, President Museveni appointed an independent commission to investigate the allegations.
The Porter Commission, in its 2003 report, exonerated the Uganda government but reported that high-ranking members of the UPDF had been involved in corrupt activities during their military adventure into the DRC. Former Army Commander James Kazini was named in the report, as was Gen Saleh's wife Jovia.
But the general himself and other senior army officers were exonerated of all wrongdoing, except failing to carry out orders from the President to prevent soldiers from exploiting their presence in the DRC.
Critics, however, said Mr Porter did not investigate the complex web of relationships among soldiers, governments and businesses outlined by the UN panel's report. In 2005, Uganda lost a case filed by the DRC with the International Court of Justice in The Hague and is now obliged to pay damages in compensation for the plunder of DRC's natural resources and loss of lives during its military presence there.
Editor's Note: General Saleh acted as a military advisor to the RPA when they invaded Rwanda on October 1st, 1990. During the war, he was stationed in Mbarara, southwestern Uganda, but he later relocated to the Byumba Prefect in Northcentral Rwanda after the RPA took control of territory there. (Private Correspondence. 2006.) The RPA set up their headquarters at a tea plantation in Mulindi (also in Byumba Prefect), but General Saleh returned to southern Uganda because he did not want to be seen during RPA peace talks and military meetings held there. After his return, it appears the NRA continued supplying arms to the RPA in the demilitarized zone. (“The Prosecutor v. Augustin Ndindilyimana, François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, Innocent Sagahutu, Augustin Bizimungu.” ICTR Case Number 00-56-T. Cross-Examination of General Roméo Dallaire by Ronnie MacDonald. 5 December, 2006. Exhibit Number D. 158 (Bizimungu) 63. “Coded Cable from General Asrato to General Dallaire.” 15 April, 1994.) When the RPA launched its infamous offensive in February 1993, three battalions of the NRA were at General Kagame’s side. (“In the Waiting Room of the Rwandan Genocide Tribunal.” Barrie Collins. Spiked Online. 26 May, 2006. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/322/.)
General Saleh remained in Uganda while the RPA made its final push into Kigali, but Lieutenant Colonel (Ltc.) Walter Ochora (former Local Council [LC] 5 of the Gulu District in Uganda), a former Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) fighter, commanded a unit of former UNLA soldiers that fought in the final battle for Kigali alongside the RPA. (Private Correspondence. 2006.)
General Saleh’s involvement is significant because it demonstrates there is no way President Museveni can say he did not know the Tutsi soldiers in the NRA would defect and attack Rwanda. This is beside the fact General Kagame openly travelled back to Uganda during the war to hold interviews and meet diplomats. NRA officials never arrested him for the mutiny. President Museveni finally admitted his support for the RPA eight years later. (“In the Waiting Room of the Rwandan Genocide Tribunal.” Barrie Collins. Spiked Online. 26 May, 2006. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/322/.)
Sudan to up Dar Blend Crude Exports 60 Percent by June.
Wednesday 14 March 2007 04:30.
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article20746
March 13, 2007 (SINGAPORE) — Sudan is expecting to boost its Dar Blend crude exports by 60 percent within three months when a pipeline to carry the crude to a new dedicated terminal is completed, shipping and trading sources said.
About 5 million barrels of Dar Blend crude is exported from the terminal monthly, and operators of the crude oil field plan to start shipping at least 8 million barrels by May or June, Sudan-based port sources said.
"They are moving about 5 shipments in 1 million barrel lots monthly, they want to move 8 shipments a month from the terminal, but should only be able to do this sometime in May or at the latest June," a port source said.
The planned eight shipments per month suggest that output of Dar Blend could reach 260,000 barrels per day (bpd), well above the initial 140,000-200,000 bpd peak target discussed when the field was developed.
The consortium of operators with a stake in the field had originally planned to start shipments from the new terminal earlier, but because of ongoing pipeline work the plan was pushed back.
"The new terminal is ready, but the separate pipeline which is to be used for Dar Blend crude is still being laid, that has been taking time, it’s been a complicated operation," the source said.
Earlier this month, Sudan’s finance minister, Al-Zubeir Ahmed al-Hassan, told Reuters that the country estimated total oil output for 2007 would average 520,000 bpd.
Full output from the Dar Blend oil field has been delayed due to a series of logistic and infrastructure problems.
The Dar Blend field is operated by Petrodar, a consortium comprising China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) with a 41 percent stake, Malaysia’s Petronas with 40 percent, and state oil firm Sudapet with 8 percent.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) holds 6 percent of Petrodar, while Al Thani Corp., a private company incorporated in the United Arab Emirates, owns 5 percent.
European trader Vitol was selected in 2005 to market up to 3.6 million barrels a month of Dar Blend crude.
Sudan is planning to export as much higher-quality Nile Blend crude as it can, while processing maximum volumes of the high-acidity Dar Blend and exporting oil products.
Sudan and Petronas have signed a contract worth about $1 billion to build a 100,000-bpd refinery in the coastal city of Port Sudan. (Emphasis mine-Editor)
Reuters
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article20746
March 13, 2007 (SINGAPORE) — Sudan is expecting to boost its Dar Blend crude exports by 60 percent within three months when a pipeline to carry the crude to a new dedicated terminal is completed, shipping and trading sources said.
About 5 million barrels of Dar Blend crude is exported from the terminal monthly, and operators of the crude oil field plan to start shipping at least 8 million barrels by May or June, Sudan-based port sources said.
"They are moving about 5 shipments in 1 million barrel lots monthly, they want to move 8 shipments a month from the terminal, but should only be able to do this sometime in May or at the latest June," a port source said.
The planned eight shipments per month suggest that output of Dar Blend could reach 260,000 barrels per day (bpd), well above the initial 140,000-200,000 bpd peak target discussed when the field was developed.
The consortium of operators with a stake in the field had originally planned to start shipments from the new terminal earlier, but because of ongoing pipeline work the plan was pushed back.
"The new terminal is ready, but the separate pipeline which is to be used for Dar Blend crude is still being laid, that has been taking time, it’s been a complicated operation," the source said.
Earlier this month, Sudan’s finance minister, Al-Zubeir Ahmed al-Hassan, told Reuters that the country estimated total oil output for 2007 would average 520,000 bpd.
Full output from the Dar Blend oil field has been delayed due to a series of logistic and infrastructure problems.
The Dar Blend field is operated by Petrodar, a consortium comprising China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) with a 41 percent stake, Malaysia’s Petronas with 40 percent, and state oil firm Sudapet with 8 percent.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) holds 6 percent of Petrodar, while Al Thani Corp., a private company incorporated in the United Arab Emirates, owns 5 percent.
European trader Vitol was selected in 2005 to market up to 3.6 million barrels a month of Dar Blend crude.
Sudan is planning to export as much higher-quality Nile Blend crude as it can, while processing maximum volumes of the high-acidity Dar Blend and exporting oil products.
Sudan and Petronas have signed a contract worth about $1 billion to build a 100,000-bpd refinery in the coastal city of Port Sudan. (Emphasis mine-Editor)
Reuters
13 March, 2007
Angolan Troops Confirmed in DRC Territory
Note: This is a VERY crude machine-generated translation so I apologize for the broken (pidgeon) English-Editor.
Angola: Occupation of Kahemba by Angola Confirmed
Le Phare (Kinshasa)
March 12, 2007
Domenica Mukenza
After the descent on the ground starting from Dundo (chief town of the province of Lunda Norte, Angola), within the framework of the Joint Committee RDC-Angola to check the allegations of the incursion of the Angolan army on the Congolese ground, the deputies of Kwango made the following report in six points:
Firstly: 11 villages of the territory of Kahemba (Shakadiata, Shahono, Shahingi, Kabengele, Shamufuka, Kambangunzi, Tshakala, Shayimbwanda, Shahidi, Kalumbandi and Shashindingi) are occupied; Secondly: elements heavily armed with the Angolan police force are present there with military equipments of transmission around the military bivouacs beside a terminal gone back to 1972; Thirdly: a landing strip for helicopters was arranged there and the Angolan flag is hoisted; Fourthly: the ground in itself offers the spectacle to have been the theatre of intense activities and great recent work of clearing; Quinto: the occupants of the know-evoked villages were moved of force to be pushed back more inside the Congolese territory, giving up behind them their goods and while exposing themselves to the famine, various diseases, the school loss and all kinds of calamities in the bush or the forest; Sexto: men and women moved their villages left the bush to entrust to the joint mission and have déclaréce which follows: They are and were of all times of the Congolese and the portion of the territory where their villages are established from where they was moved of force is also Congolese. The terminal observed on the site was established only in 1972 by an American geologist with an only aim of mining research.
And finally, all information was corroborated by the Congolese public services on the ground of which the local commander of the police force and the chief of station of administrative framing who, like the other inhabitants were moved and wander in the bush.
Let us announce that this information is contained in the declaration entitled “political declaration relating to the invasion and the occupation of a portion of the DRC in the territory of Kahemba, district of Kwango, province of Bandundu” that the deputies of Kwango read this Saturday in front of the press, after they deposited it at the office of the French National Assembly.
The blur remains!
This situation causes questions about the origins, motivations and objectives to be reached by the authors. Many Congolese and other people being interested in our country noted that since the beginning of the business, on January 29, 2007, when Angolan soldiers made incursion on a portion of the territory of Kahemba, the Congolese government gave the impression not to want to begin. It is following the popular pressure relayed by the media that it had to appear without too much taking the business with the serious one.
Moreover, so far, no government (Congolese or Angolan) provided explanation on what really occurred around this business from occupation which has been just confirmed thanks to the report/ratio of a survey carried out by the deputies of Kwango. What guarantees that the following day that will not be the turn of Tshikapa, Luiza, Kasongo Lunda, Dilolo, Songololo?
The same concern is as much for the other neighbors of Rdc who could also be tried by the virus of occupation of a portion of the own territory for unavowed reasons. Because, Rdc currently offers the image of a country (each neighbor can there enter and do all that he wants, without the least reprisal nor response on behalf of its leaders.
The same causes produce the same effects
Beyond this sad truth, the opinion notices that all the countries having militarily supported our country in situation of war or disorder tend to once return restored peace. It was the case with Rwanda, Uganda and to a lesser extent Burundi in 1998, which had after they supported the forces of the AFDL of Laurent Désiré Kabila for the inversion of the mode of the Mobutu marshal. One year had been enough so that these the DRC paysréinvestissent, under pretext of unpaid invoices of war.
The question is worth the sorrow to be put insofar as the Congolese do not understand any more that in spite of the speeches of the leaders, the country and his people appear like orphans not having any means of defense vis-a-vis the enemy.
In any case, the government must bring the proof that one is not opposite an other secret agreement which has as characteristic only countries which helped or supported militarily Rdc yesterday, return with an aim of taking their share “of the spoils” of the war.
However, when the general L. Nkunda had occupied during one week the town of Bukavu, the government had organized steps of protests. The media had been taken by storm by political actors to claim punitive actions against marked Rwanda to be behind this invasion. Today, nothing of all that. As for saying that the Congolese would have accepted the accomplished fact or, more serious, would have given their green light to the dismemberment of the country.
Political declaration relating to the invasion and the occupation of a portion of the DRC in the territory of Kahemba, district of Kwango, province of Bandundu.
We, Appointed National, originating in the District of Kwango, recall to the attention of the National and International Opinion that since the beginning of February of this year, of persistent information give a report on the presence on the Congolese ground, of the people, heavily armed, coming from the Republic sour of Angola.
Indeed, since January 29, 2007, these people invaded and occupied a portion of the Congolese territory, more precisely onzel villages of the territory of Kahemba, in the District of Kwango, Province of Bandundu and that with the contempt of the laws, custom and international habits, without respect for human dignity as well as principles of good vicinity and fraternity which exist between our two countries!
This sad and revolting occupation of the villages of Kahemba is all the more surprising that the Republic sour of Angola opens inlassablement for the re-establishment of peace and safety in DRC and that at this time crucial, our country frankly needs the co-operation of the close countries to sit its incipient democracy.
To check the reality of these facts, four national deputies originating in the District of Kwango belonged to a joint mission with the Government. This mission went to Dundo, chief town of the province of Lunda Norte to Angola to enquérir itself of this situation and then went in the territory of Kahemba on the site concerned with the events.
At the end of this mission, the deputies concerned, after having submitted a report with the parliamentary hierarchy of it, brought back six data elements hereafter capable to build our population and to ensure it of the attention which pay on it, institutions of the Republic.
- First element: the occupied villages are Shakadiata; Shahono; Shahingi; Kabengele; Shamufuka; Kambangunzi; Tshakala; Shayimbwanda; Shahidi; Kalumbandi and Shashindingi.
- Second element: elements heavily armed with the Angolan police force are present there with military equipments of transmission around the military bivouacs also beside a terminal gone back to 1972; - Third element: a landing strip for helicopters is arranged there and the Angolan flag is hoisted; - Fourth element: The ground in itself offers the spectacle to have been the theatre of intense activities and great recent work of clearing; - Fifth element: The occupants of the know-evoked villages were moved of force to be pushed back more inside the Congolese territory, giving up behind them their goods and while exposing themselves to the famine, various diseases, the school loss and all kinds of calamities in the bush or the forest where they live frightened; - Sixth element: Men and women moved their villages left bush to entrust to the joint mission and declared: has) they are and were of all times of the Congolese and the portion of the territory where their villages are established from where they was moved of force, is also Congolese; b) The terminal observed on the site was established only in 1972 by an American geologist with an only aim of mining research.
c) All this information was corroborated by the Congolese public services on ground of which the local Commander of the police force and the Chief of station of administrative framing who, like the other inhabitants were moved and wander in the bush. Vis-a-vis this situation deplorable, us, appointed national originating in the District of Kwango, conscious of our duty of elected officials and defenders of interests of the populations, forts of the Article 1st of our Constitution which lays out that “the Republic Democratic of Congo east, in its borders of June 30, 1960, a State of right, independent, sovereign, linked and indivisible…”
- Firstly: let us denounce and condemn this occupation of the villages of Kahemba and the displacement of the populations within their country, obliging them to live under conditions infrahumaines; - Secondly: let us require Congolese Government: firstly, to take, without delay, all measurements which this portion of the own territory requires the situation in order to release and to avoid the repetition of similar situation; secondly, to stop any illegal attempt to make use of the natural resources of Kwango, therefore of the Democratic Republic of Congo; - Thirdly: let us solicit the national and international Community: has) to mobilize itself consequently to assist the populations moved for their assumption of responsibility and b) of ouvrer for the intangibility of the borders fixed in 1885 at the Conference of Berlin and the return of the populations in their respective villages; - Fourthly: We commit ourselves supporting the Government of the Republic in any initiative in favour of the fast and happy solution to this problem; - Quinto: Let us thank the hierarchy for the French National Assembly for the dexterity with which it authorized and facilitated the displacement of the delegation and invite it to attentively follow the evolution of this situation in accordance with the parliamentary mechanisms.
Fact with Kinshasa, on March 10, 2007 .
National Deputies originating in the District of Kwango, the Honourable ones:
1. Bata Kiala Ngangu Seraph:
2. Bieto Kutoma Silumbanza Kingdom
3. Fono Makiasi Fulgence
4. Kaditanga Kikwanza
5. Kutekala Kaawa Albert
6. Kutonda Kolami Kiala
7. Masala Loka Mutombo Hubert
8. Mavungu Mbunga Andre
9. Mazunda Zanda Marcel
10. Mbemba Fundu Di Luyindu Theophilus
11. Mboso Kodia Pwanga Christophe
12. Mbuya Mukiewa Daniel
13. Mitendo Mwadi Yinda Luseela
14. Nkenda Kaslema Célestin
15. Pasi Za Pamba Buka Jean Pierre
Angola: Occupation of Kahemba by Angola Confirmed
Le Phare (Kinshasa)
March 12, 2007
Domenica Mukenza
After the descent on the ground starting from Dundo (chief town of the province of Lunda Norte, Angola), within the framework of the Joint Committee RDC-Angola to check the allegations of the incursion of the Angolan army on the Congolese ground, the deputies of Kwango made the following report in six points:
Firstly: 11 villages of the territory of Kahemba (Shakadiata, Shahono, Shahingi, Kabengele, Shamufuka, Kambangunzi, Tshakala, Shayimbwanda, Shahidi, Kalumbandi and Shashindingi) are occupied; Secondly: elements heavily armed with the Angolan police force are present there with military equipments of transmission around the military bivouacs beside a terminal gone back to 1972; Thirdly: a landing strip for helicopters was arranged there and the Angolan flag is hoisted; Fourthly: the ground in itself offers the spectacle to have been the theatre of intense activities and great recent work of clearing; Quinto: the occupants of the know-evoked villages were moved of force to be pushed back more inside the Congolese territory, giving up behind them their goods and while exposing themselves to the famine, various diseases, the school loss and all kinds of calamities in the bush or the forest; Sexto: men and women moved their villages left the bush to entrust to the joint mission and have déclaréce which follows: They are and were of all times of the Congolese and the portion of the territory where their villages are established from where they was moved of force is also Congolese. The terminal observed on the site was established only in 1972 by an American geologist with an only aim of mining research.
And finally, all information was corroborated by the Congolese public services on the ground of which the local commander of the police force and the chief of station of administrative framing who, like the other inhabitants were moved and wander in the bush.
Let us announce that this information is contained in the declaration entitled “political declaration relating to the invasion and the occupation of a portion of the DRC in the territory of Kahemba, district of Kwango, province of Bandundu” that the deputies of Kwango read this Saturday in front of the press, after they deposited it at the office of the French National Assembly.
The blur remains!
This situation causes questions about the origins, motivations and objectives to be reached by the authors. Many Congolese and other people being interested in our country noted that since the beginning of the business, on January 29, 2007, when Angolan soldiers made incursion on a portion of the territory of Kahemba, the Congolese government gave the impression not to want to begin. It is following the popular pressure relayed by the media that it had to appear without too much taking the business with the serious one.
Moreover, so far, no government (Congolese or Angolan) provided explanation on what really occurred around this business from occupation which has been just confirmed thanks to the report/ratio of a survey carried out by the deputies of Kwango. What guarantees that the following day that will not be the turn of Tshikapa, Luiza, Kasongo Lunda, Dilolo, Songololo?
The same concern is as much for the other neighbors of Rdc who could also be tried by the virus of occupation of a portion of the own territory for unavowed reasons. Because, Rdc currently offers the image of a country (each neighbor can there enter and do all that he wants, without the least reprisal nor response on behalf of its leaders.
The same causes produce the same effects
Beyond this sad truth, the opinion notices that all the countries having militarily supported our country in situation of war or disorder tend to once return restored peace. It was the case with Rwanda, Uganda and to a lesser extent Burundi in 1998, which had after they supported the forces of the AFDL of Laurent Désiré Kabila for the inversion of the mode of the Mobutu marshal. One year had been enough so that these the DRC paysréinvestissent, under pretext of unpaid invoices of war.
The question is worth the sorrow to be put insofar as the Congolese do not understand any more that in spite of the speeches of the leaders, the country and his people appear like orphans not having any means of defense vis-a-vis the enemy.
In any case, the government must bring the proof that one is not opposite an other secret agreement which has as characteristic only countries which helped or supported militarily Rdc yesterday, return with an aim of taking their share “of the spoils” of the war.
However, when the general L. Nkunda had occupied during one week the town of Bukavu, the government had organized steps of protests. The media had been taken by storm by political actors to claim punitive actions against marked Rwanda to be behind this invasion. Today, nothing of all that. As for saying that the Congolese would have accepted the accomplished fact or, more serious, would have given their green light to the dismemberment of the country.
Political declaration relating to the invasion and the occupation of a portion of the DRC in the territory of Kahemba, district of Kwango, province of Bandundu.
We, Appointed National, originating in the District of Kwango, recall to the attention of the National and International Opinion that since the beginning of February of this year, of persistent information give a report on the presence on the Congolese ground, of the people, heavily armed, coming from the Republic sour of Angola.
Indeed, since January 29, 2007, these people invaded and occupied a portion of the Congolese territory, more precisely onzel villages of the territory of Kahemba, in the District of Kwango, Province of Bandundu and that with the contempt of the laws, custom and international habits, without respect for human dignity as well as principles of good vicinity and fraternity which exist between our two countries!
This sad and revolting occupation of the villages of Kahemba is all the more surprising that the Republic sour of Angola opens inlassablement for the re-establishment of peace and safety in DRC and that at this time crucial, our country frankly needs the co-operation of the close countries to sit its incipient democracy.
To check the reality of these facts, four national deputies originating in the District of Kwango belonged to a joint mission with the Government. This mission went to Dundo, chief town of the province of Lunda Norte to Angola to enquérir itself of this situation and then went in the territory of Kahemba on the site concerned with the events.
At the end of this mission, the deputies concerned, after having submitted a report with the parliamentary hierarchy of it, brought back six data elements hereafter capable to build our population and to ensure it of the attention which pay on it, institutions of the Republic.
- First element: the occupied villages are Shakadiata; Shahono; Shahingi; Kabengele; Shamufuka; Kambangunzi; Tshakala; Shayimbwanda; Shahidi; Kalumbandi and Shashindingi.
- Second element: elements heavily armed with the Angolan police force are present there with military equipments of transmission around the military bivouacs also beside a terminal gone back to 1972; - Third element: a landing strip for helicopters is arranged there and the Angolan flag is hoisted; - Fourth element: The ground in itself offers the spectacle to have been the theatre of intense activities and great recent work of clearing; - Fifth element: The occupants of the know-evoked villages were moved of force to be pushed back more inside the Congolese territory, giving up behind them their goods and while exposing themselves to the famine, various diseases, the school loss and all kinds of calamities in the bush or the forest where they live frightened; - Sixth element: Men and women moved their villages left bush to entrust to the joint mission and declared: has) they are and were of all times of the Congolese and the portion of the territory where their villages are established from where they was moved of force, is also Congolese; b) The terminal observed on the site was established only in 1972 by an American geologist with an only aim of mining research.
c) All this information was corroborated by the Congolese public services on ground of which the local Commander of the police force and the Chief of station of administrative framing who, like the other inhabitants were moved and wander in the bush. Vis-a-vis this situation deplorable, us, appointed national originating in the District of Kwango, conscious of our duty of elected officials and defenders of interests of the populations, forts of the Article 1st of our Constitution which lays out that “the Republic Democratic of Congo east, in its borders of June 30, 1960, a State of right, independent, sovereign, linked and indivisible…”
- Firstly: let us denounce and condemn this occupation of the villages of Kahemba and the displacement of the populations within their country, obliging them to live under conditions infrahumaines; - Secondly: let us require Congolese Government: firstly, to take, without delay, all measurements which this portion of the own territory requires the situation in order to release and to avoid the repetition of similar situation; secondly, to stop any illegal attempt to make use of the natural resources of Kwango, therefore of the Democratic Republic of Congo; - Thirdly: let us solicit the national and international Community: has) to mobilize itself consequently to assist the populations moved for their assumption of responsibility and b) of ouvrer for the intangibility of the borders fixed in 1885 at the Conference of Berlin and the return of the populations in their respective villages; - Fourthly: We commit ourselves supporting the Government of the Republic in any initiative in favour of the fast and happy solution to this problem; - Quinto: Let us thank the hierarchy for the French National Assembly for the dexterity with which it authorized and facilitated the displacement of the delegation and invite it to attentively follow the evolution of this situation in accordance with the parliamentary mechanisms.
Fact with Kinshasa, on March 10, 2007 .
National Deputies originating in the District of Kwango, the Honourable ones:
1. Bata Kiala Ngangu Seraph:
2. Bieto Kutoma Silumbanza Kingdom
3. Fono Makiasi Fulgence
4. Kaditanga Kikwanza
5. Kutekala Kaawa Albert
6. Kutonda Kolami Kiala
7. Masala Loka Mutombo Hubert
8. Mavungu Mbunga Andre
9. Mazunda Zanda Marcel
10. Mbemba Fundu Di Luyindu Theophilus
11. Mboso Kodia Pwanga Christophe
12. Mbuya Mukiewa Daniel
13. Mitendo Mwadi Yinda Luseela
14. Nkenda Kaslema Célestin
15. Pasi Za Pamba Buka Jean Pierre
More About Oil in Congo
Editor: A follow-up to yesterday's post. FYI.
Oil in Congo!
The Democratic Republic Congo has oil reserves which place the country at the row of the principal producers in theory. Potentialities to be developed as soon as possible. Actually, its national production remains ridiculous: around 30.000 barrels per day. The country thus remains dependent on outside with regard to consumption of petroleum products.
According to Michel Ngoy Kahase Kasongo (tallies in Cohydro, oil company Congolese), "With the starting of the five building sites preached by the Head of the State and the resumption of economic activities, domestic consumption will triple in the five next years. The recourse of new investment proves to be necessary to face such needs. The coastal basin (6.000 km2) with the aforementioned average of 30.000 barrels per day, is the only one being exploited in DRC. The total reserves in the offshore oil rig zone are estimated at 100.000.000 of barrels. As for the onshore reserves, they are estimated at 4 billion barrels," Michel Ngoy Kahase Kasongo declares.
In the Eastern part of this basin of the tar sands exists an important layer requiring investment for its exploitation, either for the production of the bitumens, oil, or for production of the bituminous mix for road paving. In the central basin (nearly 800.000 km2), exploratory work showed the existence of ditches of oil which extend northern towards the Central African Republic and to the Northwest towards the Republic of Congo.
In terms of potential, several levels of bedrock were identified. Production is estimated at 300.000 barrels per day are estimated to remain in the basins of Albertine Grabens and Tanganyika (total surface: 50.000 km2), located in the Eastern part of DRC. Prospective work made it possible to detect oil indices there on the surface in the edges of the ditches and also on Lake Tanganyika off Cape KALAMBA. Very rich deposits of organic matter constituting excellent rock reservoirs were also found in these basins.
Mr. Michel Ngoy Kahase Kasongo.
Eurafrica/Magazine from the 1st quarter 2007. (English Translation).
Oil in Congo!
The Democratic Republic Congo has oil reserves which place the country at the row of the principal producers in theory. Potentialities to be developed as soon as possible. Actually, its national production remains ridiculous: around 30.000 barrels per day. The country thus remains dependent on outside with regard to consumption of petroleum products.
According to Michel Ngoy Kahase Kasongo (tallies in Cohydro, oil company Congolese), "With the starting of the five building sites preached by the Head of the State and the resumption of economic activities, domestic consumption will triple in the five next years. The recourse of new investment proves to be necessary to face such needs. The coastal basin (6.000 km2) with the aforementioned average of 30.000 barrels per day, is the only one being exploited in DRC. The total reserves in the offshore oil rig zone are estimated at 100.000.000 of barrels. As for the onshore reserves, they are estimated at 4 billion barrels," Michel Ngoy Kahase Kasongo declares.
In the Eastern part of this basin of the tar sands exists an important layer requiring investment for its exploitation, either for the production of the bitumens, oil, or for production of the bituminous mix for road paving. In the central basin (nearly 800.000 km2), exploratory work showed the existence of ditches of oil which extend northern towards the Central African Republic and to the Northwest towards the Republic of Congo.
In terms of potential, several levels of bedrock were identified. Production is estimated at 300.000 barrels per day are estimated to remain in the basins of Albertine Grabens and Tanganyika (total surface: 50.000 km2), located in the Eastern part of DRC. Prospective work made it possible to detect oil indices there on the surface in the edges of the ditches and also on Lake Tanganyika off Cape KALAMBA. Very rich deposits of organic matter constituting excellent rock reservoirs were also found in these basins.
Mr. Michel Ngoy Kahase Kasongo.
Eurafrica/Magazine from the 1st quarter 2007. (English Translation).
Halliburton and Iran
From Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey. It will undoubtedly be painted as partisan politics. I also recieved a report Mr. George Soros bought nearly 2 million shares in Halliburton. Thanks for encouraging them Mr. Soros.
U.S. Oil Company Already in South Sudan.
Total seeks south Sudan participation in oil exploration
Tuesday 13 March 2007.
Editor's Note: Marathon claims it sold its shares to Total in March 2008.
March 12, 2007 (PARIS) — French oil company Total SA (TOT) is prepared to offer to the government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) a stake in its disputed exploration permit in an attempt to end the current stalemate with its rival the UK company White Nile(WNK.LN), and start exploring activities.
"We will go to Sudan soon to submit new proposals to Southern Sudan government. We intend to give the GoSS an equivalent share of the national petroleum company (Sudapet) in the capital of the consortium" said Nicolas Brunet, the chairman of Total’s Sudan operations, in a meeting with Sudanese English language press in Paris last week.
Total’s partners in Block B project are the Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPT.YY). Total has operating rights for the block with a 32.5 percent stake, Marathon Petroleum Sudan Ltd owning 32.5 percent (emphasis mine-Editor), Kuwaiti Kufpec Sudan Ltd 25 percent and state-owned Sudapet 10 percent.
The proposal aims to secure Southern Sudan a share in order to avoid any opposition from its officials who could raise objections to the national partner’s share. GoSS can therefore be represented through Nilepet, their own petroleum company.
But the chairman of the White Nile oil company, the former England cricketer Phil Edmonds told The Times on Saturday March 10, that Total approach was "neocolonial" and typical of Big Oil’s way of dealing with smaller nations. "White Nile is not just our company, but the government of South Sudan’s company." Edmonds added.
French company officials said that Total has the means and experience to explore oil and share the profit with the people of southern Sudan. Those officials told Sudanese journalists that Total will invest much of money to achieve this project. While a small start-up with limited financial capacities would surely face difficulties to assume such huge investment. They further said that the ultimate goal of Edmonds is to speculate with the future of southern Sudan and make money; because White Nile has no capacity to bring prosperity to the south.
The French oil giant explained to Sudanese journalists how they carry out their work in the host countries. According to their ethics Charter, the oil firm will participate in economic, social and educational development in close collaboration with the local communities. Also, Total strives to benefit local employment and contractors.
Several videos about total involvement in different countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America were displayed to illustrate the spirit of the company.
Regarding Total’s involvement in the protection of the environment and particularly huge quantities of water extracted from oil wells. Total officials demonstrated how they plan to re-inject the water back to avoid pollution and other hazards that could be provoked.
The question of water is one of the important challenges facing the Chinese GNPOC operating in Upper Nile. The poor treatment of production water is probably the most crucial environmental problem in Upper Nile now and is of great concern to the local population. GNPOC has opted for a bio-remediation solution, which could be acceptable, but has a limited capacity of 180,000 barrels per day, while excess water production for GNPOC is already around 650,000.
WHITE NILE ATTITUDE IS DILATORY
On the current dispute with the U.K. company White Nile Ltd. over the concession, Total’s legal advisor told Sudanese journalists that the British firm still refuses to disclose all contractual documentation (Concession agreement, Lock-in Agreement draft JV Agreement etc..). He further said that despite the confirmation by the Court of Appeal of the decision of the High Court on January 31, 2007, The White Nile lodged a permission of appeal to House of Lords on February28.
Reliable sources in Southern Sudan told the Sudan Tribune that the White Nile has no contract with the GoSS but with the SPLM Civil authority at that time. "This is why few people in southern Sudan know the details of this enigmatic contract." the source said. "Many officials in the GoSS are wondering why they make a pet on this small start-up because this issue makes a very bad reputation for southern Sudan and would discourage foreign investors" he further added.
According to an article published in June 2006 by the Wall Street Journal, U.S. government officials are concerned that the White Nile deal could set a bad precedent for Southern Sudan. They allege that the British company disbursed "bonus payments" to government officials to secure the concession. But the chairman of the White Nile former England cricketer Phil Edmonds denies the allegations.
The French company set foot in Sudan in 1980 when it was awarded a permit to explore the vast Block B. Total shot 1,600 kilometers of seismic survey but had to leave the country in 1984 because of the outbreak of violence between the north and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army of the south.
Total exercised clauses in the contract equivalent to force majeure to call for a "stoppage period." Year after year, the French company paid a small fee to the Khartoum government to perpetuate its rights on Block B. Total said its decision to suspend work at that time because it chose not to side with any part in the conflict.
However, in early 2004, when peace was in sight, together with its partners in Block B, Total signed an addendum to the original contract in December 2004 to bring it in line with modern-day economics.
(ST)
Tuesday 13 March 2007.
Editor's Note: Marathon claims it sold its shares to Total in March 2008.
March 12, 2007 (PARIS) — French oil company Total SA (TOT) is prepared to offer to the government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) a stake in its disputed exploration permit in an attempt to end the current stalemate with its rival the UK company White Nile(WNK.LN), and start exploring activities.
"We will go to Sudan soon to submit new proposals to Southern Sudan government. We intend to give the GoSS an equivalent share of the national petroleum company (Sudapet) in the capital of the consortium" said Nicolas Brunet, the chairman of Total’s Sudan operations, in a meeting with Sudanese English language press in Paris last week.
Total’s partners in Block B project are the Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPT.YY). Total has operating rights for the block with a 32.5 percent stake, Marathon Petroleum Sudan Ltd owning 32.5 percent (emphasis mine-Editor), Kuwaiti Kufpec Sudan Ltd 25 percent and state-owned Sudapet 10 percent.
The proposal aims to secure Southern Sudan a share in order to avoid any opposition from its officials who could raise objections to the national partner’s share. GoSS can therefore be represented through Nilepet, their own petroleum company.
But the chairman of the White Nile oil company, the former England cricketer Phil Edmonds told The Times on Saturday March 10, that Total approach was "neocolonial" and typical of Big Oil’s way of dealing with smaller nations. "White Nile is not just our company, but the government of South Sudan’s company." Edmonds added.
French company officials said that Total has the means and experience to explore oil and share the profit with the people of southern Sudan. Those officials told Sudanese journalists that Total will invest much of money to achieve this project. While a small start-up with limited financial capacities would surely face difficulties to assume such huge investment. They further said that the ultimate goal of Edmonds is to speculate with the future of southern Sudan and make money; because White Nile has no capacity to bring prosperity to the south.
The French oil giant explained to Sudanese journalists how they carry out their work in the host countries. According to their ethics Charter, the oil firm will participate in economic, social and educational development in close collaboration with the local communities. Also, Total strives to benefit local employment and contractors.
Several videos about total involvement in different countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America were displayed to illustrate the spirit of the company.
Regarding Total’s involvement in the protection of the environment and particularly huge quantities of water extracted from oil wells. Total officials demonstrated how they plan to re-inject the water back to avoid pollution and other hazards that could be provoked.
The question of water is one of the important challenges facing the Chinese GNPOC operating in Upper Nile. The poor treatment of production water is probably the most crucial environmental problem in Upper Nile now and is of great concern to the local population. GNPOC has opted for a bio-remediation solution, which could be acceptable, but has a limited capacity of 180,000 barrels per day, while excess water production for GNPOC is already around 650,000.
WHITE NILE ATTITUDE IS DILATORY
On the current dispute with the U.K. company White Nile Ltd. over the concession, Total’s legal advisor told Sudanese journalists that the British firm still refuses to disclose all contractual documentation (Concession agreement, Lock-in Agreement draft JV Agreement etc..). He further said that despite the confirmation by the Court of Appeal of the decision of the High Court on January 31, 2007, The White Nile lodged a permission of appeal to House of Lords on February28.
Reliable sources in Southern Sudan told the Sudan Tribune that the White Nile has no contract with the GoSS but with the SPLM Civil authority at that time. "This is why few people in southern Sudan know the details of this enigmatic contract." the source said. "Many officials in the GoSS are wondering why they make a pet on this small start-up because this issue makes a very bad reputation for southern Sudan and would discourage foreign investors" he further added.
According to an article published in June 2006 by the Wall Street Journal, U.S. government officials are concerned that the White Nile deal could set a bad precedent for Southern Sudan. They allege that the British company disbursed "bonus payments" to government officials to secure the concession. But the chairman of the White Nile former England cricketer Phil Edmonds denies the allegations.
The French company set foot in Sudan in 1980 when it was awarded a permit to explore the vast Block B. Total shot 1,600 kilometers of seismic survey but had to leave the country in 1984 because of the outbreak of violence between the north and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army of the south.
Total exercised clauses in the contract equivalent to force majeure to call for a "stoppage period." Year after year, the French company paid a small fee to the Khartoum government to perpetuate its rights on Block B. Total said its decision to suspend work at that time because it chose not to side with any part in the conflict.
However, in early 2004, when peace was in sight, together with its partners in Block B, Total signed an addendum to the original contract in December 2004 to bring it in line with modern-day economics.
(ST)
US to Build Largest CIA Center for East Africa in Sudan.
Tuesday 13 March 2007.
March 12, 2007 (LONDON) — The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reportedly would construct the largest operative center for East Africa in Sudan, said a report published yesterday.
The Sudanese government has permitted 400 containers that belonged to the US embassy in Khartoum, to enter the country following long standing objections by the Sudanese treasury. According to the London based al-Hayat newspaper, the shipment is believed to contain special equipments and building materials used to construct the new US embassy in Khartoum.
The report added that the embassy will include a regional center for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with spy equipment directed to East Africa in the context of the increased cooperation between the CIA and the Sudanese intelligence services.
The Los Angeles Times, last year has revealed that Sudanese intelligence chief Salah Gosh was flown to Washington in April 2005 on board a private jet to meet with CIA officials as part of their partnership for the war on terror.
(Sudan Tribune)
Note: The fact that Sudan has cooperated in the United States "War on Terror" is the reason for the base. Sudan has arrested numerous terrorist suspects and has even allowed them to be iterrogated in Khartoum. It should also be remembered that Sudan offered to allow Osama Bin Laden to be arrested extradition during the Clinton Administration. Sudanese officials offered to send a dossier of all his movements in the country. The African Affairs Bureau declined the offer. -Editor.
March 12, 2007 (LONDON) — The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reportedly would construct the largest operative center for East Africa in Sudan, said a report published yesterday.
The Sudanese government has permitted 400 containers that belonged to the US embassy in Khartoum, to enter the country following long standing objections by the Sudanese treasury. According to the London based al-Hayat newspaper, the shipment is believed to contain special equipments and building materials used to construct the new US embassy in Khartoum.
The report added that the embassy will include a regional center for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with spy equipment directed to East Africa in the context of the increased cooperation between the CIA and the Sudanese intelligence services.
The Los Angeles Times, last year has revealed that Sudanese intelligence chief Salah Gosh was flown to Washington in April 2005 on board a private jet to meet with CIA officials as part of their partnership for the war on terror.
(Sudan Tribune)
Note: The fact that Sudan has cooperated in the United States "War on Terror" is the reason for the base. Sudan has arrested numerous terrorist suspects and has even allowed them to be iterrogated in Khartoum. It should also be remembered that Sudan offered to allow Osama Bin Laden to be arrested extradition during the Clinton Administration. Sudanese officials offered to send a dossier of all his movements in the country. The African Affairs Bureau declined the offer. -Editor.
Chinese Contracting Rolls-Royce to Link Oil Pipeline From Darfur to the Main Pipe leading to Port Sudan.
"New, secret oil installations in Darfur"
Oil and gas concessions in Sudan
© M.Miller/RightsMaps.com/afrol News
afrol News, 14 September - As massive new deliveries to Chinese-operated oil fields in Western Sudan are being covered up in Norway, workers in the oil supply industry insist that the equipment's destination is the war-ravaged Darfur region, where "new discoveries" had been made. Neither the Sudanese nor the Chinese want to confirm new oil installations in Darfur.
Two Norwegian organisations, Norwatch and the Norwegian Council for Africa, today presented their investigations into a controversial delivery of "land based diesel motors and pumps" worth "tens of million of US$" by the Bergen-based company Rolls-Royce Marine, a daughter of UK's Rolls-Royce, to Sudan. "The equipment probably will be used to connect new oil fields to the gigantic main oil pipeline in Sudan," Erik Hagen of Norwatch says.
According to a source in Sudan, the state-owned Chinese oil company CNPC had ordered the new equipment from Norway. CNPC is the operator of Sudan's huge Block 6, which covers large parts of Western Kordofan and northern and southern Darfur. During the last few months, CNPC has been able to increase the production of Block 6 from 10,000 to 40,000 barrels a day. A source closely associated to Rolls-Royce told Norwatch that the Chinese state-company recently had made new oil discoveries in Darfur, "information they so far have not wanted to make public."
The equipment delivered by Rolls-Royce also seems to be best suited to connect new wells to an existing field. Press spokesman Arnfinn Ingjerd of Rolls-Royce Marine and Rolls-Royce headquarters in the UK first denied any knowledge of the large shipment to Sudan.
After receiving new instructions from England, Mr Ingjerd this week however confirmed to Norwatch that equipment worth "somewhat more than US$ 10 million" was to be sent to Sudan "within a few months."
Mr Ingjerd would not give details on his Sudanese clients, only saying that it was a "global and serious operator."
Two anonymous sources connected to Rolls-Royce Marine however confirm that "it is the Chinese", meaning CNPC. One of these sources also maintains that the equipment is to be used within Darfur. This is denied by Mr Ingjerd.
"The delivery goes to the border area between Darfur and Kordofan," he told Mr Hagen. He would however not specify on which side of the regional border the motors and pumps would be used.
Investments in the Sudanese oil sector are highly controversial, as are investments in the war-ravaged Darfur region. The US government on several occasions has gone after companies involved in Sudan's oil sector, claiming they are partly responsible in genocide. Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch advises against investments in the Kordofan-Darfur border area, which she holds is "within the Darfur conflict area".
Darfuri rebels earlier have attacked oil installations on both sides of the regional border with Kordofan. The reason is that Block 6 also taps into oil resources on Darfuri soil, although most installations are within Kordofan. Rebel groups, in agreement with Washington and several human rights groups, also claim that oil revenues are used to finance the Sudanese government's controversial warfare against Darfuri and other rebels.
Also the role of the Chinese in Sudan is widely criticised. Egbert Wesselink of the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan (ECOS) brusquely categorises "the behaviour of the Chinese oil company in Sudan" as "criminal". CNPC acts like an economic and political ally of the Sudanese government, he says, claiming the company takes actively part in the massive human rights violations committed in Sudan. Some sources claim thousands of Chinese troops are stationed in the country to protect Beijing's growing interests in Sudan.
The conflicts in Sudan have by some analysts been described as a mini-war between the US and China over the country's immense oil resources. Booming China is the world's fasting growing oil importing nation and is seeking independence from Washington's control over the world's oil resources. Contrary to the Washington government, the ECOS does not believe in a boycott of the oils sector in Sudan or oil companies involved there.
"This would not have any effect on the situation," Mr Wesselink advised Norwatch. Instead, he urges oil companies to unite and try to influence the Khartoum regime. Sudan's oil resources nevertheless were widely seen as fuelling the now resolved long-lasting civil war between the North and the South. So far, control over oil resources has played a much smaller part in the Darfur conflict. New knowledge of oil production in this western part of Sudan however may provide Darfuri rebels with new demands of a revenue sharing deal between Khartoum and the province.
http://www.afrol.com/articles/21316
Note: Don't forget who built all the roads leading from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It was none other than Osama Bin Laden while he was in exile there from Saudi Arabia after he befriended Hassan Al-Turabi from 1991 to 1996 when he was sent to Afghanistan and be sure to check out USAID's $700 million reconstruction contract awarded to the Louis Berger Group in South Sudan (Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile)... the creation of infrastructure will further the U.S. goal of a fully independent South Sudan with ample transport through the country - Editor.
Oil and gas concessions in Sudan
© M.Miller/RightsMaps.com/afrol News
afrol News, 14 September - As massive new deliveries to Chinese-operated oil fields in Western Sudan are being covered up in Norway, workers in the oil supply industry insist that the equipment's destination is the war-ravaged Darfur region, where "new discoveries" had been made. Neither the Sudanese nor the Chinese want to confirm new oil installations in Darfur.
Two Norwegian organisations, Norwatch and the Norwegian Council for Africa, today presented their investigations into a controversial delivery of "land based diesel motors and pumps" worth "tens of million of US$" by the Bergen-based company Rolls-Royce Marine, a daughter of UK's Rolls-Royce, to Sudan. "The equipment probably will be used to connect new oil fields to the gigantic main oil pipeline in Sudan," Erik Hagen of Norwatch says.
According to a source in Sudan, the state-owned Chinese oil company CNPC had ordered the new equipment from Norway. CNPC is the operator of Sudan's huge Block 6, which covers large parts of Western Kordofan and northern and southern Darfur. During the last few months, CNPC has been able to increase the production of Block 6 from 10,000 to 40,000 barrels a day. A source closely associated to Rolls-Royce told Norwatch that the Chinese state-company recently had made new oil discoveries in Darfur, "information they so far have not wanted to make public."
The equipment delivered by Rolls-Royce also seems to be best suited to connect new wells to an existing field. Press spokesman Arnfinn Ingjerd of Rolls-Royce Marine and Rolls-Royce headquarters in the UK first denied any knowledge of the large shipment to Sudan.
After receiving new instructions from England, Mr Ingjerd this week however confirmed to Norwatch that equipment worth "somewhat more than US$ 10 million" was to be sent to Sudan "within a few months."
Mr Ingjerd would not give details on his Sudanese clients, only saying that it was a "global and serious operator."
Two anonymous sources connected to Rolls-Royce Marine however confirm that "it is the Chinese", meaning CNPC. One of these sources also maintains that the equipment is to be used within Darfur. This is denied by Mr Ingjerd.
"The delivery goes to the border area between Darfur and Kordofan," he told Mr Hagen. He would however not specify on which side of the regional border the motors and pumps would be used.
Investments in the Sudanese oil sector are highly controversial, as are investments in the war-ravaged Darfur region. The US government on several occasions has gone after companies involved in Sudan's oil sector, claiming they are partly responsible in genocide. Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch advises against investments in the Kordofan-Darfur border area, which she holds is "within the Darfur conflict area".
Darfuri rebels earlier have attacked oil installations on both sides of the regional border with Kordofan. The reason is that Block 6 also taps into oil resources on Darfuri soil, although most installations are within Kordofan. Rebel groups, in agreement with Washington and several human rights groups, also claim that oil revenues are used to finance the Sudanese government's controversial warfare against Darfuri and other rebels.
Also the role of the Chinese in Sudan is widely criticised. Egbert Wesselink of the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan (ECOS) brusquely categorises "the behaviour of the Chinese oil company in Sudan" as "criminal". CNPC acts like an economic and political ally of the Sudanese government, he says, claiming the company takes actively part in the massive human rights violations committed in Sudan. Some sources claim thousands of Chinese troops are stationed in the country to protect Beijing's growing interests in Sudan.
The conflicts in Sudan have by some analysts been described as a mini-war between the US and China over the country's immense oil resources. Booming China is the world's fasting growing oil importing nation and is seeking independence from Washington's control over the world's oil resources. Contrary to the Washington government, the ECOS does not believe in a boycott of the oils sector in Sudan or oil companies involved there.
"This would not have any effect on the situation," Mr Wesselink advised Norwatch. Instead, he urges oil companies to unite and try to influence the Khartoum regime. Sudan's oil resources nevertheless were widely seen as fuelling the now resolved long-lasting civil war between the North and the South. So far, control over oil resources has played a much smaller part in the Darfur conflict. New knowledge of oil production in this western part of Sudan however may provide Darfuri rebels with new demands of a revenue sharing deal between Khartoum and the province.
http://www.afrol.com/articles/21316
Note: Don't forget who built all the roads leading from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It was none other than Osama Bin Laden while he was in exile there from Saudi Arabia after he befriended Hassan Al-Turabi from 1991 to 1996 when he was sent to Afghanistan and be sure to check out USAID's $700 million reconstruction contract awarded to the Louis Berger Group in South Sudan (Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile)... the creation of infrastructure will further the U.S. goal of a fully independent South Sudan with ample transport through the country - Editor.
12 March, 2007
Interview with Dr. Allison Des Forges About ICTR
ICTR/ANNIVERSARY - ALLISON DES FORGES APPLAUDED 10 YEARS OF THE TRIBUNAL
Arusha, March 9, 2007 (FH) – Allison Des Forges, in charge of African Affairs for Human Rights Watch and renowned expert witness at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) surmised on the ten year anniversary of the tribunal that its accomplishments have been “laudable” even if “it is insisted that we can expect better.”
“50 years after having accepted the ideas of international law, this is something to applaud,” she told the Hirondelle Agency in an interview 10 years after the first hearing at the ICTR that took place in January 1997.
“First it should be noticed that it is essential that it exists because if this tribunal weren’t here, the most important accused individuals, those who organized the genocide, would probably never have been tried before the courts. Even if there are faults, and there are many, and errors and slowness, this tribunal has all the same succeeded in prosecuting almost all the people who were at the most important posts.”
“This tribunal has ambitious goals and has placed itself in a position to accomplish them. It’s a little like living in a house under construction and there are times when it rains and the roof lets through water. It’s a work in progress, something that is in the process of being done and of course there are problems.”
Hirondelle : In your opinion, the plan (of genocide) hasn’t yet been proven?
This isn’t exactly true, the planning has been well established. As for the genocide? You know that for genocide, it’s a question of intent. What has been established is that there was a plan for violence against civilian ethnic Tutsis. That is clear and there is no doubt. We now have a series of documents and testimonies that establish that there was a plan whose objective was to organize the civilian population to attack those people identified either as enemies or those people who had been identified on an ethnic basis…After April 6, this planning turned into the goal of genocide. But rather ridiculous distinctions have been reached. It is not essential to establish that in each person’s head who knew about it the intent was genocide. I’ve always said that there was a plan for a system of violence.
Hirondelle : The Tribunal however hasn’t succeeded in covering its mandate. That’s exactly right, there is no doubt. Fortunately, we’re still not at the end of operations, so there’s always hope. Would this have been useful for the Office of the Prosecutor to establish that in a clearer way or not to? Evidently, a decision was taken by political considerations in this direction or a decision was avoided. As for the plan, I’m not a legal scholar and I accept that there are certain jurists who say that there is a debate. What is essential is that the truth is established if this isn’t in the Tribunal’s mandate so an investigatory commission is necessary, when one sees resources invested in the investigation of the assassination of the Lebanese prime minister. From history’s perspective, from the point of view of the degree of the lives lost, there is no doubt.
Hirondelle: The three secret indictments of the prosecutor concerning the RPF and the rumor circulated on the three cases that could be transferred to Rwanda?
I’ve also heard about these three indictments, as for their transfer I’m not convinced. The judge’s approval is necessary for that, we already saw a refusal for Norway and now for the Netherlands the judges have submitted a very, very detailed question. It is not automatic so it remains to be seen whether or not they will accept it.
Hirondelle : The Tribunal could commence arguing a scheduling problem in view of the deadline of December 31, 2008. Do you find this normal?
There is a problem. HRW has tried to encourage the people of the tribunal to demand an extension in operations like what was done for the former Yugoslavia. Why not ask for the same thing here? For me, that would be the most reasonable solution. I know that the officials responsible for the Tribunal are categorical but I don’t know why.
Hirondelle : Can the prosecutor practically permit prosecution of the RPF?
That was the logic of its position: I can’t do that because I need the cooperation of the Rwandan government. We have seen with Mrs. Del Ponte a few years ago that the reaction of the Rwandan government was to interrupt cooperation. But we’re finished with the cases of the accused who require the most testimony in the interior of the country and I think that at some time we will have cases that can be finished with witnesses from the exterior…Since the start, it has been recognized that this would be impossible to do at once, I’m not exactly convinced…That was the interest of the international community. At this time, it’s foremost genocide which preoccupies the world and to careful not to have been perceived as a lack of diligence.
Hirondelle : You’re finishing your twelfth testimony as an expert in the Renzaho trial, you will come back in Karemara.
For me, it’s a special and exceptional experience. There was an atmosphere of respect between the parties that one does not always find and it’s very difficult to work in an atmosphere where the parties are in open conflict and where the judges don’t exactly control the situation. One is distracted, one is tempted to say things in a harsh way, to not stay calm and serene. I’ve found these last two days exceptional and we should give credit to the judges, to the defense lawyer and to the prosecutor for having worked in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
PB-ER/KD © Hirondelle News Agency
Arusha, March 9, 2007 (FH) – Allison Des Forges, in charge of African Affairs for Human Rights Watch and renowned expert witness at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) surmised on the ten year anniversary of the tribunal that its accomplishments have been “laudable” even if “it is insisted that we can expect better.”
“50 years after having accepted the ideas of international law, this is something to applaud,” she told the Hirondelle Agency in an interview 10 years after the first hearing at the ICTR that took place in January 1997.
“First it should be noticed that it is essential that it exists because if this tribunal weren’t here, the most important accused individuals, those who organized the genocide, would probably never have been tried before the courts. Even if there are faults, and there are many, and errors and slowness, this tribunal has all the same succeeded in prosecuting almost all the people who were at the most important posts.”
“This tribunal has ambitious goals and has placed itself in a position to accomplish them. It’s a little like living in a house under construction and there are times when it rains and the roof lets through water. It’s a work in progress, something that is in the process of being done and of course there are problems.”
Hirondelle : In your opinion, the plan (of genocide) hasn’t yet been proven?
This isn’t exactly true, the planning has been well established. As for the genocide? You know that for genocide, it’s a question of intent. What has been established is that there was a plan for violence against civilian ethnic Tutsis. That is clear and there is no doubt. We now have a series of documents and testimonies that establish that there was a plan whose objective was to organize the civilian population to attack those people identified either as enemies or those people who had been identified on an ethnic basis…After April 6, this planning turned into the goal of genocide. But rather ridiculous distinctions have been reached. It is not essential to establish that in each person’s head who knew about it the intent was genocide. I’ve always said that there was a plan for a system of violence.
Hirondelle : The Tribunal however hasn’t succeeded in covering its mandate. That’s exactly right, there is no doubt. Fortunately, we’re still not at the end of operations, so there’s always hope. Would this have been useful for the Office of the Prosecutor to establish that in a clearer way or not to? Evidently, a decision was taken by political considerations in this direction or a decision was avoided. As for the plan, I’m not a legal scholar and I accept that there are certain jurists who say that there is a debate. What is essential is that the truth is established if this isn’t in the Tribunal’s mandate so an investigatory commission is necessary, when one sees resources invested in the investigation of the assassination of the Lebanese prime minister. From history’s perspective, from the point of view of the degree of the lives lost, there is no doubt.
Hirondelle: The three secret indictments of the prosecutor concerning the RPF and the rumor circulated on the three cases that could be transferred to Rwanda?
I’ve also heard about these three indictments, as for their transfer I’m not convinced. The judge’s approval is necessary for that, we already saw a refusal for Norway and now for the Netherlands the judges have submitted a very, very detailed question. It is not automatic so it remains to be seen whether or not they will accept it.
Hirondelle : The Tribunal could commence arguing a scheduling problem in view of the deadline of December 31, 2008. Do you find this normal?
There is a problem. HRW has tried to encourage the people of the tribunal to demand an extension in operations like what was done for the former Yugoslavia. Why not ask for the same thing here? For me, that would be the most reasonable solution. I know that the officials responsible for the Tribunal are categorical but I don’t know why.
Hirondelle : Can the prosecutor practically permit prosecution of the RPF?
That was the logic of its position: I can’t do that because I need the cooperation of the Rwandan government. We have seen with Mrs. Del Ponte a few years ago that the reaction of the Rwandan government was to interrupt cooperation. But we’re finished with the cases of the accused who require the most testimony in the interior of the country and I think that at some time we will have cases that can be finished with witnesses from the exterior…Since the start, it has been recognized that this would be impossible to do at once, I’m not exactly convinced…That was the interest of the international community. At this time, it’s foremost genocide which preoccupies the world and to careful not to have been perceived as a lack of diligence.
Hirondelle : You’re finishing your twelfth testimony as an expert in the Renzaho trial, you will come back in Karemara.
For me, it’s a special and exceptional experience. There was an atmosphere of respect between the parties that one does not always find and it’s very difficult to work in an atmosphere where the parties are in open conflict and where the judges don’t exactly control the situation. One is distracted, one is tempted to say things in a harsh way, to not stay calm and serene. I’ve found these last two days exceptional and we should give credit to the judges, to the defense lawyer and to the prosecutor for having worked in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
PB-ER/KD © Hirondelle News Agency
Uganda to Quench Rwanda's Oil Needs.
Kampla-Kigali Oil Pipeline: Government Wants Equity
Mar 12, 2007 at 08:26 AM
The government is pushing for equitable participation in the execution of the Kampala-Kigali oil pipeline, The New Times has learnt. The State Minister for Energy and Communication, Eng. Albert Butare told The New Timesthat he held talks with the Ugandan energy minister Daudi Migereko in Kampala last week that focused on how both countries can partner to provide financial and technical contribution to the venture.Butare noted that Rwanda had expressed strong support to extend the US$80m Kenya-Uganda oil pipeline project to Kigali through Uganda’s western districts, and stressed that the ongoing negotiations are a symbol of effecting the country’s interests.
“It is all about sharing the effort of extending the oil pipeline from Kampala to Kigali,” Butare said by telephone over the weekend.
He further said that the major modalities especially those that need political blessing had been agreed upon. And, the Minister noted that government had prioritized the bulk of options under review, priority among them the decision to use the existing firm in a bid to shorten the timeframe for the implementation of the project. And, as the talks progress, Butare also revealed that the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), the US arm that advances economic development and US commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries, is simultaneously carrying out a feasibility study of the Kigali-Kampala pipeline.
Last year, a Libyan firm, TAMOIL won the concession to build, own and operate the Eldoret (Kenya) - Kampala pipeline.Meanwhile, within two weeks a government team led by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Vincent Gatwabuyege will visit Uganda and hold comprehensive discussions on the technicalities of the project with their counterparts in the energy ministry. The meeting is expected to be preceded by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.
Viability of the Kenya-Uganda Pipeline The 320-km Kenya-Uganda oil pipeline project was declared viable in March 2004, after a final feasibility study, which was concluded at the end of 2001. According to available information the Kenya-Uganda pipeline, which will run from Eldoret in Kenya to Namanve in Uganda, will have a capacity of transporting 220,000 litres per hour. According to a new plan from the great lakes countries, the pipeline will replace road tankers as the mode of transportation of oil products from Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda and eastern DRC, making petroleum products throughout the region considerably cheaper. Pundits say prices of fuel products in Rwanda are high partly because of exorbitant road transport costs from the coastal towns of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam in Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, to Kigali.
By ROBERT MUKOMBOZI
Last Updated ( Mar 12, 2007 at 08:35 AM )
http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=506&Itemid=1
Editor: An upcoming update of my book explores this in further detail. This is directly related to the massive recent oil discoveries by Heritage Oil at Uganda's Kingfisher site, where Australia's Hardman Resources is also drilling nearby. Heritage is now signed up to build an oil refinery in Uganda, which could potentially end the need for imports from Tanzania and Mombassa. Heritage believes the new refinery could become the primary oil supplier for East Africa. Stay tuned....
Mar 12, 2007 at 08:26 AM
The government is pushing for equitable participation in the execution of the Kampala-Kigali oil pipeline, The New Times has learnt. The State Minister for Energy and Communication, Eng. Albert Butare told The New Timesthat he held talks with the Ugandan energy minister Daudi Migereko in Kampala last week that focused on how both countries can partner to provide financial and technical contribution to the venture.Butare noted that Rwanda had expressed strong support to extend the US$80m Kenya-Uganda oil pipeline project to Kigali through Uganda’s western districts, and stressed that the ongoing negotiations are a symbol of effecting the country’s interests.
“It is all about sharing the effort of extending the oil pipeline from Kampala to Kigali,” Butare said by telephone over the weekend.
He further said that the major modalities especially those that need political blessing had been agreed upon. And, the Minister noted that government had prioritized the bulk of options under review, priority among them the decision to use the existing firm in a bid to shorten the timeframe for the implementation of the project. And, as the talks progress, Butare also revealed that the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), the US arm that advances economic development and US commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries, is simultaneously carrying out a feasibility study of the Kigali-Kampala pipeline.
Last year, a Libyan firm, TAMOIL won the concession to build, own and operate the Eldoret (Kenya) - Kampala pipeline.Meanwhile, within two weeks a government team led by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Vincent Gatwabuyege will visit Uganda and hold comprehensive discussions on the technicalities of the project with their counterparts in the energy ministry. The meeting is expected to be preceded by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.
Viability of the Kenya-Uganda Pipeline The 320-km Kenya-Uganda oil pipeline project was declared viable in March 2004, after a final feasibility study, which was concluded at the end of 2001. According to available information the Kenya-Uganda pipeline, which will run from Eldoret in Kenya to Namanve in Uganda, will have a capacity of transporting 220,000 litres per hour. According to a new plan from the great lakes countries, the pipeline will replace road tankers as the mode of transportation of oil products from Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda and eastern DRC, making petroleum products throughout the region considerably cheaper. Pundits say prices of fuel products in Rwanda are high partly because of exorbitant road transport costs from the coastal towns of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam in Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, to Kigali.
By ROBERT MUKOMBOZI
Last Updated ( Mar 12, 2007 at 08:35 AM )
http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=506&Itemid=1
Editor: An upcoming update of my book explores this in further detail. This is directly related to the massive recent oil discoveries by Heritage Oil at Uganda's Kingfisher site, where Australia's Hardman Resources is also drilling nearby. Heritage is now signed up to build an oil refinery in Uganda, which could potentially end the need for imports from Tanzania and Mombassa. Heritage believes the new refinery could become the primary oil supplier for East Africa. Stay tuned....
ICTR To Decide on Trying RPF in Mid-2007
ICTR/PROSECUTION - RPF ALLEGED CRIMES : PROSECUTOR TO DECIDE MID 2007
Arusha, February 8 2007 (FH) - The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Hassan Bubacar Jallow (Gambia), will decide by the middle of the year whether or not charges will be brought against members of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), now in power in Kigali, for crimes they would have committed in 1994, the ICTR announced on Thursday.
« By the middle of the year, the prosecutor will be decide which course of action to take », the newly appointed prosecutor’s spokesman, Timothy Gallimore (US), has announced during a press conference.
During his presentation of his annual report to the Security Council in mid-December, Mr. Jallow recalled that “ my office has felt it necessary to carry out further enquiries after our evaluation of the materialrelating to alleged violations of humanitarian law by the RPF. I expect that in 2007, these enquiries should conclude and enable us to decide which way to proceed.”
However, Mr. Jallow has always said that he is not competent to investigate the assassination on April 6 1994 of President Juvénal Habyarimana, considered to be the trigger event of the genocide.In a report released last year, a French anti-terrorist judge, Jean-Louis Bruguière, named the former commander of the armed branch of the RPF, the sitting president of Rwanda Paul Kagame, as the main backer of the attack. Kagame, who has always denied having taken part in the attack, recently said on the BBC that he was favorable to an independent investigation on this event.
Some defence lawyers at the ICTR ask the tribunal to suspend ICTR proceedings and review all completed cases until war crimes allegedly committed in 1994 by the members of RPF are investigated. The ICTR, located in Arusha in the north of Tanzania, has so far delivered 31 judgements ( 27 convictions and 5 acquittals). All trials should be completed by the end of 2008.
ER/AT/MG©
Hirondelle News Agency
11 March, 2007
Where is General Laurent Nkundabatware?
He is still living with complete impunity in his home territory. He lives in a mobile camp on the hills of Masisi Territory and meets with the media in private on his property in Kiloliwe. He also continues to travel frequently to Kitchanga. The following are photos taken by AFP photographer Lionel Healing (LIONEL HEALING/AFP/Getty Images) during an AFP interview at Kiloliwe on 4 March, 2007.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
