For those who don't know who he is, Lt. Aloys Ruyenzi was General Paul Kagame's bodyguard for several years and testified twice in writing (both available on this site). He was one of the participants in Judge Brugiere's report (also available on this site in French and English). Anyone interested in Rwanda should hear what he has to say.
http://webpages.charter.net/jabdmb/ARTestimonyEnglish.doc.
10 July, 2007
Bishops Call For Proper Resource Management in DRC
MISNA
10 July 07
The proper management of natural resources, making an effort to reduce the level of insecurity, while appealing to the people and new leaders’ responsibility are among the main themes in the message sent by the National Episcopal Conference of RDC Congo (CENCO) from Kinshasa. The document is entitled “New Wine in New Wineskins”, quoting the Gospel of Mark 2,22. the 28 point document, signed by 47 bishops, is intended as a call to “change the mentality to save our country from the dangers that hover over it once again”. Reaffirming the principle of the ‘integrity and intangibility of the Congolese national territory’, CENCO said that mineral, oil and forestry resources have become the source of many troubles. “How else to understand that our citizens find themselves, without compensation, deprived or their lands because of the concession or sale of land to this or that mining or forestry manager?" ask the bishops, who have announced the creation of a “ad hoc Episcopal commission” to better understand the exploitation of resources and human rights. “The eager search for natural resources fuels insecurity”, says the message, even as its signatories express their concern for “the imminent exploitation of oil in Lake Albert in Ituri" and their doubt as to whether or not the population shall get any related benefits. The bishops noted that there is insecurity ion all their dioceses in the form of rape, robbery, kidnapping and even excessive taxes and fines or arbitrary arrest. The bishops have condemned all such acts, which are perpetrated by some officers of the law and order forces, militias and foreign rebels present in the national territory”.
CENCO also discusses the murder of journalists in one paragraph. As for the new government’s budget for 2007, the bishops find this to be “highly limited where the great projects and promises that were announced are concerned" as the people anxiously await an improvement in the quality of life. CENCO asks that the government show the courage to strengthen the surveillance of national borders and air space while restoring the forests that have been exploited. As for the international community, CENCO asks – also in view of what has already been said by Benedict XVI – “to set up procedures for a rapid, complete and unconditional annulment of the external debt of highly indebted and least developed countries”, as well as to promote favorable trade conditions and reduce arms sales.
10 July 07
The proper management of natural resources, making an effort to reduce the level of insecurity, while appealing to the people and new leaders’ responsibility are among the main themes in the message sent by the National Episcopal Conference of RDC Congo (CENCO) from Kinshasa. The document is entitled “New Wine in New Wineskins”, quoting the Gospel of Mark 2,22. the 28 point document, signed by 47 bishops, is intended as a call to “change the mentality to save our country from the dangers that hover over it once again”. Reaffirming the principle of the ‘integrity and intangibility of the Congolese national territory’, CENCO said that mineral, oil and forestry resources have become the source of many troubles. “How else to understand that our citizens find themselves, without compensation, deprived or their lands because of the concession or sale of land to this or that mining or forestry manager?" ask the bishops, who have announced the creation of a “ad hoc Episcopal commission” to better understand the exploitation of resources and human rights. “The eager search for natural resources fuels insecurity”, says the message, even as its signatories express their concern for “the imminent exploitation of oil in Lake Albert in Ituri" and their doubt as to whether or not the population shall get any related benefits. The bishops noted that there is insecurity ion all their dioceses in the form of rape, robbery, kidnapping and even excessive taxes and fines or arbitrary arrest. The bishops have condemned all such acts, which are perpetrated by some officers of the law and order forces, militias and foreign rebels present in the national territory”.
CENCO also discusses the murder of journalists in one paragraph. As for the new government’s budget for 2007, the bishops find this to be “highly limited where the great projects and promises that were announced are concerned" as the people anxiously await an improvement in the quality of life. CENCO asks that the government show the courage to strengthen the surveillance of national borders and air space while restoring the forests that have been exploited. As for the international community, CENCO asks – also in view of what has already been said by Benedict XVI – “to set up procedures for a rapid, complete and unconditional annulment of the external debt of highly indebted and least developed countries”, as well as to promote favorable trade conditions and reduce arms sales.
French Organizations Demand Arrests
Hirondelle News Agency
10 July 07
Four French organizations are requesting Paris to immediately arrest three exiled Rwandans indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for their alleged role in the 1994 genocide in their country.
Last month, the ICTR Prosecutor, Gambian Hassan Bubacar Jallow, issued arrest warrants against the former prefect Laurent Bucyibaruta and Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, both exiled in France.
A few days earlier, he had announced the indictment of the former sub-prefect Dominique Ntawukuriryayo who, according to Kigali, also lives in France.
Following the agreement with France to try the first two, Jallow filed before the President of the ICTR motions aiming at obtaining court orders to transfer the two cases to French courts.
The ICTR President, Dennis Byron, should in the very next days designate chambers that will rule on these motions.
"More than two weeks after the issuance of the two arrest warrants, France still has not arrested Munyeshyaka and Bucyibaruta even if they are under judicial control", wrote, in an official statement, the International Federation for Humans Rights (FIDH), the Survie association, the League for Human Rights (LDH) and the Collective of the Civil Parties for Rwanda (CPCR).
The four associations "urgently request that France fulfill its international obligations of co-operation with the Office of the prosecutor of the ICTR by seeking and arresting Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, Laurent Bucyibaruta and Dominique Ntawukuriryayo".
"Our organizations remind that although France has a complete legislative arsenal enabling it to cooperate fully with the ICTR and to bring, if necessary, charges against any person allegedly responsible for serious crimes present on its territory", indicates the text. "It is to note that, in spite of several complaints filed by families of victims and associations, France had not considered until now any alleged genocidaire present on the French soil", these organizations deplored.
"The FIDH, the LDH, Survie and the CPCR requests today that France, convicted by the European Court of Human rights for the slowness of its justice in the examination of the complaint against Munyeshyaka initiated since 1995, that justice be finally returned to the victims of the genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda", the official statement continues.
The Rwandan authorities, who accuse Paris of having played a part in the 1994 genocide, state that France does not have any moral authority to try these cases.
In a visit to the ICTR last month, Theodore Simburudali, president of Ibuka, the principal organization of survivors of the genocide, asked that the Office of the prosecutor withdraw the motions aiming at trying defendants in France.
10 July 07
Four French organizations are requesting Paris to immediately arrest three exiled Rwandans indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for their alleged role in the 1994 genocide in their country.
Last month, the ICTR Prosecutor, Gambian Hassan Bubacar Jallow, issued arrest warrants against the former prefect Laurent Bucyibaruta and Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, both exiled in France.
A few days earlier, he had announced the indictment of the former sub-prefect Dominique Ntawukuriryayo who, according to Kigali, also lives in France.
Following the agreement with France to try the first two, Jallow filed before the President of the ICTR motions aiming at obtaining court orders to transfer the two cases to French courts.
The ICTR President, Dennis Byron, should in the very next days designate chambers that will rule on these motions.
"More than two weeks after the issuance of the two arrest warrants, France still has not arrested Munyeshyaka and Bucyibaruta even if they are under judicial control", wrote, in an official statement, the International Federation for Humans Rights (FIDH), the Survie association, the League for Human Rights (LDH) and the Collective of the Civil Parties for Rwanda (CPCR).
The four associations "urgently request that France fulfill its international obligations of co-operation with the Office of the prosecutor of the ICTR by seeking and arresting Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, Laurent Bucyibaruta and Dominique Ntawukuriryayo".
"Our organizations remind that although France has a complete legislative arsenal enabling it to cooperate fully with the ICTR and to bring, if necessary, charges against any person allegedly responsible for serious crimes present on its territory", indicates the text. "It is to note that, in spite of several complaints filed by families of victims and associations, France had not considered until now any alleged genocidaire present on the French soil", these organizations deplored.
"The FIDH, the LDH, Survie and the CPCR requests today that France, convicted by the European Court of Human rights for the slowness of its justice in the examination of the complaint against Munyeshyaka initiated since 1995, that justice be finally returned to the victims of the genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda", the official statement continues.
The Rwandan authorities, who accuse Paris of having played a part in the 1994 genocide, state that France does not have any moral authority to try these cases.
In a visit to the ICTR last month, Theodore Simburudali, president of Ibuka, the principal organization of survivors of the genocide, asked that the Office of the prosecutor withdraw the motions aiming at trying defendants in France.
Fr. Rukundo Innocent of Massacres at CND-Witness
Hirondelle News Agency
10 July 07
witness said Father Emmanuel Rukundo is not responsible of the massacres of Tutsis in the area nicknamed "CND", Monday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Emmanuel Rukundo, 48, was a military chaplain in 1994 and is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in the central Rwanda. He has pleaded not guilty.
The first defence witness cleared him of the massacres and of the abduction of Tutsis in the "CND" in Kabgayi.
French acronym for Parliament under former President Juvénal Habyarimana, the CND sheltered a battalion of the former rebellion dominated by Tutsis of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) installed in Kigali at the end of 1993 following the signature of a peace agreement with the government.
During the genocide, several areas where endangered Tutsis had taken refuge had been nicknamed "CND".
In Kabgayi, it was in the abandoned buildings of a former commercial co-operative financed by the Swiss co-operation, TRAFIPRO, that it was referred to, when speaking about "NCD".
The ICTR Prosecutor accuses Rukundo of having gone on several occasions, in particular to the "CND", between April and July 1994, "as he sought Tutsis to kill".
The protected witness "CNB", a Tutsi survivor of the "CND", stated that Father Rukundo had never gone to this place during the massacres. "No. He never presented himself at the CND ", he stated.
CNB, who lost several members of his family during the genocide including his wife, explained to the tribunal, the reasons which motivated him to come and clear the priest. "I wanted to speak about what I saw and I wanted to tell the truth of what I lived", he stated; adding that he had agreed to testify without any constraint or promise of reward.
The witness, who expressed himself in his mother tongue of Kinyarwanda, completely swept aside all the allegations of the Prosecutor; in particular, the allegations that the accused was present at the CND at the time of a visit of Prime Minister Jean Kambanda. The visit would have been followed by massacres and abduction of Tutsis.
CNB indicated that the Prime Minister had actually come to the CND during the events; but was only accompanied by his guard. He added that no attack had taken place in the days that followed this visit.
Jean Kambanda was convicted to the life in prison by the ICTR after having pleaded guilty to genocide.
CNB also estimated that a witness who had implicated Rukundo in the abduction of Tutsis at the CND had told "lies".
The priest’s defence had announced that it will call approximately 42 witnesses. The lead Counsel, Aicha Condé (France), has, however, declared that several witnesses had desisted following the arrest in Rwanda of a defence investigator, Léonidas Nshogoza.
"Each time that there is a line in the press on the arrest of Nshogoza, there is a witness who says that it is difficult to come and testify for the defence of Rukundo", regretted Condé.
Three other priests have been so far indicted by the ICTR.
10 July 07
witness said Father Emmanuel Rukundo is not responsible of the massacres of Tutsis in the area nicknamed "CND", Monday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Emmanuel Rukundo, 48, was a military chaplain in 1994 and is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in the central Rwanda. He has pleaded not guilty.
The first defence witness cleared him of the massacres and of the abduction of Tutsis in the "CND" in Kabgayi.
French acronym for Parliament under former President Juvénal Habyarimana, the CND sheltered a battalion of the former rebellion dominated by Tutsis of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) installed in Kigali at the end of 1993 following the signature of a peace agreement with the government.
During the genocide, several areas where endangered Tutsis had taken refuge had been nicknamed "CND".
In Kabgayi, it was in the abandoned buildings of a former commercial co-operative financed by the Swiss co-operation, TRAFIPRO, that it was referred to, when speaking about "NCD".
The ICTR Prosecutor accuses Rukundo of having gone on several occasions, in particular to the "CND", between April and July 1994, "as he sought Tutsis to kill".
The protected witness "CNB", a Tutsi survivor of the "CND", stated that Father Rukundo had never gone to this place during the massacres. "No. He never presented himself at the CND ", he stated.
CNB, who lost several members of his family during the genocide including his wife, explained to the tribunal, the reasons which motivated him to come and clear the priest. "I wanted to speak about what I saw and I wanted to tell the truth of what I lived", he stated; adding that he had agreed to testify without any constraint or promise of reward.
The witness, who expressed himself in his mother tongue of Kinyarwanda, completely swept aside all the allegations of the Prosecutor; in particular, the allegations that the accused was present at the CND at the time of a visit of Prime Minister Jean Kambanda. The visit would have been followed by massacres and abduction of Tutsis.
CNB indicated that the Prime Minister had actually come to the CND during the events; but was only accompanied by his guard. He added that no attack had taken place in the days that followed this visit.
Jean Kambanda was convicted to the life in prison by the ICTR after having pleaded guilty to genocide.
CNB also estimated that a witness who had implicated Rukundo in the abduction of Tutsis at the CND had told "lies".
The priest’s defence had announced that it will call approximately 42 witnesses. The lead Counsel, Aicha Condé (France), has, however, declared that several witnesses had desisted following the arrest in Rwanda of a defence investigator, Léonidas Nshogoza.
"Each time that there is a line in the press on the arrest of Nshogoza, there is a witness who says that it is difficult to come and testify for the defence of Rukundo", regretted Condé.
Three other priests have been so far indicted by the ICTR.
Rwanda To Refuse Transfer of ICTR Suspects to Anywhere but Kigali
Hirondelle News Agency
10 July 07
The Rwandan authorities will use every means possible to block any transfer elsewhere than to Kigali of a person convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), warned on Monday the government representative to the tribunal, Aloys Mutabingwa.
"We are ready to use every means possible to block that", indicated the diplomat in an interview with the Hirondelle news agency.
Six ICTR convicts are currently being held in Bamako, Mali under the terms of an agreement made between that country and the tribunal.
Several definitive convicts remain in detention at the seat of the tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania while waiting for their transfer towards another country.
"It is necessary that they are transferred to Rwanda. The UN does not have any more pretext; we have built a prison meeting international standards ", indicated Mutabingwa.
The diplomat explained that the fact of holding the convicts in their country would have "a teaching value" for Rwandans.
"Those who were not convicted to life in prison will be freed at the end of their sentences", ensured the Rwandan diplomat.
He estimated that the transfer to Rwanda of ICTR convicts exempts the tribunal of the difficult responsibility of finding host countries for those finishing their sentences.
According to the ICTR statute, « Imprisonment shall be served in Rwanda or any of the States on a list of States which have indicated to the Security council their willingness to accept convicted persons, as designated by the tribunal”.
“Such imprisonment shall be served in accordance with the applicable law of the State concerned, subject to the supervision of the tribunal”, adds the text.
In addition to Mali, the countries which signed the agreement on the enforcement of sentences are Benin, Swaziland, France, Sweden and Italy. These 5 countries have not, however, yet received ICTR convicts.
In September 2004, the registry of the ICTR and the Rwandan authorities had announced to have had finalized the text of an agreement on the enforcement of sentences in Rwanda.
The two parties had indicated that they were only waiting on the green light from New York to place their signatures at the bottom of the text.
"There is a lack of will somewhere", stated Mutabingwa; stressing that this delay "is damaging to Rwanda".
10 July 07
The Rwandan authorities will use every means possible to block any transfer elsewhere than to Kigali of a person convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), warned on Monday the government representative to the tribunal, Aloys Mutabingwa.
"We are ready to use every means possible to block that", indicated the diplomat in an interview with the Hirondelle news agency.
Six ICTR convicts are currently being held in Bamako, Mali under the terms of an agreement made between that country and the tribunal.
Several definitive convicts remain in detention at the seat of the tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania while waiting for their transfer towards another country.
"It is necessary that they are transferred to Rwanda. The UN does not have any more pretext; we have built a prison meeting international standards ", indicated Mutabingwa.
The diplomat explained that the fact of holding the convicts in their country would have "a teaching value" for Rwandans.
"Those who were not convicted to life in prison will be freed at the end of their sentences", ensured the Rwandan diplomat.
He estimated that the transfer to Rwanda of ICTR convicts exempts the tribunal of the difficult responsibility of finding host countries for those finishing their sentences.
According to the ICTR statute, « Imprisonment shall be served in Rwanda or any of the States on a list of States which have indicated to the Security council their willingness to accept convicted persons, as designated by the tribunal”.
“Such imprisonment shall be served in accordance with the applicable law of the State concerned, subject to the supervision of the tribunal”, adds the text.
In addition to Mali, the countries which signed the agreement on the enforcement of sentences are Benin, Swaziland, France, Sweden and Italy. These 5 countries have not, however, yet received ICTR convicts.
In September 2004, the registry of the ICTR and the Rwandan authorities had announced to have had finalized the text of an agreement on the enforcement of sentences in Rwanda.
The two parties had indicated that they were only waiting on the green light from New York to place their signatures at the bottom of the text.
"There is a lack of will somewhere", stated Mutabingwa; stressing that this delay "is damaging to Rwanda".
09 July, 2007
Drummond Court Case Begins
MISNA
9 July 07
The trial opens today in Birmingham, Alabama, against the Drummond coal company, based in the same State and second coal producer in Colombia, charged with involvement in 2001 in the killing of three members of the ‘Sintramienergética’ union by extreme right-wing paramilitaries in the northern department of Cesar, former stronghold of the AUC (United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia). “There are three explosive elements in the case on a level of human rights and international policy: paramilitaries, unionists and North American companies”, writes the ‘El Tiempo’ newspaper. Relatives and companions of the victims are calling for the conviction of the firm and its chairman in Colombia, Augusto Jiménez, for “logistically and financially supporting” the AUC, and around a million dollars in damages for the families. A similar case last March involved the Chiquita Brands banana company, which in the end admitted to paying at least $1.7 million - through its Banadex affiliate – to AUC paramilitaries between 1997 and 2004 for the protection of its employees in the northern regions of Urabá (Antioquia) and Santa Marta (Magdalena). The substantial difference – stresses the paper – “is that Drummond – exploiting a coal mine in Cesar since 1988 – pleaded innocent… and has therefore refused an out of court settlement”, in the contrary to Chiquita. Among the key witnesses of the prosecution is the former head of data processing of the ‘Administrative Security Department’ (DAS, secret services), Rafael García.
Already under investigation in the scandal of collusion between the political class and paramilitaries, García told investigators that in 2001 he attended a meeting in which a company executive handed a suitcase full of money to a known paramilitary leader, Rodrigo Tovar, alias ‘Jorge 40’, in payment for the assassination of the unionists. García was sued by the company for defamation.
9 July 07
The trial opens today in Birmingham, Alabama, against the Drummond coal company, based in the same State and second coal producer in Colombia, charged with involvement in 2001 in the killing of three members of the ‘Sintramienergética’ union by extreme right-wing paramilitaries in the northern department of Cesar, former stronghold of the AUC (United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia). “There are three explosive elements in the case on a level of human rights and international policy: paramilitaries, unionists and North American companies”, writes the ‘El Tiempo’ newspaper. Relatives and companions of the victims are calling for the conviction of the firm and its chairman in Colombia, Augusto Jiménez, for “logistically and financially supporting” the AUC, and around a million dollars in damages for the families. A similar case last March involved the Chiquita Brands banana company, which in the end admitted to paying at least $1.7 million - through its Banadex affiliate – to AUC paramilitaries between 1997 and 2004 for the protection of its employees in the northern regions of Urabá (Antioquia) and Santa Marta (Magdalena). The substantial difference – stresses the paper – “is that Drummond – exploiting a coal mine in Cesar since 1988 – pleaded innocent… and has therefore refused an out of court settlement”, in the contrary to Chiquita. Among the key witnesses of the prosecution is the former head of data processing of the ‘Administrative Security Department’ (DAS, secret services), Rafael García.
Already under investigation in the scandal of collusion between the political class and paramilitaries, García told investigators that in 2001 he attended a meeting in which a company executive handed a suitcase full of money to a known paramilitary leader, Rodrigo Tovar, alias ‘Jorge 40’, in payment for the assassination of the unionists. García was sued by the company for defamation.
08 July, 2007
Intelligence Officer Killed in Puntland.
MISNA
7 July 07
An official from the secret services of Puntland, autonomous region of northern Somalia, was killed by snipers overnight. Local media said that Khalif Farah Ibrahim, of the Puntland Intelligence Service (PIS), was killed by armed men as he was eating in a restaurant in the port city of Bossaso, the main business center in the region. The local media stress that this is an unprecedented episode for Puntland, suggesting that it might be connected to the anti-government activity in Mogadishu. “It is another worrying sign of how the violence in Mogadishu is growing rapidly” said a local newspaper, remembering that the president of the Transition government in Somalia Abdullahi Yusuf is from Puntland, and was once its president. Last week, the current head of state of Puntland, Adde Muse said that there are ‘enemies’ that wish to destabilize a region that has so far stayed peaceful.
7 July 07
An official from the secret services of Puntland, autonomous region of northern Somalia, was killed by snipers overnight. Local media said that Khalif Farah Ibrahim, of the Puntland Intelligence Service (PIS), was killed by armed men as he was eating in a restaurant in the port city of Bossaso, the main business center in the region. The local media stress that this is an unprecedented episode for Puntland, suggesting that it might be connected to the anti-government activity in Mogadishu. “It is another worrying sign of how the violence in Mogadishu is growing rapidly” said a local newspaper, remembering that the president of the Transition government in Somalia Abdullahi Yusuf is from Puntland, and was once its president. Last week, the current head of state of Puntland, Adde Muse said that there are ‘enemies’ that wish to destabilize a region that has so far stayed peaceful.
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