The New Times (Kigali)
14 March 2008
By Felly Kimenyi
Editor's Note: Home Page: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/89337.htm
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Please contact Dr. Fedoroff and respectfully ask her why she is inviting the commander-in-chief of an army who currently has 40 members indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity including genocide and terrorism, the same man who is himself accused of ordering the terrorist attack that assassinated two sitting heads of state. This accusation was based, in large part, on the testimony of soldiers from President Kagame's own army, who faught alongside him for years, and a UN-sanctioned investigation by Mr. Michael Hourigan that was covered up by current outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour at the request of an individual working for the State Department at the time. A copy of the Hourigan affidavit and the english version of the Brugiere report are already available on this blog, and a French version of the Spanish indictment is available upon request. These are not frivolous political allegations, but rather the culmination of years of exahustive investigations. There are plenty of excellent alternative candiates to give this conference keynote speech. Why was President Kagame in particular chosen, and by the State Department itself no less? Why is it the academic institutions involved in the conference did not choose their own keynote speaker?
I noticed that the Board of Regents from several states have visited my blog and looked at some of the material on Rwanda. Distiguished academics, I respectfully believe that now is the time for you to take a principled moral stand on this issue. President Kagame was previously given honorary doctorates here in the US and also in the UK. He has spoken at several universities on different topics related to Rwanda over the years. Today, in the eyes of the international community in much of Europe and by the innocent Rwandan refugees who were driven out of their homes and had their families murdered by President Kagame's army during and after the genocide (not to mention the Congolese people who suffered and continued to suffer under Rwandan occupation beginning in 1996), such events and endorsements are not seen as honorable, but rather shameful and they serve to tarnish the credibility of the respective universities who bestowed the aformentioned degrees and/or host certain representatives of the Rwandan regime at conferences, for speeches, and/or expos that they use for their own promotion.
Distiguished academics and university officials, certain officials at the State Department are shamelessly using your fine academic institutions as a forum for PR to boost the rapidly eroding international image of what is a totalitarian regime with an eroding political base contrary to government propaganda. Both parties will then use the PR generated at this conference to try and convince U.S. corporations to invest in Rwanda in an effort to, in part, make Rwanda less reliant on stealing the natural resources of the Congo to survive economically and sustain its militarized state. By creating economic interdependence, fewer outsiders will want to see this state destabilized any further. Those with interests in the surrounding countries in the region want to stabilize Rwanda and integrate it into the regional bodies in an effort to curb One can look at the very recent investment in Rwanda by GE, the Rockafeller Foundation, and the new World Bank loan (all after the 40 Spanish international arrest warrants for crimes of genocide and terrorism were issued) as examples of this trend in US foreign policy. Please inform all your academic colleagues about the truth and respectfully encourage them not to support such initiatives that support this regime.
I also respectfully encourage readers to contact the State Department, its Public Affairs Office, Dr. Federoff, and the organizers of the conference mentioned below in Mr. Kimenyi's article and protest this inappropriate invitation. I cannot believe that this invitation honestly represents what this country's academic insitutions stand for, nor can I believe the Department of State speaks for the values of the American people by extending this invitation. Thank you.
The U.S. government has invited President Paul Kagame to be the keynote speaker at the upcoming education conference of U.S. universities and others from developing countries. The invitation was delivered yesterday by Nina Fedoroff, the advisor on Science and Technology to the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.
"I m here to invite President Kagame to be the key speaker at the conference which will bring together presidents of all universities in America and their counterparts from the developing world," Fedoroff said after meeting with the President at Village Urugwiro.
The conference is being jointly organized by the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Fedoroff said that the purpose of the conference, slated for April 29-30 in Washington DC, was in line with efforts to enhance cooperation between US institutions of higher learning and their counterparts in developing countries. She said the partnership will mainly dwell on promotion of technology.
The Minister in charge of ICT, Science and Technology in the President's Office, Prof. Romain Murenzi, said that the reason behind Kagame's invitation was his noticeable passion for promotion of science and technology.
15 March, 2008
14 March, 2008
U.S. Security Assistance Programs - The FY 2009 DoS and DoD Budget Request.
U.S. Security Assistance Programs - The FY 2009 DoS and DoD Budget Request
African Security Research Project (Washington, DC)
13 March 2008
By Daniel Volman
For Fiscal Year 2009 (which begins on 1 October 2008), the Bush administration is asking Congress to approve the delivery of some $500 million worth of military equipment and training to Africa (including both sub-Saharan Africa and north Africa) in the budget request for the State Department for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009.
The administration is also asking for up to $400 million for deliveries of equipment and training for Africa funded through the Defense Department budget and another $400 million to establish the headquarters for the Pentagon's new Africa Command (Africom).
The State Department budget request includes funding for major new arms deliveries and increased military training to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, and Uganda. It will be channeled through a variety of programs, including a number of new programs initiated by the Bush administration as part of the "Global War on Terrorism." These include the Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Partnership, the East African Regional Security Initiative, and the Anti-Terrorism Assistance program. The U.S. government is also expected to license up to $100 million worth of private commercial sales of military and police equipment through the State Department's Direct Commercial Sales program in FY 2009.
The following description is based on information contained in the State Department Budget Justification for Foreign Operations for FY 2009 (released by the State Department in March 2008) and the Defense Department Summary Justification for the Budget Request for FY 2009 (released in February 2008).
STATE DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS
International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement
The budget includes funding for the continued expansion of the U.S. civilian police contribution to UNMIL in Liberia, which rose from $1 million in FY 2007 to an estimated $4.096 million in FY 2008, and the administration is requesting $4.130 for FY 2009. The budget also includes funding for the continued expansion of law enforcement programs conducted by the U.S. as part of the implementation of the Sudan peace accords; these rose from $9.8 million in FY 2007 to an estimated $13.578 million in FY 2008, and the administration is requesting $24 million requested for FY 2009. And the budget contains funds to continue new program for law enforcement assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo; these were initiated with an initial appropriation of an estimated $1.488 million in FY 2008 and the administration is requesting $1.7 million for FY 2009.
Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs
The budget includes funding for the continued expansion of U.S. Anti-terrorism Assistance (ATA) programs in Africa, particularly by expanding the Trans Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP) program in sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa and increasing funding for the East Africa Regional Strategy Initiative (EARSI) in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. For all programs throughout the world, ATA received $185.1 million in FY 2007 and an estimated $153.8 million in FY 2008; the administration is requesting $160 million FY 2009. It is difficult to know what proportion of this funding will be used in Africa, but it is reasonable to assume that approximately $40-50 million will be spent on African programs.
Foreign Military Financing
One of the most significant FMF programs in Africa is providing funding for increased arms sales to the Democratic Republic of the Congo; funding rose from nothing in FY 2007 to $397,000 in FY 2008, and the administration is requesting $600,000 in FY 2009. The budget contains money for major increases in FMF funding for Ethiopia; after receiving $1.9 million in FY 2007, funding for Ethiopia was reduced to $843,000 in FY 2008, but the administration is requesting $4 million in FY 2009. It continues funding for Djibouti—which fell from $3.8 million in FY 2007 to $2 million in FY 2008, but which the administration wants to increase back to $2.8 million in FY 2009. It also includes funding to continue programs in Liberia—which received $1.5 million in FY 2007, then just $298,000 in FY 2008, but which will receive $1.5 million in FY 2009 under the new budget. And it contains funding for the continued expansion of arms sales to Nigeria, with FMF funding rising from $1 million in FY 2007, to $1.3 million in FY 2008, to a requested $1.35 million in FY 2009.
International Military Education and Training
One noteworthy new program is the one for Libya; initiated in FY 2008 with $333,000, Libya will receive $350,000 worth of training in FY 2009 under the new budget. The budget also contains funding for significant increases in training programs for military officers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (which received $263,000 in FY 2007, another $477,000 in FY 2008, and is expected to receive $500,000 in FY 2009); Ethiopia (472,000 in FY 2007, $620,000 in FY 2008 and $700,000 in the request for FY 2009); Guinea Bissau ($454,000 in FY 2007, $524,000 in FY 2008, and $750,000 in the request for FY 2009); South Africa (just $48,000 in FY 2007, but $857,000 in FY 2008, and $850,000 in the request for FY 2009); and Uganda ($283,000 in FY 2007, $477,000 in FY 2008, and $500,000 in the request for FY 2009). And it includes money to continue major programs for Botswana ($600,000 in the request for FY 2009), Ghana ($600,000 in the request for FY 2009), Nigeria ($800,000 in the request for FY 2009), and Senegal ($1 million in the request for FY 2009).
Peacekeeping Operations
The budget includes money to continue increases in funding in FY 2009 for the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), which includes the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program (ACOTA). In addition to ACOTA, most of the rest of the GPOI funding will also go to Africa-related programs, amounting to an estimated total of $80 million worth of security assistance. GPOI rose from $81 million in FY 2007 to $96.4 million in FY 2008, and the administration is requesting $106.2 million in FY 2009. The budget also maintains recent levels of funding for the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP), which got $13.75 million in FY 2007 and $9.9 million in FY 2008; for FY 2009, the administration is requesting $15 million. The administration is also requesting $7.5 million for the first time in FY 2009 to launch the East Africa Regional Security Initiative—modeled on the TSCTP—to provide counter-terrorism training and equipment to military forces in the East Africa region (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi).
The budget contains funding to continue the administration's new program to provide training, equipment, and infrastructure improvements to the Democratic Republic of the Congo; presumably much of this will be supplied to the forces deployed in the eastern part of the country. Funding for this program began with $5.5 million in FY 2008 and the administration is requesting another $5.5 million for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in FY 2009. It also includes money to continue providing training, equipment, and infrastructure improvements to the Liberian military, which received $53.25 million in FY 2007 and $51.7 million in FY 2008; the administration is requesting $49.6 million in FY 2009. And it contains funding to continue providing training, equipment, and infrastructure facilities to the Sudanese military to help integrate former combatants from the Sudan People's Liberation Army. Programs in Sudan received $54 million in FY 2006—including $20 transferred from the Department of Defense and $70.8 million in FY 2008; the administration is requesting $30 million for these programs in FY 2009.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS
Building Partnership Capacity
The budget contains $800 to substantially expand funding for the Global Equip and Train program ($500 million for this program which was established by FY 2006 National Defense Authorization Act Section 1206), the Security and Stabilization Assistance program ($200 million for this program which was established by FY 2006 National Defense Authorization Act Section 1207), and the Combatant Commanders' Initiative Fund ($100 million for this program established by FY 2007 National Defense Authorization Act Section 902). Of this, an estimated $300-$400 million will go to provide training and equipment to military, paramilitary, and police forces in Africa.
Establishment of new Africa Command (Africom)
The budget contains $398 million to set up the headquarters for the new Africa Command (Africom) in Stuttgart, Germany. This money will be used to pay for the operating costs of Africom over the coming year. This will include the cost of creating an Africom intelligence capability, including a Joint Intelligence Operations Center; launching a stand-alone Theater Special Operations Command for Africom; deploying support aircraft to Africa; building a limited presence on the African continent that is expected to include the establishment of two of five regional offices projected by Africom; and conducting training, exercises, and theater security cooperation activities.
Daniel Volman is the Director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, DC, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Concerned Africa Scholars. He is a specialist on U.S. military activities in Africa and the author of numerous articles and research reports.
African Security Research Project (Washington, DC)
13 March 2008
By Daniel Volman
For Fiscal Year 2009 (which begins on 1 October 2008), the Bush administration is asking Congress to approve the delivery of some $500 million worth of military equipment and training to Africa (including both sub-Saharan Africa and north Africa) in the budget request for the State Department for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009.
The administration is also asking for up to $400 million for deliveries of equipment and training for Africa funded through the Defense Department budget and another $400 million to establish the headquarters for the Pentagon's new Africa Command (Africom).
The State Department budget request includes funding for major new arms deliveries and increased military training to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, and Uganda. It will be channeled through a variety of programs, including a number of new programs initiated by the Bush administration as part of the "Global War on Terrorism." These include the Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Partnership, the East African Regional Security Initiative, and the Anti-Terrorism Assistance program. The U.S. government is also expected to license up to $100 million worth of private commercial sales of military and police equipment through the State Department's Direct Commercial Sales program in FY 2009.
The following description is based on information contained in the State Department Budget Justification for Foreign Operations for FY 2009 (released by the State Department in March 2008) and the Defense Department Summary Justification for the Budget Request for FY 2009 (released in February 2008).
STATE DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS
International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement
The budget includes funding for the continued expansion of the U.S. civilian police contribution to UNMIL in Liberia, which rose from $1 million in FY 2007 to an estimated $4.096 million in FY 2008, and the administration is requesting $4.130 for FY 2009. The budget also includes funding for the continued expansion of law enforcement programs conducted by the U.S. as part of the implementation of the Sudan peace accords; these rose from $9.8 million in FY 2007 to an estimated $13.578 million in FY 2008, and the administration is requesting $24 million requested for FY 2009. And the budget contains funds to continue new program for law enforcement assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo; these were initiated with an initial appropriation of an estimated $1.488 million in FY 2008 and the administration is requesting $1.7 million for FY 2009.
Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs
The budget includes funding for the continued expansion of U.S. Anti-terrorism Assistance (ATA) programs in Africa, particularly by expanding the Trans Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP) program in sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa and increasing funding for the East Africa Regional Strategy Initiative (EARSI) in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. For all programs throughout the world, ATA received $185.1 million in FY 2007 and an estimated $153.8 million in FY 2008; the administration is requesting $160 million FY 2009. It is difficult to know what proportion of this funding will be used in Africa, but it is reasonable to assume that approximately $40-50 million will be spent on African programs.
Foreign Military Financing
One of the most significant FMF programs in Africa is providing funding for increased arms sales to the Democratic Republic of the Congo; funding rose from nothing in FY 2007 to $397,000 in FY 2008, and the administration is requesting $600,000 in FY 2009. The budget contains money for major increases in FMF funding for Ethiopia; after receiving $1.9 million in FY 2007, funding for Ethiopia was reduced to $843,000 in FY 2008, but the administration is requesting $4 million in FY 2009. It continues funding for Djibouti—which fell from $3.8 million in FY 2007 to $2 million in FY 2008, but which the administration wants to increase back to $2.8 million in FY 2009. It also includes funding to continue programs in Liberia—which received $1.5 million in FY 2007, then just $298,000 in FY 2008, but which will receive $1.5 million in FY 2009 under the new budget. And it contains funding for the continued expansion of arms sales to Nigeria, with FMF funding rising from $1 million in FY 2007, to $1.3 million in FY 2008, to a requested $1.35 million in FY 2009.
International Military Education and Training
One noteworthy new program is the one for Libya; initiated in FY 2008 with $333,000, Libya will receive $350,000 worth of training in FY 2009 under the new budget. The budget also contains funding for significant increases in training programs for military officers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (which received $263,000 in FY 2007, another $477,000 in FY 2008, and is expected to receive $500,000 in FY 2009); Ethiopia (472,000 in FY 2007, $620,000 in FY 2008 and $700,000 in the request for FY 2009); Guinea Bissau ($454,000 in FY 2007, $524,000 in FY 2008, and $750,000 in the request for FY 2009); South Africa (just $48,000 in FY 2007, but $857,000 in FY 2008, and $850,000 in the request for FY 2009); and Uganda ($283,000 in FY 2007, $477,000 in FY 2008, and $500,000 in the request for FY 2009). And it includes money to continue major programs for Botswana ($600,000 in the request for FY 2009), Ghana ($600,000 in the request for FY 2009), Nigeria ($800,000 in the request for FY 2009), and Senegal ($1 million in the request for FY 2009).
Peacekeeping Operations
The budget includes money to continue increases in funding in FY 2009 for the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), which includes the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program (ACOTA). In addition to ACOTA, most of the rest of the GPOI funding will also go to Africa-related programs, amounting to an estimated total of $80 million worth of security assistance. GPOI rose from $81 million in FY 2007 to $96.4 million in FY 2008, and the administration is requesting $106.2 million in FY 2009. The budget also maintains recent levels of funding for the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP), which got $13.75 million in FY 2007 and $9.9 million in FY 2008; for FY 2009, the administration is requesting $15 million. The administration is also requesting $7.5 million for the first time in FY 2009 to launch the East Africa Regional Security Initiative—modeled on the TSCTP—to provide counter-terrorism training and equipment to military forces in the East Africa region (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi).
The budget contains funding to continue the administration's new program to provide training, equipment, and infrastructure improvements to the Democratic Republic of the Congo; presumably much of this will be supplied to the forces deployed in the eastern part of the country. Funding for this program began with $5.5 million in FY 2008 and the administration is requesting another $5.5 million for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in FY 2009. It also includes money to continue providing training, equipment, and infrastructure improvements to the Liberian military, which received $53.25 million in FY 2007 and $51.7 million in FY 2008; the administration is requesting $49.6 million in FY 2009. And it contains funding to continue providing training, equipment, and infrastructure facilities to the Sudanese military to help integrate former combatants from the Sudan People's Liberation Army. Programs in Sudan received $54 million in FY 2006—including $20 transferred from the Department of Defense and $70.8 million in FY 2008; the administration is requesting $30 million for these programs in FY 2009.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS
Building Partnership Capacity
The budget contains $800 to substantially expand funding for the Global Equip and Train program ($500 million for this program which was established by FY 2006 National Defense Authorization Act Section 1206), the Security and Stabilization Assistance program ($200 million for this program which was established by FY 2006 National Defense Authorization Act Section 1207), and the Combatant Commanders' Initiative Fund ($100 million for this program established by FY 2007 National Defense Authorization Act Section 902). Of this, an estimated $300-$400 million will go to provide training and equipment to military, paramilitary, and police forces in Africa.
Establishment of new Africa Command (Africom)
The budget contains $398 million to set up the headquarters for the new Africa Command (Africom) in Stuttgart, Germany. This money will be used to pay for the operating costs of Africom over the coming year. This will include the cost of creating an Africom intelligence capability, including a Joint Intelligence Operations Center; launching a stand-alone Theater Special Operations Command for Africom; deploying support aircraft to Africa; building a limited presence on the African continent that is expected to include the establishment of two of five regional offices projected by Africom; and conducting training, exercises, and theater security cooperation activities.
Daniel Volman is the Director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, DC, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Concerned Africa Scholars. He is a specialist on U.S. military activities in Africa and the author of numerous articles and research reports.
Army blocks Kenya media from Elgon.
Daily Monitor
14 March 2008
By Bernard Kwalia
Soldiers on Wednesday blocked the media from Mt Elgon even as claims of excessive use of force against civilians emerged. Also barred, were humanitarian organisations, including the Red Cross Society.
The Kenya Army mounted roadblocks along Namwela-Lwakhakha road to ensure that the Press and charities did not enter the district, saying it was an operation zone.
Reporters and photographers from the Nation, Standard, KTN, NTV and Royal Media who had sneaked into the district were frogmarched and ordered to delete pictures and footage from their cameras. Red Cross Society volunteers were harassed in the presence of the media and ordered to leave.
The provincial security team were said to have summoned the Standard and KTN reporters to appear before the police, but they declined. The society’s Bungoma and Mt Elgon branch chairman Mahmoud Said said the organisation had suspended mobilising the displaced.
Also put on hold, is the distribution of food and farm input in Cheptais Division where the military had intensified operations.
14 March 2008
By Bernard Kwalia
Soldiers on Wednesday blocked the media from Mt Elgon even as claims of excessive use of force against civilians emerged. Also barred, were humanitarian organisations, including the Red Cross Society.
The Kenya Army mounted roadblocks along Namwela-Lwakhakha road to ensure that the Press and charities did not enter the district, saying it was an operation zone.
Reporters and photographers from the Nation, Standard, KTN, NTV and Royal Media who had sneaked into the district were frogmarched and ordered to delete pictures and footage from their cameras. Red Cross Society volunteers were harassed in the presence of the media and ordered to leave.
The provincial security team were said to have summoned the Standard and KTN reporters to appear before the police, but they declined. The society’s Bungoma and Mt Elgon branch chairman Mahmoud Said said the organisation had suspended mobilising the displaced.
Also put on hold, is the distribution of food and farm input in Cheptais Division where the military had intensified operations.
EXTRADITION OF ISRAELI COLONEL AUTHORIZED.
MISNA
13 March 2008
The Russian judiciary has authorized the extradition to Colombia of the former Israeli colonel Yair Klein, where he has already been charged for terrorism. The Colombian press said that the news has already been confirmed by the spokeswoman of the Russian court, Anna Usachova, to the Russian agency Interfax. Klein was arrested at Domodedovo airport last August, while he was boarding a flight to Israel as part of an operation by the Russian anti-terrorism department in cooperation with Interpol. Klein faces a prison sentence of 10 years and eight months, as demanded by a Colombian court on charges of “instruction, tactical training, terrorist military procedures and criminal association”, crimes “perpetrated in collusion with mercenaries”.
Colombian inquisitors, having put himself in the service of narcotics traffickers such as Pablo Escobar and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, heads of the Medellín drug cartel, Klein trained in Colombia bands of paramilitary units at the start of the 1980’s, when the first ‘farmers’ self defense’ units emerged in the region of Magdalena Medio to contrast the guerrilla. The so called ‘autodefensas campesinas’ of the region grew after an initiative by the brothers Carlos and Vicente Castaño – with whom Klein had some dealings – in the United Self Defense of Colombia (AUC), the far right militia network involved in some of the most violent acts against civilians for at least 20 years, which is now involved in a controversial peace process with the government.
13 March 2008
The Russian judiciary has authorized the extradition to Colombia of the former Israeli colonel Yair Klein, where he has already been charged for terrorism. The Colombian press said that the news has already been confirmed by the spokeswoman of the Russian court, Anna Usachova, to the Russian agency Interfax. Klein was arrested at Domodedovo airport last August, while he was boarding a flight to Israel as part of an operation by the Russian anti-terrorism department in cooperation with Interpol. Klein faces a prison sentence of 10 years and eight months, as demanded by a Colombian court on charges of “instruction, tactical training, terrorist military procedures and criminal association”, crimes “perpetrated in collusion with mercenaries”.
Colombian inquisitors, having put himself in the service of narcotics traffickers such as Pablo Escobar and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, heads of the Medellín drug cartel, Klein trained in Colombia bands of paramilitary units at the start of the 1980’s, when the first ‘farmers’ self defense’ units emerged in the region of Magdalena Medio to contrast the guerrilla. The so called ‘autodefensas campesinas’ of the region grew after an initiative by the brothers Carlos and Vicente Castaño – with whom Klein had some dealings – in the United Self Defense of Colombia (AUC), the far right militia network involved in some of the most violent acts against civilians for at least 20 years, which is now involved in a controversial peace process with the government.
Before African Visit, White House Cuts U.N. Troop Funds.
ABC News
By JUSTIN ROOD
Feb. 12, 2008
On the eve of President Bush's trip to Africa, his administration has decided to drastically cut money for United Nations peacekeeping missions in war-torn countries there.
According to White House figures quietly released this week, more than $193 million for U.N. troops would be cut for missions in Liberia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire and elsewhere. A State Department official who would not be named confirmed to ABC News Monday that the cuts could be even worse.
For the record, State Department officials disputed cuts would be as deep as what the administration's documents showed.
"We don't yet know what the overall [funding] figure is for 2009," said State Department spokeswoman Jessica Simon. Though its official budget says funding will be cut, the administration may ask Congress for more money through a supplemental bill later this year, she explained.
"America's reputation and standing are not helped when we call and vote for -- but don't pay our fair share of -- new and bigger U.N. peacekeeping operations in places like Darfur and Chad," Deborah Derrick, executive director of the Better World Campaign, told ABC News. "Great nations pay their bills."
Derrick's group and others say the administration's figures understate the cuts. Because the United States has already been underfunding U.N. peacekeeping operations, next year's belt-tightening will actually mean the U.S. government will fail to pay more than $600 million it will owe.
More than $500 million of that shortfall will hit peacekeeping projects on the African continent, according to BWC and Refugees International, which conducted the study.
But privately, a State Department official said that no one could say whether there would be peacekeeping money included in any supplemental, and added that if spending this year increases, the shortfall in next year's spending could appear even more dramatic.
The U.N. did not respond to a request for comment.
Year after year, the United States has failed to pay its assessed share of dues for U.N. peacekeeping efforts -- so-called "blue-helmet" missions to pacify hotspots that might otherwise require U.S. military intervention, as politicians from both parties have noted. Total arrears are now nearly $1.2 billion, the advocacy groups said.
News of the proposed cuts come at an inconvenient time for the White House, which is preparing for a rare seven-day trip to Africa beginning Friday. In preparation for the visit, White House officials have presented the image that, as one unnamed official recently told a reporter, "The president really cares about Africa."
The trip is "an opportunity to demonstrate American commitment to the people of these countries and to Africa," top Bush security official Steven Hadley said in a speech last week.
Hadley noted that the Bush administration has committed the United States to hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for education, health and finance projects in Africa.
Bush's 2009 budget, Hadley said, "will ensure that our nation keeps its promise to our international partners and to the people of Africa."
In war-torn Liberia, which President Bush will visit on his trip, the White House has proposed spending $56 million less on the U.N. peacekeeping mission there than it did last year.
Bush will also visit Rwanda, which is still struggling to right itself after a devastating, years-long civil war took the lives of millions. His administration's budget proposes cutting $5 million from the U.N. peacekeeping mission there, more than a quarter of the U.S. contribution to that effort.
The administration's 2009 budget also cuts millions for U.N. peacekeeping efforts in Sudan; Democratic Republic of Congo, where a decade-long war still claims thousands of lives a month; Chad, where rebels attempted a violent overthrow of the government Feb. 2; and Cote d'Ivoire, whose stability the Bush administration says "is a critical element in restoring peace to the entire West African region."
This post has been revised. An earlier version stated the U.N. has a peacekeeping mission in Rwanda; it has a tribunal.
Dana Hughes contributed to this story.
By JUSTIN ROOD
Feb. 12, 2008
On the eve of President Bush's trip to Africa, his administration has decided to drastically cut money for United Nations peacekeeping missions in war-torn countries there.
According to White House figures quietly released this week, more than $193 million for U.N. troops would be cut for missions in Liberia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire and elsewhere. A State Department official who would not be named confirmed to ABC News Monday that the cuts could be even worse.
For the record, State Department officials disputed cuts would be as deep as what the administration's documents showed.
"We don't yet know what the overall [funding] figure is for 2009," said State Department spokeswoman Jessica Simon. Though its official budget says funding will be cut, the administration may ask Congress for more money through a supplemental bill later this year, she explained.
"America's reputation and standing are not helped when we call and vote for -- but don't pay our fair share of -- new and bigger U.N. peacekeeping operations in places like Darfur and Chad," Deborah Derrick, executive director of the Better World Campaign, told ABC News. "Great nations pay their bills."
Derrick's group and others say the administration's figures understate the cuts. Because the United States has already been underfunding U.N. peacekeeping operations, next year's belt-tightening will actually mean the U.S. government will fail to pay more than $600 million it will owe.
More than $500 million of that shortfall will hit peacekeeping projects on the African continent, according to BWC and Refugees International, which conducted the study.
But privately, a State Department official said that no one could say whether there would be peacekeeping money included in any supplemental, and added that if spending this year increases, the shortfall in next year's spending could appear even more dramatic.
The U.N. did not respond to a request for comment.
Year after year, the United States has failed to pay its assessed share of dues for U.N. peacekeeping efforts -- so-called "blue-helmet" missions to pacify hotspots that might otherwise require U.S. military intervention, as politicians from both parties have noted. Total arrears are now nearly $1.2 billion, the advocacy groups said.
News of the proposed cuts come at an inconvenient time for the White House, which is preparing for a rare seven-day trip to Africa beginning Friday. In preparation for the visit, White House officials have presented the image that, as one unnamed official recently told a reporter, "The president really cares about Africa."
The trip is "an opportunity to demonstrate American commitment to the people of these countries and to Africa," top Bush security official Steven Hadley said in a speech last week.
Hadley noted that the Bush administration has committed the United States to hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for education, health and finance projects in Africa.
Bush's 2009 budget, Hadley said, "will ensure that our nation keeps its promise to our international partners and to the people of Africa."
In war-torn Liberia, which President Bush will visit on his trip, the White House has proposed spending $56 million less on the U.N. peacekeeping mission there than it did last year.
Bush will also visit Rwanda, which is still struggling to right itself after a devastating, years-long civil war took the lives of millions. His administration's budget proposes cutting $5 million from the U.N. peacekeeping mission there, more than a quarter of the U.S. contribution to that effort.
The administration's 2009 budget also cuts millions for U.N. peacekeeping efforts in Sudan; Democratic Republic of Congo, where a decade-long war still claims thousands of lives a month; Chad, where rebels attempted a violent overthrow of the government Feb. 2; and Cote d'Ivoire, whose stability the Bush administration says "is a critical element in restoring peace to the entire West African region."
This post has been revised. An earlier version stated the U.N. has a peacekeeping mission in Rwanda; it has a tribunal.
Dana Hughes contributed to this story.
13 March, 2008
Bush aide to visit Rwanda, Zambia.
AFP
13 March 2008
A senior aide to US President George W. Bush will visit Rwanda and Zambia March 30-April 5 to discuss public-private cooperation to battle disease and poverty, the White House said Thursday.
Jay Hein, director of the White House office of faith-based and community initiatives, will "host White House conferences and meetings to highlight and expand effective public-private partnerships to combat disease and to enhance economic development," said spokesman Tony Fratto.
The visit comes after Bush visited Africa last month, stopping in Rwanda as part of a week-long trip that also included stops in Benin, Tanzania, Ghana and Liberia.
13 March 2008
A senior aide to US President George W. Bush will visit Rwanda and Zambia March 30-April 5 to discuss public-private cooperation to battle disease and poverty, the White House said Thursday.
Jay Hein, director of the White House office of faith-based and community initiatives, will "host White House conferences and meetings to highlight and expand effective public-private partnerships to combat disease and to enhance economic development," said spokesman Tony Fratto.
The visit comes after Bush visited Africa last month, stopping in Rwanda as part of a week-long trip that also included stops in Benin, Tanzania, Ghana and Liberia.
Germany to invest Euro 200m in Rwanda.
East African Business Weekly
11 March 2008
The African Development Corporation (ADC), a newly created Germany company seeks to invest some euro200million (305.4m) in Rwanda’s financial sector. The company is a subsidiary of Altira Group (AG) one of the leading independent asset management companies in Germany.
In a press statement issued by the Altira Group (AG) in Germany after creating ADC on January 22, the Germany Company noted that there will be a particular investment focus in Rwanda, which is one of the most booming countries in Eastern Africa with annual growth of over 6%.
ADC is yet to sign contracts with Rwandan companies allowing it to own some shares in them so as to increase their investment capital in the country.
The founder of the company Mr. Christian Angermayer who was in Rwanda with other Germany investors last week, told East African Business Week that this year; the company seeks to invest in the country some $130million ahead of fund size of Euro200million.
"I really love Rwanda, people are very nice and we are interested in investing in Rwanda," Mr. Angermayer said, adding that the company is looking at banking and insurance.
The delegation included the former World Bank president Mr. Paul Wolfowitz. The African Development Corporation (ADC) is not only eying Rwanda but also other East African counties. "We want to invest in other East African countries too. We are using Rwanda as a hub to invest in her neighboring countries," Angermayer said.
"ADC will open its first offices in the capital, Kigali. From there it should be possible to gain access to the neighbouring countries," a statement from the company reads in part. President Kagame who has attracted American, European, Asian and now African investors to the country believes that entrepreneurship and private development companies are much more needed in Africa than the aid.
"It is entrepreneurship and private investment that create prosperity, not assistance," Mr. Kagame told the Germany Focus magazine in Kigali recently. "That is why we welcome Altira’s strategy as one of the first large European private equity investors in our region and in Rwanda."
ADC is a business development company with private funding, targeting development and value creation for East African companies. The company has a private Equity Boutique focusing on Africa- African Development GmbH.
Since its launch, the fund has seen its first fund with euro15million ($22.9million) put in place and the other euro100million ($153.1million) is targeted by the end of this year.
11 March 2008
The African Development Corporation (ADC), a newly created Germany company seeks to invest some euro200million (305.4m) in Rwanda’s financial sector. The company is a subsidiary of Altira Group (AG) one of the leading independent asset management companies in Germany.
In a press statement issued by the Altira Group (AG) in Germany after creating ADC on January 22, the Germany Company noted that there will be a particular investment focus in Rwanda, which is one of the most booming countries in Eastern Africa with annual growth of over 6%.
ADC is yet to sign contracts with Rwandan companies allowing it to own some shares in them so as to increase their investment capital in the country.
The founder of the company Mr. Christian Angermayer who was in Rwanda with other Germany investors last week, told East African Business Week that this year; the company seeks to invest in the country some $130million ahead of fund size of Euro200million.
"I really love Rwanda, people are very nice and we are interested in investing in Rwanda," Mr. Angermayer said, adding that the company is looking at banking and insurance.
The delegation included the former World Bank president Mr. Paul Wolfowitz. The African Development Corporation (ADC) is not only eying Rwanda but also other East African counties. "We want to invest in other East African countries too. We are using Rwanda as a hub to invest in her neighboring countries," Angermayer said.
"ADC will open its first offices in the capital, Kigali. From there it should be possible to gain access to the neighbouring countries," a statement from the company reads in part. President Kagame who has attracted American, European, Asian and now African investors to the country believes that entrepreneurship and private development companies are much more needed in Africa than the aid.
"It is entrepreneurship and private investment that create prosperity, not assistance," Mr. Kagame told the Germany Focus magazine in Kigali recently. "That is why we welcome Altira’s strategy as one of the first large European private equity investors in our region and in Rwanda."
ADC is a business development company with private funding, targeting development and value creation for East African companies. The company has a private Equity Boutique focusing on Africa- African Development GmbH.
Since its launch, the fund has seen its first fund with euro15million ($22.9million) put in place and the other euro100million ($153.1million) is targeted by the end of this year.
Dar, Kigali to build EA’s first wide gauge railway line
The East African
12th-March 2008
Editor's Note: This will provide an alternative route to Mombasa if violence breaks out in Kenya. Mineral ore leaving Rwanda can to Dar, and oil from the port can be shipped into Rwanda.
Tanzania and Rwanda are to construct a 1,435mm standard gauge railway from Isaka to Kigali, thereby connecting the countries with the region’s first heavy duty wide gauge line.
American firm Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway will undertake the construction of the railway line, which is expected to speed up movement of cargo from Tanzania to Rwanda.
The line will be able to tolerate heavy cargo.
Pat Hiatte, general director, corporate communications at Burlington told The EastAfrican that his firm will be using the wide standard gauge instead of the narrow metre gauge.
Mr Hiatte said that while narrow gauge rails are cheaper, standard gauge or broad gauge have a greater haulage capacity and allow higher speeds.
"We are advising the two countries on acquisition of locomotives, railway freight cars and related equipment," he said.
Dates for the construction are yet to be fixed but BNSF says the construction works will involve "grubbing, grading, construction of bridges, embankments and mountain cuts," followed by laying of the 1,435 mm wide track.
Since the terrain is semi-mountainous, some portions of the line will pass through tunnels. The rail project will be complemented by the rehabilitation of the Dar es Salaam-Isaka line, which is narrower at 1,000 mm.
The American firm is still evaluating the tonnage potential of the route and compiling training package for operators.
Isaka, a dry port for receiving Rwandan transit goods, will become a rail terminus where the Isaka-Kigali and Dar es Salaam-Isaka lines, with their different gauges, will be integrated.
The American firm has also recommended the expansion of the Dar es Salaam port to maximise its use for Rwandan imports and exports.
The viability of the Isaka-Kigali railway link was established in a study conducted in 1913 by German colonial authorities. The study identified a "feasible engineering route between Isaka and Kigali.
The African Development Bank sponsored another feasibility study, which was completed last year and which gave similar results.
Mr Hiatte said the railway engineering design standards suggested for the development of the new railway are "world class" and will provide for the development of a standard gauge heavy tonnage railway.
The success of the Isaka-Kigali line, according to the company, will be determined by several factors. These are the state of co-operation between the governments of Rwanda and Tanzania, the ability to attract freight traffic and the ability of the port of Dar es Salaam to handle the tonnage.
The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) has also adopted a wider gauge of 1,067 mm to match that of Zambia Railways.
The East African region is however predominantly a narrow gauge zone. Like Hong Kong’s Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and are mainly served by 1,000 mm gauge rail lines.
The gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railroad.
Some 60 per cent of the world’s railways are already standard gauge, also called international gauge.
It is expected that the project will take at least five years to complete. It will cost $2.7 million, with AfDB being the chief financier.
A complementary 480 km Isaka-Lusahunga tarmac road is already in place.
The BNSF Railway is among the top transporters of intermodal traffic in North America, and moves more grain than any other American railroad.
It also hauls enough coal to generate roughly 10 per cent of the electricity produced in the United States of America.
12th-March 2008
Editor's Note: This will provide an alternative route to Mombasa if violence breaks out in Kenya. Mineral ore leaving Rwanda can to Dar, and oil from the port can be shipped into Rwanda.
Tanzania and Rwanda are to construct a 1,435mm standard gauge railway from Isaka to Kigali, thereby connecting the countries with the region’s first heavy duty wide gauge line.
American firm Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway will undertake the construction of the railway line, which is expected to speed up movement of cargo from Tanzania to Rwanda.
The line will be able to tolerate heavy cargo.
Pat Hiatte, general director, corporate communications at Burlington told The EastAfrican that his firm will be using the wide standard gauge instead of the narrow metre gauge.
Mr Hiatte said that while narrow gauge rails are cheaper, standard gauge or broad gauge have a greater haulage capacity and allow higher speeds.
"We are advising the two countries on acquisition of locomotives, railway freight cars and related equipment," he said.
Dates for the construction are yet to be fixed but BNSF says the construction works will involve "grubbing, grading, construction of bridges, embankments and mountain cuts," followed by laying of the 1,435 mm wide track.
Since the terrain is semi-mountainous, some portions of the line will pass through tunnels. The rail project will be complemented by the rehabilitation of the Dar es Salaam-Isaka line, which is narrower at 1,000 mm.
The American firm is still evaluating the tonnage potential of the route and compiling training package for operators.
Isaka, a dry port for receiving Rwandan transit goods, will become a rail terminus where the Isaka-Kigali and Dar es Salaam-Isaka lines, with their different gauges, will be integrated.
The American firm has also recommended the expansion of the Dar es Salaam port to maximise its use for Rwandan imports and exports.
The viability of the Isaka-Kigali railway link was established in a study conducted in 1913 by German colonial authorities. The study identified a "feasible engineering route between Isaka and Kigali.
The African Development Bank sponsored another feasibility study, which was completed last year and which gave similar results.
Mr Hiatte said the railway engineering design standards suggested for the development of the new railway are "world class" and will provide for the development of a standard gauge heavy tonnage railway.
The success of the Isaka-Kigali line, according to the company, will be determined by several factors. These are the state of co-operation between the governments of Rwanda and Tanzania, the ability to attract freight traffic and the ability of the port of Dar es Salaam to handle the tonnage.
The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) has also adopted a wider gauge of 1,067 mm to match that of Zambia Railways.
The East African region is however predominantly a narrow gauge zone. Like Hong Kong’s Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and are mainly served by 1,000 mm gauge rail lines.
The gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railroad.
Some 60 per cent of the world’s railways are already standard gauge, also called international gauge.
It is expected that the project will take at least five years to complete. It will cost $2.7 million, with AfDB being the chief financier.
A complementary 480 km Isaka-Lusahunga tarmac road is already in place.
The BNSF Railway is among the top transporters of intermodal traffic in North America, and moves more grain than any other American railroad.
It also hauls enough coal to generate roughly 10 per cent of the electricity produced in the United States of America.
REBELS SPLIT, PARIS CRITICIZED.
MISNA
12 March 2008
Some of the rebels which tried to take over N’Djamena in early February have formed a new group, the Union of the Forces of Change and Democracy (UFCD); according to Mahamat Nouri, designated leader of the National Alliance (AN) – the name of the joint rebel group formed by the UFDD, UFDD-Fundamental and RFC – the new group includes members from the region of Ouaddai, the region of Abeche in the eastern part of the country. As for the unarmed opposition, the press has highlighted statements from Ngarlejy Yorongar, the politician who went missing for almost a month in N’Djamena, after having been arrested by the presidential guard. Speaking from France, where he is currently in exile, Yorongar has asked the French government to stop “acting as a gendarme in Africa: in so doing it gives the impression of backing dictatorships”. He has also asked the EU to put pressure on the Chadian government such that he start a true political dialogue with the opposition.
12 March 2008
Some of the rebels which tried to take over N’Djamena in early February have formed a new group, the Union of the Forces of Change and Democracy (UFCD); according to Mahamat Nouri, designated leader of the National Alliance (AN) – the name of the joint rebel group formed by the UFDD, UFDD-Fundamental and RFC – the new group includes members from the region of Ouaddai, the region of Abeche in the eastern part of the country. As for the unarmed opposition, the press has highlighted statements from Ngarlejy Yorongar, the politician who went missing for almost a month in N’Djamena, after having been arrested by the presidential guard. Speaking from France, where he is currently in exile, Yorongar has asked the French government to stop “acting as a gendarme in Africa: in so doing it gives the impression of backing dictatorships”. He has also asked the EU to put pressure on the Chadian government such that he start a true political dialogue with the opposition.
12 March, 2008
Sudan orders French aid worker to leave Abyei.
AFP
12 March 2008
Sudanese authorities have ordered a French aid worker to leave immediately a contested oil-rich area in the middle of the country, U.S.-based humanitarian group Mercy Corps said on Tuesday.
"I just spoke with the local government down there...They have some issues with one staff member. He’s leaving Abyei," said the organization’s country director for Sudan, Richard Haselwood.
"Our programmes are continuing as normal. They have concerns about one individual. We are complying with their request," added Haselwood, unwilling to comment further until he had more information.
Details of the incident were murky but aid workers said the French man was falsely accused of telling the Sudanese health minister it was too dangerous to visit.
Neither the other expatriate Mercy Corps staff member nor the more than 30 Sudanese staff members in Abyei are affected by the expulsion order.
The still undefined status of Abyei, rich in oil and of vital economic importance, is a source of massive tension between the northern, mainly Arab Sudan and the south despite the end of a 21-year civil war in 2005.
12 March 2008
Sudanese authorities have ordered a French aid worker to leave immediately a contested oil-rich area in the middle of the country, U.S.-based humanitarian group Mercy Corps said on Tuesday.
"I just spoke with the local government down there...They have some issues with one staff member. He’s leaving Abyei," said the organization’s country director for Sudan, Richard Haselwood.
"Our programmes are continuing as normal. They have concerns about one individual. We are complying with their request," added Haselwood, unwilling to comment further until he had more information.
Details of the incident were murky but aid workers said the French man was falsely accused of telling the Sudanese health minister it was too dangerous to visit.
Neither the other expatriate Mercy Corps staff member nor the more than 30 Sudanese staff members in Abyei are affected by the expulsion order.
The still undefined status of Abyei, rich in oil and of vital economic importance, is a source of massive tension between the northern, mainly Arab Sudan and the south despite the end of a 21-year civil war in 2005.
Somalia:US Policy in Horn of Africa Questioned.
Garowe Online
11 March 2008
Democratic Senator Russ Feingold Tuesday delivered a scathing criticism of the U.S. policy in the Horn of Africa. At a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, he called on the Bush administration to do more to address the worsening security, political and humanitarian conditions in the region, especially in Somalia. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.
Senator Feingold says he has repeatedly called for a long-term and comprehensive U.S. government policy towards building a stable and secure Horn of Africa. But he says such a policy remains elusive. "The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently released a report I requested in 2006, analyzing U.S. policy in Somalia, finding that the administration strategy has been insufficient, incomplete and ineffective," he said.
Feingold said bloody fighting in Somalia shows little sign of decreasing, despite the recent appointment of Prime Minister Hussein, who has been saying some encouraging things.
The U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said Somalia's challenges have frustrated its citizens, neighbors and friends for decades, but she says U.S. policies are working. "I do think our strategy is working. I don't think you can fix a country that has been broken for at least 17 years, and much longer in fact, because it was under an authoritarian regime, in just two years," she said.
Frazer said the Bush administration remains deeply troubled that foreign terrorists associated with al-Qaida have received safe haven in Somalia. Last week, a U.S. missile strike in Somalia targeted a Kenyan suspected in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
George Washington University Professor David Shinn told the Senate hearing that no one had been paying much attention to Somalia until the September 11 terrorist attacks, and fighting terrorists became Washington's prime goal. "The entire emphasis of U.S. policy was on counter-terrorism, and particularly short-term elements of counter-terrorism, that is catching bad people, and not focusing on the much longer term root causes of terrorism in the region," he said.
Shinn said the United States does deserve credit though, for providing significant amounts of emergency assistance to Somalis. Looking to the future, he called on the Bush administration to use its leverage to encourage reconciliation.
"The first step, and this really falls more on the administration than it does Congress, is to work very hard to convince the transitional Federal Government of Somalia, together working with the Ethiopians, that it is critical that they create a government of national unity that brings into that government some of the forces that are now opposing it, that is the moderate forces that are opposing it," he said.
Shinn said without a broad-based national unity government, no amount of peace-keeping troops would be able to maintain peace in Somalia.
11 March 2008
Democratic Senator Russ Feingold Tuesday delivered a scathing criticism of the U.S. policy in the Horn of Africa. At a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, he called on the Bush administration to do more to address the worsening security, political and humanitarian conditions in the region, especially in Somalia. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.
Senator Feingold says he has repeatedly called for a long-term and comprehensive U.S. government policy towards building a stable and secure Horn of Africa. But he says such a policy remains elusive. "The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently released a report I requested in 2006, analyzing U.S. policy in Somalia, finding that the administration strategy has been insufficient, incomplete and ineffective," he said.
Feingold said bloody fighting in Somalia shows little sign of decreasing, despite the recent appointment of Prime Minister Hussein, who has been saying some encouraging things.
The U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said Somalia's challenges have frustrated its citizens, neighbors and friends for decades, but she says U.S. policies are working. "I do think our strategy is working. I don't think you can fix a country that has been broken for at least 17 years, and much longer in fact, because it was under an authoritarian regime, in just two years," she said.
Frazer said the Bush administration remains deeply troubled that foreign terrorists associated with al-Qaida have received safe haven in Somalia. Last week, a U.S. missile strike in Somalia targeted a Kenyan suspected in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
George Washington University Professor David Shinn told the Senate hearing that no one had been paying much attention to Somalia until the September 11 terrorist attacks, and fighting terrorists became Washington's prime goal. "The entire emphasis of U.S. policy was on counter-terrorism, and particularly short-term elements of counter-terrorism, that is catching bad people, and not focusing on the much longer term root causes of terrorism in the region," he said.
Shinn said the United States does deserve credit though, for providing significant amounts of emergency assistance to Somalis. Looking to the future, he called on the Bush administration to use its leverage to encourage reconciliation.
"The first step, and this really falls more on the administration than it does Congress, is to work very hard to convince the transitional Federal Government of Somalia, together working with the Ethiopians, that it is critical that they create a government of national unity that brings into that government some of the forces that are now opposing it, that is the moderate forces that are opposing it," he said.
Shinn said without a broad-based national unity government, no amount of peace-keeping troops would be able to maintain peace in Somalia.
Russia Won't Ask for Arms Dealer's Extradition, Interfax Says.
Bloomberg
12 March 2008
By Henry Meyer
Russia will not ask Thailand for the extradition of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed the ``merchant of death,'' Interfax news service reported.
Russian prosecutors have no criminal case against Bout, who is to be prosecuted in Bangkok on charges of supplying weapons to terrorists before he is extradited to the U.S., Interfax quoted an unnamed senior Russian law enforcement official as saying.
12 March 2008
By Henry Meyer
Russia will not ask Thailand for the extradition of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed the ``merchant of death,'' Interfax news service reported.
Russian prosecutors have no criminal case against Bout, who is to be prosecuted in Bangkok on charges of supplying weapons to terrorists before he is extradited to the U.S., Interfax quoted an unnamed senior Russian law enforcement official as saying.
Smulian, Accused Partner of Arms Dealer Bout, Is Held in U.S.
Bloomberg
By David Glovin
A man accused of helping Viktor Bout, the arms dealer dubbed ``the merchant of death,'' appeared in a U.S. court and was ordered detained by a New York judge.
Federal charges were unsealed last week against Bout and Andrew Smulian for allegedly agreeing to sell rocket launchers and missiles to buyers whom they believed were with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist guerrilla group, prosecutors said. The buyers were undercover informants working with U.S. authorities.
Smulian, 46, appeared in a Manhattan federal court yesterday, where a U.S. magistrate judge ordered him held. Smulian's defense attorney Mary Mulligan declined to comment after the hearing. She didn't ask for bail.
Bout, 41, a former Soviet air force officer who was arrested in Thailand last week as the arms deal was in its final stages, is being detained in a maximum security prison in Bangkok. He was denied bail today, Agence France-Presse said.
According to a complaint unsealed last week in Manhattan federal court, Smulian began meeting in January with two men he believed were with FARC. In meetings in Denmark, Romania and the Netherlands Antilles, Smulian allegedly said Bout could provide surface-to-air missiles and armor-piercing rocket launchers.
Air Drop
Smulian said Bout could air-drop weapons into Colombia, the complaint said. The air drop alone would cost $5 million, Smulian said, according to the complaint, which doesn't detail the cost of the weapons.
To complete the sale, Bout agreed to meet in Thailand with the purchasers, who were working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, prosecutors said.
Bout's lawyer Lak Nitiwatvichan said he would appeal the Bangkok criminal court's decision to oppose bail of $16,000, AFP reported. Bout, who didn't attend the hearing, can be held in jail in Thailand for 84 days without charge, it said.
Bout controls as many as 50 aircraft, according to Amnesty International, and specializes in delivering weapons around the world. The U.S. Treasury imposed financial sanctions on him in 2004 and 2005.
Bout and Smulian are charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. The charges relate only to the alleged arms deal orchestrated by the DEA.
In 2000, Peter Hain, then the U.K. Foreign Office minister responsible for Africa, called Bout ``the chief sanctions buster'' and a ``merchant of death.''
At yesterday's hearing, prosecutors said Smulian was formally arrested in Manhattan federal court on March 7.
The case is U.S. v. Smulian, 08-mag-386, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
By David Glovin
A man accused of helping Viktor Bout, the arms dealer dubbed ``the merchant of death,'' appeared in a U.S. court and was ordered detained by a New York judge.
Federal charges were unsealed last week against Bout and Andrew Smulian for allegedly agreeing to sell rocket launchers and missiles to buyers whom they believed were with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist guerrilla group, prosecutors said. The buyers were undercover informants working with U.S. authorities.
Smulian, 46, appeared in a Manhattan federal court yesterday, where a U.S. magistrate judge ordered him held. Smulian's defense attorney Mary Mulligan declined to comment after the hearing. She didn't ask for bail.
Bout, 41, a former Soviet air force officer who was arrested in Thailand last week as the arms deal was in its final stages, is being detained in a maximum security prison in Bangkok. He was denied bail today, Agence France-Presse said.
According to a complaint unsealed last week in Manhattan federal court, Smulian began meeting in January with two men he believed were with FARC. In meetings in Denmark, Romania and the Netherlands Antilles, Smulian allegedly said Bout could provide surface-to-air missiles and armor-piercing rocket launchers.
Air Drop
Smulian said Bout could air-drop weapons into Colombia, the complaint said. The air drop alone would cost $5 million, Smulian said, according to the complaint, which doesn't detail the cost of the weapons.
To complete the sale, Bout agreed to meet in Thailand with the purchasers, who were working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, prosecutors said.
Bout's lawyer Lak Nitiwatvichan said he would appeal the Bangkok criminal court's decision to oppose bail of $16,000, AFP reported. Bout, who didn't attend the hearing, can be held in jail in Thailand for 84 days without charge, it said.
Bout controls as many as 50 aircraft, according to Amnesty International, and specializes in delivering weapons around the world. The U.S. Treasury imposed financial sanctions on him in 2004 and 2005.
Bout and Smulian are charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. The charges relate only to the alleged arms deal orchestrated by the DEA.
In 2000, Peter Hain, then the U.K. Foreign Office minister responsible for Africa, called Bout ``the chief sanctions buster'' and a ``merchant of death.''
At yesterday's hearing, prosecutors said Smulian was formally arrested in Manhattan federal court on March 7.
The case is U.S. v. Smulian, 08-mag-386, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
Goma Accords: Concerns Remain
MISNA
11 March 2008
Editor's Note: Meanwhile, in an article in the 12 March editon of Le Potentiel, the International Crisis Group (ICG), through its Central African Project Director in Nairobi Mr. Francois Grignon, has finally admitted to Rwandan involvement in Bukavu 2004 after all these years by stating, "He (Mr. Grignon) said that evidence exists on the fact that Nkunda's march on the city of South Kivu has been backed by Rwanda."
However, the ICG shamelessly continues to protect Rwandan officials by claiming they did not play any part in the last major round of fighting that eventually led to the peace conference in Goma. This is patently false and has been demonstrated numerous times. Why has the ICG not written a single report on Rwanda since 26 September 2003after the elections? Why have they never even mentioned the Spanish indictments of RDF officials for crimes of genocide and terrorism even in a short press release? Please call and e-mail the ICG and Mr. Grignon and respectfully ask them why they are protecting Rwandan officials who have broken international law by invading the sovreign national territory of the DRC and thus, by definition, committed an act of interstate warfare.
Mr. Francois Grignon
Tel: +254 202 735460/739194
Email: fgrignon@crisisgroup.org
Honorable President Gareth Evans
Tel.: +32 2 536 00 74
Deputy President for Policy, Mr. Donald Steinberg
Tel: +1 212 813 0820
Email: dsteinberg@crisisgroup.org
A month and a half after the signing of the Goma ceasefire accord between the army and almost all the armed groups, the situation in North Kivu continues to raise concerns: "in the past weeks – says a Red Cross (ICRC) report – clashes, especially those between the CNDP rebels (led by Laurent Nkunda) and the Mayi Mayi have multiplied. Consequently, many civilians have fled from some areas of the territories of Rutshuru and Masisi", the hardest hit by the clashes that erupted six months ago. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees facing very difficult living conditions: "in January and February – said the ICRC – our delegates have registered many examples of sexual violence, looting, attacks on physical integrity and other violence perpetrated by armed elements at the expense of the civilian population". In the attempt to set aside the worse aspects, since last January there have been various initiatives including programs to sensitize and educate international humanitarian law, which has so far involved some 400 soldiers or militiamen.
11 March 2008
Editor's Note: Meanwhile, in an article in the 12 March editon of Le Potentiel, the International Crisis Group (ICG), through its Central African Project Director in Nairobi Mr. Francois Grignon, has finally admitted to Rwandan involvement in Bukavu 2004 after all these years by stating, "He (Mr. Grignon) said that evidence exists on the fact that Nkunda's march on the city of South Kivu has been backed by Rwanda."
However, the ICG shamelessly continues to protect Rwandan officials by claiming they did not play any part in the last major round of fighting that eventually led to the peace conference in Goma. This is patently false and has been demonstrated numerous times. Why has the ICG not written a single report on Rwanda since 26 September 2003after the elections? Why have they never even mentioned the Spanish indictments of RDF officials for crimes of genocide and terrorism even in a short press release? Please call and e-mail the ICG and Mr. Grignon and respectfully ask them why they are protecting Rwandan officials who have broken international law by invading the sovreign national territory of the DRC and thus, by definition, committed an act of interstate warfare.
Mr. Francois Grignon
Tel: +254 202 735460/739194
Email: fgrignon@crisisgroup.org
Honorable President Gareth Evans
Tel.: +32 2 536 00 74
Deputy President for Policy, Mr. Donald Steinberg
Tel: +1 212 813 0820
Email: dsteinberg@crisisgroup.org
A month and a half after the signing of the Goma ceasefire accord between the army and almost all the armed groups, the situation in North Kivu continues to raise concerns: "in the past weeks – says a Red Cross (ICRC) report – clashes, especially those between the CNDP rebels (led by Laurent Nkunda) and the Mayi Mayi have multiplied. Consequently, many civilians have fled from some areas of the territories of Rutshuru and Masisi", the hardest hit by the clashes that erupted six months ago. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees facing very difficult living conditions: "in January and February – said the ICRC – our delegates have registered many examples of sexual violence, looting, attacks on physical integrity and other violence perpetrated by armed elements at the expense of the civilian population". In the attempt to set aside the worse aspects, since last January there have been various initiatives including programs to sensitize and educate international humanitarian law, which has so far involved some 400 soldiers or militiamen.
BRITISH MERCENARY CONFIRMS INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN COUP ATTEMPT.
MISNA
12 March 2008
“I was the manager, not the architect and not the main man”, said Simon Mann, the British mercenary involved in a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea arrested in Zimbabwe in 2004 and extradited in the past weeks to Guinea, in an interview aired yesterday by the British Channel 4 news. From the Black Beach prison in a first interview since his arrest, Mann spoke about the ‘Trojan horse’, the evocative name of the operation that aimed to overthrow Guinean President Theodore Obiang Nguema and instate an opposition figure in exile in Spain.
Confirming that the plot was aimed at controlling the oil resources of the African nation, Mann spoke of the involvement in the operation of foreign mercenaries, multinationals and governments. In the interview, aired last week, the former Special Air Services (SAS) officer also reiterated the involvement of Mark Thatcher (son of former British premier Margaret Thatcher) and the London-based Lebanese millionaire Ely Calil. Mann said that the coup plot was also approved by the governments of Spain and South Africa. All those named by Mann, aside from Mark Thatcher who in a trial in South Africa admitted his involvement in a plea bargain, denied ever taking part in the ‘Trojan horse’ operation.
12 March 2008
“I was the manager, not the architect and not the main man”, said Simon Mann, the British mercenary involved in a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea arrested in Zimbabwe in 2004 and extradited in the past weeks to Guinea, in an interview aired yesterday by the British Channel 4 news. From the Black Beach prison in a first interview since his arrest, Mann spoke about the ‘Trojan horse’, the evocative name of the operation that aimed to overthrow Guinean President Theodore Obiang Nguema and instate an opposition figure in exile in Spain.
Confirming that the plot was aimed at controlling the oil resources of the African nation, Mann spoke of the involvement in the operation of foreign mercenaries, multinationals and governments. In the interview, aired last week, the former Special Air Services (SAS) officer also reiterated the involvement of Mark Thatcher (son of former British premier Margaret Thatcher) and the London-based Lebanese millionaire Ely Calil. Mann said that the coup plot was also approved by the governments of Spain and South Africa. All those named by Mann, aside from Mark Thatcher who in a trial in South Africa admitted his involvement in a plea bargain, denied ever taking part in the ‘Trojan horse’ operation.
EU to give Kosovo over $385 mln to prepare for integration.
RIA Novosti
11 March 2008
The European Union is to give the government of Kosovo over $385 million to prepare for admission into the EU, the head of the European Commission Liaison Office in Kosovo said Tuesday.
Renzo Davidi told journalists in Pristina, Kosovo's capital, that 124.7 million euros ($192 million) would be allocated in 2008, a total of 66.1 million euros ($102 million) in 2009, and 67.3 million euros ($104 million) in 2010.
He said the money would first of all be invested in building up the breakaway republic's infrastructure.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Kosovo on February 17. Since then, the United States and 18 of the 27 EU states have recognized the Republic of Kosovo.
However, Russia, China, Spain, Cyprus and several other countries have refused to recognize its independence.
Belgrade has recalled its ambassadors from a number of countries recognizing Kosovo's independence. Russia has also pledged to block any move by Kosovo to join the United Nations.
Prior to the declaration of independence by the Serbian province, the European Union approved the sending of a 2,000-strong police and justice mission to Kosovo to replace the UN mission deployed there since the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since the end of this conflict.
11 March 2008
The European Union is to give the government of Kosovo over $385 million to prepare for admission into the EU, the head of the European Commission Liaison Office in Kosovo said Tuesday.
Renzo Davidi told journalists in Pristina, Kosovo's capital, that 124.7 million euros ($192 million) would be allocated in 2008, a total of 66.1 million euros ($102 million) in 2009, and 67.3 million euros ($104 million) in 2010.
He said the money would first of all be invested in building up the breakaway republic's infrastructure.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Kosovo on February 17. Since then, the United States and 18 of the 27 EU states have recognized the Republic of Kosovo.
However, Russia, China, Spain, Cyprus and several other countries have refused to recognize its independence.
Belgrade has recalled its ambassadors from a number of countries recognizing Kosovo's independence. Russia has also pledged to block any move by Kosovo to join the United Nations.
Prior to the declaration of independence by the Serbian province, the European Union approved the sending of a 2,000-strong police and justice mission to Kosovo to replace the UN mission deployed there since the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since the end of this conflict.
11 March, 2008
CLASHES AT BORDER BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH SUDAN
MISNA
11 March 2008
New clashes are said to have started yesterday, a week after others have already left dozens of victims, between former rebels in South Sudan and Arab nomads, in an oil rich region at the north-south border; the news, which is difficult to verify, was given in Juba by Salva Kiir, president of South Sudan and first vice-president of the government of Khartoum, during a political meeting. The clashes are believed to have taken place in one of the largest oil fields (Unity state), close to those of Abyei - where some clashes occurred in December - whih have not yet been made operational despite an accord signed three years ago between the former rebels of the South and Khartoum.
11 March 2008
New clashes are said to have started yesterday, a week after others have already left dozens of victims, between former rebels in South Sudan and Arab nomads, in an oil rich region at the north-south border; the news, which is difficult to verify, was given in Juba by Salva Kiir, president of South Sudan and first vice-president of the government of Khartoum, during a political meeting. The clashes are believed to have taken place in one of the largest oil fields (Unity state), close to those of Abyei - where some clashes occurred in December - whih have not yet been made operational despite an accord signed three years ago between the former rebels of the South and Khartoum.
Bout Denied Bail.
Associated Press
By SUTIN WANNABOVORN, Associated Press Writer
11 March 2008
A Thai court denied bail Tuesday for a purported Russian arms dealer wanted by the United States, saying it feared the suspect might try to flee the country, his lawyer said.
Viktor Bout, who has been called "The Merchant of Death," was arrested in Thailand last week at a Bangkok luxury hotel in a U.S.-led sting operation. He was charged with conspiracy for allegedly trying to smuggle missiles and rocket launchers to a rebel group in Colombia that is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
Bout, 41, is being held in a Thai prison while authorities investigate whether he used the country as a base to negotiate the deal with terrorists. The Russian denies any wrongdoing.
"The suspect is being detained on severe charges for alleged engagement with international terrorists and the court said if it grants bail the suspect might escape," Bout's attorney, Lak Nitiwatanavichan, told The Associated Press.
The United States is seeking Bout's extradition, but he is being held in Thailand where officials are investigating whether he used the country as a base to negotiate a weapons deal with terrorists. Suspects can be held up to 84 days in Thailand without being formally charged.
If convicted, Bout could face 10 years in prison on the Thai charge, and 15 years in the U.S., which is seeking Bout's extradition.
An alleged associate of Bout's, Andrew Smulian, appeared Monday in a New York City courtroom to face similar charges, prosecutors in New York said. Smulian, who was arrested Friday in New York, did not enter a plea and was held without bail.
To capture Bout, undercover agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration posed as rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, seeking to purchase millions of dollars in weapons.
The U.S. and U.N. officials have long identified Bout as a weapons smuggler whose alleged list of customers included former dictator Charles Taylor of Liberia, the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, now known as Congo, and both sides of the civil war in Angola.
Bout also reportedly supplied arms to warring parties in Afghanistan before the 2001 fall of the Taliban's Islamic regime.
A former Soviet air force officer, Bout allegedly built his contacts in the post-Soviet arms industry into a business dealing arms to combatants in conflicts around the world. He is generally believed to have been a model for the arms dealer portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 movie "Lord of War."
Thai prison authorities said Monday he was being held under special security at Bangkok's Klongprem Prison.
"He was a soldier who knows how to use weapons and knows how to fight," said Wanchai Rutchanawong, director general of Thailand's Corrections Department.
"I have ordered special security measures," Wanchai said. "Well-trained men will be surveying him around the clock."
By SUTIN WANNABOVORN, Associated Press Writer
11 March 2008
A Thai court denied bail Tuesday for a purported Russian arms dealer wanted by the United States, saying it feared the suspect might try to flee the country, his lawyer said.
Viktor Bout, who has been called "The Merchant of Death," was arrested in Thailand last week at a Bangkok luxury hotel in a U.S.-led sting operation. He was charged with conspiracy for allegedly trying to smuggle missiles and rocket launchers to a rebel group in Colombia that is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
Bout, 41, is being held in a Thai prison while authorities investigate whether he used the country as a base to negotiate the deal with terrorists. The Russian denies any wrongdoing.
"The suspect is being detained on severe charges for alleged engagement with international terrorists and the court said if it grants bail the suspect might escape," Bout's attorney, Lak Nitiwatanavichan, told The Associated Press.
The United States is seeking Bout's extradition, but he is being held in Thailand where officials are investigating whether he used the country as a base to negotiate a weapons deal with terrorists. Suspects can be held up to 84 days in Thailand without being formally charged.
If convicted, Bout could face 10 years in prison on the Thai charge, and 15 years in the U.S., which is seeking Bout's extradition.
An alleged associate of Bout's, Andrew Smulian, appeared Monday in a New York City courtroom to face similar charges, prosecutors in New York said. Smulian, who was arrested Friday in New York, did not enter a plea and was held without bail.
To capture Bout, undercover agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration posed as rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, seeking to purchase millions of dollars in weapons.
The U.S. and U.N. officials have long identified Bout as a weapons smuggler whose alleged list of customers included former dictator Charles Taylor of Liberia, the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, now known as Congo, and both sides of the civil war in Angola.
Bout also reportedly supplied arms to warring parties in Afghanistan before the 2001 fall of the Taliban's Islamic regime.
A former Soviet air force officer, Bout allegedly built his contacts in the post-Soviet arms industry into a business dealing arms to combatants in conflicts around the world. He is generally believed to have been a model for the arms dealer portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 movie "Lord of War."
Thai prison authorities said Monday he was being held under special security at Bangkok's Klongprem Prison.
"He was a soldier who knows how to use weapons and knows how to fight," said Wanchai Rutchanawong, director general of Thailand's Corrections Department.
"I have ordered special security measures," Wanchai said. "Well-trained men will be surveying him around the clock."
Dutch court overturns conviction of businessman in Liberia arms-dealing case.
The Jurist
Patrick Porter
10 March 2008
A Dutch appeals court Monday overturned the conviction of Dutch businessman Guus Kouwenhoven [BBC profile] for violating a UN embargo against the government of former Liberian President Charles Taylor [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. In 2006, a lower court convicted [JURIST report] Kouwenhoven of violating the embargo, but acquitted him of war crimes, ruling that he did not have direct knowledge of the atrocities committed during the Liberian civil war. The appeals court cited insufficient evidence and found that some witness testimony was contradictory. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.
Kouwenhoven's Oriental Trading Co. had been accused of trading guns for timber [Radio Netherlands report] to assist Taylor in destabilizing Sierra Leone in a bid to gain access to diamond stockpiles. The UN Security Council released a 2001 report [PDF text] banning Kouwenhoven from traveling, accusing him of breaching Security Council Resolution 1343 [PDF text], the embargo against the Taylor regime, and of being "someone who supported the efforts of ex-President Taylor in destabilising Sierra Leone to gain illegal access to its diamonds."
Patrick Porter
10 March 2008
A Dutch appeals court Monday overturned the conviction of Dutch businessman Guus Kouwenhoven [BBC profile] for violating a UN embargo against the government of former Liberian President Charles Taylor [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. In 2006, a lower court convicted [JURIST report] Kouwenhoven of violating the embargo, but acquitted him of war crimes, ruling that he did not have direct knowledge of the atrocities committed during the Liberian civil war. The appeals court cited insufficient evidence and found that some witness testimony was contradictory. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.
Kouwenhoven's Oriental Trading Co. had been accused of trading guns for timber [Radio Netherlands report] to assist Taylor in destabilizing Sierra Leone in a bid to gain access to diamond stockpiles. The UN Security Council released a 2001 report [PDF text] banning Kouwenhoven from traveling, accusing him of breaching Security Council Resolution 1343 [PDF text], the embargo against the Taylor regime, and of being "someone who supported the efforts of ex-President Taylor in destabilising Sierra Leone to gain illegal access to its diamonds."
Different Justice at the UN Rwanda War Crimes Court.
The Jurist
6 March 2008
A major event in United Nations history - and international law - occurred this week at a public ceremony in Rwanda’s capital, and the world hardly noticed.
For the first time, the United Nations agreed to turn UN prisoners over to indicted war criminals. But the press and defenders of international human rights in North America and Europe appeared not to have taken note of the "historic" moment. Which all goes to show that the concept of "justice" at the UN-ICTR, as compared to the ICTY at The Hague, is...different.
Last Tuesday, UN-ICTR representative Roland Amossouga officially designated President Kagame’s Rwanda as one of the UN member states to which UN prisoners might be sent, despite the indictment of 40 members of the top Rwandan government leadership for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide during the 1994 Rwanda War by a Spanish high court judge only one month earlier.
On February 6, 2008, Judge Fernando Andreu issued a 182-page indictment detailing crimes committed by Rwandan President Kagame and members of his military, including the murder of some 320,000 civilians during the Rwandan Civil War…and more than 4 million in the Congo. INTERPOL warrants have been issued for their arrest. Kagame and company had already been indicted in late 2006 by French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere for the assassination of Rwanda’s previous president (who was the leader all the convicted ICTR defendants in the Rwandan Civil War), the act of aggression which touched off what is known as the “Rwandan Genocide.”
All this would seem to make the UN knowingly complicit in the crimes alleged in the Spanish and French indictments.
At best, it is hard to explain - it is unthinkable that the ICTY would have turned Croat, Bosnian or Kosovar prisoners over the Milosevic government when he was under indictment! But “justice” at the ICTR, as compared to the ICTY, is...different.
And this was not the only “history-making” part of the UN initiative to ship UN prisoners to Rwanda last week.
This was also the first time in history that the United Nations has voluntarily begun the process of transferring vanquished former war-time enemies to the hands of the victors in a civil war, the exact equivalent of the ICTY publicly agreeing to send Serb prisoners to Croatia, Bosnia…or Kosovo to do their time, or vice versa! Unthinkable in Europe - but, at the ICTR, “justice” has a meaning that is...different. And no one in the “human rights world” seems to be paying attention, or saying a word.
Of course, the UN designation of “acceptability” does not necessarily mean that UN-ICTR prisoners (none of Kagame’s supporters have been charged at the ICTR itself, for political reasons explained by former ICTR Prosecutor Del Ponte) actually will be delivered to the care of their former enemies. Other countries who have agreed to accept ICTR include Switzerland, France, Sweden, Italy, Benin and Mali. ICTR President Judge Dennis Byron must designate the eventual site of each defendant’s incarceration, so no one has actually been sent to Rwanda - yet.
The President of the ICTY has a choice of countries to send convicted defendants too. As a result, Serb, Croat, Bosnian and Kosovar defendants at the ICTY are serving sentences in prisons all over Europe. But, no Serbs have been sent to Croatia, no Croats or Bosnians to Serbia, etc. I guess this is because the civilized human rights world would be shocked at the suggestion that UN prisoners should be delivered into the tender care of their sworn enemies But, at the ICTR, things are...different.
The UN-ICTY prisoners know they will not be delivered to the hands of their former enemies, and that long-term incarceration will be in “first world” conditions, somewhere in Europe. To date, not one UN-ICTR prisoner has been sent to a European prison and all have ended ended up in a remote desert prison in Mali for life - or the UN Detention Center connected to the Tribunal for shorter sentences.
So, the designation of Rwanda might be seen as an “humanitarian” act. There are no deserts in Rwanda and the Kagame government has made a great show of providing the best detention facilities in Africa, which they have. But the UN sending its prisoners to Kagame’s “care” ignored political reality: these are all sworn war-time enemies, and Kagame’s government is facing multiple war crimes indictments for how he and his army fought that war by massive killings of opponents and civilians.
The nagging problem of what will happen to Kagame’s former wartime opponents, once the UN actually turns them over to his “care,” is anyone’s guess. But the multiple French and Spanish indictments detailing brutal killings by Kagame's own troops on a massive scale, for which only his former enemies have been blamed at the ICTR so far, provide a pretty good indication what the UN prisoners can expect.
When George Bush visited Kagame only 2 weeks after the Spanish indictment issued, he ignored both the Spanish and French indictments, as UN-ICTR officials apparently did this week. Given President Bush’s apparent lack of respect for the rule of law and the existence of long-standing US military ties with Kagame, this might be understandable in “political” terms. But, the “history-making” UN-ICTR endorsement of the victors in the Rwanda War, despite the Spanish and French indictments, is a bit harder to understand. Unless, of course, “justice” at the ICTR means something...different.
Could this huge disparity between standards at the ICTY and the ICTR be explained because the UN-ICTR is “Africa”? Or, is it because, as former ICTR Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has explained, the UN-ICTR has created impunity for U.S. allies, while vilifying their opponents? In either case, the result is the same.
At the ICTR, “justice” means something…different, and no one seems to be paying attention or saying a word.
The dark stain of “manufactured impunity” for allies of the Superpower is spreading across the previously “clean” tablet upon which UN tribunals are supposedly writing new standards for international criminal law. “UN-manufactured impunity” at the UN-ICTR is rapidly becoming a public embarrassment, as member states are forced to take up the prosecutorial function that has been blocked by the US and UK at the ICTR, according to Prosecutor Del Ponte.
And it will be an embarrassment of historic proportions if the human rights community and UN member states do not begin speaking out to put an end to the UN- ICTR charade that, as Carla Del Ponte has said, "...ridicule(s) the principles of international justice...".
(c) 2008 Peter Erlinder.
Notes
[1] Hartmann, Florence, Paix et chatiment: les guerres del la politique (Flammarion, Paris, Sept. 2007). Ms. Del Ponte was called to Washington DC and ordered not to charge members of the Kagame government because of US political and military ties with the regime in 2003, and was removed from office when she insisted on upholding the Security Council mandate to prosecute all crimes committed in the 1994 Rwanda Ward. See JURIST, The 'Rwanda Genocide' Cover-up, February 19, 2008.
[2] Hartmann, Paix et chatiment
6 March 2008
A major event in United Nations history - and international law - occurred this week at a public ceremony in Rwanda’s capital, and the world hardly noticed.
For the first time, the United Nations agreed to turn UN prisoners over to indicted war criminals. But the press and defenders of international human rights in North America and Europe appeared not to have taken note of the "historic" moment. Which all goes to show that the concept of "justice" at the UN-ICTR, as compared to the ICTY at The Hague, is...different.
Last Tuesday, UN-ICTR representative Roland Amossouga officially designated President Kagame’s Rwanda as one of the UN member states to which UN prisoners might be sent, despite the indictment of 40 members of the top Rwandan government leadership for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide during the 1994 Rwanda War by a Spanish high court judge only one month earlier.
On February 6, 2008, Judge Fernando Andreu issued a 182-page indictment detailing crimes committed by Rwandan President Kagame and members of his military, including the murder of some 320,000 civilians during the Rwandan Civil War…and more than 4 million in the Congo. INTERPOL warrants have been issued for their arrest. Kagame and company had already been indicted in late 2006 by French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere for the assassination of Rwanda’s previous president (who was the leader all the convicted ICTR defendants in the Rwandan Civil War), the act of aggression which touched off what is known as the “Rwandan Genocide.”
All this would seem to make the UN knowingly complicit in the crimes alleged in the Spanish and French indictments.
At best, it is hard to explain - it is unthinkable that the ICTY would have turned Croat, Bosnian or Kosovar prisoners over the Milosevic government when he was under indictment! But “justice” at the ICTR, as compared to the ICTY, is...different.
And this was not the only “history-making” part of the UN initiative to ship UN prisoners to Rwanda last week.
This was also the first time in history that the United Nations has voluntarily begun the process of transferring vanquished former war-time enemies to the hands of the victors in a civil war, the exact equivalent of the ICTY publicly agreeing to send Serb prisoners to Croatia, Bosnia…or Kosovo to do their time, or vice versa! Unthinkable in Europe - but, at the ICTR, “justice” has a meaning that is...different. And no one in the “human rights world” seems to be paying attention, or saying a word.
Of course, the UN designation of “acceptability” does not necessarily mean that UN-ICTR prisoners (none of Kagame’s supporters have been charged at the ICTR itself, for political reasons explained by former ICTR Prosecutor Del Ponte) actually will be delivered to the care of their former enemies. Other countries who have agreed to accept ICTR include Switzerland, France, Sweden, Italy, Benin and Mali. ICTR President Judge Dennis Byron must designate the eventual site of each defendant’s incarceration, so no one has actually been sent to Rwanda - yet.
The President of the ICTY has a choice of countries to send convicted defendants too. As a result, Serb, Croat, Bosnian and Kosovar defendants at the ICTY are serving sentences in prisons all over Europe. But, no Serbs have been sent to Croatia, no Croats or Bosnians to Serbia, etc. I guess this is because the civilized human rights world would be shocked at the suggestion that UN prisoners should be delivered into the tender care of their sworn enemies But, at the ICTR, things are...different.
The UN-ICTY prisoners know they will not be delivered to the hands of their former enemies, and that long-term incarceration will be in “first world” conditions, somewhere in Europe. To date, not one UN-ICTR prisoner has been sent to a European prison and all have ended ended up in a remote desert prison in Mali for life - or the UN Detention Center connected to the Tribunal for shorter sentences.
So, the designation of Rwanda might be seen as an “humanitarian” act. There are no deserts in Rwanda and the Kagame government has made a great show of providing the best detention facilities in Africa, which they have. But the UN sending its prisoners to Kagame’s “care” ignored political reality: these are all sworn war-time enemies, and Kagame’s government is facing multiple war crimes indictments for how he and his army fought that war by massive killings of opponents and civilians.
The nagging problem of what will happen to Kagame’s former wartime opponents, once the UN actually turns them over to his “care,” is anyone’s guess. But the multiple French and Spanish indictments detailing brutal killings by Kagame's own troops on a massive scale, for which only his former enemies have been blamed at the ICTR so far, provide a pretty good indication what the UN prisoners can expect.
When George Bush visited Kagame only 2 weeks after the Spanish indictment issued, he ignored both the Spanish and French indictments, as UN-ICTR officials apparently did this week. Given President Bush’s apparent lack of respect for the rule of law and the existence of long-standing US military ties with Kagame, this might be understandable in “political” terms. But, the “history-making” UN-ICTR endorsement of the victors in the Rwanda War, despite the Spanish and French indictments, is a bit harder to understand. Unless, of course, “justice” at the ICTR means something...different.
Could this huge disparity between standards at the ICTY and the ICTR be explained because the UN-ICTR is “Africa”? Or, is it because, as former ICTR Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has explained, the UN-ICTR has created impunity for U.S. allies, while vilifying their opponents? In either case, the result is the same.
At the ICTR, “justice” means something…different, and no one seems to be paying attention or saying a word.
The dark stain of “manufactured impunity” for allies of the Superpower is spreading across the previously “clean” tablet upon which UN tribunals are supposedly writing new standards for international criminal law. “UN-manufactured impunity” at the UN-ICTR is rapidly becoming a public embarrassment, as member states are forced to take up the prosecutorial function that has been blocked by the US and UK at the ICTR, according to Prosecutor Del Ponte.
And it will be an embarrassment of historic proportions if the human rights community and UN member states do not begin speaking out to put an end to the UN- ICTR charade that, as Carla Del Ponte has said, "...ridicule(s) the principles of international justice...".
(c) 2008 Peter Erlinder.
Notes
[1] Hartmann, Florence, Paix et chatiment: les guerres del la politique (Flammarion, Paris, Sept. 2007). Ms. Del Ponte was called to Washington DC and ordered not to charge members of the Kagame government because of US political and military ties with the regime in 2003, and was removed from office when she insisted on upholding the Security Council mandate to prosecute all crimes committed in the 1994 Rwanda Ward. See JURIST, The 'Rwanda Genocide' Cover-up, February 19, 2008.
[2] Hartmann, Paix et chatiment
09 March, 2008
FIRST APPROVAL OF ANTI-APARTHEID LAND REFORM.
MISNA
7 March 2008
South Africa’s cabinet approved a bill to speed up its programme for the transfer of farmland to black ownership and now needs parliament approval. The national land reform programme aims to hand 30% of all agricultural land to the black majority by 2014, privileging the mechanism of demand and offer, but it is only just approaching 4% of that target and says it needs to accelerate the process. To accelerate the process, the government reviewed the Expropriation Act of 1975. The new Act seeks to facilitate expropriations “in the public interest”, but with equitable procedures and compensations. The bill also aims to facilitate claims of blacks evicted from ancestral land under apartheid, but also to incentivate the sale by legitimate white-owners and acquisition by black farmers thanks to low interest loans.
7 March 2008
South Africa’s cabinet approved a bill to speed up its programme for the transfer of farmland to black ownership and now needs parliament approval. The national land reform programme aims to hand 30% of all agricultural land to the black majority by 2014, privileging the mechanism of demand and offer, but it is only just approaching 4% of that target and says it needs to accelerate the process. To accelerate the process, the government reviewed the Expropriation Act of 1975. The new Act seeks to facilitate expropriations “in the public interest”, but with equitable procedures and compensations. The bill also aims to facilitate claims of blacks evicted from ancestral land under apartheid, but also to incentivate the sale by legitimate white-owners and acquisition by black farmers thanks to low interest loans.
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