By Simon Jennings
IWPR
4 April 2008
Lawyers representing Naser Oric this week rejected prosecutor’s “new theories” in their appeal against the former commander’s conviction for war crimes committed in Bosnia in 1992 and 1993.
“The prosecution are coming up with new theories all the time. It’s a different case we hear today from the case which was in the indictment,” defence lawyer John Jones told the court in his opening remarks.
Oric was sentenced to two years in prison in June 2006 for failing to prevent the murder and cruel treatment of Serb prisoners detained in Srebrenica between December 1992 and March 1993.
Shortly after the trial chamber’s verdict, both the prosecution and defence teams launched an appeal and this week they presented their arguments to the tribunal’s appeals chamber.
Oric’s trial has captivated former Yugoslavia since it began in October 2004. Seen by many Bosnians as a hero, Oric’s sentence sparked anger among Serbs in Bosnia and Serbia who saw it as highly lenient.
A Serbian blogger reacting to the trial chamber’s verdict at the time remarked on Belgrade’s B92 website, “If a Serb were tried for the same crimes, he would be sentenced to at least 20 years in prison.”
The prosecution - which sought an 18-year prison sentence at the end of the proceedings - this week appealed for Oric’s two-year term to be extended on account of its leniency and also because they allege that the commander failed to investigate crimes committed by his subordinates in the months before December 1992.
Meanwhile, Oric’s defence team argued for his acquittal on all charges.
The prosecution contends that the trial chamber made a mistake in not concluding that the prison guards who murdered and abused Serb prisoners were members of the military police and therefore under Oric’s command in the months leading up to December 1992.
It further argued that even if the prison guards who committed the crimes were not members of the military police, they would still have been under Oric’s command.
“The trial chamber was not satisfied that the guards were identified as members of the military police but we say it should not have stopped its enquiry there,” prosecutor Michelle Jarvis told the court.
“Regardless of whether these individuals were identified as members of the military police or not, the real question was…were they under [Oric’s] effective control?”
Not only does the prosecution believe that the prison guards were under Oric’s command but it also submits that, despite knowing about their crimes in the autumn of 1992, he failed to punish them. It contends that Oric, in his failure to act, was complicit in aiding and abetting the crimes.
Prosecutor Christine Dahl sought to press home the trial chamber’s finding that Oric knew about prisoner mistreatment, by arguing that he failed to use this knowledge to investigate and punish the perpetrators.
“Mr Oric is liable because he had actual knowledge of sufficiently alarming information that triggers a duty to investigate, to further inquire,” said Dahl. “And when he sees prisoners beaten and bloody he knows that something is going terribly wrong.”
Jones responded to the prosecution submissions by branding them a “daisy chain of liability”. He said the defence had had to adopt a “belt and braces” approach in order to challenge any new theories advanced by the prosecution.
Jones contended that in terms of command responsibility, Oric was three or four times removed from the guards who committed crimes. He compared the “remoteness” of Oric’s responsibility to the line of an old English song, “I've danced with a man, who's danced with a girl, who's danced with the Prince of Wales.”
Addressing Dahl’s arguments directly, Jones emphasised that it was not the prisoner abuse that was being disputed but Oric’s responsibility.
“We did not challenge that these prisoners were beaten. It’s not a question of bloody faces,” he said. “It’s a question of who the guards were under and whether Oric knew of the measures taken.”
Jones emphasised that there was no evidence pointing to an identifiable subordinate under Oric who had committed the crimes.
Turning to what he referred to as the “crux of the case”, Jones argued that the Serb prisoners were being detained both at the police station and at a second facility by civilian, rather than military, police.
According to Jones, the military police should not be held responsible for the crimes “since mistreatment was occurring in the civilian police station that came under the auspices and authority and responsibility of the civilian police and the civilian authorities right up to the civilian war presidency”.
Citing evidence that in his opinion was not given sufficient weight by the trial chamber, Jones argued that the guards were subordinated to the chief of the civilian police and not to Oric.
But prosecutor Paul Rogers rebutted Jones’s argument. He pointed to an “abundance of evidence” including minutes of military meetings in October 1992, that show the guards were military police and under military control, and not the control of the war presidency.
“It’s quite clear that the military were directing the operation of the military police,” Rogers told the court.
While the defence seeks Oric’s acquittal on all charges against him, Serbs in both Bosnia and Serbia hold the Bosnian commander as guilty even beyond the bounds of his indictment. They accuse him of antagonising Serbs in the region throughout the war and blame him for provoking the Bosnian Serb massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995.
But a source of debate at trial was the Serb prosecution witnesses who testified in support of the defence’s arguments. Some Serb survivors from the prison in Srebrenica testified that Oric did not do anything wrong and even treated them favourably.
Also in Oric’s favour was his cooperation with the tribunal and his youth - he was only 25 at the time the crimes were committed. The trial chamber ruled that while it would not give too much weight to his age, it could not “fail to take into consideration the enormous burden that was cast upon him at the age of 25 while the situation in Srebrenica was desperate”.
But in its appeal this week, the prosecution further challenged the trial chamber’s finding that the “chaos and lawlessness” in Srebrenica during 1992 and 1993 was a mitigating factor in Oric’s responsibility for the crimes. The prosecution contended that in fact the opposite was true - that the situation in the region should have made the risk of crimes more apparent.
“It had to be clear to everybody that Serb captives could be exposed to abuse,” said prosecutor Jarvis.
The appeals chamber will announce its verdict at a later date.
05 April, 2008
Natural Resources in Eurasia and Africa and Energy Policy in the U.S. and Europe: The Connections That Nobody is Talking About.
By David Barouski
World News Journal
For the United States (US), oil is indeed a major part of its interest in Sudan, but for now, it is not about Darfur's oil so much as it is South Sudan's oil. There is indeed oil in Darfur, don't get me wrong. In fact, the Chinese state oil company (CNOOC) already owns part of Block 6, a concession that extends deep into Southern Darfur near the Central African Republic border. APCO, a joint-venture between Cliveden Petroleum, Hi-Tech Petroleum, Sudapet, Khartoum State and Higleig Petroleum, holds a large stake in the southern stretch of Block C.
According to Afrol News, Rolls Royce Marine, a subsidiary of Rolls Royce UK, was at one point shipping diesel motors and pumps to Sudan for the Chinese to begin developing the field and prepare for test well drilling in Darfur. However, they are unable to do so because the Chadian-backed Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) have been attacking the workers and preventing access to the site. The block located in the center of Darfur's complex interstate war(Block 12B) has yet to be awarded but Reliance Industries of India is the current frontrunner.
Sudan is China's largest overseas oil suppliers and China is also partnered with Iran in a major oil deal. They may partner up with Pakistan and Iran in a joint pipeline venture if India backs out of their part in the deal. As China continues its exponential increase in oil-consumption, US foreign policy toward China has taken on a dimension that includes both slowing down development on China's foreign acquisitions and securing the rest of the major oil concessions before they do. China is looking to import 40% of its crude oil and natural gas from Africa within the next 5-10 years. China has countered by enabling the Sudanese Army to push the rebels out of the concessions by supplying weapons and military equipment. Russia and Iran have followed suit to oppose western aquisition of strategic resources and deepen their ties with China and each other.
Another little-known fact is that oil Block 12A, located in North Darfur, has already been contracted out, though the exploration is expected to take place north of the various Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) factional strongholds. In November 2006, the Saudi-based Abdulhadi A. Al Qahtani Sons Group owns a 33% controlling share. Egypt and Yemen-based Ansan Wikfs Investments Limited, through its subsidiary Ansan Wikfs (Sudan) Limited, holds a 20% share. Mr. Meftah Bouazizi is the General Manager of Exploration and Production for Ansan in Sudan and Denis Rey is the Country Manager. Mr. Peter Carpenter, Director of The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Egypt, is the Finance Director of Ansan. The state-owned Sudapet holds 20%, Sudan-based Dindir Petroleum International holds 15%, All African Investments owns 5%, India's ONGC owns 6%, and Sudan's Hi-Tech Petroleum Group, created by former Minister of Hydrocarbons, Abdel Aziz Osman, owns 7%. President Bashir's brother is a manager of the company and it has been the target of international sanctions.
Sudan was declared a terrorist state by the US for harboring Osama bin Laden, who was accused of approving and financing the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and an assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 1995. Bin Laden collaborated closely with Dr. Hassan al-Turabi, a Muslim cleric who supported Omar al-Bashir's coup as a fellow member of the National Islamic Front (NIF). Upon being designated a terrorist state, a whole host of sanctions are instituted. For the US, it meant that US businesses could not operate within Sudanese borders under penalty of law. The US also could not import anything from Sudan, including oil. The only exception-thanks to lobbying from Congressman Robert Menendez, Coca-Cola, others in the food industry, and the pharmaceutical lobby-was gum arabic, known locally as Hashab. Sudan holds the largest share of the market, as its reserves total 80% of the world's supply. The majority of the areas rich in the acacia trees that grow Hashab are currently under the Khartoum Government's control, which provides them with significant political leverage at the international negotiating table. The two largest processing plants in the United States are in New Jersey.
When South Sudan was given semi-autonomous status following the 2005 peace agreement, some grey legal area was created. Could a US business legally work only with the parallel administration in South Sudan, and still get away with it legally by being in sovereign Sudanese territory? Well, Marathon Oil decided to push the proverbial envelop, and signed up for Block B along with TotalElfFina and the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Company. However, legal wrangling between Total and the UK-firm White Nile left the political situation in Block B unstable. Additionally, the divestment movement in the United States brought a lot of unwanted publicity to the oil companies operating in Sudan. Marathon turned over its shares to White Nile while Total still currently holds the majority shares over most of Block B. At the end of March 2008, Marathon claimed it had sold its shares to Total.
This is, in part, why the right-wing pro-American administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy is supporting US efforts to get a UN and/or EU force into Darfur because the French desire a regional balance of power. The French currently maintain a quiet presence in Chad and Darfur. French soldiers are also operating from the French military base in Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR). This base houses a quick reaction force to act as a balance of power to keep the Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic (APRD) and Democracy and the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) militias in the CAR at bay, prevent the CAR from being used as a transit point for unwelcome militias, and keep the area stable so another front doesn't open up in the regional war. In the past, CAR fighters have sided with the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC)coalition that aims to overthrow Chadian President Idriss Deby. The accords signed between the two rebel groups in CAR and the government are designed to increase that stability, but they collapsed in August of 2008. A group of militants split off from the UFDR and formed the Forces for the Unification of the Central African Republic (FIRCA).
The Sudanese Government stands accused of arming and supplying airlift support to both CAR militias. The French forces in CAR also come to the aid of the Chadian Government when the Sudan Government-backed National Alliance (United Force for Democracy and Development and Rally of Forces for Change) attempts to coup President Deby. President Deby's Chadian army has been training and arming the SLA-Minawi, a primarily Zaghawa faction (both Mr. Minni Minawi and President Deby are of Zaghawa ethnicity, but are from different Zaghawa clans), and the JEM to help defend against the NA and Janjaweed that are crossing the porous and unregulated border into Chad. In turn, these militas are used to destabilize Khartoum from the western front. The other chief militia group, the Fur-based SLA, is lead by Mr. Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur from Paris. The SLA, before it splintered into numerous separate factions, is known to have been armed and trained by Eritrea and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Eritrea has also trained JEM soldiers. The SPLA is currently being trained by the U.S. private military companies Dyncorp and Blackwater and recently an SPLA arms shipment arriving from Mombasa (where the U.S. Marines have a military base) was seized by Kenyan police en route. Dyncorp denied involvement. Incidentally, the 3rd and 10th U.S. Special Forces units are training Chadian soldiers at a small base in Camp Loumia, located 50km south of N'Djamena. Exxon-Mobil and Chevron are the primary shareholders in a consortum of oil companies that have been exploring the southern Doba region since 2000. This area is the starting point for the formerly World Bank-financed Chad-Cameroon pipeline that runs down to a port on the Gulf of Guinea, where the US has a naval presence.
Sudanese oil may be of increased interest to the French as their relations with Russia, the chief oil and gas supplier to Central Europe, have recently soured over Iran policy disagreements, France's pro-US relations, and Russia's recent moves to secure some of Libya's oil in exchange for arms (see below). France, like other landlocked European countries, does not have any inherent petroleum supply of their own. This creates a problem as Europe prepares for a petroleum-scarce (and expensive) era driven by increased worldwide demand and a diminishing supply from known reserves. Europe's traditional direct supplier of oil and gas is Russia, who has the upper hand politically when the pro-American countries in Europe like Germany and France juxtapose between cordial relations at the Kremlin for oil and gas or supporting U.S.-initatives for other strategic gains. Russia can simply threaten to "turn off the spigot" at any time as a political incentive just as they have done with Ukraine's gas supply in recent times. Europe still has the North Sea for an oil supply if need be, but it will not sustain Western Europe for too long and they need a steady outside supply. Sudan offers one possible source. In addition, through Total's concession on Block B, the French will have the potential to expand sphere of influence and increase French access in the region. Total's operations in Africa have a longstanding history of acting as a front for the DGSE that goes back to the days of the late Mr. Jacques Foccart.
Russia plans to build a new pipeline from Unecha to Primorsk that will reduce the supply to Europe through the Druzhba pipeline. Gazprom also signed on for the South Supply oil pipeline from Siberia with Italy's ENI, Bulgaria and Serbia. Europe's hope for oil now lies with the proposed Trans-Balkan oil pipeline from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Bourgas through Macedonia (recently denied NATO membership by Greece, who holds the only other possible oil route to the Black Sea through Macedonia) to the Albanian Adriatic Sea port of Vlor. The entrance point will be Stebleve in Albania and Lakaica in the Republic of Macedonia. However, Russia's inclusion of Bulgaria in the lucrative South Stream deal is an attempt to woo them away from western-driven energy projects. Meanwhile, the United States and the EU are hoping to secure backing for the rival Nabucco pipeline, which would bypass Russia and reduce the EU's dependence on Russia for natural gas. The EU also offered Nigeria 15 billion Euros to build an ambitious trans-Saharan (NIGHAL) pipeline that will deliver natural gas directly to Europe. However, Gazprom has announced it will back the project and has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in Moscow to co-operate on gas exploration, production and transportation, all but assuring Moscow will play a role in the project.
The pipeline's concept was created in 1993 and the feasibility study was carried out in 1995 by Brown and Root, which was a subsidiary of Halliburton at the time. Halliburton's CEO in 1995 was Mr. Dick Cheney, the outgoing Vice President. Brown & Root were given 2 major contracts to support operations that house military forces adjacent to the pipeline route. Under the Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP), Brown and Root is contracted to support Camp Able Sentry, a U.S. military staging base located just outside the Skopje airport in Macedonia. In 1999, after the Kosovo war, Brown and Root built the massive Camp Bondsteel near Ferizaj-Urosevac, Kosovo, north of the proposed pipeline route. This base is the largest US base camp created since the Vietnam War.
AMBO, registered in Pound Ridge, New York, was contracted to build the pipeline in 1997. Brown and Root's former Director of Oil & Gas Development for Europe and Africa, Mr. Ted Ferguson, was named the new President of AMBO in 1997 after the death of its former president and founder, Macedonian-born Mr. Vuko Tashkovikj. The pipeline will bring oil directly to the European market by eliminating oil tanker traffic through the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. On 31 January 2007, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania signed a trilateral convention on the construction of the pipeline. The document was ratified by the Parliaments of all three countries. Chevron and Exxon-Mobil have shown interest in financing the project.
As stated previously, the EU wants to become less dependent on Russia's gas and oil imports, which not only has practical implications, but would also allow them more flexibility in making policy decisions that involve Russia. The European Union is seeking to obtain oil and gas from Algeria and Libya. 90% of Algeria's oil goes to Western Europe, and they would like to see the output increase. Algeria's OZ2 pipeline, which came online in 2005, supplies oil to Europe. French firms made deals with Libya for Airbus planes, water infrastructure, a new airport, and road building. Both Algeria and Libya have cut a deal with France to build a nuclear reactor. By generating more of their own power from nuclear reactors, they may be able to reduce their domestic oil consumption and thus have more to export. Germany is already present in Libya via RWE. The European Union wants to integrate the North African and western Middle East states into the Mediterranean Union, then enter into a partnership with them for free trade.
The United States is also seeking oil contracts now that ties have officially 'normalized' and U.S. oil firms can legally do buisiness there. However, there were reports that Uganda hosted western oil company executives to meet with Qaddafi during the time U.S. sanctions were in place. It is noteworthy that Halliburton, during the time current Vice President Dick Cheney was the CEO, pled guilty to illegally selling Libya several pulse neutron generators, which can be used to detonate nuclear weapons. For the first time, Libya will be recieving military training through IMET from the U.S. Department of State in fiscal year 2008. Also noteworthy is the fact that in April of 2008, several members of the German SEK were indicted for training Libyan forces on behalf of a private security firm without federal government consent.
Russia is not blind though. They have skillfully exerted their own political influence in the region while securing their own interests in an effort to hold on to their political leverage over Europe. In 2006, Russia wrote off Algeria's debt and gave them a $4.3billion dollar arms sale. In February of this year, Russia hosted Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and pitched the idea of creating a global gas cartel (like OPEC is for the petroleum industry) with Russia and Algeria at the helm. Earlier this year, Russia cancelled Libya's debt and made a deal to establish joint ventures designed to increase Libya's refining capacity and speed. The joint venture is also expected to build a gas pipeline to Italy. In exchange, Russia recieved an exploration and production sharing agreement on a large oil and gas field in the Ghadames Basin. Russia has made a bid to buy all of Libya's oil and gas exports in an effort to preempt the United States. In addition, they bought shares of 49.9% in 2 oil concessions from Germany's BASF. Finally, to sweeten the partnership with Libya, Russia approved the sale of over $2.5 billion dollars worth of arms, including: S-300 PMU2 Favorits; Tor M1 and Buk M1-2 anti-aircraft missile systems; two aircraft squadrons - one Mikoyan MiG-29 SMT and one Sukhoi Su-30 MK; and several Mil Mi-17, Mi-35 and Kamov Ka-52 helicopters. It is hardly a secret that Russia has been selling military equipment and arms to the government of Sudan, which has fueled the war in Darfur. They also sell arms to Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda, Morocco, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, and Burkina Faso.
In the meantime, Libya, like Russia, gains more political power as the price of crude oil goes up. The state-owned Libya Oil Holding Company signed a $300 million dollar deal with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to build oil storage and control facilities in addition to a pipeline that will bring oil from the Atlantic coast to the Congo's interior. The company also bought out Royal Dutch Shell's retail businesses in Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Sudan. In 2006, the UN stated that Libya was arming the SLA and the JEM. In addition, UN Security Council report S/2006/65 said that Libyan soldiers were seen with these groups in Sudanese territory. When the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), Union of Forces for Democracy and Development-Fundamental (UFDD-F) and Rally of Democratic Forces (RFC) rebels attacked N'Djamena in February 2008, French forces in the city transported heavy weapons ammunition from Libya for delivery to the Chadian National Army.
All of these complex factors, coupled with depleting oil deposits in the North Sea and stricter environmental laws enacted through the supranational legistlative and judicial powers of the European Union (preventing large-scale use of coal), has turned France and the European Union towards alternative energy sources. France already utilizes a great deal of nuclear power. In 2004, 79% of France's national energy production came from nuclear power, and in 2006, France commissioned the creation of a new high-tech reactor. The German Government owns 34% of Areva NP through Siemans. Areva NP, a subsidiary of the uranium industry giant Areva, has the contract to build France's new nuclear reactor. Areva is 2/3 owned by the state, the remaining 1/3 was privatized. France currently produces so much electricity from their nuclear power plants that they export 18% of their production to Britain, Germany, and Italy. This has kept electricity prices very low for these countries. Therefore, France's acquisition of uranium stocks is not only important for them, but for all other EU member states that import France's extraneous nuclear energy. An increase in nuclear energy production could also theoretically reduce Europe's demand for oil and gas, which has the benefits explained above.
In August 2007, the South Sudanese Government awarded a uranium mining contract to the UK's Brinkley Mining. Brinkley's Executive Chairman, Mr. Gerard Holden, was the Managing Director and Global Head of Mining and Metals at Barclay's Bank, which just purchased a sizable share in Rwanda's national bank this week. Brinkley, through its subsidiary Brinkley Africa Ltd. also owns the rights to exploit the premier uranium concessions in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga Province, including the infamous Shinkolobwe mine, where the uranium for the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombs (Fat Man and Little Boy) was obtained. Brinkley created a new company in Congo with the CGEA called Societe d'Inspection des Matieres Nucleaires et des Substances Radioactive (SOCIMAR). SOCIMAR is mandated by the CGEA to conduct radiation testing and certification of uranium exports.
The unexploited uranium deposits in Darfur provide a potentially large source of raw materials for Europe's reactors. The French are interested in the unexploited Uranium deposits in Darfur near the Central African Republic border. However, some of the uranium deposits are located at the tail end of oil concession Block 6, which the Chinese and APCO own and they want to develop, as mentioned earlier. Brinkley's interest in the region is important because Great Britain has recently become very engaged and vocal in the Darfur issue, but back in 2004, Sir Michael Jackson, who served as American General Wesley Clark's deputy in NATO's unilateral bombing campaign against Serbia, said back in 2004 that Britain could send in 5,000 soldiers to Darfur in the event of a military invasion of Sudan. In a Boston Globe article printed in April 2006, General Clark advocated for the Department of Defense to provide military support to support a UN mission in Darfur. Others have advocated for companies like Blackwater to be contracted out for deploying soldiers to Sudan.
Great Britain is also interested in increasing their reliance on nuclear power and this is behind Britain's increased interest in Darfur as of late. Suddenly, after little public rhetoric on Darfur, Britain is sending 'deminers' and PM Gordon Brown has threatened severe sanctions on Khartoum. Back in 2006, Britain produced 20% of its electricity from nuclear energy, but as an island with no petrol of its own, they have also been hit hard by rising fuel costs and they, like France, rely on Russia and the North Sea for their petrol. Foreseeing this problem, former New Labour Party PM Tony Blair and former French President Jacques Chirac started a nuclear partnership in 2006. Current French President Nicolas Sarkozy deepened those ties when he worked out a deal for four nuclear reactors to be built in Britain by the French Government-controlled Electricite de France. So like France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy, a balance of power in Northeast Africa is a matter of vital importance in order to be able to access the natural resources. Essentially, this makes foreign and energy policies in Sudan a regional issue concerning the EU.
Areva has deeper ties in the region that must be considered. In mid-2007, Areva purchased another uranium mining giant, Canada's UraMin. The acquisition gave Areva rights to the uranium deposits in Bakouma, located in Southeastern Central African Republic. The CAR, which was part of the French-colonial Federation of French Equatorial Africa, still houses a French military base that is used to maintain French influence and launch military operations in the region, as mentioned earlier. French forces also make up the vast majority of the European Union misson in Chad and the CAR (EUFOR). Recently, French EUFOR troops stationed in CAR ventured into Darfur and came under fire. One French soldier was killed in the melee. If nothing else, the French soldiers would like to guard the deposts until the fighting subsides.
UraMin has expanded its operations in the region and is currently exploring for uranium in the Sodje Mbaye, Madagzang, Yedri Ténéré and Fada Itou areas in northwest, east and southwest Chad. These areas were previously explored by the United Nations Development Programme and the International Atomic Energy Agency in the late 1970s and early 1980s according to UraMin's website.
European and South African-based Signet Mining Services, a ~4% owner of Brinkley Mining, is also active in the region mining for uranium. Through Brinkley, they are interested in becoming more involved in the DRC's uranium deposits. Signet Mining holds four uranium mining concessions in Chad. According to Signet's website, under the provisions of the Mining Convention of Chad, ownership of these concessions was transferred to Chad Mining Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blue Marine Global Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Signet Mining Services Ltd. Exploration is currently underway near the towns of Pala and Lere, located in the Mayo Kebbi District. The project is managed by Mr. Dyonn Hage and Mr. Shawn Heroldt, who worked for a security company in the DRC at a diamond mine for two years.
Signet owns 1 concession and 2 'double' uranium concessions in Niger through their subsidiary Niger Mining Services SARL. According to their website The eastern double block is called Adrar - Emoles I & II, and the western double concession is Tassadet I & II. The single concession NNW of Tassadet is referred to as In Tabarekat II. The project is run by Mr. Frank Schmidt and Mr. John Birch. CEO Mr. Calvyn Gardner hails from Anglo American/Highveld Steel. Technical Manager Mr. Jason Mason-Apps came over from Barrick Gold.
Besides the energy interests, the US and France also see the region as a national security threat because of the uranium deposits. They want to secure it, have their close western allies secure it, or have a military presence to guard it before an adversary gains access to the deposits. They other reason is a concern that the uranium might find its way onto the black market and someone might make a 'dirty bomb' out of it, or even worse, an opposing state that has the capability to enrich the uranium. The US and its allies would like to secure the uranium mining areas in the region before Sudan delves any further into a failed state. The dismantling of a covert CIA counterproliferation unit, which occurred with the outing of Mrs. Valerie Plame-Wilson (one of the units operatives) by members of the Bush Administration, severely impaired their ability to track uranium production and illicit sales. The Bush Administration's purge of key National Security Council (NSC) members involved in tracking weapons of mass destruction proliferation only added to the problem.
Once Marathon left, US businesses were officially out of Sudan. Legal and ethical issues like the ones Marathon experienced will not be resolved until South Sudan declares independence in 2011. However, not everything was as it seemed. A company called Jarch Capital, based in New York City (on the 9th floor at 445 Park Avenue), bought a Block B concession back in 2003 from the SPLM/A before the 2005 peace agreement was signed. Jarch Capital is owned and chaired by an American named Phil Heilberg, also owner of Heilberg Management Group. He is also the manager of AIG's Hong Kong office. AIG, an insurance giant, has an African Infrastructure Fund. Don't be surprised if South Sudan will be a large recipient in the future after independence.
Back in 2003, before the North-South peace deal was signed, the legality could be debated because South Sudan did not have semi-autonomous status and any sovereignty they had was de facto. So due to sanctions, Mr. Heilberg could not do business in Sudan. However, he had a novel solution. He helped create Jarch Management Group LLC, of which he became Chairman. Jarch Management (JMG) was registered in the Virgin Islands:
Akara Building
24 De Castro Street
Wickhams Cay I
Road Town, Tortola
British Virgin Islands
As a result, it is technically not an American company even though an American owns and runs the firm because it is not registered as a corporation on American soverign territory. This is a time-honored trick, and as result, there are no problems doing business in Sudan, even with the de facto SPLM government, because such restrictions do not exist for British Virgin Island registered businesses. JMG would eventually buy the Block B concession from Jarch Capital. According to Jarch's management team the following individuals were aware of the original deal made in 2003: Dr John Garang (late leader of SPLM), Rebecca Garang (Minister of Transport and Roads for GOSS), Dr. Riek Machar (Vice President of GOSS), Kuol Mangyang Juuk (Minister of Transport GONU and board member of White Nile, Ltd.), Arthur Akuien Chol (Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of GOSS), Dr. Lual A. Deng (State Minister of State for Finance of GONU and non-executive board member of White Nile, Ltd.), Steven Wondu (North American representative).
As of 2006 JMG's Advisory Board included:
1. Mr. Saville Lau- Chairman of the Board of Advisers for Jarch Management Group and President of Jarch Management Group. Mr Lau is located in Hong Kong
2. Dr. David de Chand- Chairman of the South Sudan United Democratic Alliance (SSUDA) and Professor at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Chand is located in Omaha and is an expert on Sudan.
3. Dr. Amir Idris- Professor at Fordham University. Dr. Idris is located in New York and is an expert on the African region.
4. Commander Thowath Pal Chay- Chairman of Ethiopian Unity Patriots' Front (EUPF) and Commander in Chief of Ethiopian Unity Patriots' Army (EUPA). He is located in East Africa. This individual, who has called for an overthrow of the Tigray government in Ethiopia, cannot sit well with the US, a staunch ally of Ethiopia.
5. Mr. Peter Kueth Kor- Secretary for External Relations for the South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF). He is located in Nairobi, Kenya.
One will notice the preponderance of members of the Sudanese Diaspora residing in the United States.
Note that Mr. De Chand was sacked in October 2006.
The SPLM, who has been backed by the US since their creation, gave Block B to White Nile, disregarding the previous deal with Jarch made back in 2003. Jarch threatened to sue the SPLM. They also forged ties with the South Sudan Defense Force (SSDF), who are primarily Nuer but are comprised of several groups that split off from the SPLM/A during the north-south war. The SSDF and the SPLA fought in the late 1990s until 2006. The SSDF has also allied with the Government of Sudan in the past. The SSDF and its political wing issued an exploration license to JMG in late February 2006. They said they would consider declaring their own independence and split South Sudan in two if JMG was not respected as the sole authority. However, on 27 February 2006, just 2 days after this announcement, the US said it wanted to build a military base in South Sudan to protect the oil. The SSDF's Brig Mohamed Chol al-Ahmar warned the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) not to approve it. In December 2006, JMG threw its support behind General Matip, angering some southern factions and causing tensions.
JMG sought to use the existing pipeline going to Port Sudan as a means of transport, but the Ministry of Energy in Khartoum refused to strike a deal. JMG and the SSDF were left to look for an alternative. While this situation has not been resolved yet, I postulate that they may be planning to persuade for an extension of the planned Uganda-Kenya-Rwanda pipeline into South Sudan. The pipeline is set to begin construction in May, but this is contingent on the Kenyan power-sharing agreement holding and a continuing calm to the unrest in Kenya. That is why US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has remained in telephone contact with both Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga. This is not a new idea. Mr. Tiny Rowland, a self-professed member of the SPLA (declared to the BBC in March 1993), first proposed a plan to build such a pipeline to the South African Weekly Mail. His company, the London-Rhodesia Corporation (Lonhro) hoped to secure the contract.
Transport for the oil is going to be taken care of. The German Government is financing a new railway line that will up Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan, allowing for shipping to and from the port city of Mombasa. Uganda is urging the Chinese to fund a railway to South Sudan. Both Uganda and Kenya would profit handsomely from the transport fees (customs) and taxes during the shipping process. It would also help develop Uganda's budding petroleum sector, currently being exploited by Heritage Gas and Oil, Tullow Oil, Neptune (Tower) Resources, and Dominion Petroleum. An oil refinery is being developed in Hoima so the shipping costs can be cut, otherwise the crude oil must be shipped to Mombasa or Dar es Salaam for refining, then shipped back. In addition, both refineries currently run well below capacity.
The reader should realize just how much of a stake the US has in the Kenyan pipeline project. The contract to build, operate, and transfer the oil was awarded to the Uganda-based Tamoil East Africa Ltd. This firm is a subsidiary of Tamoil Africa Holding, based in Libya. In June 2007, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm named Colony Capital LLC bought out the majority shares in Oilinvest and Tamoil Africa Holding (TAC) for 3.5-5.4 Billion dollars (US) and acquired a 65% share. Colony was founded and is currently run by Mr. Thomas Barrack Jr., the Deputy Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior for President Ronald Reagan. Therefore, the US has the contract to build, operate, and maintain the new pipeline. This is, in part, why the US pushed so hard for the power-sharing deal in Kenya to stop the violence, but at the same time ensuring President Kibaki, whose administration approved the contact, remains in a prominent position of power along with his political party. Nexant, a subsidiary of Bechtel, completed the original cost-benefit analysis of the pipeline project. It was, in large part, their recommendations that caused the pipeline extension project to be approved. But there is more. Only months after their acquisition, TAC acquired an exploration licenses in Chad for the Irdiss 1, Idriss 2 and Wadjadou 1 blocks near the Libyan border, the same relative area the US has quietly built a military base in Libyan territory under the guise of the State Department-funded Pan-Sahel Initiative.
However, Colony's deal is in trouble. Some reports claim that the stake has not been transferred over to Colony yet. (Editor's Update: Colony has since dropped out of the deal) Recent US legislation seeks to comphensate victims of terrorism, including past incidents Libya is accused of playing a role in. The move has irritated some members of the Libyan Government. They have given the state-run investment fund full control over Tamoil's refinery company based in Switzerland. Tamoil owns refineries in Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland and operates more than 3,000 filing stations in Europe. For that reason, Europe also has a major stake in the project and an interest in protecting the US-deal. Some analysts believe Libya wants to renegotiate the deal and give Colony a minority stake.
At the same time, TAC reportedly received exploration permits from the Moroccan Government to explore in Western Sahara, a disputed territory that is not recognized as a state, making any such exploration highly illegal under international law. Colony Capital spokesman have vigorously denied that they received any such deal in W. Sahara. TAC also owns oil concessions in Mail and Niger, where battles with the Tuareg militias have been raging. The US has been training and supplying the Mali and Niger Governments' armies under the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative. The 10th Special Forces trained soldiers in Gao and Timbuktu. The US has even dropped supplies under fire to government troops on the battlefield. President Toure visited President Bush in Washington D.C. shortly before he left on his recent official state visit to Africa recently.
The natural resources in this part of the Magreb cannot be developed while the Tuareg conflict rages on and Europe has vast energy interest in the region. The French are interested in the uranium stores as well. Areva, a firm mentioned earlier, owns vast concessions in Niger to mine for Uranium and the EU's planned (NIGAL) Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline mentioned earlier, will stretch from Algeria to Nigeria and go right through Niger. Without stability in Niger and Mali, the pipeline will not be very feasible. The stakes are even higher because recently 2 Chinese state-owned companies, China Hydraulic and Hydroelectric Construction Group Corp. (Sinohydro Corp.) they were teaming up with the China Nuclear International Uranium Corporation (Sino-Uranium) for a uranium mining and metallurgy project in Azelik, Niger. They will jointly exploit a 600,000-ton uranium mine project as well as purchase and install two 6MW nuclear power plants and a metal hydrometallurgy plant in Niger, supplying the country with electricity.
Uganda needs to procure the land to build its branch of the Kenyan pipeline, which may be a large part of the reason for the ongoing Buganda land ownership debates. They also need peace in North Uganda and South Sudan. The LRA periodically relocate around Juba and are currently located in the Central African Republic. They are destabilizing the area and slowing the development of critical infrastructure in Northern Uganda and areas of South Sudan, including the border with South Sudan. South Sudan was heavily involved in the Juba talks, which were attended by Riek Machar. One should ask themselves: Why is it now that there is such an extremely heavy regional political push to get a lasting agreement with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)?
The US in particular, including President Bush himself, has pushed hard for a final peace agreement. On April 8th, 2008, the US State Depatment approved the visas of 6 LRA members so they could travel to New York for talks, despite the LRA's official status as a Foreign Terrorist Organizaion in the United States. This status means the visa approvals violate Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Why has this extraordinary measure not been offered by the US to open up talks with other armed opposition groups? Is there a relative gain incentive for the US to partake in this action? Why is there such an aggressive and concerted effort to get this particular armed group to end its insurrection in a region awash in militias? Why not make put this high-level of pressure on the earlier? After all, the LRA was armed by the Khartoum Government as a way to get back at Uganda for arming the SPLA. The reality is that all parties with a stake in the pipline project and the developing oil industry in the region want lasting peace and stability in Uganda and South Sudan so they can develop the land in the northwest where the war is being faught with the LRA. Only peace and stability will allow pipelines and economy-supporting infrastructure to be built. Sources claim that U.S. Marines and Army personel stationed in the Kitgum District have been helping 'hunt' Kony and his top advisors and providing intelligence support to the Ugandan military.
To that end, Uganda is helping South Sudan prepare for autonomy by bolstering its economy, encouraging investment, and expanding its markets. The late Dr. John Garang's son, Mabior Garang, has opened a permanent trade and investment mission at Kampala's Pan-African House on Kimathi Avenue. It has a satellite office located in the Akok Riverside Hotel in Juba, South Sudan. The offices promote South Sudan investment by offering consultancy services to businessmen and link them to business partners Southern Sudan. Mr. Garang is also the Chairman of Southern Sudan Trade, Commerce and Investment. There is also talk that Uganda will support a South Sudan bid to join the East African Community (EAC).
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir signed a cooperation agreement on transport and communication, health, culture and media between Southern Sudan and Uganda. The agreement also guarantees equal tuition fees and services for southern Sudanese in Ugandan universities. On 5 February, President Kiir attended a ceremony to break ground on the construction of a road from Juba to Nimule. The US funded road connects Juba to the Ugandan border and will serve as the main route for trade and commerce between Uganda and South Sudan.
JMG has continued to move forward in the meantime. In January 2007, Jarch Capital named Mr. Joseph Wilson as the Vice Chairman of Jarch Capital. Yes, this is the same Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife, Mrs. Valerie Plame, was exposed as a non-commissioned Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer by President Bush's former politcial advisor, Mr. Karl Rove, Vice President Richard Cheney, Mr. Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and former Undersecretary of State Richard Armitage following Ambassador Wilson's revelation that the Niger 'yellowcake' claims make in President Bush's State of the Union address in 2003 were utterly false and the administration knew this when they included the information in the speech.
In 1995, Mr. Wilson served as a political advisor to EUCOM and worked closely with EUCOM's Deputy Commander, General James Jammerson, who served under General George Joulwan. After leaving this post, Mr. Wilson served as the Senior African Affairs Advisor at the National Security Council (NSC) under President Clinton's NSC Advisor Anthony Lake beginning in 1997 during the time period the Khartoum Agreement was signed. Mr. Lake was originally nominated to be the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), but was rejected by the Republican-controlled Congress. Mr. Wilson rotated into the NSC as Ms. Susan Rice was rotating out of the NSC's African Desk and into the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs. Working under him at the NSC's East African Desk was Mr. John Prendergast. Mr. Wilson served as the chief planner for President Clinton's trip to Africa in 1998.
Ambassador Wilson dealt with the SPLM/A in his capacity as an NSC advisor. In 1997, the north-south civil war was in full swing and was a major issue at the NSC African Desk. He was also a seasoned diplomat who had served in several African countries, including as the Ambassador to Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe. His negotiating skills and knowledge of the region were incredibly valuable to Jarch and it did not take long for them to pay off. White Nile's legal claim to Block B was rejected by a decision adopted by the Sudanese National Petroleum Commission on 17 June 2007. In August 2007, President Salva Kiir and General Matip confirmed JMG's 2003 agreement claims in exchange for 10% following months of meetings. In order to gain full political support for their claims, JMG began appointing members of the SPLM/A to its advisory board. In November 2007, General Matip was appointed as an Advisor and Vice President. At the same time, in an official company release, JMG urged GOSS to declare South Sudan's independence. In late February 2008, Joseph Wejang, the Minister of Health of the Government of Southern Sudan also joined JMG's advisory team as did Ambassador Emmanuel Touaboy, the Ambassador of the Central African Republic to the US.
With political support from both the Dinka and Nuer through their diversified advisory board, JMG has strengthened its political position and tempered potential SPLA-SSDF skirmishes over the oil fields. Since JMG is essentially acting as a holding company, it follows to ask: just who are they holding it for? Perhaps they are waiting for South Sudan's independence referendum in 2011 so they can sell it legally to a U.S.-registered oil company. Or maybe it is an intelligence front company? Only time will tell.
World News Journal
For the United States (US), oil is indeed a major part of its interest in Sudan, but for now, it is not about Darfur's oil so much as it is South Sudan's oil. There is indeed oil in Darfur, don't get me wrong. In fact, the Chinese state oil company (CNOOC) already owns part of Block 6, a concession that extends deep into Southern Darfur near the Central African Republic border. APCO, a joint-venture between Cliveden Petroleum, Hi-Tech Petroleum, Sudapet, Khartoum State and Higleig Petroleum, holds a large stake in the southern stretch of Block C.
According to Afrol News, Rolls Royce Marine, a subsidiary of Rolls Royce UK, was at one point shipping diesel motors and pumps to Sudan for the Chinese to begin developing the field and prepare for test well drilling in Darfur. However, they are unable to do so because the Chadian-backed Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) have been attacking the workers and preventing access to the site. The block located in the center of Darfur's complex interstate war(Block 12B) has yet to be awarded but Reliance Industries of India is the current frontrunner.
Sudan is China's largest overseas oil suppliers and China is also partnered with Iran in a major oil deal. They may partner up with Pakistan and Iran in a joint pipeline venture if India backs out of their part in the deal. As China continues its exponential increase in oil-consumption, US foreign policy toward China has taken on a dimension that includes both slowing down development on China's foreign acquisitions and securing the rest of the major oil concessions before they do. China is looking to import 40% of its crude oil and natural gas from Africa within the next 5-10 years. China has countered by enabling the Sudanese Army to push the rebels out of the concessions by supplying weapons and military equipment. Russia and Iran have followed suit to oppose western aquisition of strategic resources and deepen their ties with China and each other.
Another little-known fact is that oil Block 12A, located in North Darfur, has already been contracted out, though the exploration is expected to take place north of the various Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) factional strongholds. In November 2006, the Saudi-based Abdulhadi A. Al Qahtani Sons Group owns a 33% controlling share. Egypt and Yemen-based Ansan Wikfs Investments Limited, through its subsidiary Ansan Wikfs (Sudan) Limited, holds a 20% share. Mr. Meftah Bouazizi is the General Manager of Exploration and Production for Ansan in Sudan and Denis Rey is the Country Manager. Mr. Peter Carpenter, Director of The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Egypt, is the Finance Director of Ansan. The state-owned Sudapet holds 20%, Sudan-based Dindir Petroleum International holds 15%, All African Investments owns 5%, India's ONGC owns 6%, and Sudan's Hi-Tech Petroleum Group, created by former Minister of Hydrocarbons, Abdel Aziz Osman, owns 7%. President Bashir's brother is a manager of the company and it has been the target of international sanctions.
Sudan was declared a terrorist state by the US for harboring Osama bin Laden, who was accused of approving and financing the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and an assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 1995. Bin Laden collaborated closely with Dr. Hassan al-Turabi, a Muslim cleric who supported Omar al-Bashir's coup as a fellow member of the National Islamic Front (NIF). Upon being designated a terrorist state, a whole host of sanctions are instituted. For the US, it meant that US businesses could not operate within Sudanese borders under penalty of law. The US also could not import anything from Sudan, including oil. The only exception-thanks to lobbying from Congressman Robert Menendez, Coca-Cola, others in the food industry, and the pharmaceutical lobby-was gum arabic, known locally as Hashab. Sudan holds the largest share of the market, as its reserves total 80% of the world's supply. The majority of the areas rich in the acacia trees that grow Hashab are currently under the Khartoum Government's control, which provides them with significant political leverage at the international negotiating table. The two largest processing plants in the United States are in New Jersey.
When South Sudan was given semi-autonomous status following the 2005 peace agreement, some grey legal area was created. Could a US business legally work only with the parallel administration in South Sudan, and still get away with it legally by being in sovereign Sudanese territory? Well, Marathon Oil decided to push the proverbial envelop, and signed up for Block B along with TotalElfFina and the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Company. However, legal wrangling between Total and the UK-firm White Nile left the political situation in Block B unstable. Additionally, the divestment movement in the United States brought a lot of unwanted publicity to the oil companies operating in Sudan. Marathon turned over its shares to White Nile while Total still currently holds the majority shares over most of Block B. At the end of March 2008, Marathon claimed it had sold its shares to Total.
This is, in part, why the right-wing pro-American administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy is supporting US efforts to get a UN and/or EU force into Darfur because the French desire a regional balance of power. The French currently maintain a quiet presence in Chad and Darfur. French soldiers are also operating from the French military base in Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR). This base houses a quick reaction force to act as a balance of power to keep the Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic (APRD) and Democracy and the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) militias in the CAR at bay, prevent the CAR from being used as a transit point for unwelcome militias, and keep the area stable so another front doesn't open up in the regional war. In the past, CAR fighters have sided with the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC)coalition that aims to overthrow Chadian President Idriss Deby. The accords signed between the two rebel groups in CAR and the government are designed to increase that stability, but they collapsed in August of 2008. A group of militants split off from the UFDR and formed the Forces for the Unification of the Central African Republic (FIRCA).
The Sudanese Government stands accused of arming and supplying airlift support to both CAR militias. The French forces in CAR also come to the aid of the Chadian Government when the Sudan Government-backed National Alliance (United Force for Democracy and Development and Rally of Forces for Change) attempts to coup President Deby. President Deby's Chadian army has been training and arming the SLA-Minawi, a primarily Zaghawa faction (both Mr. Minni Minawi and President Deby are of Zaghawa ethnicity, but are from different Zaghawa clans), and the JEM to help defend against the NA and Janjaweed that are crossing the porous and unregulated border into Chad. In turn, these militas are used to destabilize Khartoum from the western front. The other chief militia group, the Fur-based SLA, is lead by Mr. Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur from Paris. The SLA, before it splintered into numerous separate factions, is known to have been armed and trained by Eritrea and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Eritrea has also trained JEM soldiers. The SPLA is currently being trained by the U.S. private military companies Dyncorp and Blackwater and recently an SPLA arms shipment arriving from Mombasa (where the U.S. Marines have a military base) was seized by Kenyan police en route. Dyncorp denied involvement. Incidentally, the 3rd and 10th U.S. Special Forces units are training Chadian soldiers at a small base in Camp Loumia, located 50km south of N'Djamena. Exxon-Mobil and Chevron are the primary shareholders in a consortum of oil companies that have been exploring the southern Doba region since 2000. This area is the starting point for the formerly World Bank-financed Chad-Cameroon pipeline that runs down to a port on the Gulf of Guinea, where the US has a naval presence.
Sudanese oil may be of increased interest to the French as their relations with Russia, the chief oil and gas supplier to Central Europe, have recently soured over Iran policy disagreements, France's pro-US relations, and Russia's recent moves to secure some of Libya's oil in exchange for arms (see below). France, like other landlocked European countries, does not have any inherent petroleum supply of their own. This creates a problem as Europe prepares for a petroleum-scarce (and expensive) era driven by increased worldwide demand and a diminishing supply from known reserves. Europe's traditional direct supplier of oil and gas is Russia, who has the upper hand politically when the pro-American countries in Europe like Germany and France juxtapose between cordial relations at the Kremlin for oil and gas or supporting U.S.-initatives for other strategic gains. Russia can simply threaten to "turn off the spigot" at any time as a political incentive just as they have done with Ukraine's gas supply in recent times. Europe still has the North Sea for an oil supply if need be, but it will not sustain Western Europe for too long and they need a steady outside supply. Sudan offers one possible source. In addition, through Total's concession on Block B, the French will have the potential to expand sphere of influence and increase French access in the region. Total's operations in Africa have a longstanding history of acting as a front for the DGSE that goes back to the days of the late Mr. Jacques Foccart.
Russia plans to build a new pipeline from Unecha to Primorsk that will reduce the supply to Europe through the Druzhba pipeline. Gazprom also signed on for the South Supply oil pipeline from Siberia with Italy's ENI, Bulgaria and Serbia. Europe's hope for oil now lies with the proposed Trans-Balkan oil pipeline from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Bourgas through Macedonia (recently denied NATO membership by Greece, who holds the only other possible oil route to the Black Sea through Macedonia) to the Albanian Adriatic Sea port of Vlor. The entrance point will be Stebleve in Albania and Lakaica in the Republic of Macedonia. However, Russia's inclusion of Bulgaria in the lucrative South Stream deal is an attempt to woo them away from western-driven energy projects. Meanwhile, the United States and the EU are hoping to secure backing for the rival Nabucco pipeline, which would bypass Russia and reduce the EU's dependence on Russia for natural gas. The EU also offered Nigeria 15 billion Euros to build an ambitious trans-Saharan (NIGHAL) pipeline that will deliver natural gas directly to Europe. However, Gazprom has announced it will back the project and has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in Moscow to co-operate on gas exploration, production and transportation, all but assuring Moscow will play a role in the project.
The pipeline's concept was created in 1993 and the feasibility study was carried out in 1995 by Brown and Root, which was a subsidiary of Halliburton at the time. Halliburton's CEO in 1995 was Mr. Dick Cheney, the outgoing Vice President. Brown & Root were given 2 major contracts to support operations that house military forces adjacent to the pipeline route. Under the Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP), Brown and Root is contracted to support Camp Able Sentry, a U.S. military staging base located just outside the Skopje airport in Macedonia. In 1999, after the Kosovo war, Brown and Root built the massive Camp Bondsteel near Ferizaj-Urosevac, Kosovo, north of the proposed pipeline route. This base is the largest US base camp created since the Vietnam War.
AMBO, registered in Pound Ridge, New York, was contracted to build the pipeline in 1997. Brown and Root's former Director of Oil & Gas Development for Europe and Africa, Mr. Ted Ferguson, was named the new President of AMBO in 1997 after the death of its former president and founder, Macedonian-born Mr. Vuko Tashkovikj. The pipeline will bring oil directly to the European market by eliminating oil tanker traffic through the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. On 31 January 2007, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania signed a trilateral convention on the construction of the pipeline. The document was ratified by the Parliaments of all three countries. Chevron and Exxon-Mobil have shown interest in financing the project.
As stated previously, the EU wants to become less dependent on Russia's gas and oil imports, which not only has practical implications, but would also allow them more flexibility in making policy decisions that involve Russia. The European Union is seeking to obtain oil and gas from Algeria and Libya. 90% of Algeria's oil goes to Western Europe, and they would like to see the output increase. Algeria's OZ2 pipeline, which came online in 2005, supplies oil to Europe. French firms made deals with Libya for Airbus planes, water infrastructure, a new airport, and road building. Both Algeria and Libya have cut a deal with France to build a nuclear reactor. By generating more of their own power from nuclear reactors, they may be able to reduce their domestic oil consumption and thus have more to export. Germany is already present in Libya via RWE. The European Union wants to integrate the North African and western Middle East states into the Mediterranean Union, then enter into a partnership with them for free trade.
The United States is also seeking oil contracts now that ties have officially 'normalized' and U.S. oil firms can legally do buisiness there. However, there were reports that Uganda hosted western oil company executives to meet with Qaddafi during the time U.S. sanctions were in place. It is noteworthy that Halliburton, during the time current Vice President Dick Cheney was the CEO, pled guilty to illegally selling Libya several pulse neutron generators, which can be used to detonate nuclear weapons. For the first time, Libya will be recieving military training through IMET from the U.S. Department of State in fiscal year 2008. Also noteworthy is the fact that in April of 2008, several members of the German SEK were indicted for training Libyan forces on behalf of a private security firm without federal government consent.
Russia is not blind though. They have skillfully exerted their own political influence in the region while securing their own interests in an effort to hold on to their political leverage over Europe. In 2006, Russia wrote off Algeria's debt and gave them a $4.3billion dollar arms sale. In February of this year, Russia hosted Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and pitched the idea of creating a global gas cartel (like OPEC is for the petroleum industry) with Russia and Algeria at the helm. Earlier this year, Russia cancelled Libya's debt and made a deal to establish joint ventures designed to increase Libya's refining capacity and speed. The joint venture is also expected to build a gas pipeline to Italy. In exchange, Russia recieved an exploration and production sharing agreement on a large oil and gas field in the Ghadames Basin. Russia has made a bid to buy all of Libya's oil and gas exports in an effort to preempt the United States. In addition, they bought shares of 49.9% in 2 oil concessions from Germany's BASF. Finally, to sweeten the partnership with Libya, Russia approved the sale of over $2.5 billion dollars worth of arms, including: S-300 PMU2 Favorits; Tor M1 and Buk M1-2 anti-aircraft missile systems; two aircraft squadrons - one Mikoyan MiG-29 SMT and one Sukhoi Su-30 MK; and several Mil Mi-17, Mi-35 and Kamov Ka-52 helicopters. It is hardly a secret that Russia has been selling military equipment and arms to the government of Sudan, which has fueled the war in Darfur. They also sell arms to Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda, Morocco, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, and Burkina Faso.
In the meantime, Libya, like Russia, gains more political power as the price of crude oil goes up. The state-owned Libya Oil Holding Company signed a $300 million dollar deal with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to build oil storage and control facilities in addition to a pipeline that will bring oil from the Atlantic coast to the Congo's interior. The company also bought out Royal Dutch Shell's retail businesses in Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Sudan. In 2006, the UN stated that Libya was arming the SLA and the JEM. In addition, UN Security Council report S/2006/65 said that Libyan soldiers were seen with these groups in Sudanese territory. When the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), Union of Forces for Democracy and Development-Fundamental (UFDD-F) and Rally of Democratic Forces (RFC) rebels attacked N'Djamena in February 2008, French forces in the city transported heavy weapons ammunition from Libya for delivery to the Chadian National Army.
All of these complex factors, coupled with depleting oil deposits in the North Sea and stricter environmental laws enacted through the supranational legistlative and judicial powers of the European Union (preventing large-scale use of coal), has turned France and the European Union towards alternative energy sources. France already utilizes a great deal of nuclear power. In 2004, 79% of France's national energy production came from nuclear power, and in 2006, France commissioned the creation of a new high-tech reactor. The German Government owns 34% of Areva NP through Siemans. Areva NP, a subsidiary of the uranium industry giant Areva, has the contract to build France's new nuclear reactor. Areva is 2/3 owned by the state, the remaining 1/3 was privatized. France currently produces so much electricity from their nuclear power plants that they export 18% of their production to Britain, Germany, and Italy. This has kept electricity prices very low for these countries. Therefore, France's acquisition of uranium stocks is not only important for them, but for all other EU member states that import France's extraneous nuclear energy. An increase in nuclear energy production could also theoretically reduce Europe's demand for oil and gas, which has the benefits explained above.
In August 2007, the South Sudanese Government awarded a uranium mining contract to the UK's Brinkley Mining. Brinkley's Executive Chairman, Mr. Gerard Holden, was the Managing Director and Global Head of Mining and Metals at Barclay's Bank, which just purchased a sizable share in Rwanda's national bank this week. Brinkley, through its subsidiary Brinkley Africa Ltd. also owns the rights to exploit the premier uranium concessions in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga Province, including the infamous Shinkolobwe mine, where the uranium for the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombs (Fat Man and Little Boy) was obtained. Brinkley created a new company in Congo with the CGEA called Societe d'Inspection des Matieres Nucleaires et des Substances Radioactive (SOCIMAR). SOCIMAR is mandated by the CGEA to conduct radiation testing and certification of uranium exports.
The unexploited uranium deposits in Darfur provide a potentially large source of raw materials for Europe's reactors. The French are interested in the unexploited Uranium deposits in Darfur near the Central African Republic border. However, some of the uranium deposits are located at the tail end of oil concession Block 6, which the Chinese and APCO own and they want to develop, as mentioned earlier. Brinkley's interest in the region is important because Great Britain has recently become very engaged and vocal in the Darfur issue, but back in 2004, Sir Michael Jackson, who served as American General Wesley Clark's deputy in NATO's unilateral bombing campaign against Serbia, said back in 2004 that Britain could send in 5,000 soldiers to Darfur in the event of a military invasion of Sudan. In a Boston Globe article printed in April 2006, General Clark advocated for the Department of Defense to provide military support to support a UN mission in Darfur. Others have advocated for companies like Blackwater to be contracted out for deploying soldiers to Sudan.
Great Britain is also interested in increasing their reliance on nuclear power and this is behind Britain's increased interest in Darfur as of late. Suddenly, after little public rhetoric on Darfur, Britain is sending 'deminers' and PM Gordon Brown has threatened severe sanctions on Khartoum. Back in 2006, Britain produced 20% of its electricity from nuclear energy, but as an island with no petrol of its own, they have also been hit hard by rising fuel costs and they, like France, rely on Russia and the North Sea for their petrol. Foreseeing this problem, former New Labour Party PM Tony Blair and former French President Jacques Chirac started a nuclear partnership in 2006. Current French President Nicolas Sarkozy deepened those ties when he worked out a deal for four nuclear reactors to be built in Britain by the French Government-controlled Electricite de France. So like France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy, a balance of power in Northeast Africa is a matter of vital importance in order to be able to access the natural resources. Essentially, this makes foreign and energy policies in Sudan a regional issue concerning the EU.
Areva has deeper ties in the region that must be considered. In mid-2007, Areva purchased another uranium mining giant, Canada's UraMin. The acquisition gave Areva rights to the uranium deposits in Bakouma, located in Southeastern Central African Republic. The CAR, which was part of the French-colonial Federation of French Equatorial Africa, still houses a French military base that is used to maintain French influence and launch military operations in the region, as mentioned earlier. French forces also make up the vast majority of the European Union misson in Chad and the CAR (EUFOR). Recently, French EUFOR troops stationed in CAR ventured into Darfur and came under fire. One French soldier was killed in the melee. If nothing else, the French soldiers would like to guard the deposts until the fighting subsides.
UraMin has expanded its operations in the region and is currently exploring for uranium in the Sodje Mbaye, Madagzang, Yedri Ténéré and Fada Itou areas in northwest, east and southwest Chad. These areas were previously explored by the United Nations Development Programme and the International Atomic Energy Agency in the late 1970s and early 1980s according to UraMin's website.
European and South African-based Signet Mining Services, a ~4% owner of Brinkley Mining, is also active in the region mining for uranium. Through Brinkley, they are interested in becoming more involved in the DRC's uranium deposits. Signet Mining holds four uranium mining concessions in Chad. According to Signet's website, under the provisions of the Mining Convention of Chad, ownership of these concessions was transferred to Chad Mining Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blue Marine Global Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Signet Mining Services Ltd. Exploration is currently underway near the towns of Pala and Lere, located in the Mayo Kebbi District. The project is managed by Mr. Dyonn Hage and Mr. Shawn Heroldt, who worked for a security company in the DRC at a diamond mine for two years.
Signet owns 1 concession and 2 'double' uranium concessions in Niger through their subsidiary Niger Mining Services SARL. According to their website The eastern double block is called Adrar - Emoles I & II, and the western double concession is Tassadet I & II. The single concession NNW of Tassadet is referred to as In Tabarekat II. The project is run by Mr. Frank Schmidt and Mr. John Birch. CEO Mr. Calvyn Gardner hails from Anglo American/Highveld Steel. Technical Manager Mr. Jason Mason-Apps came over from Barrick Gold.
Besides the energy interests, the US and France also see the region as a national security threat because of the uranium deposits. They want to secure it, have their close western allies secure it, or have a military presence to guard it before an adversary gains access to the deposits. They other reason is a concern that the uranium might find its way onto the black market and someone might make a 'dirty bomb' out of it, or even worse, an opposing state that has the capability to enrich the uranium. The US and its allies would like to secure the uranium mining areas in the region before Sudan delves any further into a failed state. The dismantling of a covert CIA counterproliferation unit, which occurred with the outing of Mrs. Valerie Plame-Wilson (one of the units operatives) by members of the Bush Administration, severely impaired their ability to track uranium production and illicit sales. The Bush Administration's purge of key National Security Council (NSC) members involved in tracking weapons of mass destruction proliferation only added to the problem.
Once Marathon left, US businesses were officially out of Sudan. Legal and ethical issues like the ones Marathon experienced will not be resolved until South Sudan declares independence in 2011. However, not everything was as it seemed. A company called Jarch Capital, based in New York City (on the 9th floor at 445 Park Avenue), bought a Block B concession back in 2003 from the SPLM/A before the 2005 peace agreement was signed. Jarch Capital is owned and chaired by an American named Phil Heilberg, also owner of Heilberg Management Group. He is also the manager of AIG's Hong Kong office. AIG, an insurance giant, has an African Infrastructure Fund. Don't be surprised if South Sudan will be a large recipient in the future after independence.
Back in 2003, before the North-South peace deal was signed, the legality could be debated because South Sudan did not have semi-autonomous status and any sovereignty they had was de facto. So due to sanctions, Mr. Heilberg could not do business in Sudan. However, he had a novel solution. He helped create Jarch Management Group LLC, of which he became Chairman. Jarch Management (JMG) was registered in the Virgin Islands:
Akara Building
24 De Castro Street
Wickhams Cay I
Road Town, Tortola
British Virgin Islands
As a result, it is technically not an American company even though an American owns and runs the firm because it is not registered as a corporation on American soverign territory. This is a time-honored trick, and as result, there are no problems doing business in Sudan, even with the de facto SPLM government, because such restrictions do not exist for British Virgin Island registered businesses. JMG would eventually buy the Block B concession from Jarch Capital. According to Jarch's management team the following individuals were aware of the original deal made in 2003: Dr John Garang (late leader of SPLM), Rebecca Garang (Minister of Transport and Roads for GOSS), Dr. Riek Machar (Vice President of GOSS), Kuol Mangyang Juuk (Minister of Transport GONU and board member of White Nile, Ltd.), Arthur Akuien Chol (Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of GOSS), Dr. Lual A. Deng (State Minister of State for Finance of GONU and non-executive board member of White Nile, Ltd.), Steven Wondu (North American representative).
As of 2006 JMG's Advisory Board included:
1. Mr. Saville Lau- Chairman of the Board of Advisers for Jarch Management Group and President of Jarch Management Group. Mr Lau is located in Hong Kong
2. Dr. David de Chand- Chairman of the South Sudan United Democratic Alliance (SSUDA) and Professor at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Chand is located in Omaha and is an expert on Sudan.
3. Dr. Amir Idris- Professor at Fordham University. Dr. Idris is located in New York and is an expert on the African region.
4. Commander Thowath Pal Chay- Chairman of Ethiopian Unity Patriots' Front (EUPF) and Commander in Chief of Ethiopian Unity Patriots' Army (EUPA). He is located in East Africa. This individual, who has called for an overthrow of the Tigray government in Ethiopia, cannot sit well with the US, a staunch ally of Ethiopia.
5. Mr. Peter Kueth Kor- Secretary for External Relations for the South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF). He is located in Nairobi, Kenya.
One will notice the preponderance of members of the Sudanese Diaspora residing in the United States.
Note that Mr. De Chand was sacked in October 2006.
The SPLM, who has been backed by the US since their creation, gave Block B to White Nile, disregarding the previous deal with Jarch made back in 2003. Jarch threatened to sue the SPLM. They also forged ties with the South Sudan Defense Force (SSDF), who are primarily Nuer but are comprised of several groups that split off from the SPLM/A during the north-south war. The SSDF and the SPLA fought in the late 1990s until 2006. The SSDF has also allied with the Government of Sudan in the past. The SSDF and its political wing issued an exploration license to JMG in late February 2006. They said they would consider declaring their own independence and split South Sudan in two if JMG was not respected as the sole authority. However, on 27 February 2006, just 2 days after this announcement, the US said it wanted to build a military base in South Sudan to protect the oil. The SSDF's Brig Mohamed Chol al-Ahmar warned the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) not to approve it. In December 2006, JMG threw its support behind General Matip, angering some southern factions and causing tensions.
JMG sought to use the existing pipeline going to Port Sudan as a means of transport, but the Ministry of Energy in Khartoum refused to strike a deal. JMG and the SSDF were left to look for an alternative. While this situation has not been resolved yet, I postulate that they may be planning to persuade for an extension of the planned Uganda-Kenya-Rwanda pipeline into South Sudan. The pipeline is set to begin construction in May, but this is contingent on the Kenyan power-sharing agreement holding and a continuing calm to the unrest in Kenya. That is why US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has remained in telephone contact with both Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga. This is not a new idea. Mr. Tiny Rowland, a self-professed member of the SPLA (declared to the BBC in March 1993), first proposed a plan to build such a pipeline to the South African Weekly Mail. His company, the London-Rhodesia Corporation (Lonhro) hoped to secure the contract.
Transport for the oil is going to be taken care of. The German Government is financing a new railway line that will up Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan, allowing for shipping to and from the port city of Mombasa. Uganda is urging the Chinese to fund a railway to South Sudan. Both Uganda and Kenya would profit handsomely from the transport fees (customs) and taxes during the shipping process. It would also help develop Uganda's budding petroleum sector, currently being exploited by Heritage Gas and Oil, Tullow Oil, Neptune (Tower) Resources, and Dominion Petroleum. An oil refinery is being developed in Hoima so the shipping costs can be cut, otherwise the crude oil must be shipped to Mombasa or Dar es Salaam for refining, then shipped back. In addition, both refineries currently run well below capacity.
The reader should realize just how much of a stake the US has in the Kenyan pipeline project. The contract to build, operate, and transfer the oil was awarded to the Uganda-based Tamoil East Africa Ltd. This firm is a subsidiary of Tamoil Africa Holding, based in Libya. In June 2007, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm named Colony Capital LLC bought out the majority shares in Oilinvest and Tamoil Africa Holding (TAC) for 3.5-5.4 Billion dollars (US) and acquired a 65% share. Colony was founded and is currently run by Mr. Thomas Barrack Jr., the Deputy Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior for President Ronald Reagan. Therefore, the US has the contract to build, operate, and maintain the new pipeline. This is, in part, why the US pushed so hard for the power-sharing deal in Kenya to stop the violence, but at the same time ensuring President Kibaki, whose administration approved the contact, remains in a prominent position of power along with his political party. Nexant, a subsidiary of Bechtel, completed the original cost-benefit analysis of the pipeline project. It was, in large part, their recommendations that caused the pipeline extension project to be approved. But there is more. Only months after their acquisition, TAC acquired an exploration licenses in Chad for the Irdiss 1, Idriss 2 and Wadjadou 1 blocks near the Libyan border, the same relative area the US has quietly built a military base in Libyan territory under the guise of the State Department-funded Pan-Sahel Initiative.
However, Colony's deal is in trouble. Some reports claim that the stake has not been transferred over to Colony yet. (Editor's Update: Colony has since dropped out of the deal) Recent US legislation seeks to comphensate victims of terrorism, including past incidents Libya is accused of playing a role in. The move has irritated some members of the Libyan Government. They have given the state-run investment fund full control over Tamoil's refinery company based in Switzerland. Tamoil owns refineries in Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland and operates more than 3,000 filing stations in Europe. For that reason, Europe also has a major stake in the project and an interest in protecting the US-deal. Some analysts believe Libya wants to renegotiate the deal and give Colony a minority stake.
At the same time, TAC reportedly received exploration permits from the Moroccan Government to explore in Western Sahara, a disputed territory that is not recognized as a state, making any such exploration highly illegal under international law. Colony Capital spokesman have vigorously denied that they received any such deal in W. Sahara. TAC also owns oil concessions in Mail and Niger, where battles with the Tuareg militias have been raging. The US has been training and supplying the Mali and Niger Governments' armies under the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative. The 10th Special Forces trained soldiers in Gao and Timbuktu. The US has even dropped supplies under fire to government troops on the battlefield. President Toure visited President Bush in Washington D.C. shortly before he left on his recent official state visit to Africa recently.
The natural resources in this part of the Magreb cannot be developed while the Tuareg conflict rages on and Europe has vast energy interest in the region. The French are interested in the uranium stores as well. Areva, a firm mentioned earlier, owns vast concessions in Niger to mine for Uranium and the EU's planned (NIGAL) Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline mentioned earlier, will stretch from Algeria to Nigeria and go right through Niger. Without stability in Niger and Mali, the pipeline will not be very feasible. The stakes are even higher because recently 2 Chinese state-owned companies, China Hydraulic and Hydroelectric Construction Group Corp. (Sinohydro Corp.) they were teaming up with the China Nuclear International Uranium Corporation (Sino-Uranium) for a uranium mining and metallurgy project in Azelik, Niger. They will jointly exploit a 600,000-ton uranium mine project as well as purchase and install two 6MW nuclear power plants and a metal hydrometallurgy plant in Niger, supplying the country with electricity.
Uganda needs to procure the land to build its branch of the Kenyan pipeline, which may be a large part of the reason for the ongoing Buganda land ownership debates. They also need peace in North Uganda and South Sudan. The LRA periodically relocate around Juba and are currently located in the Central African Republic. They are destabilizing the area and slowing the development of critical infrastructure in Northern Uganda and areas of South Sudan, including the border with South Sudan. South Sudan was heavily involved in the Juba talks, which were attended by Riek Machar. One should ask themselves: Why is it now that there is such an extremely heavy regional political push to get a lasting agreement with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)?
The US in particular, including President Bush himself, has pushed hard for a final peace agreement. On April 8th, 2008, the US State Depatment approved the visas of 6 LRA members so they could travel to New York for talks, despite the LRA's official status as a Foreign Terrorist Organizaion in the United States. This status means the visa approvals violate Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Why has this extraordinary measure not been offered by the US to open up talks with other armed opposition groups? Is there a relative gain incentive for the US to partake in this action? Why is there such an aggressive and concerted effort to get this particular armed group to end its insurrection in a region awash in militias? Why not make put this high-level of pressure on the earlier? After all, the LRA was armed by the Khartoum Government as a way to get back at Uganda for arming the SPLA. The reality is that all parties with a stake in the pipline project and the developing oil industry in the region want lasting peace and stability in Uganda and South Sudan so they can develop the land in the northwest where the war is being faught with the LRA. Only peace and stability will allow pipelines and economy-supporting infrastructure to be built. Sources claim that U.S. Marines and Army personel stationed in the Kitgum District have been helping 'hunt' Kony and his top advisors and providing intelligence support to the Ugandan military.
To that end, Uganda is helping South Sudan prepare for autonomy by bolstering its economy, encouraging investment, and expanding its markets. The late Dr. John Garang's son, Mabior Garang, has opened a permanent trade and investment mission at Kampala's Pan-African House on Kimathi Avenue. It has a satellite office located in the Akok Riverside Hotel in Juba, South Sudan. The offices promote South Sudan investment by offering consultancy services to businessmen and link them to business partners Southern Sudan. Mr. Garang is also the Chairman of Southern Sudan Trade, Commerce and Investment. There is also talk that Uganda will support a South Sudan bid to join the East African Community (EAC).
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir signed a cooperation agreement on transport and communication, health, culture and media between Southern Sudan and Uganda. The agreement also guarantees equal tuition fees and services for southern Sudanese in Ugandan universities. On 5 February, President Kiir attended a ceremony to break ground on the construction of a road from Juba to Nimule. The US funded road connects Juba to the Ugandan border and will serve as the main route for trade and commerce between Uganda and South Sudan.
JMG has continued to move forward in the meantime. In January 2007, Jarch Capital named Mr. Joseph Wilson as the Vice Chairman of Jarch Capital. Yes, this is the same Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife, Mrs. Valerie Plame, was exposed as a non-commissioned Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer by President Bush's former politcial advisor, Mr. Karl Rove, Vice President Richard Cheney, Mr. Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and former Undersecretary of State Richard Armitage following Ambassador Wilson's revelation that the Niger 'yellowcake' claims make in President Bush's State of the Union address in 2003 were utterly false and the administration knew this when they included the information in the speech.
In 1995, Mr. Wilson served as a political advisor to EUCOM and worked closely with EUCOM's Deputy Commander, General James Jammerson, who served under General George Joulwan. After leaving this post, Mr. Wilson served as the Senior African Affairs Advisor at the National Security Council (NSC) under President Clinton's NSC Advisor Anthony Lake beginning in 1997 during the time period the Khartoum Agreement was signed. Mr. Lake was originally nominated to be the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), but was rejected by the Republican-controlled Congress. Mr. Wilson rotated into the NSC as Ms. Susan Rice was rotating out of the NSC's African Desk and into the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs. Working under him at the NSC's East African Desk was Mr. John Prendergast. Mr. Wilson served as the chief planner for President Clinton's trip to Africa in 1998.
Ambassador Wilson dealt with the SPLM/A in his capacity as an NSC advisor. In 1997, the north-south civil war was in full swing and was a major issue at the NSC African Desk. He was also a seasoned diplomat who had served in several African countries, including as the Ambassador to Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe. His negotiating skills and knowledge of the region were incredibly valuable to Jarch and it did not take long for them to pay off. White Nile's legal claim to Block B was rejected by a decision adopted by the Sudanese National Petroleum Commission on 17 June 2007. In August 2007, President Salva Kiir and General Matip confirmed JMG's 2003 agreement claims in exchange for 10% following months of meetings. In order to gain full political support for their claims, JMG began appointing members of the SPLM/A to its advisory board. In November 2007, General Matip was appointed as an Advisor and Vice President. At the same time, in an official company release, JMG urged GOSS to declare South Sudan's independence. In late February 2008, Joseph Wejang, the Minister of Health of the Government of Southern Sudan also joined JMG's advisory team as did Ambassador Emmanuel Touaboy, the Ambassador of the Central African Republic to the US.
With political support from both the Dinka and Nuer through their diversified advisory board, JMG has strengthened its political position and tempered potential SPLA-SSDF skirmishes over the oil fields. Since JMG is essentially acting as a holding company, it follows to ask: just who are they holding it for? Perhaps they are waiting for South Sudan's independence referendum in 2011 so they can sell it legally to a U.S.-registered oil company. Or maybe it is an intelligence front company? Only time will tell.
EXTRAITS DE L’ACTE D’INCULPATION DE PAUL KAGAME et C°
Rédigé à Madrid le six février de l’année deux mille huit par le Juge Fernando Andreu MERELLES Tribunal Central d’Instruction N° 4, COUR NATIONALE°
RESUME DES FAITS SELON L’ENQUETE MERELLES (résume 3/2000-D)
1. De la présente et jusqu’à ce jour, se détachent des indices rationnels et fondés que, à partir du mois d’octobre 1990, un groupe à structure politico-militaire, fortement armé et organisé, a entamé une série d’activités à caractère criminel sur le territoire rwandais, à partir d’Ouganda.
Au cours des quatre premières années, se sont déroulées différentes actions organisées et systématiques dont le but était l’élimination de la population civile, tant par l’ouverture des hostilités belliqueuses contre l’armée rwandaise, que par la réalisation d’actes terroristes d’amplitude et d’intensité diverses, exécutés sur le territoire du Rwanda, principalement dans la zone septentrionale et centrale, toute cette activité en profondeur étant sous commandement structuré, stable et tant stratégiquement que fortement organisé.
Une fois le pouvoir obtenu par la violence, ils ont mis sur pied avec les mêmes méthodes un régime de terreur et une structure criminelle parallèle à l’Etat de droit avec pour but planifié et préétabli la séquestration, le viol des femmes et des fillettes, la réalisation d’activités terroristes (tantôt conduits avec le but de simuler qu’ils avaient été réalisés par leurs ennemis), l’incarcération de milliers de citoyens sans la moindre instruction judiciaire, l’assassinat sélectif de personnes, la destruction et l’élimination systématique des cadavres par l’entassement dans des fosses communes sans identification aucune, l’incinération massive des corps ou leur précipitation dans les lacs et rivières, ainsi que les attaques non sélectives contre la population civile sur base de sa présélection ethnique dans le but d’éliminer l’ethnie majoritaire, et incluant aussi la réalisation d’actions à caractère belliqueux tant au Rwanda que dans le pays voisin le Zaïre (actuellement République Démocratique du Congo), produisant des massacres indiscriminés et systématiques de la population réfugiée ainsi que des actes de pillage à grande échelle dans le but de pourvoir à l’autofinancement de telles activités criminelles, en plus de l’enrichissement illicite des responsables.
A partir de cette plateforme, et avec l’appui initial militaire, logistique et financier du gouvernement de l’Ouganda, un nombre important d’extrémistes rwandais Tutsi basés en Ouganda ont fondé le Front Patriotique Rwandais (F.P.R.), et ce afin d’atteindre trois objectifs :
i. Eliminer le plus grand nombre de personnes de l’ethnie Hutu, principalement dans leur pays d’origine.
ii. Prendre le pouvoir par la force.
iii. Constituer une alliance stratégique de l’ethnie Tutsi, en collaboration avec d’autres alliés occidentaux, pour terroriser en premier lieu la population du Rwanda, puis ultérieurement toutes les populations de la région des Grands Lacs, afin d’élargir son aire de puissance, de contrôle et d’influence, et d’envahir la région du Zaïre pour s’approprier ses richesses naturelles.
2. Entre les mois de novembre 1990 et juillet 1991, l’A.P.R./F.P.R., changeant de stratégie et se repliant en Ouganda, a commencé à perpétrer des attaques et attentats terroristes organisés selon l’appellation « Hit and Run Op. » (opérations éclairs).
Ainsi qu’il sera exposé plus avant, des preuves ont été colligées, indiquant de nombreux crimes planifiés par le D.M.I. dans les zones du nord du Rwanda, en particulier à Kiyombe, Muvumba, Cymba, Kivube, Butaru et Nkana, crimes destinés à réaliser des opérations d’élimination systématique de membres de l’ethnie Hutu, intellectuels et dirigeants Hutu, témoins gênants, opposants à l’A.P.R./F.P.R., ainsi que les religieux et missionnaires considérés comme étant des collaborateurs des Hutu.
3. A partir des opérations militaires ouvertes et autres types d’attaques planifiées, sélectives et systématiques, depuis juillet 1991 jusqu’à septembre 1992, ont été enregistrés au moins 45 attentats terroristes sur l’ensemble du territoire. Une seconde campagne d’actes terroristes a été réalisée entre mars et mai 1993, la majorité d’entre eux étant perpétrés sur des marchés, bureaux de poste, minibus, taxis, hôtels et bars, et ce afin d’occasionner le plus grand préjudice possible au sein de la population civile.
Pour sa part, le M.R.N.D., le parti auquel appartenait le président de l’époque, Juvénal Habyarimana, a créé ses propres milices, qui depuis lors sont connues sous le nom de « interahamwe », lesquelles ont perpétré de nombreuses attaques contre la population Tutsi du pays. La création de telles milices reçut l’approbation de l’A.P.R./F.P.R. afin de semer le chaos et la confusion, chargeant le « Commando Network » de réaliser de nombreux attentats qui ont été immédiatement attribués de manière stratégique aux « interahamwe ».
A partir de là, l’A.P.R./F.P.R., au travers du « Commando Network » et d’autres cellules des renseignements militaires, a réalisé des attentats sélectifs contre la vie des leaders intéllectuels Hutu déterminés, dans le but de les éliminer de la vie sociale, de provoquer la terreur et de provoquer la réaction de la population civile (qui à l’occasion a perpétré des massacres en réaction), en conjonction avec une attaque de grande échelle, comme celle qui se produisit avec l’attentat contre l’avion présidentiel au cours du mois d’avril 1994.
Les massacres et attaques contre les personnes de l’ethnie Tutsi se sont déroulées à chaque assassinat d’un leader Hutu ou à l’occasion des attaques contre la population civile dans le nord du Rwanda.
L’A.P.R. a profité de cette période de trêve (Les accords d’Arusha) pour s’approvisionner en matériel de guerre nécessaire pour subvenir à l’assaut final, parvenant à cacher dans des excavations cachées sous terre une quantité approximative de 500 tonnes d’armes, matériel qui fut transporté en camions remorques depuis l’Ouganda et déposé sur une colline proche de la frontière rwandaise, d’où il fut acheminé et caché dans diverses cachettes par des militaires de l’A.P.R./F.P.R., et ce avant l’arrivée des observateurs internationaux et de la MINUAR.
4. Dans le but de préparer l’assaut final pour la prise du pouvoir, et de créer une situation de guerre civile, ont eu lieu diverses réunions à Kabale, plus tard à Mbarara, et plus tard encore à Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso), entre les hauts commandants et les dirigeants de l’A.P.R./F.P.R., toutes ces réunions ayant pour objectif la préparation d’un attentat visant à supprimer la vie du Président Juvénal Habyarimana, la dernière de ces réunions ayant eu lieu à Mulindi le 31 mars 1994 à 14:30 heures. Assistaient à cette réunion le général Paul Kagame, le colonel Kayumba Nyamwasa, le colonel Théoneste Lizinde, le lieutenant colonel James Kabarebe, le major Jacob Tumwine et le capitaine Charles Karamba.
Au cours de cette réunion, ont été mis au point les détails ultimes de l’attentat contre l’avion présidentiel, comme le choix du site à partir duquel il fallait lancer les missiles sol/air, et la composition du commando chargé d’exécuter l’attentat.
Depuis la colline de Masaka, deux missiles de précision SA 16 ou IGLA ont été lancés contre lui, le premier missile s’impactant en partie dans l’appareil, et le second provoquant un impact décisif dans l’avion, provoquant sa chute et la mort instantanée de tous ses occupants.
Cet attentat est l’objet d’une enquête judiciaire depuis le 27 mars 1998, de la part des autorités judiciaires françaises.
Entre autres, un rapport du Rapporteur Spécial de la Commission des Droits de l’Homme au Rwanda, E/CN.4/1995/7 du 28 juin 1994, et le rapport A/49/508,S/1994/1157 du 13 octobre 1994, concluent que cet attentat a entraîné la reprise de la guerre et des crimes de génocide qui ont commencé au cours de cette même nuit du 6 avril 1994, signalant en particulier : « l’attaque de l’avion du 6 avril, au cours de laquelle ont perdu la vie le Président de la République rwandaise, Juvénal Habyarimana, et le Président de la République burundaise, Cyprien Ntaryamira, diverses personnes de leur suite, ainsi que l’équipage de l’avion, paraît être la cause immédiate des événements douloureux et dramatiques que vit actuellement le Rwanda… la mort du Président Habyarimana fut le facteur déclenchant qui provoqua l’explosion et initia les massacres de civils ».
5. A partir de ce moment, Paul Kagame et James Kabarebe ont, depuis le Haut Commandement Militaire, donné les ordres précis pour attaquer les Forces Armées Rwandaises (FAR), et donc, en une opération planifiée auparavant, comme déclenchement de la phase finale de prise de pouvoir, tout en sachant fort bien que ses missions ne pourraient pas empêcher le massacre prévisible des personnes Tutsi qui n’avaient pas quitté le pays en 1959, et qui ont été assassinés les jours suivants de manière prévisible, surtout dans les zones de concentration (Tutsi) de Kibuye, Gikongoro, Gitarama, Bugesera et Kibungo, principalement depuis les réactions violentes qui ont fait suite aux attaques terroristes provoquées par l’A.P.R./F.P.R., spécialement au cours des deux années précédentes.
Entre avril et juin 1994, des militaires du F.P.R., appartenant au Gabiro Training Wing, se sont adressés à la population civile en leur promettant d’offrir des aliments, de l’aide et des vêtements, laquelle population s’est déplacé en grand nombre vers le Parc National de l’Akagera, puis ils les ont massacrés à la mitraillette avant de jeter les corps dans d’immenses fosses creusées dans le sol par des engins de terrassement.
6. Le 25 avril 1994, a débuté une opération de recherche et de sélection de réfugiés intellectuels Hutu, autorités, jeunes et hommes valides, afin de procéder à leur exécution.
7. Le 1er mai 1994, et durant les cinq jours suivants, des militaires de l’A.P.R./F.P.R. ont encerclé la frontière avec la Tanzanie afin d’empêcher la fuite des réfugiés Hutu originaires des localités de Rusumo, Nyakarambi, Kirehe, Birenga, Rukira et environs, procédant ensuite au massacre de près de 5.000 personnes, dont les corps ont été ultérieurement incinérés ou jetés dans la rivière Akagera.
8. Après le massacre et l’assassinat de centaines de milliers de citoyens, appartenant tant à l’ethnie Hutu que Tutsi, entre les mois d’avril et de juillet 1994, l’A.P.R./F.P.R. ayant exclusivement pris le pouvoir par la force, des centaines de milliers de citoyens d’ethnie Hutu avaient besoin de protection dans des camps de déplacés internes principalement situés dans la zone occidentale du Rwanda, tandis que plus d’un million de Hutu rwandais avaient traversé les frontières avec les pays limitrophes, en particulier le Zaïre ; selon le rapport du Rapporteur Spécial des Nations Unies, Mr. René Degni-Segui, le nombre de réfugiés était de 2.500.000 personnes à la fin de juillet 1994.
Le régime mis en place de l’A.P.R./F.P.R. a déclaré ouvertement et sans ambiguïté sa volonté de procéder à la fermeture des camps de déplacés internes. Etc.
Les inculpations du Juge MERELLES à charge du Président du Rwanda, Paul KAGAME et ses 40 proches collaborateurs, sont libellées comme suit :
1 Les faits relatés antérieurement peuvent entrer dans le cadre des délits suivants, tels que spécifiés dans le Code Pénal en cours :
A) Délits de génocide.
• Article 607 :
1. Ceux qui, dans le but de détruire totalement ou en partie un groupe national, ethnique, racial ou religieux, perpètrent l’un des actes suivants, seront punis :
1° D’une peine de prison de quinze à vingt années s’ils ont assassiné l’un de ses membres.
Si sont présent dans le fait deux ou plus de deux circonstances aggravantes, sera imposée la peine supérieure en grade.
2° D’une peine de prison de quinze à vingt années s’ils ont agressé sexuellement l’un de ses membres ou ont provoqué l’une des lésions prévues dans l’article 149.
3° D’une peine de prison de huit à quinze années s’ils ont soumis le groupe ou quiconque de ses membres à des conditions d’existence qui ont mis en danger leur vie ou perturbé gravement leur santé, ou quand ils ont provoqué l’une des lésions prévues dans l’article 150.
4° D’une même peine de prison s’ils ont aussi provoqué des déplacements forcés du groupe ou de ses membres, adopté un quelconque moyen susceptible d’empêcher d’engendrer la vie ou de se reproduire, ou bien transféré par la force des individus d’un groupe vers un autre.
5° D‘une peine de prison de quatre à huit années, s’ils ont provoqué n’importe quelle autre lésion que celles signalées dans les numéros 2° et 3° de ce paragraphe.
2. La diffusion par n’importe quel moyen des idées ou doctrines qui nient ou justifient les délits caractérisés au paragraphe antérieur de cet article, ou ambitionnent la restauration de régimes ou d’institutions qui protègent les responsables effectifs de ces faits, sera punie d’une peine de un à deux ans de prison.
B) Délits de crimes contre l’humanité.
• Article 607 bis :
1. Sont coupables de délits de crimes contre l’humanité ceux qui commettent les faits prévus dans le paragraphe suivant comme partie d’une attaque généralisée ou systématique contre la population civile ou contre une partie d’entre elle.
En tout cas est considéré comme crime contre l’humanité le fait de commettre de tels faits :
1° En raison de l’appartenance de la victime à un groupe ou à une communauté persécutée pour des motifs politiques, raciaux, nationaux, ethniques, culturels, religieux ou du genre, ou d’autres motifs universellement reconnus comme inacceptables en accord avec le Droit International.
2° Dans le contexte d’un régime institutionnalisé d’oppression et de domination systématiques d’un groupe racial sur un ou plusieurs groupes raciaux, et avec l’intention de maintenir ce régime.
2. Les coupables de délits de crimes contre l’humanité seront punis :
1° D’une peine de 15 à 20 ans de prison, s’ils ont causé la mort d’une personne.
Sera appliquée la peine supérieure en grade si le fait est aggravé par l’une des circonstances prévues à l’article 139.
2° D’une peine de 12 à 15 ans de prison, s’ils ont commis un viol et de 4 à 6 ans de prison si le fait a consisté en n’importe quel autre type d’agression sexuelle.
3° D’une peine de 12 à 15 ans de prison, s’ils ont provoqué l’une des lésions de l’article 149, et de 8 à 12 ans de prison s’ils ont soumis le groupe ou quiconque de ses membres à des conditions d’existence qui ont mis en danger leur vie ou perturbé gravement leur santé, ou quand ils ont provoqué l’une des lésions prévues dans l’article 150. Sera appliquée une peine de prison de 4 à 8 ans s’ils ont commis l’une des lésions de l’article 147.
4° D’une peine de 8 à 12 ans de prison, s’ils ont déporté ou transféré par la force, sans les motifs autorisés par le Droit International, une ou plusieurs personnes vers un autre Etat ou lieu, en ayant recours à l’expulsion ou à tout autre acte coercitif.
5° D’une peine de 6 à 8 années de prison, s’ils ont forcé la grossesse d’une femme dans l’intention de modifier la composition ethnique de la population, sans modification de la peine qui correspond, dans ce cas, à d’autres délits.
6° D’une peine de 12 à 15 années de prison, s’ils ont détenu une personne et ont refusé de reconnaître une telle privation de liberté ou de renseigner sur le sort ou sur la localisation de la personne détenue.
7° D’une peine de 8 à 12 années de prison s’ils ont détenu autrui, le privant de sa liberté, en infraction avec les normes internationale sur la détention.
Sera appliquée une peine inférieure en grade si la détention a duré moins de quinze jours.
8° D’une peine de 4 à 8 ans de prison s’ils ont commis une torture grave sur les personnes qu’ils ont détenues dans leur prison ou sous leur contrôle, et d’une peine de 2 à 6 ans si elle fut moins grave.
Dans le cadre de cet article, s’entend par torture le fait de soumettre la personne à des souffrances physiques ou psychiques.
La peine prévue à ce numéro sera appliquée sans affecter les peines qui correspondent, dans ce cas, à des atteintes contre les autres droits de la victime.
9° D’une peine de quatre à huit années de prison s’ils ont commis l’un des comportements relatifs à la prostitution, tels que reconnus dans l’article 187.1, et d’une peine de six à huit années de prison dans les cas prévus dans l’article 188.1.
Sera appliquée une peine de six à huit années de prison quiconque a transféré une personne d’un lieu à un autre, dans le but de son exploitation sexuelle, usant de violence, d’intimidation ou de mensonge, ou abusant d’une situation de supériorité ou de nécessité ou de vulnérabilité de la victime.
Quand les comportements, prévus dans le paragraphe antérieur et dans l’article 188.1, sont commises sur des mineurs d’âge ou des handicapés, seront appliquées des peines supérieures en grade.
10° D’une peine de prison de quatre à huit années de prison s’ils ont soumis une quelconque personne à l’esclavage ou l’auraient maintenue en esclavage. Cette peine s’appliquera sans préjudice vis-à-vis de celles qui, dans ce cas, correspondent aux attentats concrets commis contre les droits des personnes.
Par esclavage on entend la situation de la personne sur laquelle un autre exerce, incluant de fait, tous ou certains des attributs du droit de propriété, comme l’acheter, la vendre, la louer ou la donner en échange.
etc
Je vous invite tous à étudier ces quelques pages.
Est-il encore permis de parler de « génocide des tutsi » par l’ancien pouvoir, ou ressort-il de cette investigation que le FPR de Paul KAGAME ont planifié, organisé et exécuté un « génocide de la population de la nation rwandaise » ayant « l’intention » prouvée de détruire une grosse partie de cette population, y compris les tutsi. (un génocide sur la population d’une nation est parfaitement valable en droit)
Cette analyse ne met pas en cause l’extermination horrible qu’a subi l’ethnie tutsi de l’intérieur en 1994, qu’il a qualifié de « prévisible » à charge du FPR/APR, suite à leurs actes de terrorisme depuis 2 ans au Rwanda.
Luc DE TEMMERMAN
Juriste
RESUME DES FAITS SELON L’ENQUETE MERELLES (résume 3/2000-D)
1. De la présente et jusqu’à ce jour, se détachent des indices rationnels et fondés que, à partir du mois d’octobre 1990, un groupe à structure politico-militaire, fortement armé et organisé, a entamé une série d’activités à caractère criminel sur le territoire rwandais, à partir d’Ouganda.
Au cours des quatre premières années, se sont déroulées différentes actions organisées et systématiques dont le but était l’élimination de la population civile, tant par l’ouverture des hostilités belliqueuses contre l’armée rwandaise, que par la réalisation d’actes terroristes d’amplitude et d’intensité diverses, exécutés sur le territoire du Rwanda, principalement dans la zone septentrionale et centrale, toute cette activité en profondeur étant sous commandement structuré, stable et tant stratégiquement que fortement organisé.
Une fois le pouvoir obtenu par la violence, ils ont mis sur pied avec les mêmes méthodes un régime de terreur et une structure criminelle parallèle à l’Etat de droit avec pour but planifié et préétabli la séquestration, le viol des femmes et des fillettes, la réalisation d’activités terroristes (tantôt conduits avec le but de simuler qu’ils avaient été réalisés par leurs ennemis), l’incarcération de milliers de citoyens sans la moindre instruction judiciaire, l’assassinat sélectif de personnes, la destruction et l’élimination systématique des cadavres par l’entassement dans des fosses communes sans identification aucune, l’incinération massive des corps ou leur précipitation dans les lacs et rivières, ainsi que les attaques non sélectives contre la population civile sur base de sa présélection ethnique dans le but d’éliminer l’ethnie majoritaire, et incluant aussi la réalisation d’actions à caractère belliqueux tant au Rwanda que dans le pays voisin le Zaïre (actuellement République Démocratique du Congo), produisant des massacres indiscriminés et systématiques de la population réfugiée ainsi que des actes de pillage à grande échelle dans le but de pourvoir à l’autofinancement de telles activités criminelles, en plus de l’enrichissement illicite des responsables.
A partir de cette plateforme, et avec l’appui initial militaire, logistique et financier du gouvernement de l’Ouganda, un nombre important d’extrémistes rwandais Tutsi basés en Ouganda ont fondé le Front Patriotique Rwandais (F.P.R.), et ce afin d’atteindre trois objectifs :
i. Eliminer le plus grand nombre de personnes de l’ethnie Hutu, principalement dans leur pays d’origine.
ii. Prendre le pouvoir par la force.
iii. Constituer une alliance stratégique de l’ethnie Tutsi, en collaboration avec d’autres alliés occidentaux, pour terroriser en premier lieu la population du Rwanda, puis ultérieurement toutes les populations de la région des Grands Lacs, afin d’élargir son aire de puissance, de contrôle et d’influence, et d’envahir la région du Zaïre pour s’approprier ses richesses naturelles.
2. Entre les mois de novembre 1990 et juillet 1991, l’A.P.R./F.P.R., changeant de stratégie et se repliant en Ouganda, a commencé à perpétrer des attaques et attentats terroristes organisés selon l’appellation « Hit and Run Op. » (opérations éclairs).
Ainsi qu’il sera exposé plus avant, des preuves ont été colligées, indiquant de nombreux crimes planifiés par le D.M.I. dans les zones du nord du Rwanda, en particulier à Kiyombe, Muvumba, Cymba, Kivube, Butaru et Nkana, crimes destinés à réaliser des opérations d’élimination systématique de membres de l’ethnie Hutu, intellectuels et dirigeants Hutu, témoins gênants, opposants à l’A.P.R./F.P.R., ainsi que les religieux et missionnaires considérés comme étant des collaborateurs des Hutu.
3. A partir des opérations militaires ouvertes et autres types d’attaques planifiées, sélectives et systématiques, depuis juillet 1991 jusqu’à septembre 1992, ont été enregistrés au moins 45 attentats terroristes sur l’ensemble du territoire. Une seconde campagne d’actes terroristes a été réalisée entre mars et mai 1993, la majorité d’entre eux étant perpétrés sur des marchés, bureaux de poste, minibus, taxis, hôtels et bars, et ce afin d’occasionner le plus grand préjudice possible au sein de la population civile.
Pour sa part, le M.R.N.D., le parti auquel appartenait le président de l’époque, Juvénal Habyarimana, a créé ses propres milices, qui depuis lors sont connues sous le nom de « interahamwe », lesquelles ont perpétré de nombreuses attaques contre la population Tutsi du pays. La création de telles milices reçut l’approbation de l’A.P.R./F.P.R. afin de semer le chaos et la confusion, chargeant le « Commando Network » de réaliser de nombreux attentats qui ont été immédiatement attribués de manière stratégique aux « interahamwe ».
A partir de là, l’A.P.R./F.P.R., au travers du « Commando Network » et d’autres cellules des renseignements militaires, a réalisé des attentats sélectifs contre la vie des leaders intéllectuels Hutu déterminés, dans le but de les éliminer de la vie sociale, de provoquer la terreur et de provoquer la réaction de la population civile (qui à l’occasion a perpétré des massacres en réaction), en conjonction avec une attaque de grande échelle, comme celle qui se produisit avec l’attentat contre l’avion présidentiel au cours du mois d’avril 1994.
Les massacres et attaques contre les personnes de l’ethnie Tutsi se sont déroulées à chaque assassinat d’un leader Hutu ou à l’occasion des attaques contre la population civile dans le nord du Rwanda.
L’A.P.R. a profité de cette période de trêve (Les accords d’Arusha) pour s’approvisionner en matériel de guerre nécessaire pour subvenir à l’assaut final, parvenant à cacher dans des excavations cachées sous terre une quantité approximative de 500 tonnes d’armes, matériel qui fut transporté en camions remorques depuis l’Ouganda et déposé sur une colline proche de la frontière rwandaise, d’où il fut acheminé et caché dans diverses cachettes par des militaires de l’A.P.R./F.P.R., et ce avant l’arrivée des observateurs internationaux et de la MINUAR.
4. Dans le but de préparer l’assaut final pour la prise du pouvoir, et de créer une situation de guerre civile, ont eu lieu diverses réunions à Kabale, plus tard à Mbarara, et plus tard encore à Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso), entre les hauts commandants et les dirigeants de l’A.P.R./F.P.R., toutes ces réunions ayant pour objectif la préparation d’un attentat visant à supprimer la vie du Président Juvénal Habyarimana, la dernière de ces réunions ayant eu lieu à Mulindi le 31 mars 1994 à 14:30 heures. Assistaient à cette réunion le général Paul Kagame, le colonel Kayumba Nyamwasa, le colonel Théoneste Lizinde, le lieutenant colonel James Kabarebe, le major Jacob Tumwine et le capitaine Charles Karamba.
Au cours de cette réunion, ont été mis au point les détails ultimes de l’attentat contre l’avion présidentiel, comme le choix du site à partir duquel il fallait lancer les missiles sol/air, et la composition du commando chargé d’exécuter l’attentat.
Depuis la colline de Masaka, deux missiles de précision SA 16 ou IGLA ont été lancés contre lui, le premier missile s’impactant en partie dans l’appareil, et le second provoquant un impact décisif dans l’avion, provoquant sa chute et la mort instantanée de tous ses occupants.
Cet attentat est l’objet d’une enquête judiciaire depuis le 27 mars 1998, de la part des autorités judiciaires françaises.
Entre autres, un rapport du Rapporteur Spécial de la Commission des Droits de l’Homme au Rwanda, E/CN.4/1995/7 du 28 juin 1994, et le rapport A/49/508,S/1994/1157 du 13 octobre 1994, concluent que cet attentat a entraîné la reprise de la guerre et des crimes de génocide qui ont commencé au cours de cette même nuit du 6 avril 1994, signalant en particulier : « l’attaque de l’avion du 6 avril, au cours de laquelle ont perdu la vie le Président de la République rwandaise, Juvénal Habyarimana, et le Président de la République burundaise, Cyprien Ntaryamira, diverses personnes de leur suite, ainsi que l’équipage de l’avion, paraît être la cause immédiate des événements douloureux et dramatiques que vit actuellement le Rwanda… la mort du Président Habyarimana fut le facteur déclenchant qui provoqua l’explosion et initia les massacres de civils ».
5. A partir de ce moment, Paul Kagame et James Kabarebe ont, depuis le Haut Commandement Militaire, donné les ordres précis pour attaquer les Forces Armées Rwandaises (FAR), et donc, en une opération planifiée auparavant, comme déclenchement de la phase finale de prise de pouvoir, tout en sachant fort bien que ses missions ne pourraient pas empêcher le massacre prévisible des personnes Tutsi qui n’avaient pas quitté le pays en 1959, et qui ont été assassinés les jours suivants de manière prévisible, surtout dans les zones de concentration (Tutsi) de Kibuye, Gikongoro, Gitarama, Bugesera et Kibungo, principalement depuis les réactions violentes qui ont fait suite aux attaques terroristes provoquées par l’A.P.R./F.P.R., spécialement au cours des deux années précédentes.
Entre avril et juin 1994, des militaires du F.P.R., appartenant au Gabiro Training Wing, se sont adressés à la population civile en leur promettant d’offrir des aliments, de l’aide et des vêtements, laquelle population s’est déplacé en grand nombre vers le Parc National de l’Akagera, puis ils les ont massacrés à la mitraillette avant de jeter les corps dans d’immenses fosses creusées dans le sol par des engins de terrassement.
6. Le 25 avril 1994, a débuté une opération de recherche et de sélection de réfugiés intellectuels Hutu, autorités, jeunes et hommes valides, afin de procéder à leur exécution.
7. Le 1er mai 1994, et durant les cinq jours suivants, des militaires de l’A.P.R./F.P.R. ont encerclé la frontière avec la Tanzanie afin d’empêcher la fuite des réfugiés Hutu originaires des localités de Rusumo, Nyakarambi, Kirehe, Birenga, Rukira et environs, procédant ensuite au massacre de près de 5.000 personnes, dont les corps ont été ultérieurement incinérés ou jetés dans la rivière Akagera.
8. Après le massacre et l’assassinat de centaines de milliers de citoyens, appartenant tant à l’ethnie Hutu que Tutsi, entre les mois d’avril et de juillet 1994, l’A.P.R./F.P.R. ayant exclusivement pris le pouvoir par la force, des centaines de milliers de citoyens d’ethnie Hutu avaient besoin de protection dans des camps de déplacés internes principalement situés dans la zone occidentale du Rwanda, tandis que plus d’un million de Hutu rwandais avaient traversé les frontières avec les pays limitrophes, en particulier le Zaïre ; selon le rapport du Rapporteur Spécial des Nations Unies, Mr. René Degni-Segui, le nombre de réfugiés était de 2.500.000 personnes à la fin de juillet 1994.
Le régime mis en place de l’A.P.R./F.P.R. a déclaré ouvertement et sans ambiguïté sa volonté de procéder à la fermeture des camps de déplacés internes. Etc.
Les inculpations du Juge MERELLES à charge du Président du Rwanda, Paul KAGAME et ses 40 proches collaborateurs, sont libellées comme suit :
1 Les faits relatés antérieurement peuvent entrer dans le cadre des délits suivants, tels que spécifiés dans le Code Pénal en cours :
A) Délits de génocide.
• Article 607 :
1. Ceux qui, dans le but de détruire totalement ou en partie un groupe national, ethnique, racial ou religieux, perpètrent l’un des actes suivants, seront punis :
1° D’une peine de prison de quinze à vingt années s’ils ont assassiné l’un de ses membres.
Si sont présent dans le fait deux ou plus de deux circonstances aggravantes, sera imposée la peine supérieure en grade.
2° D’une peine de prison de quinze à vingt années s’ils ont agressé sexuellement l’un de ses membres ou ont provoqué l’une des lésions prévues dans l’article 149.
3° D’une peine de prison de huit à quinze années s’ils ont soumis le groupe ou quiconque de ses membres à des conditions d’existence qui ont mis en danger leur vie ou perturbé gravement leur santé, ou quand ils ont provoqué l’une des lésions prévues dans l’article 150.
4° D’une même peine de prison s’ils ont aussi provoqué des déplacements forcés du groupe ou de ses membres, adopté un quelconque moyen susceptible d’empêcher d’engendrer la vie ou de se reproduire, ou bien transféré par la force des individus d’un groupe vers un autre.
5° D‘une peine de prison de quatre à huit années, s’ils ont provoqué n’importe quelle autre lésion que celles signalées dans les numéros 2° et 3° de ce paragraphe.
2. La diffusion par n’importe quel moyen des idées ou doctrines qui nient ou justifient les délits caractérisés au paragraphe antérieur de cet article, ou ambitionnent la restauration de régimes ou d’institutions qui protègent les responsables effectifs de ces faits, sera punie d’une peine de un à deux ans de prison.
B) Délits de crimes contre l’humanité.
• Article 607 bis :
1. Sont coupables de délits de crimes contre l’humanité ceux qui commettent les faits prévus dans le paragraphe suivant comme partie d’une attaque généralisée ou systématique contre la population civile ou contre une partie d’entre elle.
En tout cas est considéré comme crime contre l’humanité le fait de commettre de tels faits :
1° En raison de l’appartenance de la victime à un groupe ou à une communauté persécutée pour des motifs politiques, raciaux, nationaux, ethniques, culturels, religieux ou du genre, ou d’autres motifs universellement reconnus comme inacceptables en accord avec le Droit International.
2° Dans le contexte d’un régime institutionnalisé d’oppression et de domination systématiques d’un groupe racial sur un ou plusieurs groupes raciaux, et avec l’intention de maintenir ce régime.
2. Les coupables de délits de crimes contre l’humanité seront punis :
1° D’une peine de 15 à 20 ans de prison, s’ils ont causé la mort d’une personne.
Sera appliquée la peine supérieure en grade si le fait est aggravé par l’une des circonstances prévues à l’article 139.
2° D’une peine de 12 à 15 ans de prison, s’ils ont commis un viol et de 4 à 6 ans de prison si le fait a consisté en n’importe quel autre type d’agression sexuelle.
3° D’une peine de 12 à 15 ans de prison, s’ils ont provoqué l’une des lésions de l’article 149, et de 8 à 12 ans de prison s’ils ont soumis le groupe ou quiconque de ses membres à des conditions d’existence qui ont mis en danger leur vie ou perturbé gravement leur santé, ou quand ils ont provoqué l’une des lésions prévues dans l’article 150. Sera appliquée une peine de prison de 4 à 8 ans s’ils ont commis l’une des lésions de l’article 147.
4° D’une peine de 8 à 12 ans de prison, s’ils ont déporté ou transféré par la force, sans les motifs autorisés par le Droit International, une ou plusieurs personnes vers un autre Etat ou lieu, en ayant recours à l’expulsion ou à tout autre acte coercitif.
5° D’une peine de 6 à 8 années de prison, s’ils ont forcé la grossesse d’une femme dans l’intention de modifier la composition ethnique de la population, sans modification de la peine qui correspond, dans ce cas, à d’autres délits.
6° D’une peine de 12 à 15 années de prison, s’ils ont détenu une personne et ont refusé de reconnaître une telle privation de liberté ou de renseigner sur le sort ou sur la localisation de la personne détenue.
7° D’une peine de 8 à 12 années de prison s’ils ont détenu autrui, le privant de sa liberté, en infraction avec les normes internationale sur la détention.
Sera appliquée une peine inférieure en grade si la détention a duré moins de quinze jours.
8° D’une peine de 4 à 8 ans de prison s’ils ont commis une torture grave sur les personnes qu’ils ont détenues dans leur prison ou sous leur contrôle, et d’une peine de 2 à 6 ans si elle fut moins grave.
Dans le cadre de cet article, s’entend par torture le fait de soumettre la personne à des souffrances physiques ou psychiques.
La peine prévue à ce numéro sera appliquée sans affecter les peines qui correspondent, dans ce cas, à des atteintes contre les autres droits de la victime.
9° D’une peine de quatre à huit années de prison s’ils ont commis l’un des comportements relatifs à la prostitution, tels que reconnus dans l’article 187.1, et d’une peine de six à huit années de prison dans les cas prévus dans l’article 188.1.
Sera appliquée une peine de six à huit années de prison quiconque a transféré une personne d’un lieu à un autre, dans le but de son exploitation sexuelle, usant de violence, d’intimidation ou de mensonge, ou abusant d’une situation de supériorité ou de nécessité ou de vulnérabilité de la victime.
Quand les comportements, prévus dans le paragraphe antérieur et dans l’article 188.1, sont commises sur des mineurs d’âge ou des handicapés, seront appliquées des peines supérieures en grade.
10° D’une peine de prison de quatre à huit années de prison s’ils ont soumis une quelconque personne à l’esclavage ou l’auraient maintenue en esclavage. Cette peine s’appliquera sans préjudice vis-à-vis de celles qui, dans ce cas, correspondent aux attentats concrets commis contre les droits des personnes.
Par esclavage on entend la situation de la personne sur laquelle un autre exerce, incluant de fait, tous ou certains des attributs du droit de propriété, comme l’acheter, la vendre, la louer ou la donner en échange.
etc
Je vous invite tous à étudier ces quelques pages.
Est-il encore permis de parler de « génocide des tutsi » par l’ancien pouvoir, ou ressort-il de cette investigation que le FPR de Paul KAGAME ont planifié, organisé et exécuté un « génocide de la population de la nation rwandaise » ayant « l’intention » prouvée de détruire une grosse partie de cette population, y compris les tutsi. (un génocide sur la population d’une nation est parfaitement valable en droit)
Cette analyse ne met pas en cause l’extermination horrible qu’a subi l’ethnie tutsi de l’intérieur en 1994, qu’il a qualifié de « prévisible » à charge du FPR/APR, suite à leurs actes de terrorisme depuis 2 ans au Rwanda.
Luc DE TEMMERMAN
Juriste
04 April, 2008
China to Build Oil Refinery in Syria
YNet
4 April 2008
China to build oil refinery in Syria near alleged nuclear plant bombed by Israel
Agreement to establish petroleum refinery part of plans to bolster cooperation between countries in oil and gas industry
Syria and China Wednesday signed an agreement to establish a petroleum refinery as part of plans to bolster cooperation in the oil and gas industry, the official SANA news agency reported Thursday.
According to the report, the refinery will have a daily refining capacity of 100,000 barrels of crude oil and is due to be completed by 2011adding that the refinery will be built in the Abu Khashab region of the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor, where Syria had allegedly attempted to build a nuclear plant with North Korea's assistance.
The site in Abu Khashab was bombed by the Israeli Air Force last September. Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) was the first Israeli government official to acknowledge the air strike in Syria, after admitting he was privy to the decision in a television interview.
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported last January that during his meeting in Tokyo with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that the strike targeted a nuclear facility.
SANA further reported that deal was signed alongside an agreement by China to provide Syria with 20 million yuan ($3 million) to finance a series of joint projects in oil,
4 April 2008
China to build oil refinery in Syria near alleged nuclear plant bombed by Israel
Agreement to establish petroleum refinery part of plans to bolster cooperation between countries in oil and gas industry
Syria and China Wednesday signed an agreement to establish a petroleum refinery as part of plans to bolster cooperation in the oil and gas industry, the official SANA news agency reported Thursday.
According to the report, the refinery will have a daily refining capacity of 100,000 barrels of crude oil and is due to be completed by 2011adding that the refinery will be built in the Abu Khashab region of the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor, where Syria had allegedly attempted to build a nuclear plant with North Korea's assistance.
The site in Abu Khashab was bombed by the Israeli Air Force last September. Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) was the first Israeli government official to acknowledge the air strike in Syria, after admitting he was privy to the decision in a television interview.
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported last January that during his meeting in Tokyo with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that the strike targeted a nuclear facility.
SANA further reported that deal was signed alongside an agreement by China to provide Syria with 20 million yuan ($3 million) to finance a series of joint projects in oil,
Mali rebels agree on truce.
News 24
4 April 2008
Mali's government and Tuareg rebels have agreed on a ceasefire intended to open the way for a final peace settlement to end months of conflict in the Sahara, both sides said on Thursday after peace talks in Libya.
"The two sides reached an agreement for a ceasefire ... to stop all hostilities," representatives of Bamako's central government and Tuareg rebels said in a joint statement issued in Tripoli.
4 April 2008
Mali's government and Tuareg rebels have agreed on a ceasefire intended to open the way for a final peace settlement to end months of conflict in the Sahara, both sides said on Thursday after peace talks in Libya.
"The two sides reached an agreement for a ceasefire ... to stop all hostilities," representatives of Bamako's central government and Tuareg rebels said in a joint statement issued in Tripoli.
Radjabu to Appeal Conviction.
IOL News
4 April 2008
By Patrick Nduwimana
The former head of Burundi's ruling party plans an appeal after he was sentenced to 13 years in jail for plotting to destabilise the central African nation, his lawyer said on Friday.
Hussein Radjabu, former boss of President Pierre Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD party, was detained in April last year accused of fomenting instability, charges that he has denied.
Radjabu's lawyer said he would appeal the sentence, which was made late on Thursday in Burundi's high court.
"I will immediately appeal, because this is a political case, my client is a victim of a political coup fabricated by his former allies," Prosper Niyoyankana said.
Radjabu was seen by many as the real power behind Nkurunziza, with control over finances and the party's intelligence arm.
But he was also blamed by some for corruption in the government and a 2006 treason trial against opposition politicians, including the former president, which ended in an acquittal.
The trial tarnished Burundi's image after several defendants said they were tortured.
Radjabu has accused the government of fabricating the charges against him.
"It is really a shame, the highest jurisdiction of the country has accepted to be manipulated by politicians," said Niyoyankana.
Despite being ousted from the leadership of the CNDD-FDD, Radjabu still commands support from about 20 senior members of the ruling party who are members of the coffee growing country's national assembly.
4 April 2008
By Patrick Nduwimana
The former head of Burundi's ruling party plans an appeal after he was sentenced to 13 years in jail for plotting to destabilise the central African nation, his lawyer said on Friday.
Hussein Radjabu, former boss of President Pierre Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD party, was detained in April last year accused of fomenting instability, charges that he has denied.
Radjabu's lawyer said he would appeal the sentence, which was made late on Thursday in Burundi's high court.
"I will immediately appeal, because this is a political case, my client is a victim of a political coup fabricated by his former allies," Prosper Niyoyankana said.
Radjabu was seen by many as the real power behind Nkurunziza, with control over finances and the party's intelligence arm.
But he was also blamed by some for corruption in the government and a 2006 treason trial against opposition politicians, including the former president, which ended in an acquittal.
The trial tarnished Burundi's image after several defendants said they were tortured.
Radjabu has accused the government of fabricating the charges against him.
"It is really a shame, the highest jurisdiction of the country has accepted to be manipulated by politicians," said Niyoyankana.
Despite being ousted from the leadership of the CNDD-FDD, Radjabu still commands support from about 20 senior members of the ruling party who are members of the coffee growing country's national assembly.
Burundi jails Radjabu over plot.
News 24
4 April 2008
Burundi's Supreme Court sentenced the former head of the presidential party to 13 years in prison for plotting against the state and slapped heavy jail terms on seven co-defendants, judicial sources said on Friday.
"Hussein Radjabu was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Supreme Court of Burundi yesterday (Thursday)," a court official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Five other co-defendants were handed down the same sentence, while two others were slapped with 10-year sentences," the official added.
A former minister of planning and a former senior official at the presidency are among those sentenced, judicial sources said.
Aim of destabilising the state
According to Jean-Bosco Ndikumana, who was Burundi's attorney general in April 2007 when six of the eight accused were jailed, Radjabu attempted to "recruit former rebels with the aim of destabilising the state."
The trial started in December 2007.
"We are astonished by this verdict, we are appalled by the Burundian judiciary becaue Hussein Radjabu is innoncent and there has never been the first bit of evidence against him," said an MP loyal to Radjabu.
"It's a political sentence. Hussein Radjabu never agreed to toe the line after being evicted and he's paying the price for it today," a Bujumbura-based diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Radjabu was the secretary general of President Pierre Nkurunziza's ruling CNDD-FDD until until February 2007, when he was sidelined by the president.
4 April 2008
Burundi's Supreme Court sentenced the former head of the presidential party to 13 years in prison for plotting against the state and slapped heavy jail terms on seven co-defendants, judicial sources said on Friday.
"Hussein Radjabu was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Supreme Court of Burundi yesterday (Thursday)," a court official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Five other co-defendants were handed down the same sentence, while two others were slapped with 10-year sentences," the official added.
A former minister of planning and a former senior official at the presidency are among those sentenced, judicial sources said.
Aim of destabilising the state
According to Jean-Bosco Ndikumana, who was Burundi's attorney general in April 2007 when six of the eight accused were jailed, Radjabu attempted to "recruit former rebels with the aim of destabilising the state."
The trial started in December 2007.
"We are astonished by this verdict, we are appalled by the Burundian judiciary becaue Hussein Radjabu is innoncent and there has never been the first bit of evidence against him," said an MP loyal to Radjabu.
"It's a political sentence. Hussein Radjabu never agreed to toe the line after being evicted and he's paying the price for it today," a Bujumbura-based diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Radjabu was the secretary general of President Pierre Nkurunziza's ruling CNDD-FDD until until February 2007, when he was sidelined by the president.
AFRICAN COURT URGED TO TAKE CUSTODY OF ICTR ARCHIVES.
Hirondelle News Agency
3 April 2008
The newly established African Court for Human Rights has been urged to initiate dialogue with the United Nations with view to acquiring the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) when the latter closes down towards the end of the year.
The Arusha-based UN Court has been directed by the UN Security Council to complete all first instance trials by December 2008 and Appeals by 2010.
“The closure of ICTR one hopes that the African Court will consider establishing contacts with UN authorities to acquire archives of the tribunal, which will be very useful for consolidation of African jurisprudence,” said Wallace Kapaya, a Senior Trial Attorney, when presenting a paper at the Regional conference on Human rights Tuesday.
Currently a study was underway on the future of the archives of both the ICTR and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (which is also to close down this year). The study is chaired by ex-ICTR and ICTY Prosecutor, Richard Goldstone. The archives are composed of large amounts of evidences, statements and video recordings, among others. The interim report was expected to be out by first quarter of this year.
“The African Court [also in Arusha] will finally become the base for resolution of human rights violations emanating from African political systems,” The Tanzanian attorney told human rights experts, academicians, judges and legal observers from East and Central African countries. The conference, which was organized by the East African Law Society (EALS), was deliberating on the African Court’s relevance, challenges and prospects viz a vie Regional Human Rights Systems.
The African Court, he said, would act as machinery by which human rights concerns would be addressed within a particular social, historical and political context of the African continent.” The African Human Rights System is more likely to succeed as it paves way, and will finally consolidate the political and cultural, judicial traditions and institutions within the region,” he stressed.
“The adoption of the protocol to establish an African Human and People’s Rights Court is an evolution in the African government’s commitment to achieve effective and complete human rights protection, he said, underlining that despite the optimism inspired by the attainment of independence and the creation of the African Union, the continent generally has failed to comply with international human rights norms.
Giving examples of recent human rights problems in Kenya , the Rwandan 1994 genocide, the ongoing political strifes in Southern Sudan, North and Western Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC), Congo Brazzaville, and Somalia. Mr Kapaya pointed out that the conflicts have left hundreds dead and have violated many other rights and fundamental freedoms.
He added:” Even within the largely ‘democratic’ or ‘liberal’ African states, governments and civil servants have acted in ways anti-ethical to international human rights obligations.
The Court was established by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Protocol adopted by members states in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in June 1998. The Protocol entered into force in January 2004.
The Court started its operations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2006 but moved to its permanent seat in Arusha in August, last year.
3 April 2008
The newly established African Court for Human Rights has been urged to initiate dialogue with the United Nations with view to acquiring the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) when the latter closes down towards the end of the year.
The Arusha-based UN Court has been directed by the UN Security Council to complete all first instance trials by December 2008 and Appeals by 2010.
“The closure of ICTR one hopes that the African Court will consider establishing contacts with UN authorities to acquire archives of the tribunal, which will be very useful for consolidation of African jurisprudence,” said Wallace Kapaya, a Senior Trial Attorney, when presenting a paper at the Regional conference on Human rights Tuesday.
Currently a study was underway on the future of the archives of both the ICTR and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (which is also to close down this year). The study is chaired by ex-ICTR and ICTY Prosecutor, Richard Goldstone. The archives are composed of large amounts of evidences, statements and video recordings, among others. The interim report was expected to be out by first quarter of this year.
“The African Court [also in Arusha] will finally become the base for resolution of human rights violations emanating from African political systems,” The Tanzanian attorney told human rights experts, academicians, judges and legal observers from East and Central African countries. The conference, which was organized by the East African Law Society (EALS), was deliberating on the African Court’s relevance, challenges and prospects viz a vie Regional Human Rights Systems.
The African Court, he said, would act as machinery by which human rights concerns would be addressed within a particular social, historical and political context of the African continent.” The African Human Rights System is more likely to succeed as it paves way, and will finally consolidate the political and cultural, judicial traditions and institutions within the region,” he stressed.
“The adoption of the protocol to establish an African Human and People’s Rights Court is an evolution in the African government’s commitment to achieve effective and complete human rights protection, he said, underlining that despite the optimism inspired by the attainment of independence and the creation of the African Union, the continent generally has failed to comply with international human rights norms.
Giving examples of recent human rights problems in Kenya , the Rwandan 1994 genocide, the ongoing political strifes in Southern Sudan, North and Western Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC), Congo Brazzaville, and Somalia. Mr Kapaya pointed out that the conflicts have left hundreds dead and have violated many other rights and fundamental freedoms.
He added:” Even within the largely ‘democratic’ or ‘liberal’ African states, governments and civil servants have acted in ways anti-ethical to international human rights obligations.
The Court was established by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Protocol adopted by members states in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in June 1998. The Protocol entered into force in January 2004.
The Court started its operations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2006 but moved to its permanent seat in Arusha in August, last year.
FRENCH COURT APPROVES EXTRADITION OF GENOCIDE SUSPECT TO RWANDA.
Hirondelle News Agency
3 February 2008
A French court Wednesday endorsed extradition of a former Rwandan businessman, Claver Kamanya, to his country of origin where he is wanted for alleged role in the 1994 genocide.
The Court of Appeal of Chambery gave the unprecedented consent following an international arrest warrant issued by Rwandan authorities against the suspect. The public ministry had endorsed the extradition.
The accused was arrested in Annecy, East of France, on 26 February.
Kamanya’s lawyer, Philippe Greciano, however, hinted that he was going to appeal the decision. The extradition decree is signed by the Prime Minister after having exhausted all legal avenues.
The verdict, according to Greciano, goes against French policy, which has decided to try Rwandans in France.
The prosecution of Paris of lately has opened several legal inquiries against Rwandans living in France. Among them includes the widow of Juvenal Habyarimana, former Rwandan president assassinated on 6 April 1994.
“The decision to extradite Mr Kamana will delight those who are seeking justice and who think that it is important that an alleged criminal is tried to the nearest possible location of the crimes", said Thursday Alain Gauthier, President of an umbrella of association defending interests of Rwanda genocide victims (CCPR) in an official statement.
Kamanya, born in 1936, has been living in France since 1999. He was processing documents to request for a political asylum in France.
3 February 2008
A French court Wednesday endorsed extradition of a former Rwandan businessman, Claver Kamanya, to his country of origin where he is wanted for alleged role in the 1994 genocide.
The Court of Appeal of Chambery gave the unprecedented consent following an international arrest warrant issued by Rwandan authorities against the suspect. The public ministry had endorsed the extradition.
The accused was arrested in Annecy, East of France, on 26 February.
Kamanya’s lawyer, Philippe Greciano, however, hinted that he was going to appeal the decision. The extradition decree is signed by the Prime Minister after having exhausted all legal avenues.
The verdict, according to Greciano, goes against French policy, which has decided to try Rwandans in France.
The prosecution of Paris of lately has opened several legal inquiries against Rwandans living in France. Among them includes the widow of Juvenal Habyarimana, former Rwandan president assassinated on 6 April 1994.
“The decision to extradite Mr Kamana will delight those who are seeking justice and who think that it is important that an alleged criminal is tried to the nearest possible location of the crimes", said Thursday Alain Gauthier, President of an umbrella of association defending interests of Rwanda genocide victims (CCPR) in an official statement.
Kamanya, born in 1936, has been living in France since 1999. He was processing documents to request for a political asylum in France.
RPF Philosopher T. Rutaremara Moves to Ban 4 Rwandan Political Parties.
The New Times
4 April 2008
The Ombudsman, Tito Rutaremara, has requested the Senate to ban political parties that have not declared their wealth to his office.
Tito Rutaremara made the request Thursday while presenting the 2007 annual report to both Chambers of Parliament.
He said that out of the eight registered political organizations in the country, four had not declared their wealth since the practice began four years ago.
He cited Parti Démocrate Idéale (PDI), Union Démocratique du Peuple Rwandais (UDPR), Parti Socialiste Rwandais (PSR), and the Parti pour la Progress et la Concorde (PPC), as having failed to declare their assets.
PDI is headed by Internal Security Minister Mussa Fazil Harerimana, while PPC is led by Senator Alivera Mukabaramba.
The former MP, Claire Kayirangwa– who is likely to become one of the country’s representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly– and MP Jean Baptiste Rucibigango, head UDPR and PSR, respectively.
All the four parties were behind the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF)’s candidate Paul Kagame during the 2003 presidential elections.
Rutaremara said that the Senate should not allow the said political parties to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections until they declare their wealth.
The elections are set for September 15, 2008.
He stated: "If they don’t declare their wealth, then the Senate should consider dissolving them."
However, PDI claimed that it had declared its wealth to the Ombudsman’s office but Rutaremara was not aware of it.
The Ombudsman said that PDI may have declared late after his office had compiled the annual report.
Individual declarations
Meanwhile, the report shows that President Kagame, Senate President Dr Vincent Biruta, Speaker Alfred Mukezamfura and Chief Justice Aloysia Cyanzayire all declared their wealth in time.
The report also indicates that 25 senators and 29 cabinet ministers also declared their wealth but 5 MPs did not do so Rutaremara said that the list of MPs on his list exceeded the actual number of lawmakers in the Lower House.
"I have a list of 85 MPs instead of 80, and the extra five are the ones who have not declared their wealth."
"Those five were once MPs and left the August House but my office was not given any official communication that they were no longer MPs; that is why they are on the list," Rutaremara said.
The Ministry of Defence, Rwanda Revenue Authority and the National University of Rwanda have the largest number of officials who have not declared their wealth, he said.
Out of 265 officials in the Ministry of Defence who were supposed to declare their wealth, 40 of them did not return the declaration forms, while in RRA, out of 312 people, 38 of them did not declare their wealth.
After being put on task by MPs to explain why some officials have not declared their wealth, Rutaremara said that many of those in the Ministry of Defence were soldiers who are out of the country on peacekeeping missions.
He however did not give details of those listed under RRA and NUR.
4 April 2008
The Ombudsman, Tito Rutaremara, has requested the Senate to ban political parties that have not declared their wealth to his office.
Tito Rutaremara made the request Thursday while presenting the 2007 annual report to both Chambers of Parliament.
He said that out of the eight registered political organizations in the country, four had not declared their wealth since the practice began four years ago.
He cited Parti Démocrate Idéale (PDI), Union Démocratique du Peuple Rwandais (UDPR), Parti Socialiste Rwandais (PSR), and the Parti pour la Progress et la Concorde (PPC), as having failed to declare their assets.
PDI is headed by Internal Security Minister Mussa Fazil Harerimana, while PPC is led by Senator Alivera Mukabaramba.
The former MP, Claire Kayirangwa– who is likely to become one of the country’s representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly– and MP Jean Baptiste Rucibigango, head UDPR and PSR, respectively.
All the four parties were behind the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF)’s candidate Paul Kagame during the 2003 presidential elections.
Rutaremara said that the Senate should not allow the said political parties to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections until they declare their wealth.
The elections are set for September 15, 2008.
He stated: "If they don’t declare their wealth, then the Senate should consider dissolving them."
However, PDI claimed that it had declared its wealth to the Ombudsman’s office but Rutaremara was not aware of it.
The Ombudsman said that PDI may have declared late after his office had compiled the annual report.
Individual declarations
Meanwhile, the report shows that President Kagame, Senate President Dr Vincent Biruta, Speaker Alfred Mukezamfura and Chief Justice Aloysia Cyanzayire all declared their wealth in time.
The report also indicates that 25 senators and 29 cabinet ministers also declared their wealth but 5 MPs did not do so Rutaremara said that the list of MPs on his list exceeded the actual number of lawmakers in the Lower House.
"I have a list of 85 MPs instead of 80, and the extra five are the ones who have not declared their wealth."
"Those five were once MPs and left the August House but my office was not given any official communication that they were no longer MPs; that is why they are on the list," Rutaremara said.
The Ministry of Defence, Rwanda Revenue Authority and the National University of Rwanda have the largest number of officials who have not declared their wealth, he said.
Out of 265 officials in the Ministry of Defence who were supposed to declare their wealth, 40 of them did not return the declaration forms, while in RRA, out of 312 people, 38 of them did not declare their wealth.
After being put on task by MPs to explain why some officials have not declared their wealth, Rutaremara said that many of those in the Ministry of Defence were soldiers who are out of the country on peacekeeping missions.
He however did not give details of those listed under RRA and NUR.
Serbia slams acquittal of former Kosovo PM.
Xinhua News Agency
4 April 2008
Serbia slammed Thursday the acquittal of former Kosovo Prime Minister and former Commander of Kosovo Liberation Army Ramush Haradinaj by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
"It is clear that in question is a court which has been set up to officially declare innocent those who committed crimes, like Haradinaj," Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in a statement.
The Hague tribunal on Thursday acquitted the 38-year-old Haradinaj of war crimes and crimes against humanity, ordering his release from detention, although the prosecution had requested a 25-year prison sentence.
Haradinaj and two other former guerrilla commanders, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, were charged with participating 10 years ago in a joint criminal enterprise, including murder, persecution, rape and torture against Serbs and other civilians.
The UN court acquitted Balaj as well, while sentencing Haradinaj's uncle, Brahimaj, to six-year imprisonment after finding him guilty of brutality and torture.
Kostunica said the decision of The Hague tribunal represents a mockery of justice and a mockery of the innocent victims who suffered at the hands of Haradinaj.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said Haradinaj's acquittal was a black day for international justice and recalled the evidence presented by former ICTY chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte.
The acquittal is scandalous and follows tremendous pressures and murder of witnesses. It has dealt a serious blow to the entire system of international justice and to the future and reconciliation among nations in the Balkans, and the responsibility lies with ICTY, Djelic said.
Slobodan Samardzic, Serbian minister for Kosovo affairs, told a press conference that the ICTY verdict would have political, moral and legal consequences for justice and possibly also for peace and stability in Kosovo.
Haradinaj's acquittal shows that there is no international justice for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, he said, noting that Haradinaj's indictment had been well drafted with strong evidence and numerous witnesses.
The verdict has allowed a war criminal to continue engaging in politics in Kosovo and will affect the state endeavors for preserving Kosovo as part of Serbia, Samardzic said, adding that ICTY verdict has poured oil onto fire in the Kosovo issue.
Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said the verdict shows that it is high time that this tribunal closes down.
"The tribunal has clearly played out its historic role, in the period when the political elites in the region and in this country either refused or were unable to deal with war crimes," Vukcevic said.
He said the judiciaries of this region have credibility and are fully prepared, as they have proved, to process war crimes cases.
Vukcevic said he expected the Hague tribunal prosecution to appeal Haradinaj's verdict.
"What is important is that nine witnesses linked to the Haradinaj case have been killed in the 2003-2007 period. One survived an assassination attempt," Vukcevic said.
The ICTY has indicted 161 individuals, mostly Serbs, for crimes allegedly committed in the last decade of the Balkan wars. More than 50 have been sentenced to over 700 years in prison.
Earlier on Thursday, Serbian President Boris Tadic said in a statement if the ICTY decided to acquit Haradinaj, this would be grave injustice and would undermine the tribunal's credibility.
4 April 2008
Serbia slammed Thursday the acquittal of former Kosovo Prime Minister and former Commander of Kosovo Liberation Army Ramush Haradinaj by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
"It is clear that in question is a court which has been set up to officially declare innocent those who committed crimes, like Haradinaj," Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in a statement.
The Hague tribunal on Thursday acquitted the 38-year-old Haradinaj of war crimes and crimes against humanity, ordering his release from detention, although the prosecution had requested a 25-year prison sentence.
Haradinaj and two other former guerrilla commanders, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, were charged with participating 10 years ago in a joint criminal enterprise, including murder, persecution, rape and torture against Serbs and other civilians.
The UN court acquitted Balaj as well, while sentencing Haradinaj's uncle, Brahimaj, to six-year imprisonment after finding him guilty of brutality and torture.
Kostunica said the decision of The Hague tribunal represents a mockery of justice and a mockery of the innocent victims who suffered at the hands of Haradinaj.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said Haradinaj's acquittal was a black day for international justice and recalled the evidence presented by former ICTY chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte.
The acquittal is scandalous and follows tremendous pressures and murder of witnesses. It has dealt a serious blow to the entire system of international justice and to the future and reconciliation among nations in the Balkans, and the responsibility lies with ICTY, Djelic said.
Slobodan Samardzic, Serbian minister for Kosovo affairs, told a press conference that the ICTY verdict would have political, moral and legal consequences for justice and possibly also for peace and stability in Kosovo.
Haradinaj's acquittal shows that there is no international justice for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, he said, noting that Haradinaj's indictment had been well drafted with strong evidence and numerous witnesses.
The verdict has allowed a war criminal to continue engaging in politics in Kosovo and will affect the state endeavors for preserving Kosovo as part of Serbia, Samardzic said, adding that ICTY verdict has poured oil onto fire in the Kosovo issue.
Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said the verdict shows that it is high time that this tribunal closes down.
"The tribunal has clearly played out its historic role, in the period when the political elites in the region and in this country either refused or were unable to deal with war crimes," Vukcevic said.
He said the judiciaries of this region have credibility and are fully prepared, as they have proved, to process war crimes cases.
Vukcevic said he expected the Hague tribunal prosecution to appeal Haradinaj's verdict.
"What is important is that nine witnesses linked to the Haradinaj case have been killed in the 2003-2007 period. One survived an assassination attempt," Vukcevic said.
The ICTY has indicted 161 individuals, mostly Serbs, for crimes allegedly committed in the last decade of the Balkan wars. More than 50 have been sentenced to over 700 years in prison.
Earlier on Thursday, Serbian President Boris Tadic said in a statement if the ICTY decided to acquit Haradinaj, this would be grave injustice and would undermine the tribunal's credibility.
Exiled tycoon linked to Politkovskaya murder: investigator.
Russia Today
3 April 2008
The suspended head of Russia’s Investigation Committee, Dmitry Dovgy, claims Boris Berezovsky was behind the murder of prominent journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Dovgy, who has supervised many high-profile cases, made the statement in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.
Meanwhile, Berezovsky has rejected claims he was behind the murder.
Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in her apartment building in October 2006. She was highly critical of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin.
Wealthy businessman Boris Berezovsky is wanted in Russia to stand trial on corruption charges. He lives in Britain in self-imposed exile. London has consistently refused to extradite him.
Dmitry Dovgy says Politkovskaya was murdered after meeting Berezovsky.
“Our deepest conviction is that Boris Berezovsky is behind the murder - through Khoz-Akhmet Noukhaev. The murder was not linked to her articles, but to her personality. She was so bright and in opposition to the ruling government, that she met Berezovsky and got killed,” he said.
Dmitry Dovgy has been suspended from his professional duties on suspicion of corruption.
3 April 2008
The suspended head of Russia’s Investigation Committee, Dmitry Dovgy, claims Boris Berezovsky was behind the murder of prominent journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Dovgy, who has supervised many high-profile cases, made the statement in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.
Meanwhile, Berezovsky has rejected claims he was behind the murder.
Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in her apartment building in October 2006. She was highly critical of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin.
Wealthy businessman Boris Berezovsky is wanted in Russia to stand trial on corruption charges. He lives in Britain in self-imposed exile. London has consistently refused to extradite him.
Dmitry Dovgy says Politkovskaya was murdered after meeting Berezovsky.
“Our deepest conviction is that Boris Berezovsky is behind the murder - through Khoz-Akhmet Noukhaev. The murder was not linked to her articles, but to her personality. She was so bright and in opposition to the ruling government, that she met Berezovsky and got killed,” he said.
Dmitry Dovgy has been suspended from his professional duties on suspicion of corruption.
REBELS POSE NEW CONDITIONS, TROOPS REFUSE DEMOBILISATION.
MISNA
3 April 2008
Immunity in exchange for their return to the joint truce monitoring mechanism: this is the demand made from Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) by Pasteur Habimana, spokesman of the rebels of the FNL (Forces for National Liberation), the last armed group active in Burundi, which were supposed to resume talks with government delegates and international mediators. According to Evariste Ndayishimiye, head of the government delegation in the peace talks, the government already guaranteed amnesty to the FNL leaders and the new demand is a cover-up of a hidden agenda to not return to the peace process, at a standstill since last year.
The new stalemate in the difficult negotiations with the rebellion comes amid a crisis linked to an armed forces reform. As part of the armed forces demobilisation programme a first group of 778 soldiers was chosen to be sent to a rehabilitation centre; some 650 of this group, members of the Tutsi minority, refused to disarm claiming they were chosen unfairly based on their ethnicity. There is a large difference between figures provided by the government (strong Hutu presence) and army officers (mainly Tutsi) on the distribution between Tutsi and Hutu in the armed forces, for long dominated by Tutsis. The armed forces reform is part of the commitments made in signing the 2003 peace accords, after 10 years of civil war.
3 April 2008
Immunity in exchange for their return to the joint truce monitoring mechanism: this is the demand made from Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) by Pasteur Habimana, spokesman of the rebels of the FNL (Forces for National Liberation), the last armed group active in Burundi, which were supposed to resume talks with government delegates and international mediators. According to Evariste Ndayishimiye, head of the government delegation in the peace talks, the government already guaranteed amnesty to the FNL leaders and the new demand is a cover-up of a hidden agenda to not return to the peace process, at a standstill since last year.
The new stalemate in the difficult negotiations with the rebellion comes amid a crisis linked to an armed forces reform. As part of the armed forces demobilisation programme a first group of 778 soldiers was chosen to be sent to a rehabilitation centre; some 650 of this group, members of the Tutsi minority, refused to disarm claiming they were chosen unfairly based on their ethnicity. There is a large difference between figures provided by the government (strong Hutu presence) and army officers (mainly Tutsi) on the distribution between Tutsi and Hutu in the armed forces, for long dominated by Tutsis. The armed forces reform is part of the commitments made in signing the 2003 peace accords, after 10 years of civil war.
NEW FIGTHING OUTSIDE KIDAL, AIR STRIKE.
MISNA
3 April 2008
Mali’s air force bombed rebel positions in the north, backing a ground operation launched against the reel movement of Ibrahim Ag Bahanga 15km south of the town of Kidal. The Algerian El Watan newspaper this morning reported that six soldiers and one rebel were killed in the fighting. Yesterday’s violent fighting is causing concern among local residents, afraid of being caught in the crossfire and the isolation of Kidal due to escalating tension since March 20, when the Tuareg chief Ag Bahanga and allied Northern Mali Tuareg Alliance for Change (ATNMC) resumed its battle against the government. Five days ago, ATNMC had given the army a deadline of a week to retreat from the north and suspend all activities, threatening a resumption of the armed conflict. A peace deal was signed in 2006 in Algiers between the government of Bamako and Democratic Alliance for Change, the armed movement of the former Tuareg rebels that returned in activity in 2006 demanding special autonomy for the north-western region, the same demand of previous Tuareg revolts of the 60’s and 90’s.
3 April 2008
Mali’s air force bombed rebel positions in the north, backing a ground operation launched against the reel movement of Ibrahim Ag Bahanga 15km south of the town of Kidal. The Algerian El Watan newspaper this morning reported that six soldiers and one rebel were killed in the fighting. Yesterday’s violent fighting is causing concern among local residents, afraid of being caught in the crossfire and the isolation of Kidal due to escalating tension since March 20, when the Tuareg chief Ag Bahanga and allied Northern Mali Tuareg Alliance for Change (ATNMC) resumed its battle against the government. Five days ago, ATNMC had given the army a deadline of a week to retreat from the north and suspend all activities, threatening a resumption of the armed conflict. A peace deal was signed in 2006 in Algiers between the government of Bamako and Democratic Alliance for Change, the armed movement of the former Tuareg rebels that returned in activity in 2006 demanding special autonomy for the north-western region, the same demand of previous Tuareg revolts of the 60’s and 90’s.
Germany supports DRC ‘clean’ metals initiative.
Bloomberg News
4 Apr 08
Editor's Note: Unless this project includes fingerprinting cassiterite, this initiative will solve nothing.
Germany is to support a project to identify metals which are sold to finance armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda and to certify those that are ‘clean’.
Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) is developing a pilot project to certify a columbite-tantalite, or coltan, supply chain between Rwanda and Germany, Nicola Martin, deputy head of the unit’s Africa section, said in a telephone interview from Hanover, Germany. The BGR is looking at ways to start certification in the DRC, she said.
Coltan, which is used in mobilephone chips, helped finance the world’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two, according to United Nations researchers. More than four-million people died in two civil wars in the DRC between 1996 and 2003.
“We could limit the illegal trade of these metals,’’ Martin said. “Certain labour standards can also be enforced and this will improve conditions for small-scale miners.’’
The German government pledged its support to the project at the G-8 Summit of leading industrialised nations in
Heiligendamm, Germany, last year, in a bid to promote transparency in the extractive industries in developing countries.
The UN Group of Experts, which researched the connection between natural resource exploitation and conflict in the DRC, suggested in a July 2005 paper the idea of creating “enhanced traceability systems’’.
The traceability project will be similar to the Kimberley Process, an initiative which certifies that diamonds do not come from conflict areas. The certifying authority will check that the origin of the metal conforms with the required criteria before it is certified, Martin said. The project can easily be expanded to include tin and tungsten, she added.
The certification of precious or semiprecious minerals is a promising tool to assure the international markets that their supply chains are not promoting militias and warlords,’’ said Nicholas Garrett, a DRC mining analyst, who researches the sector for governmental and nongovernmental organisations.
Certification in the DRC would have to form part of efforts to demilitarise mining areas such as the Bisie tin mine, in North Kivu, where the rebel eighty-fifth brigade is illegally exploiting the metal, Garrett said in an emailed statement.
The eighty-fifth brigade, made up of a former local militia, maintains control over the DRC’s biggest tin mine, even though army com- manders and Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu have appealed to them to quit the area.
Though the capacity exists to trace the origin of coltan in a laboratory, this is too costly to introduce in the DRC, Martin said.
The traceability project is “very important for balance and stability in the region”, the DRC’s Deputy Mines Minister told reporters in Kinshasa,the DRC’s capital, on March 24.
Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu
4 Apr 08
Editor's Note: Unless this project includes fingerprinting cassiterite, this initiative will solve nothing.
Germany is to support a project to identify metals which are sold to finance armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda and to certify those that are ‘clean’.
Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) is developing a pilot project to certify a columbite-tantalite, or coltan, supply chain between Rwanda and Germany, Nicola Martin, deputy head of the unit’s Africa section, said in a telephone interview from Hanover, Germany. The BGR is looking at ways to start certification in the DRC, she said.
Coltan, which is used in mobilephone chips, helped finance the world’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two, according to United Nations researchers. More than four-million people died in two civil wars in the DRC between 1996 and 2003.
“We could limit the illegal trade of these metals,’’ Martin said. “Certain labour standards can also be enforced and this will improve conditions for small-scale miners.’’
The German government pledged its support to the project at the G-8 Summit of leading industrialised nations in
Heiligendamm, Germany, last year, in a bid to promote transparency in the extractive industries in developing countries.
The UN Group of Experts, which researched the connection between natural resource exploitation and conflict in the DRC, suggested in a July 2005 paper the idea of creating “enhanced traceability systems’’.
The traceability project will be similar to the Kimberley Process, an initiative which certifies that diamonds do not come from conflict areas. The certifying authority will check that the origin of the metal conforms with the required criteria before it is certified, Martin said. The project can easily be expanded to include tin and tungsten, she added.
The certification of precious or semiprecious minerals is a promising tool to assure the international markets that their supply chains are not promoting militias and warlords,’’ said Nicholas Garrett, a DRC mining analyst, who researches the sector for governmental and nongovernmental organisations.
Certification in the DRC would have to form part of efforts to demilitarise mining areas such as the Bisie tin mine, in North Kivu, where the rebel eighty-fifth brigade is illegally exploiting the metal, Garrett said in an emailed statement.
The eighty-fifth brigade, made up of a former local militia, maintains control over the DRC’s biggest tin mine, even though army com- manders and Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu have appealed to them to quit the area.
Though the capacity exists to trace the origin of coltan in a laboratory, this is too costly to introduce in the DRC, Martin said.
The traceability project is “very important for balance and stability in the region”, the DRC’s Deputy Mines Minister told reporters in Kinshasa,the DRC’s capital, on March 24.
Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu
War Crimes and the Recognition of Kosovo: Observations on the current political leadership in Kosovo.
by Major General (ret'd) Lewis MacKenzie
Statement to The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies, The Rockford Institute Center for International Affairs and the Montreal Rally against the Recognition of Kosovo "Independence", March 30th, 2008
I regret that I was not able to attend this event due to other commitments. I thank the organizers and Ambassador Bissett for giving me the opportunity to say a few words. The Balkans are not easy to understand and I do not consider myself an expert by any stretch however starting in 1992 with the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina I witnessed the beginning of international anti-Serb bias based in no small part due to the efforts of professional North American based public relations firms hired by two sides in a three sided civil war. The Bosnian Serbs were slow off the mark, hired no one and have paid the price.
This anti-Serb bias and sympathy for their "victims" was exploited by the Kosovo Liberation Army, (KLA), an internationally recognized terrorist organization at the time when it commenced killing Serbian security personnel in the late 90s. The KLA hired the same North American PR firms employed by the Bosnian government and successfully won the PR war in spite of the fact their organization initiated the armed conflict. No one could ever accuse the Serbs of treating the Kosovar's with kid gloves; however, discrimination in civil service and university hiring procedures is hardly justification for armed resistance with independence and the creation of Greater Albania as a goal.
Canadians should be concerned regarding Kosovo's current leadership. The current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was the leader of the KLA. He has admitted that the KLA orchestrated the infamous Racak "massacre" dressing their KLA dead in civilian clothes, machine gunning them and dumping them in a ditch and claiming it was a Serbian slaughter of civilians. NATO bought into the ruse and on its 50th birthday looking for a role in the post cold war world the alliance became the KLA's air force and bombed a sovereign nation from the safety of 10,000 ft. No one in NATO was hurt.
His predecessor as Prime Minister was Agim Cheku. He was in command of Croatian Forces in the Medak Pocket where Serb families were burnt alive in their cellars necessitating intervention by Canadian soldiers and he was also in charge in 1995 during Operation Storm when the Croatian Army cowardly shelled and over-ran Canadian peacekeeping positions. For both of those actions Canada called for the indictment of Ceku for war crimes.
Canada should remain united with the approximately 157 member countries of the United Nations and with the leaders of the vast majority of the world's population, India, China, the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, Russia, Argentina, Greece, Cyprus and 149 others in not recognizing Kosovo's illegal unilateral declaration of independence. Independence has to be earned by a group meeting specific criteria and in accordance with legal protocol. Kosovo does not even come close to qualifying for such recognition.
Statement to The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies, The Rockford Institute Center for International Affairs and the Montreal Rally against the Recognition of Kosovo "Independence", March 30th, 2008
I regret that I was not able to attend this event due to other commitments. I thank the organizers and Ambassador Bissett for giving me the opportunity to say a few words. The Balkans are not easy to understand and I do not consider myself an expert by any stretch however starting in 1992 with the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina I witnessed the beginning of international anti-Serb bias based in no small part due to the efforts of professional North American based public relations firms hired by two sides in a three sided civil war. The Bosnian Serbs were slow off the mark, hired no one and have paid the price.
This anti-Serb bias and sympathy for their "victims" was exploited by the Kosovo Liberation Army, (KLA), an internationally recognized terrorist organization at the time when it commenced killing Serbian security personnel in the late 90s. The KLA hired the same North American PR firms employed by the Bosnian government and successfully won the PR war in spite of the fact their organization initiated the armed conflict. No one could ever accuse the Serbs of treating the Kosovar's with kid gloves; however, discrimination in civil service and university hiring procedures is hardly justification for armed resistance with independence and the creation of Greater Albania as a goal.
Canadians should be concerned regarding Kosovo's current leadership. The current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was the leader of the KLA. He has admitted that the KLA orchestrated the infamous Racak "massacre" dressing their KLA dead in civilian clothes, machine gunning them and dumping them in a ditch and claiming it was a Serbian slaughter of civilians. NATO bought into the ruse and on its 50th birthday looking for a role in the post cold war world the alliance became the KLA's air force and bombed a sovereign nation from the safety of 10,000 ft. No one in NATO was hurt.
His predecessor as Prime Minister was Agim Cheku. He was in command of Croatian Forces in the Medak Pocket where Serb families were burnt alive in their cellars necessitating intervention by Canadian soldiers and he was also in charge in 1995 during Operation Storm when the Croatian Army cowardly shelled and over-ran Canadian peacekeeping positions. For both of those actions Canada called for the indictment of Ceku for war crimes.
Canada should remain united with the approximately 157 member countries of the United Nations and with the leaders of the vast majority of the world's population, India, China, the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, Russia, Argentina, Greece, Cyprus and 149 others in not recognizing Kosovo's illegal unilateral declaration of independence. Independence has to be earned by a group meeting specific criteria and in accordance with legal protocol. Kosovo does not even come close to qualifying for such recognition.
03 April, 2008
Hague court acquits Kosovo ex-PM.
BBC News
3 April 2008
The International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague has acquitted a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) of war crimes.
Ramush Haradinaj was found not guilty on all counts.
He had been accused, along with Idriz Balj and Lahi Brahimaj, of murder, persecution, rape and torture in Kosovo in 1998.
Mr Haradinaj had been a KLA commander fighting Serb forces and later became prime minister in UN-run Kosovo.
The three men had been accused of driving Serb and Roma civilians from their homes, and targeting Kosovo Albanians who were suspected of collaborating with Serb forces.
Defence lawyers did not call witnesses, but told the court in closing arguments that the prosecution had presented a case built on sand.
3 April 2008
The International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague has acquitted a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) of war crimes.
Ramush Haradinaj was found not guilty on all counts.
He had been accused, along with Idriz Balj and Lahi Brahimaj, of murder, persecution, rape and torture in Kosovo in 1998.
Mr Haradinaj had been a KLA commander fighting Serb forces and later became prime minister in UN-run Kosovo.
The three men had been accused of driving Serb and Roma civilians from their homes, and targeting Kosovo Albanians who were suspected of collaborating with Serb forces.
Defence lawyers did not call witnesses, but told the court in closing arguments that the prosecution had presented a case built on sand.
ICTR WORKSHOP FOR RWANDAN PROSECUTORS OPENS IN NYANZA
Arusha, 3 April 2008
ICTR Press Release
A 10 day capacity building seminar on the law of indictments for Rwandan Prosecutors opened Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at Rwanda’s Institute of Legal
Practice and Development in Nyanza, Southern Province. About 147
participants drawn from different levels in the national Prosecution service are attending the workshop.
In his remarks, Mr. Richard Karegyesa, Senior Trial Attorney, on behalf of the ICTR Prosecutor, Mr. Hassan Bubacar Jallow, said that this training is one of the important pillars of the justice system and would enable the exchange of legal experience in the drafting of indictments.
He thanked the Government of Rwanda for inviting the ICTR to participate in and share experience with the Rwandan National Prosecution Service. The ICTR Official also thanked the European Union and the World Bank for the support the two institutions are providing in strengthening the capacity of the Rwandan Judiciary.
Mr. Karegyesa announced that the Tribunal will continue with its programme of capacity building for the Rwandan Justice sector. He commended the existing cordial and excellent relationship between the ICTR and the Government of Rwanda.
At the opening ceremony, on behalf of the Prosecutor General, Mr.Hitiyaremye Alphonse, the Deputy Prosecutor General, thanked the organizers of the seminar, which he said would provide the necessary knowledge to improve the work of the prosecutors in the country. The Rwandan Official added that the techniques in drafting indictments would enable the country’s judiciary to operate on international standards needed in the protection of the rights for the accused.
The training is being facilitated by officials from the office of the Prosecutor. It follows similar ones already organized by the ICTR for judges, prosecutors, and members of the Rwanda Bar Association among others.
ICTR Press Release
A 10 day capacity building seminar on the law of indictments for Rwandan Prosecutors opened Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at Rwanda’s Institute of Legal
Practice and Development in Nyanza, Southern Province. About 147
participants drawn from different levels in the national Prosecution service are attending the workshop.
In his remarks, Mr. Richard Karegyesa, Senior Trial Attorney, on behalf of the ICTR Prosecutor, Mr. Hassan Bubacar Jallow, said that this training is one of the important pillars of the justice system and would enable the exchange of legal experience in the drafting of indictments.
He thanked the Government of Rwanda for inviting the ICTR to participate in and share experience with the Rwandan National Prosecution Service. The ICTR Official also thanked the European Union and the World Bank for the support the two institutions are providing in strengthening the capacity of the Rwandan Judiciary.
Mr. Karegyesa announced that the Tribunal will continue with its programme of capacity building for the Rwandan Justice sector. He commended the existing cordial and excellent relationship between the ICTR and the Government of Rwanda.
At the opening ceremony, on behalf of the Prosecutor General, Mr.Hitiyaremye Alphonse, the Deputy Prosecutor General, thanked the organizers of the seminar, which he said would provide the necessary knowledge to improve the work of the prosecutors in the country. The Rwandan Official added that the techniques in drafting indictments would enable the country’s judiciary to operate on international standards needed in the protection of the rights for the accused.
The training is being facilitated by officials from the office of the Prosecutor. It follows similar ones already organized by the ICTR for judges, prosecutors, and members of the Rwanda Bar Association among others.
Syrian reservists called up to defend against possible Israeli strike.
YNet
2 April 2008
By Roee Nahmias
Syria is preparing for a comprehensive Israeli strike which will be combined with an attack on Hizbullah, sources in Damascus have told the London-based Arabic-language al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper.
The sources, which refused to reveal their identity, reported that Syria was closely monitoring the movement of Israeli forces along the northern border.
Defense minister tours IDF’s Northern Command, says Lebanese Shiite group is ‘wary of firing at Israel at the moment, but beneath this blissful quiet there is a storm brewing’
The newspaper reported Wednesday that Damascus viewed the Israeli media reports and statements made by senior Israel Defense Forces officials as incitement and attempts to prepare the Israeli and global public opinion for a war against Syria.
The sources added that the Syrian forces were conducting wide-scale military maneuvers and have called up reservists in preparation for an Israeli attack.
In addition to the military preparations, the sources said, Damascus has raised its security alert level for fear that Israeli forces would infiltrate its territories through one of its bordering countries, mainly referring to Lebanon.
Over the past few weeks, the Syrians have stationed three armored divisions, special forces and nine mechanized infantry divisions opposite Lebanon's western valley, as the Syrians estimate that a ground Israeli invasion may take place in that area.
The area is not only a strategic territory for Hizbullah, but also a problematic area for Syria, as it would not take the IDF long to place its cannons opposite the Syrian capital and control the Beirut-Damascus route.
2 April 2008
By Roee Nahmias
Syria is preparing for a comprehensive Israeli strike which will be combined with an attack on Hizbullah, sources in Damascus have told the London-based Arabic-language al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper.
The sources, which refused to reveal their identity, reported that Syria was closely monitoring the movement of Israeli forces along the northern border.
Defense minister tours IDF’s Northern Command, says Lebanese Shiite group is ‘wary of firing at Israel at the moment, but beneath this blissful quiet there is a storm brewing’
The newspaper reported Wednesday that Damascus viewed the Israeli media reports and statements made by senior Israel Defense Forces officials as incitement and attempts to prepare the Israeli and global public opinion for a war against Syria.
The sources added that the Syrian forces were conducting wide-scale military maneuvers and have called up reservists in preparation for an Israeli attack.
In addition to the military preparations, the sources said, Damascus has raised its security alert level for fear that Israeli forces would infiltrate its territories through one of its bordering countries, mainly referring to Lebanon.
Over the past few weeks, the Syrians have stationed three armored divisions, special forces and nine mechanized infantry divisions opposite Lebanon's western valley, as the Syrians estimate that a ground Israeli invasion may take place in that area.
The area is not only a strategic territory for Hizbullah, but also a problematic area for Syria, as it would not take the IDF long to place its cannons opposite the Syrian capital and control the Beirut-Damascus route.
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