Editor's Note: For the full and comprehensive text of the bill as introduced on 19 November 2009, visit:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2009/11/19/2010307308.pdf
The Conflict Minerals Trade Act
Section-by-Section Summary
Section 1. Short Title
Section 2. Findings
Include affirmation of applicability of GATT Article 20.
Section 3. Statement of Policy
States that it is the policy of the United States to monitor and stop commercial activity in conflict minerals in the DRC, and to develop stronger governance and institutions to ensure transparency in cross-border trade.
Section 4. Investigation, Reports, and Strategy
A. Congo Conflict Minerals Map: will clarify which mines in the DRC are likely to finance conflict. The Secretary may add other minerals financing conflict in the DRC, and must publish notice of intent to do so one year in advance.
B. Guidance to Commercial Entities: the Secretaries of State and Commerce work with UN, INGOs to provide guidance to commercial entities on best practices relating to conflict minerals.
C. Strategy: the Secretary of State, with USAID, shall submit a strategy to assist government and institutions to formalize and make transparent mineral trade, outline current and suggested assistance, and describe potential sanctions against those supporting illegal armed groups or human rights violators in DRC.
D. Annual Human Rights Reports: Reports shall include known instances of minerals financing conflict.
E. Annual OECD Report: Shall describe US efforts to ensure US commercial enterprises are doing due diligence to avoid financing DRC conflict.
F. Support of UNGE on DRC Mandate: Supports the renewal of the UN Group of Experts on DRC’s mandate using the voice and vote of the United States.
G. Authorization of Appropriations: “such sums as may be necessary” to the State Department.
Section 5. Sense of Congress:
A. On Assistance for Affected Communities: USAID should expand and coordinate programs to assist those affected.
B. On Future Year Funding: Congress should increase funding for USAID in DRC to support programs in subsection (A).
C. On Coordination of Assistance: The US should work bilaterally and multilaterally to protect the vulnerable in DRC and better manage mineral trade financing conflict.
Section 6. Identification of Goods Containing Conflict Minerals:
A. Potential Conflict Goods List: The Sec. Commerce will compile a Potential Conflict Goods List of articles on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) likely to include conflict minerals.
B. Approved Auditors List: The Sec. Commerce, consulting with the Sec. State, the ITC, NGOs, and industry representatives, shall compile a list of approved auditors to audit facilities processing conflict minerals.
C. Regular Auditing of Facilities for Use of Conflict Minerals: The Secretary of Commerce shall seek to ensure that facilities processing conflict minerals subject themselves to random audits by approved auditors at least every four months. Facilities will be defined as ‘conflict mineral free’ or ‘conflict mineral facility’. The Secretary will seek to ensure that auditing determinations and reports are published. Facilities may request additional, private audits. Audit protocols are defined.
Section 7. Requirements Relating to Importation of Articles Containing Conflict Minerals:
A. Declaration of Certain Articles: Beginning in two years, importers must specify whether articles listed on the Potential Conflict Goods List have components that come from processing facilities are designated as ‘uses conflict minerals’ or ‘conflict mineral free’. Recycled metals will be considered ‘conflict mineral free’. Products containing only conflict mineral free components may be labeled as conflict mineral free.
B. Prohibition of Importation of Certain Articles: No unrefined conflict minerals may be introduced into the United States for a commercial purpose.
C. Exemption: The President may exempt certain articles from inclusion on the Potential Conflict Goods List for up to two years if the President determines it is in the national security interest of the US and explains the reasons for that determination.
Section 8. Report by the United States Trade Representative
A. In General: The USTR will publish a report of those importers importing articles from facilities using conflict minerals every six months.
B. Matters to be Included: Each report shall include detailed information on the shipment of conflict mineral goods imported into the US.
Section 9. Penalties
A. Penalties Relating to Conflict Minerals: Section 592 of the Tariff Act (19 USC 1592) applies to fraudulent or negligent declarations upon importation.
B. Publication in the Federal Register: Those penalties imposed under subsection (A) shall be published in the Federal Register.
Section 10. Reports by the Government Accountability Office
A. Initial Report: GAO shall assess the effectiveness of the auditors regularly, and recommend best practices.
B. Follow-up Report: GAO will regularly assess the effectiveness of this act, a description of problems in execution of this Act, description of adverse impact of this Act on communities in the DRC (if any), and recommendations to improve the effectiveness of this Act, resolve problems described, or mitigate impacts.
Section 11. Definitions
United States: means the customs territory of the United States.
Appropriate Congressional Committees:
In the House, means Appropriations, Foreign Affairs, Ways and Means, and Financial Services.
In the Senate, means Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Finance, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
C. Conflict Minerals: means columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, wolframite, or their derivatives, or other conflict zone mine minerals designated by the Secretary of State.
Section 12. Sunset
This act expires when no ongoing conflict is being financed by conflict minerals in the DRC, or when a regional framework to reduce the financing of conflict with minerals has been established.
21 November, 2009
Full Text of the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009 as First Introduced to the Senate on April 23, 2009.
Editor's Note: My proverbial two cents (recognizing the bill is in its early stages): I don't suspect much if any resistance to the bill from the Senate because
it is an effective elections tool to cater to certain voters. It is an issue in the popular press and many young activists are engaged on the issue. This
population sector is a key voting base, particularly for the
democrats, who desperately want to keep the majority. Both Sen.
Feingold and Sen. Brownback are due for re-elections this year.
The primary resistance will come from the committees who will not want to
fund it because of the potentially large fiscal and labor
costs required to fully implement the bill. My colleagues in the activist
community contacted the GAO about the bill and one of their
spokeman said the bill will likely take at least 2 years to pass if
it even does, and also said they don't believe it will due to the
aforementioned reason.
One fundamental flaw in the bill is that it is contingent on being
able to identify conflict minerals. Given the many links in the
supply chain, any of them can simply claim they don't know where
they are coming from and it is currently difficult to prove them
wrong. Someone would have to look at the records at the Ministry
of Mining, with no guarantee they will be reliable. The US claims
it wants to help implement ways to certify this chain, but how are
they going to do it for every mine in a conflict zone? None of the
currently proposed programs take place at the mines themselves. On
the way to the trading centers, where some programs of
certification may be put in place, the ore can change hands so many
times it would be extremely difficult to discern if it is a
conflict mineral or not, particularly if there is active conflict in the mining areas and trade routes. Certification at the mines would require
trained agents to go on site, but with such poor infrastructure it would be
years before this is feasible and there would need to be peace to
rebuild the infrastructure.
What about a way to certify the smuggled ores into Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda? The bill talks only relatively briefly about the role of neighbors and integrating them
into a non-specific regional framework of certification. Where are
specific carrots and sticks to coerce these neighbors into
compliance? What about redress for their past theft of minerals
similar to the ICJ's decision against Uganda?
Additionally, due to sovreignity constraints, the US can only directly police US MNCs, and use diplomatic carrots and sticks to get the other countries to
comply and the bill reflects this. What specific incentives will be provided to coerce the Congolese supply chain actors to comply with a certification process on the ground spearheaded by the weak Congolese government and its weak institutions? How long would it take the Congolese government (provincial and national) to get legitimate certification insitutions up and running even with the help of the international community?
What kind of regulatory power does the SEC have? Much of the SEC's regulatory power was gutted under the Bush II Administration as part of their deregulation program, and I do not know if the Obama Admin. restored any of these powers. Many of the
initiatives of industry watchdogs like EICC, etc. are only
voluntary and not legally binding. So beyond whelding Resolution
1857 and trying to advance it in future resolutions, what specific penalties would US MNC's face if caught?
There is also some abiguity in the wording of some parts of the
bill that are ripe for abuse. For example, "illegal armed groups." Does that mean only non-state actors, ignoring "legal" armed groups like state armies
who are illegally deployed in Congolese territory? What about the state forces "invited" to particiate in joint operations with the FARDC, but particpate in the looting of natural resources that eventually find their way to US MNCs via a parallel supply chain leading to the sale to legitimate comptoirs who act in self-interest and sell the minerals/ores to international buyers, potentially including US-owned MNCs. You also have the legalistic and loophole filled statements in Section 5, Subsection
7,D,ii,V and Section 5, Subsection 4, A and B.
S 891 IS
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 891
To require annual disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission of activities involving columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, and wolframite from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 23, 2009
Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. FEINGOLD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A BILL
To require annual disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission of activities involving columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, and wolframite from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Democratic Republic of Congo was devastated by a civil war carried out in 1996 and 1997 and a war that began in 1998 and ended in 2003, which resulted in widespread human rights violations and the intervention of multiple armed forces or armed non-state actors from other countries in the region.
(2) Despite the signing of a peace agreement and subsequent withdrawal of foreign forces in 2003, the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo has continued to suffer from high levels of poverty, insecurity, and a culture of impunity, in which illegal armed groups and military forces continue to commit widespread human rights abuses.
(3) According to a study by the International Rescue Committee released in January 2008, conflict and related humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo have resulted in the deaths of an estimated 5,400,000 people since 1998 and continue to cause as many as 45,000 deaths each month.
(4) Sexual violence and rape remain pervasive tools of warfare used by all parties in eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo to terrorize and humiliate communities, resulting in community break down which causes a decrease in the ability of affected communities to resist control by illegal armed forces and a loss of community access to minerals. Sexual violence and rape affect hundreds of thousands of women and girls, frequently resulting in traumatic fistula, other severe genital injuries, and long-term psychological trauma.
(5) A report released by the Government Accountability Office in December 2007 describes how the mismanagement and illicit trade of extractive resources from the Democratic Republic of Congo supports conflict between militias and armed domestic factions in neighboring countries.
(6) In October 2002, the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo called on member states of the United Nations to adopt measures, consistent with the guidelines established for multinational enterprises by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, to ensure that enterprises in their jurisdiction do not abuse principles of conduct that they have adopted as a matter of law.
(7) In February 2008, the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo stated, ‘individuals and entities buying mineral output from areas of the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo with a strong rebel presence are violating the sanctions regime when they do not exercise due diligence to ensure their mineral purchases do not provide assistance to illegal armed groups’ and defined due diligence as including the following:
(A) Determining the precise identity of the deposits from which the minerals they intend to purchase have been mined.
(B) Establishing whether or not these deposits are controlled or taxed by illegal armed groups.
(C) Refusing to buy minerals known to originate, or suspected to originate, from deposits controlled or taxed by illegal armed groups.
(8) In its final report, released on December 12, 2008, the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo found that official exports of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold are grossly undervalued and that various illegal armed groups in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to profit greatly from these natural resources by coercively exercising control over mining sites from where they are extracted and locations along which they are transported for export.
(9) United Nations Security Council Resolution 1857, unanimously adopted on December 22, 2008--
(A) broadens existing sanctions relating to the Democratic Republic of Congo to include ‘individuals or entities supporting the illegal armed groups . . . through illicit trade of natural resources,’; and
(B) encourages member countries to ensure that companies handling minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo exercise due diligence on their suppliers.
(10) Continued weak governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo has allowed the illicit trade in the minerals columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold to flourish, which empowers illegal armed groups, undermines local development, and results in a loss or misuse of tax revenue for the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The development of stronger governance and economic institutions that support legitimate cross-border trade in such minerals would--
(A) help prevent the exploitation of such minerals by illegal armed groups; and
(B) enable the hundreds of thousands of people who depend on such minerals for their livelihoods to benefit from such minerals.
(11) Metals derived from columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo are used in diverse technological products sold worldwide, including mobile telephones, laptop computers, and digital video recorders.
(12) In February 2009, the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative released a statement asserting that--
(A) use by the information communications technology industry of mined commodities that support conflict in such countries as the Democratic Republic of Congo is unacceptable; and
(B) electronics companies can and should uphold responsible practices in their operations and work with suppliers to meet social and environmental standards with respect to the raw materials used in the manufacture of their products.
(13) Notwithstanding the extensiveness of the supply chains of technological products and the extensiveness of the processing stages for the metals derived from columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold used in such products, companies that create and sell products that include such metals have the ability to influence the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo by--
(A) exercising due diligence in ensuring that their suppliers provide raw materials in a manner that does not--
(i) directly finance armed conflict;
(ii) result in labor or human rights violations; or
(iii) damage the environment;
(B) verifying--
(i) the country from which the minerals used to derive such metals originate;
(ii) the identity of the exporter of the minerals; and
(iii) that all appropriate tax payments are made; and
(C) committing to support mineral exporters from the Democratic Republic of Congo who--
(i) fully disclose their export payments; and
(ii) certify that their minerals do not--
(I) directly finance armed conflict;
(II) result in labor or human rights violations; or
(III) damage the environment.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States, as affirmed by the Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security, and Development Promotion Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-456; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note) and consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1857 (2008), to promote peace and security in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by supporting efforts of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, other governments in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and the international community--
(1) to monitor and stop commercial activities involving the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo that contribute to illegal armed groups and human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and
(2) to develop stronger governance and economic institutions that can facilitate and improve transparency in the cross-border trade involving the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to reduce exploitation by illegal armed groups and promote local and regional development.
SEC. 4. INVESTIGATION, REPORTS, AND STRATEGY REGARDING COLUMBITE-TANTALITE, CASSITERITE, WOLFRAMITE, GOLD, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
(a) Support of Mandate of United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo- The President, acting through the Secretary of State, the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and other appropriate United States Government officials, shall use the voice and vote of the United States at the United Nations Security Council to renew the mandate and strengthen the capacity of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate links between natural resources and the financing of illegal armed groups, and ensure that the Group of Experts’ recommendations are given serious consideration.
(b) Map of Mineral-Rich Zones and Armed Groups in Democratic Republic of Congo-
(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall, consistent with the recommendation from the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo in their December 2008 report, work with other member states of the United Nations and local and international nongovernmental organizations--
(A) to produce a map of mineral-rich zones and armed groups in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo; and
(B) to make such map available to the public.
(2) UPDATES- The Secretary of State shall update the map required by paragraph (1) not less frequently than once every 180 days until the Secretary of State certifies that no armed party to any ongoing armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo or any other country is involved in the mining, sale, or export of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, or gold, or the control thereof, or derives benefits from such activities.
(c) Guidance for Commercial Entities- The Secretary of State shall, consistent with the recommendation from the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo in their December 2008 report, work with other member states of the United Nations and local and international nongovernmental organizations to provide guidance to commercial entities seeking to exercise due diligence on their suppliers to ensure that the raw materials used in their products do not--
(1) directly finance armed conflict;
(2) result in labor or human rights violations; or
(3) damage the environment.
(d) Strategy-
(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall, working with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, submit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy to address the linkages that exist between human rights abuses, armed groups, and the mining of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(2) CONTENTS- The strategy required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A) A plan to assist the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and other governments in the region in establishing and effectively implementing the necessary frameworks and institutions to formalize and improve transparency in the trade of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold.
(B) An outline of assistance currently being provided and an assessment of future assistance that could be provided by the Government of the United States to help the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo strengthen the management and export of natural resources in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(C) A description of punitive measures that could be taken against individuals or entities whose commercial activities are supporting illegal armed groups and human rights violations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
(e) Annual Human Rights Reports- In preparing those portions of the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices relating to the Democratic Republic of Congo or countries that share a border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Secretary of State shall ensure that such reports include a description of any instances or patterns of practice that indicate that the extraction and cross-border trade in columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, or gold has negatively affected human rights conditions or supported specific human rights violations, sexual or gender-based violence, or labor abuses in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, during the period covered by each report.
(f) Annual Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development Investment Committee Report- In preparing the United States’ annual report to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Investment Committee, the Secretary of State shall include a description of efforts by the United States to ensure, consistent with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, that enterprises under United States jurisdiction are exercising due diligence to ensure that their purchases of minerals or metals are not originating from mines and trading routes that are used to finance or benefit illegal armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State for fiscal year 2010 such sums as may be necessary for the Secretary to carry out the provisions of this section.
(h) Definitions- In this section:
(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES- The term ‘appropriate congressional committees’ means--
(A) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives.
(2) HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS- The term ‘Human Rights Reports’ means all reports submitted by the Secretary of State to Congress under sections 116 and 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n and 2304).
SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE TO SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OF ACTIVITIES RELATING TO COLUMBITE-TANTALITE, CASSITERITE, AND WOLFRAMITE INDUSTRIES.
Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘(m) Disclosure to Commission of Activities Relating to Columbite-Tantalite, Cassiterite, and Wolframite Industries-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall promulgate rules requiring any person described in paragraph (2)--
‘(A) to disclose annually to the Commission the country of origin of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, or wolframite related to any of the activities described in paragraph (3); and
‘(B) if disclosure is required under subparagraph (A) and the country of origin disclosed under subparagraph (A) is the Democratic Republic of Congo or an adjoining country, to disclose annually to the Commission the mine of origin of such columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, and wolframite.
‘(2) PERSON DESCRIBED- A person is described in this paragraph if the person--
‘(A) is required to file reports to the Commission under subsection (a); and
‘(B) either--
‘(i) engages in activities described in paragraph (3); or
‘(ii) controls a person that engages in activities described in paragraph (3).
‘(3) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED- An activity described in this paragraph is--
‘(A) the commercial exploration, extraction, importation, exportation, or sale of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, or wolframite; or
‘(B) the use of such minerals, derivatives of such minerals, components that include such minerals, or components that include derivatives of such minerals in the manufacture of a product for sale.
‘(4) REVISIONS AND WAIVERS- The Commission may revise or temporarily waive the requirements described in paragraph (1) if the Commission determines that such revision or waiver is--
‘(A) necessary for the protection of investors; and
‘(B) in the public interest.
‘(5) TERMINATION OF DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS- The disclosure requirements of this subsection shall terminate if the President--
‘(A) determines that--
‘(i) no armed party to any ongoing armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo or any other country--
‘(I) is involved in an activity described in paragraph (3)(A) with respect to columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, or wolframite; or
‘(II) derives benefits from such activity; or
‘(ii) a regional framework has been established and effectively implemented to monitor and regulate the activities described in paragraph (3)(A) with respect to columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, or wolframite in the Democratic Republic of Congo so that such activities do not finance or benefit illegal armed groups; and
‘(B) notifies the Commission of the determination under subparagraph (A).
‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for fiscal year 2010 such sums as may be necessary for the Commission to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
‘(7) DEFINITIONS- In this subsection, the following definitions shall apply:
‘(A) ADJOINING COUNTRY- The term ‘adjoining country’, with respect to the Democratic Republic of Congo, means a country that shares an internationally recognized border with the Democractic Republic of Congo.
‘(B) CONTROL- The term ‘control’ means--
‘(i) in the case of a corporation, ownership of at least 50 percent of the voting stock of the corporation; and
‘(ii) in the case of any other entity, ownership of interests representing at least 50 percent of the voting capital of the entity.
‘(C) FOREIGN PERSON- The term ‘foreign person’ means a person--
‘(i) in the case of an individual, who is an alien as such term is defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)); or
‘(ii) in the case of a partnership, corporation, or other entity, that is organized under the laws of a foreign country or that has its principal place of business in a foreign country.
‘(D) PERSON- The term ‘person’ has the meaning given the term in section 3(a) but does not include--
‘(i) any foreign nongovernmental organization that--
‘(I) has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council; or
‘(II) has been accredited by a department or specialized agency of the United Nations; or
‘(ii) a foreign person whose business activities are strictly limited to providing goods and services that are--
‘(I) intended to relieve human suffering;
‘(II) intended to promote welfare, health, religious, or spiritual activities;
‘(III) used for educational or humanitarian purposes;
‘(IV) used for journalistic activities; or
‘(V) used for such other purposes as the Secretary of State may determine serve the foreign policy interests of the United States.’.
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE FOR AFFECTED COMMUNITIES AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS.
(a) Sense of Congress on Assistance for Affected Communities- It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development should expand and better coordinate programs to assist and empower communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo whose livelihoods depend on the mineral trade, particularly--
(1) communities affected by sexual and gender-based violence; and
(2) individuals displaced by violence.
(b) Sense of Congress on Future Year Funding- It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State and the Administrator should work with the appropriate congressional committees to increase assistance in fiscal years beginning after fiscal year 2009 for communities affected by violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifically--
(1) to provide medical treatment, psychological support, and rehabilitation assistance for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence;
(2) to provide humanitarian relief and basic services to people displaced by violence;
(3) to improve living conditions and livelihood prospects for artisanal miners and mine workers; and
(4) to alleviate poverty by reconstructing infrastructure and revitalizing agricultural production.
(c) Sense of Congress on Coordination of Assistance- It is the sense of Congress that the United States should work with other countries, on a bilateral and multilateral basis--
(1) to increase protection and services for communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo at risk of human rights violations associated with the mineral trade, particularly women and girls;
(2) to strengthen the management and trade of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and
(3) to improve the conditions and livelihood prospects of artisan miners and mine workers.
SEC. 7. REPORT.
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that includes the following:
(1) An assessment of the effectiveness of the provisions of this Act and section 13(m) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m(m)), as added by section 5, in promoting peace and security in accordance with section 3.
(2) A description of the problems, if any, encountered by the President, officials described in section 4(a), the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development in carrying out the provisions of this Act and such section 13(m).
(3) A description of the adverse impacts of carrying out the provisions of this Act and such section 13(m), if any, on communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
(4) Recommendations for legislative or regulatory actions that can be taken--
(A) to improve the effectiveness of the provisions of this Act and such section 13(m) to promote peace and security in accordance with section 3;
(B) to resolve the problems described pursuant to paragraph (2), if any; and
(C) to mitigate the adverse impacts described pursuant paragraph (3), if any.
it is an effective elections tool to cater to certain voters. It is an issue in the popular press and many young activists are engaged on the issue. This
population sector is a key voting base, particularly for the
democrats, who desperately want to keep the majority. Both Sen.
Feingold and Sen. Brownback are due for re-elections this year.
The primary resistance will come from the committees who will not want to
fund it because of the potentially large fiscal and labor
costs required to fully implement the bill. My colleagues in the activist
community contacted the GAO about the bill and one of their
spokeman said the bill will likely take at least 2 years to pass if
it even does, and also said they don't believe it will due to the
aforementioned reason.
One fundamental flaw in the bill is that it is contingent on being
able to identify conflict minerals. Given the many links in the
supply chain, any of them can simply claim they don't know where
they are coming from and it is currently difficult to prove them
wrong. Someone would have to look at the records at the Ministry
of Mining, with no guarantee they will be reliable. The US claims
it wants to help implement ways to certify this chain, but how are
they going to do it for every mine in a conflict zone? None of the
currently proposed programs take place at the mines themselves. On
the way to the trading centers, where some programs of
certification may be put in place, the ore can change hands so many
times it would be extremely difficult to discern if it is a
conflict mineral or not, particularly if there is active conflict in the mining areas and trade routes. Certification at the mines would require
trained agents to go on site, but with such poor infrastructure it would be
years before this is feasible and there would need to be peace to
rebuild the infrastructure.
What about a way to certify the smuggled ores into Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda? The bill talks only relatively briefly about the role of neighbors and integrating them
into a non-specific regional framework of certification. Where are
specific carrots and sticks to coerce these neighbors into
compliance? What about redress for their past theft of minerals
similar to the ICJ's decision against Uganda?
Additionally, due to sovreignity constraints, the US can only directly police US MNCs, and use diplomatic carrots and sticks to get the other countries to
comply and the bill reflects this. What specific incentives will be provided to coerce the Congolese supply chain actors to comply with a certification process on the ground spearheaded by the weak Congolese government and its weak institutions? How long would it take the Congolese government (provincial and national) to get legitimate certification insitutions up and running even with the help of the international community?
What kind of regulatory power does the SEC have? Much of the SEC's regulatory power was gutted under the Bush II Administration as part of their deregulation program, and I do not know if the Obama Admin. restored any of these powers. Many of the
initiatives of industry watchdogs like EICC, etc. are only
voluntary and not legally binding. So beyond whelding Resolution
1857 and trying to advance it in future resolutions, what specific penalties would US MNC's face if caught?
There is also some abiguity in the wording of some parts of the
bill that are ripe for abuse. For example, "illegal armed groups." Does that mean only non-state actors, ignoring "legal" armed groups like state armies
who are illegally deployed in Congolese territory? What about the state forces "invited" to particiate in joint operations with the FARDC, but particpate in the looting of natural resources that eventually find their way to US MNCs via a parallel supply chain leading to the sale to legitimate comptoirs who act in self-interest and sell the minerals/ores to international buyers, potentially including US-owned MNCs. You also have the legalistic and loophole filled statements in Section 5, Subsection
7,D,ii,V and Section 5, Subsection 4, A and B.
S 891 IS
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 891
To require annual disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission of activities involving columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, and wolframite from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 23, 2009
Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. FEINGOLD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A BILL
To require annual disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission of activities involving columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, and wolframite from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Democratic Republic of Congo was devastated by a civil war carried out in 1996 and 1997 and a war that began in 1998 and ended in 2003, which resulted in widespread human rights violations and the intervention of multiple armed forces or armed non-state actors from other countries in the region.
(2) Despite the signing of a peace agreement and subsequent withdrawal of foreign forces in 2003, the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo has continued to suffer from high levels of poverty, insecurity, and a culture of impunity, in which illegal armed groups and military forces continue to commit widespread human rights abuses.
(3) According to a study by the International Rescue Committee released in January 2008, conflict and related humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo have resulted in the deaths of an estimated 5,400,000 people since 1998 and continue to cause as many as 45,000 deaths each month.
(4) Sexual violence and rape remain pervasive tools of warfare used by all parties in eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo to terrorize and humiliate communities, resulting in community break down which causes a decrease in the ability of affected communities to resist control by illegal armed forces and a loss of community access to minerals. Sexual violence and rape affect hundreds of thousands of women and girls, frequently resulting in traumatic fistula, other severe genital injuries, and long-term psychological trauma.
(5) A report released by the Government Accountability Office in December 2007 describes how the mismanagement and illicit trade of extractive resources from the Democratic Republic of Congo supports conflict between militias and armed domestic factions in neighboring countries.
(6) In October 2002, the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo called on member states of the United Nations to adopt measures, consistent with the guidelines established for multinational enterprises by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, to ensure that enterprises in their jurisdiction do not abuse principles of conduct that they have adopted as a matter of law.
(7) In February 2008, the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo stated, ‘individuals and entities buying mineral output from areas of the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo with a strong rebel presence are violating the sanctions regime when they do not exercise due diligence to ensure their mineral purchases do not provide assistance to illegal armed groups’ and defined due diligence as including the following:
(A) Determining the precise identity of the deposits from which the minerals they intend to purchase have been mined.
(B) Establishing whether or not these deposits are controlled or taxed by illegal armed groups.
(C) Refusing to buy minerals known to originate, or suspected to originate, from deposits controlled or taxed by illegal armed groups.
(8) In its final report, released on December 12, 2008, the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo found that official exports of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold are grossly undervalued and that various illegal armed groups in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to profit greatly from these natural resources by coercively exercising control over mining sites from where they are extracted and locations along which they are transported for export.
(9) United Nations Security Council Resolution 1857, unanimously adopted on December 22, 2008--
(A) broadens existing sanctions relating to the Democratic Republic of Congo to include ‘individuals or entities supporting the illegal armed groups . . . through illicit trade of natural resources,’; and
(B) encourages member countries to ensure that companies handling minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo exercise due diligence on their suppliers.
(10) Continued weak governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo has allowed the illicit trade in the minerals columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold to flourish, which empowers illegal armed groups, undermines local development, and results in a loss or misuse of tax revenue for the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The development of stronger governance and economic institutions that support legitimate cross-border trade in such minerals would--
(A) help prevent the exploitation of such minerals by illegal armed groups; and
(B) enable the hundreds of thousands of people who depend on such minerals for their livelihoods to benefit from such minerals.
(11) Metals derived from columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo are used in diverse technological products sold worldwide, including mobile telephones, laptop computers, and digital video recorders.
(12) In February 2009, the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative released a statement asserting that--
(A) use by the information communications technology industry of mined commodities that support conflict in such countries as the Democratic Republic of Congo is unacceptable; and
(B) electronics companies can and should uphold responsible practices in their operations and work with suppliers to meet social and environmental standards with respect to the raw materials used in the manufacture of their products.
(13) Notwithstanding the extensiveness of the supply chains of technological products and the extensiveness of the processing stages for the metals derived from columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold used in such products, companies that create and sell products that include such metals have the ability to influence the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo by--
(A) exercising due diligence in ensuring that their suppliers provide raw materials in a manner that does not--
(i) directly finance armed conflict;
(ii) result in labor or human rights violations; or
(iii) damage the environment;
(B) verifying--
(i) the country from which the minerals used to derive such metals originate;
(ii) the identity of the exporter of the minerals; and
(iii) that all appropriate tax payments are made; and
(C) committing to support mineral exporters from the Democratic Republic of Congo who--
(i) fully disclose their export payments; and
(ii) certify that their minerals do not--
(I) directly finance armed conflict;
(II) result in labor or human rights violations; or
(III) damage the environment.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States, as affirmed by the Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security, and Development Promotion Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-456; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note) and consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1857 (2008), to promote peace and security in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by supporting efforts of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, other governments in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and the international community--
(1) to monitor and stop commercial activities involving the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo that contribute to illegal armed groups and human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and
(2) to develop stronger governance and economic institutions that can facilitate and improve transparency in the cross-border trade involving the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to reduce exploitation by illegal armed groups and promote local and regional development.
SEC. 4. INVESTIGATION, REPORTS, AND STRATEGY REGARDING COLUMBITE-TANTALITE, CASSITERITE, WOLFRAMITE, GOLD, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
(a) Support of Mandate of United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo- The President, acting through the Secretary of State, the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and other appropriate United States Government officials, shall use the voice and vote of the United States at the United Nations Security Council to renew the mandate and strengthen the capacity of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate links between natural resources and the financing of illegal armed groups, and ensure that the Group of Experts’ recommendations are given serious consideration.
(b) Map of Mineral-Rich Zones and Armed Groups in Democratic Republic of Congo-
(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall, consistent with the recommendation from the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo in their December 2008 report, work with other member states of the United Nations and local and international nongovernmental organizations--
(A) to produce a map of mineral-rich zones and armed groups in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo; and
(B) to make such map available to the public.
(2) UPDATES- The Secretary of State shall update the map required by paragraph (1) not less frequently than once every 180 days until the Secretary of State certifies that no armed party to any ongoing armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo or any other country is involved in the mining, sale, or export of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, or gold, or the control thereof, or derives benefits from such activities.
(c) Guidance for Commercial Entities- The Secretary of State shall, consistent with the recommendation from the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo in their December 2008 report, work with other member states of the United Nations and local and international nongovernmental organizations to provide guidance to commercial entities seeking to exercise due diligence on their suppliers to ensure that the raw materials used in their products do not--
(1) directly finance armed conflict;
(2) result in labor or human rights violations; or
(3) damage the environment.
(d) Strategy-
(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall, working with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, submit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy to address the linkages that exist between human rights abuses, armed groups, and the mining of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(2) CONTENTS- The strategy required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A) A plan to assist the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and other governments in the region in establishing and effectively implementing the necessary frameworks and institutions to formalize and improve transparency in the trade of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold.
(B) An outline of assistance currently being provided and an assessment of future assistance that could be provided by the Government of the United States to help the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo strengthen the management and export of natural resources in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(C) A description of punitive measures that could be taken against individuals or entities whose commercial activities are supporting illegal armed groups and human rights violations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
(e) Annual Human Rights Reports- In preparing those portions of the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices relating to the Democratic Republic of Congo or countries that share a border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Secretary of State shall ensure that such reports include a description of any instances or patterns of practice that indicate that the extraction and cross-border trade in columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, or gold has negatively affected human rights conditions or supported specific human rights violations, sexual or gender-based violence, or labor abuses in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, during the period covered by each report.
(f) Annual Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development Investment Committee Report- In preparing the United States’ annual report to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Investment Committee, the Secretary of State shall include a description of efforts by the United States to ensure, consistent with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, that enterprises under United States jurisdiction are exercising due diligence to ensure that their purchases of minerals or metals are not originating from mines and trading routes that are used to finance or benefit illegal armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State for fiscal year 2010 such sums as may be necessary for the Secretary to carry out the provisions of this section.
(h) Definitions- In this section:
(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES- The term ‘appropriate congressional committees’ means--
(A) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives.
(2) HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS- The term ‘Human Rights Reports’ means all reports submitted by the Secretary of State to Congress under sections 116 and 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n and 2304).
SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE TO SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OF ACTIVITIES RELATING TO COLUMBITE-TANTALITE, CASSITERITE, AND WOLFRAMITE INDUSTRIES.
Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘(m) Disclosure to Commission of Activities Relating to Columbite-Tantalite, Cassiterite, and Wolframite Industries-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall promulgate rules requiring any person described in paragraph (2)--
‘(A) to disclose annually to the Commission the country of origin of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, or wolframite related to any of the activities described in paragraph (3); and
‘(B) if disclosure is required under subparagraph (A) and the country of origin disclosed under subparagraph (A) is the Democratic Republic of Congo or an adjoining country, to disclose annually to the Commission the mine of origin of such columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, and wolframite.
‘(2) PERSON DESCRIBED- A person is described in this paragraph if the person--
‘(A) is required to file reports to the Commission under subsection (a); and
‘(B) either--
‘(i) engages in activities described in paragraph (3); or
‘(ii) controls a person that engages in activities described in paragraph (3).
‘(3) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED- An activity described in this paragraph is--
‘(A) the commercial exploration, extraction, importation, exportation, or sale of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, or wolframite; or
‘(B) the use of such minerals, derivatives of such minerals, components that include such minerals, or components that include derivatives of such minerals in the manufacture of a product for sale.
‘(4) REVISIONS AND WAIVERS- The Commission may revise or temporarily waive the requirements described in paragraph (1) if the Commission determines that such revision or waiver is--
‘(A) necessary for the protection of investors; and
‘(B) in the public interest.
‘(5) TERMINATION OF DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS- The disclosure requirements of this subsection shall terminate if the President--
‘(A) determines that--
‘(i) no armed party to any ongoing armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo or any other country--
‘(I) is involved in an activity described in paragraph (3)(A) with respect to columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, or wolframite; or
‘(II) derives benefits from such activity; or
‘(ii) a regional framework has been established and effectively implemented to monitor and regulate the activities described in paragraph (3)(A) with respect to columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, or wolframite in the Democratic Republic of Congo so that such activities do not finance or benefit illegal armed groups; and
‘(B) notifies the Commission of the determination under subparagraph (A).
‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for fiscal year 2010 such sums as may be necessary for the Commission to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
‘(7) DEFINITIONS- In this subsection, the following definitions shall apply:
‘(A) ADJOINING COUNTRY- The term ‘adjoining country’, with respect to the Democratic Republic of Congo, means a country that shares an internationally recognized border with the Democractic Republic of Congo.
‘(B) CONTROL- The term ‘control’ means--
‘(i) in the case of a corporation, ownership of at least 50 percent of the voting stock of the corporation; and
‘(ii) in the case of any other entity, ownership of interests representing at least 50 percent of the voting capital of the entity.
‘(C) FOREIGN PERSON- The term ‘foreign person’ means a person--
‘(i) in the case of an individual, who is an alien as such term is defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)); or
‘(ii) in the case of a partnership, corporation, or other entity, that is organized under the laws of a foreign country or that has its principal place of business in a foreign country.
‘(D) PERSON- The term ‘person’ has the meaning given the term in section 3(a) but does not include--
‘(i) any foreign nongovernmental organization that--
‘(I) has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council; or
‘(II) has been accredited by a department or specialized agency of the United Nations; or
‘(ii) a foreign person whose business activities are strictly limited to providing goods and services that are--
‘(I) intended to relieve human suffering;
‘(II) intended to promote welfare, health, religious, or spiritual activities;
‘(III) used for educational or humanitarian purposes;
‘(IV) used for journalistic activities; or
‘(V) used for such other purposes as the Secretary of State may determine serve the foreign policy interests of the United States.’.
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE FOR AFFECTED COMMUNITIES AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS.
(a) Sense of Congress on Assistance for Affected Communities- It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development should expand and better coordinate programs to assist and empower communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo whose livelihoods depend on the mineral trade, particularly--
(1) communities affected by sexual and gender-based violence; and
(2) individuals displaced by violence.
(b) Sense of Congress on Future Year Funding- It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State and the Administrator should work with the appropriate congressional committees to increase assistance in fiscal years beginning after fiscal year 2009 for communities affected by violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifically--
(1) to provide medical treatment, psychological support, and rehabilitation assistance for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence;
(2) to provide humanitarian relief and basic services to people displaced by violence;
(3) to improve living conditions and livelihood prospects for artisanal miners and mine workers; and
(4) to alleviate poverty by reconstructing infrastructure and revitalizing agricultural production.
(c) Sense of Congress on Coordination of Assistance- It is the sense of Congress that the United States should work with other countries, on a bilateral and multilateral basis--
(1) to increase protection and services for communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo at risk of human rights violations associated with the mineral trade, particularly women and girls;
(2) to strengthen the management and trade of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and
(3) to improve the conditions and livelihood prospects of artisan miners and mine workers.
SEC. 7. REPORT.
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that includes the following:
(1) An assessment of the effectiveness of the provisions of this Act and section 13(m) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m(m)), as added by section 5, in promoting peace and security in accordance with section 3.
(2) A description of the problems, if any, encountered by the President, officials described in section 4(a), the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development in carrying out the provisions of this Act and such section 13(m).
(3) A description of the adverse impacts of carrying out the provisions of this Act and such section 13(m), if any, on communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
(4) Recommendations for legislative or regulatory actions that can be taken--
(A) to improve the effectiveness of the provisions of this Act and such section 13(m) to promote peace and security in accordance with section 3;
(B) to resolve the problems described pursuant to paragraph (2), if any; and
(C) to mitigate the adverse impacts described pursuant paragraph (3), if any.
Rwandan Green Party members claim illegal detention, petition President Kagame.
Rwandan News Agency
20 November 2009
The scheduled founding conference of the troubled Green Party did not take place Friday as the group wait for a Police certificate from the new Commissioner-General, Brig. Emmanuel Gasana. But not without new allegations, RNA reports.
A man by the names Gaston Bihibindi is claiming that he was detained for three days without food at the magnificent multi-million dollar Ministry of Defense building known locally as “Pentagon”. Mr. Bihibindi is not the only one accusing unknown individuals driving tinted double cabin Toyota pickup trucks of snatching them from their homes or as they walked.
The local weekly UMUSESO details ordeals of eight people identifying themselves as Green Party members, who were apparently arrested on October 30 after the failed conference which police halted citing insecurity. The men were apparently detained at an infamous but not gazetted facility in Kimironko, an outskirt of Kigali.
The seemingly traumatized Mr. Bihibindi claims that on Sunday November 15 at around 18:00 hours, he was lured into a blue and tinted double-cabin track by two men who asked him to direct them to a place where somebody was selling a house and land. The two men found him walking in Kanombe, an area where the International airport is situated, and where he lives.
“I told them that I have no idea about whoever is selling land or house but they insisted I should just get into the car to help them get around the place since I knew it very well,” narrates Bihibindi.
“But when I got into the back seat of the double-cabin, I started feeling insecure and scared after I saw a pistol (gun) placed in front of the other passenger.”
The car drove without stopping to the building which housed the former Rwanda Export and Investment Promotion Agency (RIEPA) in Kimihurura. “Along the way, I asked where we were going, but they told me there is no problem as they needed me to help them with something,” narrates Bihibindi. There was no more conversation.
At this building known here as ‘Kabindi’, the men handed him to another man who invited Bihibindi inside and told to sit in a room. Several men came into the room asking him questions. “One of the men kicked me as he talked to me like he knew very who I was,” claims Bihibindi.
All the people who interrogated him were apparently accusing the seemingly youthful former soldier of mobilizing demobilized soldiers to join the Green Party, which he admits to have done in the interview. “The one who kicked me accused me of joining the party for money because of my stomach,” he said.
During the October 30 failed conference, Bihibindi says he was in charge of protocol and is said to be one of the few strong activists of the controversial group. Green Party Frank Habineza is now in the spotlight for allegedly aiding a former minister to flee the country – which he denies.
After several hours at the Kabindi building, the same car with the same occupants returned and moved Bihibindi to the Pentagon building which is just in sight of Kabindi. He was taken to the basement of the Pentagon building where he spent the night with other detained people, who he describes as “looking like soldiers”.
On the Morning of Monday November 16, all the detainees were given bread and milk. This would be the end of the meals until Wednesday afternoon on November 19. “We never had anything else to eat for all that time,” he affirms.
However, what he also affirmed to RNA is that he was not tortured. “All my interrogators treated me well even when they were asking me questions,” he says. “The only problem I have with the whole situation is how could I be kept for all this time without being taken to court or even informed of what I was held for?”
On Wednesday, in the afternoon, a man Bihibindi indentifies as a “Major” came in to speak to him about his ordeal. “He ordered that I be released immediately but also ordered me not to tell anybody about what had happened,” he tells RNA in a soft tone, as he sat back.
Bihibindi says he walked out of the Pentagon building and headed straight home. The next stop was informing Green Party leaders of what happened to him because they had been looking for him without finding any traces.
“I don’t know what will happen next. If I can be picked and taken away without anyone noticing, how sure can I be for my security anymore? I am defying the order to keep quiet because I am scared anything could happen,” he says.
“All I am requesting is protection from President Kagame as the leader of this country because people might be doing this without his knowledge.”
Meanwhile, the conference planned for November 20, a date which was communicated to Gasabo district and not Nyarugenge this time for permission, is not taking place today.
The embattled former Mayor of Gasabo district Ms. Nyinawagaga Claudine requested that the party provides a police certificate that they will not cause more trouble in her locality like it had been earlier in Nyarugenge.
However, the new police Commissioner-General, Brig. Emmanuel Gasana has not responded to a letter wrote last week for the requested certificate. And the Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama also wrote to the party that they should solicit for a district Notaire because the Ministry’s Notaire would not be available today.
This will be the fifth time the group has not been able to hold the conference, at which they hoped to have nomination signatures of hundreds of their members verified – as part of the dossier the party plans to submit to the Ministry of Local Government for registration.
Party officials say they had deliberately planned to hold the conference today, a few days to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit due at the end of next week, where Rwanda’s application to join the block will be assessed.
20 November 2009
The scheduled founding conference of the troubled Green Party did not take place Friday as the group wait for a Police certificate from the new Commissioner-General, Brig. Emmanuel Gasana. But not without new allegations, RNA reports.
A man by the names Gaston Bihibindi is claiming that he was detained for three days without food at the magnificent multi-million dollar Ministry of Defense building known locally as “Pentagon”. Mr. Bihibindi is not the only one accusing unknown individuals driving tinted double cabin Toyota pickup trucks of snatching them from their homes or as they walked.
The local weekly UMUSESO details ordeals of eight people identifying themselves as Green Party members, who were apparently arrested on October 30 after the failed conference which police halted citing insecurity. The men were apparently detained at an infamous but not gazetted facility in Kimironko, an outskirt of Kigali.
The seemingly traumatized Mr. Bihibindi claims that on Sunday November 15 at around 18:00 hours, he was lured into a blue and tinted double-cabin track by two men who asked him to direct them to a place where somebody was selling a house and land. The two men found him walking in Kanombe, an area where the International airport is situated, and where he lives.
“I told them that I have no idea about whoever is selling land or house but they insisted I should just get into the car to help them get around the place since I knew it very well,” narrates Bihibindi.
“But when I got into the back seat of the double-cabin, I started feeling insecure and scared after I saw a pistol (gun) placed in front of the other passenger.”
The car drove without stopping to the building which housed the former Rwanda Export and Investment Promotion Agency (RIEPA) in Kimihurura. “Along the way, I asked where we were going, but they told me there is no problem as they needed me to help them with something,” narrates Bihibindi. There was no more conversation.
At this building known here as ‘Kabindi’, the men handed him to another man who invited Bihibindi inside and told to sit in a room. Several men came into the room asking him questions. “One of the men kicked me as he talked to me like he knew very who I was,” claims Bihibindi.
All the people who interrogated him were apparently accusing the seemingly youthful former soldier of mobilizing demobilized soldiers to join the Green Party, which he admits to have done in the interview. “The one who kicked me accused me of joining the party for money because of my stomach,” he said.
During the October 30 failed conference, Bihibindi says he was in charge of protocol and is said to be one of the few strong activists of the controversial group. Green Party Frank Habineza is now in the spotlight for allegedly aiding a former minister to flee the country – which he denies.
After several hours at the Kabindi building, the same car with the same occupants returned and moved Bihibindi to the Pentagon building which is just in sight of Kabindi. He was taken to the basement of the Pentagon building where he spent the night with other detained people, who he describes as “looking like soldiers”.
On the Morning of Monday November 16, all the detainees were given bread and milk. This would be the end of the meals until Wednesday afternoon on November 19. “We never had anything else to eat for all that time,” he affirms.
However, what he also affirmed to RNA is that he was not tortured. “All my interrogators treated me well even when they were asking me questions,” he says. “The only problem I have with the whole situation is how could I be kept for all this time without being taken to court or even informed of what I was held for?”
On Wednesday, in the afternoon, a man Bihibindi indentifies as a “Major” came in to speak to him about his ordeal. “He ordered that I be released immediately but also ordered me not to tell anybody about what had happened,” he tells RNA in a soft tone, as he sat back.
Bihibindi says he walked out of the Pentagon building and headed straight home. The next stop was informing Green Party leaders of what happened to him because they had been looking for him without finding any traces.
“I don’t know what will happen next. If I can be picked and taken away without anyone noticing, how sure can I be for my security anymore? I am defying the order to keep quiet because I am scared anything could happen,” he says.
“All I am requesting is protection from President Kagame as the leader of this country because people might be doing this without his knowledge.”
Meanwhile, the conference planned for November 20, a date which was communicated to Gasabo district and not Nyarugenge this time for permission, is not taking place today.
The embattled former Mayor of Gasabo district Ms. Nyinawagaga Claudine requested that the party provides a police certificate that they will not cause more trouble in her locality like it had been earlier in Nyarugenge.
However, the new police Commissioner-General, Brig. Emmanuel Gasana has not responded to a letter wrote last week for the requested certificate. And the Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama also wrote to the party that they should solicit for a district Notaire because the Ministry’s Notaire would not be available today.
This will be the fifth time the group has not been able to hold the conference, at which they hoped to have nomination signatures of hundreds of their members verified – as part of the dossier the party plans to submit to the Ministry of Local Government for registration.
Party officials say they had deliberately planned to hold the conference today, a few days to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit due at the end of next week, where Rwanda’s application to join the block will be assessed.
20 November, 2009
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN FORCED TO WORK IN MINES.
MISNA
20 November 2009
More than 43,000 children work in mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 8,000 of whom identified in Kinshasa alone since the beginning of 2009, the UNICEF (United Nations Child’s Fund) reported yesterday on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the convention on the children’s rights. The child labourers include 20,000 in the south-eastern province of Katanga, 12,000 in the central province of Kasa-Occidental and more than 11,000 in the central-south province of Kasai-Oriental. UNICEF also warned that out of the 2 million displaced people in DR-Congo, more than 100,000 are children, who often are denied their rights to childhood, education and health. Other violations indicated by UNICEF include violence faced by girls and women – committed by both rebel and government forces – and the recruit of children in armed groups, especially in the north-east provinces.
20 November 2009
More than 43,000 children work in mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 8,000 of whom identified in Kinshasa alone since the beginning of 2009, the UNICEF (United Nations Child’s Fund) reported yesterday on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the convention on the children’s rights. The child labourers include 20,000 in the south-eastern province of Katanga, 12,000 in the central province of Kasa-Occidental and more than 11,000 in the central-south province of Kasai-Oriental. UNICEF also warned that out of the 2 million displaced people in DR-Congo, more than 100,000 are children, who often are denied their rights to childhood, education and health. Other violations indicated by UNICEF include violence faced by girls and women – committed by both rebel and government forces – and the recruit of children in armed groups, especially in the north-east provinces.
Dr. Lam Akol nominated for southern Sudan presidency.
Sudan Tribune
20 November 2009
By Ngor Arol Garang
Leaders from eight Southern political parties today said have unanimously nominated Dr. Lam Akol, the leader of SPLM-DC, as presidential candidate against SPLM candidate General Salva Kiir Mayardit for position of the Government of Southern Sudan president in the upcoming election.
The announcement follows a just concluded three days South-South dialogue conference held in Khartoum that establishes an alliance named as Southern Sudan Political Parties Alliance.
The members of the new SSPPA are: SANU, UDSF, United Democratic Party, SPLM-DC, Sudan National Labor Party, USAP-2, South Sudan Democratic Forum, South-Sudan Democratic Front.
SPLM-DC Secretary General Eng. Charles B. Kisanga, applauded the decision taken by the eight southern political parties to pick his party chairperson as candidate for the Southern Sudan presidency.
"I appreciate their decision and interest to relieve the regional government from collapsing, he said adding his nomination was one of the resolutions passed by south –South Sudan dialogue conference held recently."
He further said they agreed that all southern political parties participate in the coming election by declaring their intentions to run for all positions including presidency, parliaments, gubernatorial and county commissioner positions.
In a statement to Sudan Tribune, Dr. Lam Akol on Thursday denounced SPLM intention to deny southern Sudan citizens self determination awareness saying majority do not know the real meaning of it.
"If you ask an ordinary citizen from South Sudan about self determination, the citizen will definitely have difficulties in giving exact answer to your question, because they have not properly educated and prepared," he said.
He continued to say that SPLM leadership are only engaged in political cants and conspiracy against the peace which they claimed to be working for its implementation while "thousands of innocent civilians dies almost every day at their watch."
"How you claim to be working for implementation of an agreement while citizens continues to kill themselves in addition to lack of service delivery and rampant of corruption scandal allegations among leaders serving regional government," he posed.
He also affirmed that the alliance will study the options for the upcoming elections refuting the allegations that there are parties behind the establishment of their association.
The SPLM accused its peace partner the National Congress Party of supporting the newly formed alliance to weaken its influence and support in southern Sudan.
He further accused SPLM creator current sour relationship between north and south Sudan. He also continued to on the regional government to hinder constitutional rights that allow freedom of political activities in the region while applying law against violators for those who violates constitution as supreme law of the land.
Sudan will witness next April its first general election for the Sudanese presidency, Southern Sudan government Presidency, states governors, federal and southern Sudan parliaments and states assemblies.
However, western countries are pushing for an agreement between the two partners to run only for Sudanese GOS presidencies. While the opposition parties and the SPLM also agreed last month to boycott the elections if the dominant party does not pass a series of law to remove restrictions imposed on political freedoms.
20 November 2009
By Ngor Arol Garang
Leaders from eight Southern political parties today said have unanimously nominated Dr. Lam Akol, the leader of SPLM-DC, as presidential candidate against SPLM candidate General Salva Kiir Mayardit for position of the Government of Southern Sudan president in the upcoming election.
The announcement follows a just concluded three days South-South dialogue conference held in Khartoum that establishes an alliance named as Southern Sudan Political Parties Alliance.
The members of the new SSPPA are: SANU, UDSF, United Democratic Party, SPLM-DC, Sudan National Labor Party, USAP-2, South Sudan Democratic Forum, South-Sudan Democratic Front.
SPLM-DC Secretary General Eng. Charles B. Kisanga, applauded the decision taken by the eight southern political parties to pick his party chairperson as candidate for the Southern Sudan presidency.
"I appreciate their decision and interest to relieve the regional government from collapsing, he said adding his nomination was one of the resolutions passed by south –South Sudan dialogue conference held recently."
He further said they agreed that all southern political parties participate in the coming election by declaring their intentions to run for all positions including presidency, parliaments, gubernatorial and county commissioner positions.
In a statement to Sudan Tribune, Dr. Lam Akol on Thursday denounced SPLM intention to deny southern Sudan citizens self determination awareness saying majority do not know the real meaning of it.
"If you ask an ordinary citizen from South Sudan about self determination, the citizen will definitely have difficulties in giving exact answer to your question, because they have not properly educated and prepared," he said.
He continued to say that SPLM leadership are only engaged in political cants and conspiracy against the peace which they claimed to be working for its implementation while "thousands of innocent civilians dies almost every day at their watch."
"How you claim to be working for implementation of an agreement while citizens continues to kill themselves in addition to lack of service delivery and rampant of corruption scandal allegations among leaders serving regional government," he posed.
He also affirmed that the alliance will study the options for the upcoming elections refuting the allegations that there are parties behind the establishment of their association.
The SPLM accused its peace partner the National Congress Party of supporting the newly formed alliance to weaken its influence and support in southern Sudan.
He further accused SPLM creator current sour relationship between north and south Sudan. He also continued to on the regional government to hinder constitutional rights that allow freedom of political activities in the region while applying law against violators for those who violates constitution as supreme law of the land.
Sudan will witness next April its first general election for the Sudanese presidency, Southern Sudan government Presidency, states governors, federal and southern Sudan parliaments and states assemblies.
However, western countries are pushing for an agreement between the two partners to run only for Sudanese GOS presidencies. While the opposition parties and the SPLM also agreed last month to boycott the elections if the dominant party does not pass a series of law to remove restrictions imposed on political freedoms.
Americans buying land around Islamabad, NA body told.
Daily Times
20 November 2009
By Irfan Bukhari
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights was told on Thursday that American nationals were purchasing land in the suburbs of the capital, which could be a conspiracy to besiege the country’s nuclear assets.
MNA Javed Hashmi, who also heads the NA human rights body’s sub-committee on American private security firm Blackwater’s alleged presence in the country, said the US was purchasing land in the city’s suburbs, including Malpur, Sihala and the Simly Dam area.
“Influential people in Islamabad are renting out their houses to Americans,” he added. Talking to Daily Times, Hashmi said the sub-committee had not finalised its report, “but as per preliminary information, it is an established fact that Inter-Risk and DynCorp are training recruits in Peshawar”.
20 November 2009
By Irfan Bukhari
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights was told on Thursday that American nationals were purchasing land in the suburbs of the capital, which could be a conspiracy to besiege the country’s nuclear assets.
MNA Javed Hashmi, who also heads the NA human rights body’s sub-committee on American private security firm Blackwater’s alleged presence in the country, said the US was purchasing land in the city’s suburbs, including Malpur, Sihala and the Simly Dam area.
“Influential people in Islamabad are renting out their houses to Americans,” he added. Talking to Daily Times, Hashmi said the sub-committee had not finalised its report, “but as per preliminary information, it is an established fact that Inter-Risk and DynCorp are training recruits in Peshawar”.
19 November, 2009
Pakistan Admin admits presence of those working for Blackwater.
Geo TV
19 November 2009
Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader Makhdoom Muhammad Javed Hashmi Thursday said the federal capital’s administration admitted the presence of Dyncorp working for Blackwater in Islamabad’s areas of Milpur and Suhala.
He said this in the meeting National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights with MNA Riaz Fitiana chairing.
Hashmi said the accommodation of Dyncorp near Kahuta is upsetting and a cause of concern for not only the members of the Parliament but also the entire nation.
The committee demanded the government for the immediate release and homecoming of Dr Aafia Siddiqui detained in the US.
19 November 2009
Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader Makhdoom Muhammad Javed Hashmi Thursday said the federal capital’s administration admitted the presence of Dyncorp working for Blackwater in Islamabad’s areas of Milpur and Suhala.
He said this in the meeting National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights with MNA Riaz Fitiana chairing.
Hashmi said the accommodation of Dyncorp near Kahuta is upsetting and a cause of concern for not only the members of the Parliament but also the entire nation.
The committee demanded the government for the immediate release and homecoming of Dr Aafia Siddiqui detained in the US.
Conflict Minerals Act Introduced into the House of Representatives.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2009/11/19/2010307308.pdf
UN approves one-year extension for EU peacekeepers in Bosnia.
Balkans.com
19 November 2009
By Kimberley Ann Music
The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a one-year extension allowing European Union peacekeepers to remain in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The resolution, unanimously passed by the 15-member body, extends the EU stabilization force's deployment in the Balkan country until Nov.18, 2010.
EU peacekeepers have been in Bosnia since 2004 to ensure compliance with the Dayton Peace Accord that ended the 1992-95 war.
Continued help from the international community depends on Bosnia's political parties, the UN said in the resolution.
"Their compliance –- in particular full cooperation with the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia -- would determine the continued willingness of the international community and major donors to provide support."
19 November 2009
By Kimberley Ann Music
The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a one-year extension allowing European Union peacekeepers to remain in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The resolution, unanimously passed by the 15-member body, extends the EU stabilization force's deployment in the Balkan country until Nov.18, 2010.
EU peacekeepers have been in Bosnia since 2004 to ensure compliance with the Dayton Peace Accord that ended the 1992-95 war.
Continued help from the international community depends on Bosnia's political parties, the UN said in the resolution.
"Their compliance –- in particular full cooperation with the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia -- would determine the continued willingness of the international community and major donors to provide support."
JUNTA OPPOSITION IN OUAGADOUGOU, PRESENCE OF FOREIGN FORCES CONFIRMED.
MISNA
19 November 2009
For the first time since the beginning of the mediation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), delegations of the ruling military junta and the Live Forces (opposition) will meet directly today in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou in the presence of the mediator, President Blaise Compaore. The African media emphasises the “wide anticipation for the meeting” of both the population and international community. The mediator will have to conciliate distant stands of the sides and present a plan to lift from the crisis. The crucial points include the role of the junta leader Dadis Moussa Camara: the junta says that “the possibility of his exile would not be taken into consideration”, while the opposition and civil society groups demand his resignation and holding of new elections within six months. Burkina Faso’s President is evaluating the deployment of an ECOWAS mission in Guinea to assist the sides in the process of ending the crisis. Reports and confirmations have been emerging over the past hours regarding the presence in Guinea of foreign forces – by some defined mercenaries – in support of the junta leader. They are apparently military instructors who were hired to train soldiers in protection of the junta leader Camara at the Forecariah, 100km south of Conakry, along the border with Sierra Leone. There are however contrasting versions on their nationality; the presence of some forty South African mercenaries, former police officers recruited by a private Dubai-based firm, was confirmed by Ayanda Ntsaluba, director-general of South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Department. The Guinean media reports that among the foreign army instructors there are also Israelis, Ukrainians, Liberians and Sierra Leoneans. An international inquiry commission established by the UN is investigating the September 28 crackdown by the junta on an opposition demonstration, which according to the UN and opposition left at least 150 dead. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon yesterday reiterated the need for an independent investigation that should be concluded within a month.
19 November 2009
For the first time since the beginning of the mediation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), delegations of the ruling military junta and the Live Forces (opposition) will meet directly today in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou in the presence of the mediator, President Blaise Compaore. The African media emphasises the “wide anticipation for the meeting” of both the population and international community. The mediator will have to conciliate distant stands of the sides and present a plan to lift from the crisis. The crucial points include the role of the junta leader Dadis Moussa Camara: the junta says that “the possibility of his exile would not be taken into consideration”, while the opposition and civil society groups demand his resignation and holding of new elections within six months. Burkina Faso’s President is evaluating the deployment of an ECOWAS mission in Guinea to assist the sides in the process of ending the crisis. Reports and confirmations have been emerging over the past hours regarding the presence in Guinea of foreign forces – by some defined mercenaries – in support of the junta leader. They are apparently military instructors who were hired to train soldiers in protection of the junta leader Camara at the Forecariah, 100km south of Conakry, along the border with Sierra Leone. There are however contrasting versions on their nationality; the presence of some forty South African mercenaries, former police officers recruited by a private Dubai-based firm, was confirmed by Ayanda Ntsaluba, director-general of South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Department. The Guinean media reports that among the foreign army instructors there are also Israelis, Ukrainians, Liberians and Sierra Leoneans. An international inquiry commission established by the UN is investigating the September 28 crackdown by the junta on an opposition demonstration, which according to the UN and opposition left at least 150 dead. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon yesterday reiterated the need for an independent investigation that should be concluded within a month.
Kagame’s regime contests UDF-Inkingi First VP’s citizenship and denies him a passport, fearing political rivals.
Press Release
21 October 2009
Officials in the Rwandan Embassy in Brussels have denied UDF-Inkingi’s First Vice Chairman Eugène NDAHAYO a passport in a move that observers describe as an attempt by Kagame’s regime to prevent the registration of the UDF as a legal political organization, a pre-requisite to its taking part in the forthcoming presidential election.
On 12th of June 2009, a group of UDF-Inkingi officials led by its First Vice Chairman Eugène NDAHAYO went to Rwanda House 1, Rue Des Fleurs in Woluwé-St-Lambert, in the Belgian capital Brussels to apply for passports ahead of the UDF-Inkingi’s participation in the planned presidential race.
Four months ago, officers in charge of consular affairs refused to handle application forms to UDF-Inkingi’s First VP pretending that he might not be a Rwandan citizen, stirring anger within his organisation.
Since then, his application remains in a stalemate, a situation that makes his deployment to Rwanda more than uncertain. Indeed, he is part of the UDF leading team to be deployed in Rwanda before the end of the year.
E. Ndahayo was Director of Cabinet of the then Minister of Information Jean-Baptiste NKULIYINGOMA in the first RPF led government put in place on July 19, 1994. At the moment of his fruitless attempt to get application forms, he produced a copy of the Presidential Order published by the Official Gazette of the Republic of Rwanda appointing him Director of Cabinet among other papers.
He carried out his government assignment with that of Executive Secretary of the “Mouvement Démocratique Républicain (MDR)” that was part of the RPF-led coalition until his resignation and subsequent flight to France in 1995, where he has stayed since as a political refugee.
E. Ndahayo is a renowned author of many books on Rwanda and an objective critic of the RPF regime. He had travelled from Lyon where he resides, to Brussels for there is no more any Rwandan representation in that country since the cut of diplomatic ties between Rwanda and France in December 2007 at the initiative of the latter.
Diplomatic ties with France were severed in the aftermath of the indictment of nine military officers and close collaborators of President Paul Kagame by French anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguière for their alleged role in the shooting down of Rwandan presidential jet on April 6, 1994. That terrorist attack sparked off political and ethnic killings that climaxed in the Rwandan genocide. The Director of Protocol, Lt Col. (Rtd) Rose Kabuye, was arrested in Germany last year and deported to France where she is still under prosecution as a result of that indictment.
Out of more than twelve applications for passports submitted so far by UDF-Inkingi leaders and members whether in the Rwandan Embassy in Netherlands or in Brussels, only two were successful. Even though applications in Netherlands were submitted in the early days of May 2009, only one has been processed so far.
UDF-Inkingi officials consider that contesting their leaders’ citizenship and denying those passports was adding an insult to an offence, a trend that can seriously compromise their participation in the presidential race set for as early as the 9th of August 2009.
Nevertheless, proceeding with its own preparations, UDF-Inkingi Political Council held on September 26, 2009 in Brussels has elected its current Chairperson Mrs Victoire INGABIRE UMUHOZA as its flag bearer. She’s the only UDF leader that the RPF regime gave a passport, an act interpreted by the general public as intended to hide its real intentions to block any serious competitor come August 2010.
Brought to you by UDF-Inkingi Information Desk
NDR:
E. NDAHAYO is author of “Rwanda. Le dessous des cartes, Ed. Khartala and of “Rwanda.Débaîllonner le Rwanda pour un nouveau Pacte Social, Ed. Khartala.
21 October 2009
Officials in the Rwandan Embassy in Brussels have denied UDF-Inkingi’s First Vice Chairman Eugène NDAHAYO a passport in a move that observers describe as an attempt by Kagame’s regime to prevent the registration of the UDF as a legal political organization, a pre-requisite to its taking part in the forthcoming presidential election.
On 12th of June 2009, a group of UDF-Inkingi officials led by its First Vice Chairman Eugène NDAHAYO went to Rwanda House 1, Rue Des Fleurs in Woluwé-St-Lambert, in the Belgian capital Brussels to apply for passports ahead of the UDF-Inkingi’s participation in the planned presidential race.
Four months ago, officers in charge of consular affairs refused to handle application forms to UDF-Inkingi’s First VP pretending that he might not be a Rwandan citizen, stirring anger within his organisation.
Since then, his application remains in a stalemate, a situation that makes his deployment to Rwanda more than uncertain. Indeed, he is part of the UDF leading team to be deployed in Rwanda before the end of the year.
E. Ndahayo was Director of Cabinet of the then Minister of Information Jean-Baptiste NKULIYINGOMA in the first RPF led government put in place on July 19, 1994. At the moment of his fruitless attempt to get application forms, he produced a copy of the Presidential Order published by the Official Gazette of the Republic of Rwanda appointing him Director of Cabinet among other papers.
He carried out his government assignment with that of Executive Secretary of the “Mouvement Démocratique Républicain (MDR)” that was part of the RPF-led coalition until his resignation and subsequent flight to France in 1995, where he has stayed since as a political refugee.
E. Ndahayo is a renowned author of many books on Rwanda and an objective critic of the RPF regime. He had travelled from Lyon where he resides, to Brussels for there is no more any Rwandan representation in that country since the cut of diplomatic ties between Rwanda and France in December 2007 at the initiative of the latter.
Diplomatic ties with France were severed in the aftermath of the indictment of nine military officers and close collaborators of President Paul Kagame by French anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguière for their alleged role in the shooting down of Rwandan presidential jet on April 6, 1994. That terrorist attack sparked off political and ethnic killings that climaxed in the Rwandan genocide. The Director of Protocol, Lt Col. (Rtd) Rose Kabuye, was arrested in Germany last year and deported to France where she is still under prosecution as a result of that indictment.
Out of more than twelve applications for passports submitted so far by UDF-Inkingi leaders and members whether in the Rwandan Embassy in Netherlands or in Brussels, only two were successful. Even though applications in Netherlands were submitted in the early days of May 2009, only one has been processed so far.
UDF-Inkingi officials consider that contesting their leaders’ citizenship and denying those passports was adding an insult to an offence, a trend that can seriously compromise their participation in the presidential race set for as early as the 9th of August 2009.
Nevertheless, proceeding with its own preparations, UDF-Inkingi Political Council held on September 26, 2009 in Brussels has elected its current Chairperson Mrs Victoire INGABIRE UMUHOZA as its flag bearer. She’s the only UDF leader that the RPF regime gave a passport, an act interpreted by the general public as intended to hide its real intentions to block any serious competitor come August 2010.
Brought to you by UDF-Inkingi Information Desk
NDR:
E. NDAHAYO is author of “Rwanda. Le dessous des cartes, Ed. Khartala and of “Rwanda.Débaîllonner le Rwanda pour un nouveau Pacte Social, Ed. Khartala.
18 November, 2009
South African Govt Reportedly Probing Mercenary Reports in Guinea.
All-Africa.com
18 November 2009
By Melody Chironda
The Pretoria government says it is probing reports that South African mercenaries are training Guinean militia, recruited by the country's military junta on an ethnic basis.
Ayanda Ntsaluba, director-general of South Africa's foreign ministry, told reporters in Pretoria on Tuesday that "some of the information seems to point in that direction, but I don't think we've got the full picture yet."
He said the government's information suggested that those allegedly working for the junta were employed by "companies operating largely through Dubai" but this still had to be verified.
A specialist writer on military affairs working for the South African newspaper, Beeld, reported last month that a group of up to 50 South Africans had been recruited to give armed support to the junta, headed by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. The writer said an advance party of three had travelled to Conakry on October 13.
The allegations come as Guinea prepares for elections next year. "When the military took over," Ntsaluba said, "there was an understanding… that that the current military leadership will not avail itself to run for those elections, a position that has subsequently changed and [the military] having changed it, we also know that there was a civil society negative reaction to that, which then led to the carnage that we saw [in September]…
"As things stand now, the logic of the argument is that that military leadership indeed is determined to avail itself for the presidential elections and also anticipates that there is going to be a reaction from civil society and therefore it's trying to prepare for that eventuality."
Ntsaluba said the possibility of South African mercenaries operating in Guinea was "a very significant issue" for the government. "We would not like to see our country and its citizens involved in all sorts of nefarious activities and especially where the effect of that… is to strengthen activities that run counter to policies that are advanced by… the African Union."
However, he claimed that there were "both true and false leads" on the issue, and the government was trying to establish the veracity of the accusations.
18 November 2009
By Melody Chironda
The Pretoria government says it is probing reports that South African mercenaries are training Guinean militia, recruited by the country's military junta on an ethnic basis.
Ayanda Ntsaluba, director-general of South Africa's foreign ministry, told reporters in Pretoria on Tuesday that "some of the information seems to point in that direction, but I don't think we've got the full picture yet."
He said the government's information suggested that those allegedly working for the junta were employed by "companies operating largely through Dubai" but this still had to be verified.
A specialist writer on military affairs working for the South African newspaper, Beeld, reported last month that a group of up to 50 South Africans had been recruited to give armed support to the junta, headed by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. The writer said an advance party of three had travelled to Conakry on October 13.
The allegations come as Guinea prepares for elections next year. "When the military took over," Ntsaluba said, "there was an understanding… that that the current military leadership will not avail itself to run for those elections, a position that has subsequently changed and [the military] having changed it, we also know that there was a civil society negative reaction to that, which then led to the carnage that we saw [in September]…
"As things stand now, the logic of the argument is that that military leadership indeed is determined to avail itself for the presidential elections and also anticipates that there is going to be a reaction from civil society and therefore it's trying to prepare for that eventuality."
Ntsaluba said the possibility of South African mercenaries operating in Guinea was "a very significant issue" for the government. "We would not like to see our country and its citizens involved in all sorts of nefarious activities and especially where the effect of that… is to strengthen activities that run counter to policies that are advanced by… the African Union."
However, he claimed that there were "both true and false leads" on the issue, and the government was trying to establish the veracity of the accusations.
EU-Somali training takes shape.
AFP
17 November 2009
EU nations endorsed on Tuesday a plan to train up to 2 000 security personnel from Somalia, but some demanded to know who will control, pay and equip them in the strife-torn state after.
"Today we have approved the concept," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said after defence ministers had backed the idea to plan for launching a modest mission. "It will not require trainers in the thousands."
The plan could see up to 200 EU soldiers train between 1 000 and 2 000 Somali military and police in Uganda, probably for a year, following a request from the interim government in Mogadishu.
Somalia has been gripped by civil wars and insurgencies and bereft of stable government since the overthrow of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Uganda was chosen because its troops constitute the lion's share of the AU mission in Somalia, Amisom.
"Spain has proposed to be lead nation for the new mission," said Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon. Madrid would run a headquarters in Brussels and take care of logistics, finance and infrastructure.
Partnership with Amisom
Finland, France - which is already training some 500 Somali troops in Djibouti - Germany, Hungary and Poland are also interested in taking part, according to EU diplomats.
Swedish Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency until the end of the year, said that "relevant bodies" had been charged to plan a possible mission and answer outstanding questions.
"There are actually several (questions) being put by member states, so we are still talking about a possible decision a bit later on," he cautioned, after chairing talks among the 27-nation bloc's defence ministers in Brussels.
Some EU countries have warned of the need to carefully think the training mission through, given the crisis in Somalia, to ensure that the Somali security forces do not become a danger to their people in the future.
"We need to consider a partnership with Amisom to supervise the soldiers when they return, to ensure they remain loyal," one EU diplomat said on Friday.
A diplomat from a second nation said: "If you train people, is there somebody who is going to pay for them afterwards, who's going to equip them? Whose political direction will they be working under?"
Off the coast of Somalia, the EU is running an anti-piracy mission in the waters of the Gulf of Aden, but senior officials say the real way to combat the problem is on Somali territory.
The EU has given substantial political support to the interim government, as well as funding the Amisom mission.
17 November 2009
EU nations endorsed on Tuesday a plan to train up to 2 000 security personnel from Somalia, but some demanded to know who will control, pay and equip them in the strife-torn state after.
"Today we have approved the concept," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said after defence ministers had backed the idea to plan for launching a modest mission. "It will not require trainers in the thousands."
The plan could see up to 200 EU soldiers train between 1 000 and 2 000 Somali military and police in Uganda, probably for a year, following a request from the interim government in Mogadishu.
Somalia has been gripped by civil wars and insurgencies and bereft of stable government since the overthrow of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Uganda was chosen because its troops constitute the lion's share of the AU mission in Somalia, Amisom.
"Spain has proposed to be lead nation for the new mission," said Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon. Madrid would run a headquarters in Brussels and take care of logistics, finance and infrastructure.
Partnership with Amisom
Finland, France - which is already training some 500 Somali troops in Djibouti - Germany, Hungary and Poland are also interested in taking part, according to EU diplomats.
Swedish Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency until the end of the year, said that "relevant bodies" had been charged to plan a possible mission and answer outstanding questions.
"There are actually several (questions) being put by member states, so we are still talking about a possible decision a bit later on," he cautioned, after chairing talks among the 27-nation bloc's defence ministers in Brussels.
Some EU countries have warned of the need to carefully think the training mission through, given the crisis in Somalia, to ensure that the Somali security forces do not become a danger to their people in the future.
"We need to consider a partnership with Amisom to supervise the soldiers when they return, to ensure they remain loyal," one EU diplomat said on Friday.
A diplomat from a second nation said: "If you train people, is there somebody who is going to pay for them afterwards, who's going to equip them? Whose political direction will they be working under?"
Off the coast of Somalia, the EU is running an anti-piracy mission in the waters of the Gulf of Aden, but senior officials say the real way to combat the problem is on Somali territory.
The EU has given substantial political support to the interim government, as well as funding the Amisom mission.
Draft may cut president's power.
SAPA
17 November 2009
A draft of Kenya's long-awaited new constitution unveiled on Tuesday foresees dramatically cutting the powers of the president.
A new constitution is considered vital to attempts to prevent a repeat of the bloodshed that followed 2007's disputed presidential elections.
If passed, the constitution would put the prime minister in charge of the day-to-day running of the country - a massive cut in the current sweeping powers enjoyed by the president.
Political rivalry between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga sparked the bloodshed after the elections, resulting in the deaths of more than 1 300 people and the displacement of more than 300 000.
Odinga become prime minister as part of a deal to end the violence, but he has bitterly complained that Kibaki has used his presidential powers to sidetrack him.
Neither man has commented on the draft.
The draft also foresees shrinking the number of ministers to around 20, from 34 today, and decentralising some power.
A 30-day public consultation and a parliamentary vote are to follow before the constitution goes to a referendum next year.
17 November 2009
A draft of Kenya's long-awaited new constitution unveiled on Tuesday foresees dramatically cutting the powers of the president.
A new constitution is considered vital to attempts to prevent a repeat of the bloodshed that followed 2007's disputed presidential elections.
If passed, the constitution would put the prime minister in charge of the day-to-day running of the country - a massive cut in the current sweeping powers enjoyed by the president.
Political rivalry between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga sparked the bloodshed after the elections, resulting in the deaths of more than 1 300 people and the displacement of more than 300 000.
Odinga become prime minister as part of a deal to end the violence, but he has bitterly complained that Kibaki has used his presidential powers to sidetrack him.
Neither man has commented on the draft.
The draft also foresees shrinking the number of ministers to around 20, from 34 today, and decentralising some power.
A 30-day public consultation and a parliamentary vote are to follow before the constitution goes to a referendum next year.
Opposition leader arrested.
Associated Press
17 November 2009
The leader of the Comoros archipelago's opposition Ridja party, Said Larifou, was arrested by police on Tuesday in the capital Moroni, an AFP photographer reported.
Larifou, who holds dual French and Comoran citizenship, was detained two days after openly criticising Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, the president of the Comoros federation, during a political meeting on Sunday.
"He was detained for criticising the head of state," his lawyer Mohamed Baco told AFP. "He is currently in police custody and will face charges on Wednesday."
The campaign for the fractious island nation's federal parliamentary polls - due to take place in two rounds on December 6 and 20 - officially kicked off on Sunday.
17 November 2009
The leader of the Comoros archipelago's opposition Ridja party, Said Larifou, was arrested by police on Tuesday in the capital Moroni, an AFP photographer reported.
Larifou, who holds dual French and Comoran citizenship, was detained two days after openly criticising Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, the president of the Comoros federation, during a political meeting on Sunday.
"He was detained for criticising the head of state," his lawyer Mohamed Baco told AFP. "He is currently in police custody and will face charges on Wednesday."
The campaign for the fractious island nation's federal parliamentary polls - due to take place in two rounds on December 6 and 20 - officially kicked off on Sunday.
17 November, 2009
ICTR-ADAD Welcomes Acquittal of Fr. Hormisdas Nsengimana on Charges of Genocide and “Genocide Planning."
Arusha TZ – Nov. 17 -- The Bureau of ICTR-ADAD (Association des Avocats de la Defense), welcomes today’s Trial Chamber Judgement acquitting the second defendant in as many days. Today, the court ordered the immediate release of Fr. Hormisdas Nsengimana, who was charged with genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Rwanda during 1994.
This week’s acquittals follow the Dec. 2008 acquittal on “genocide conspiracy or planning” charges of Gen. Gratien Kabiligi and three senior military officers including the alleged mastermind of the genocide, Col. Theoneste Bagosora. That acquittal was published in February 2009.
The lack of evidence of “planning or conspiracy to commit genocide” requires a complete re-examination of the undeniable wave of extreme violence that swept through Rwanda in 1994 at the end of a 4-year war which began when Paul Kagame’s army invaded from Uganda. The war exploded into mass civilian violence when Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundi’s President Cyprien Ntaryamira, were assassinated in an April 6, 1994, missile attack on President Habyarimana’s plane.
Defense Counsel Emmanuel Altit (France) and David Hooper (U.K.) established that the Prosecution lacked sufficient evidence to prove that Fr. Nsengimana, a priest and rector of a prestigious Catholic secondary school in Butare, was at the center of a group of Hutu extremists that allegedly planned targeted attacks in 1994.
The trial court found insufficient factual and legal basis for concluding that Fr. Nsengimana was guilty of any crimes. Fr. Nsengimana’s attorneys announced they would seek compensation for his years of unlawful incarceration.
ICTR Judges Møse (Norway), Sergei Egorov (Russian Federation) and Arrey (Cameroon) issued the acquittal. Judges Mose and Egorov, with Judge Jai Jam Reddy (Fiji), also acquitted the senior military officers in the Military-1 trial.
In February 2009, the English edition of a memoir by former ICTR Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte confirmed major elements of a 2007 book by her former press aide, Florence Hartmann. Both books described in detail how Ms. Del Ponte was removed from her ICTR position for insisting on fulfilling her mandate to prosecute all crimes in Rwanda committed in 1994. According to Del Ponte and Hartmann, the ICTR Prosecutor was called to the U.S. State Department and ordered to drop investigations of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his soldiers because of close ties between the U.S. government and Rwanda.
Hartmann was recently prosecuted at the ICTY for having published the book and Del Ponte has been ordered not to discuss her book in public according to contemporary press accounts.
Contact ADAD Bureau: Prof. Peter Erlinder, ADAD President, 31(0)70 345 92 00 (Hague)/651-271-4616 (US)/peter.erlinder@wmitchell.edu
Me. John Philpot, 0755 352 931 (Arusha)/ 514-844-4655 (Can)/jphilpot@videotron.ca
This week’s acquittals follow the Dec. 2008 acquittal on “genocide conspiracy or planning” charges of Gen. Gratien Kabiligi and three senior military officers including the alleged mastermind of the genocide, Col. Theoneste Bagosora. That acquittal was published in February 2009.
The lack of evidence of “planning or conspiracy to commit genocide” requires a complete re-examination of the undeniable wave of extreme violence that swept through Rwanda in 1994 at the end of a 4-year war which began when Paul Kagame’s army invaded from Uganda. The war exploded into mass civilian violence when Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundi’s President Cyprien Ntaryamira, were assassinated in an April 6, 1994, missile attack on President Habyarimana’s plane.
Defense Counsel Emmanuel Altit (France) and David Hooper (U.K.) established that the Prosecution lacked sufficient evidence to prove that Fr. Nsengimana, a priest and rector of a prestigious Catholic secondary school in Butare, was at the center of a group of Hutu extremists that allegedly planned targeted attacks in 1994.
The trial court found insufficient factual and legal basis for concluding that Fr. Nsengimana was guilty of any crimes. Fr. Nsengimana’s attorneys announced they would seek compensation for his years of unlawful incarceration.
ICTR Judges Møse (Norway), Sergei Egorov (Russian Federation) and Arrey (Cameroon) issued the acquittal. Judges Mose and Egorov, with Judge Jai Jam Reddy (Fiji), also acquitted the senior military officers in the Military-1 trial.
In February 2009, the English edition of a memoir by former ICTR Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte confirmed major elements of a 2007 book by her former press aide, Florence Hartmann. Both books described in detail how Ms. Del Ponte was removed from her ICTR position for insisting on fulfilling her mandate to prosecute all crimes in Rwanda committed in 1994. According to Del Ponte and Hartmann, the ICTR Prosecutor was called to the U.S. State Department and ordered to drop investigations of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his soldiers because of close ties between the U.S. government and Rwanda.
Hartmann was recently prosecuted at the ICTY for having published the book and Del Ponte has been ordered not to discuss her book in public according to contemporary press accounts.
Contact ADAD Bureau: Prof. Peter Erlinder, ADAD President, 31(0)70 345 92 00 (Hague)/651-271-4616 (US)/peter.erlinder@wmitchell.edu
Me. John Philpot, 0755 352 931 (Arusha)/ 514-844-4655 (Can)/jphilpot@videotron.ca
Appeals Chamber Judgement on Zigiranyirazo Overturning his Conviction is Available.
As the headline says, the full Appeals Chamber judgement which led to the charges against Protais Zigiranyirazo being thrown out is available upon request at BarouD@hush.com. Special thanks to Maitre Peter Zaduk for making the document available.
Barron's - Continent's Fields of Dreams.
Vanguard
16 November 2009
Until relatively recently, big oil gave little thought to sub-Saharan Africa beyond the coast of Nigeria and Angola. That's changing rapidly after a significant find off the Atlantic coast of Sierra Leone, where both Anadarko Petroleum and U.K.-based Tullow have exploration licenses, and another strike in Uganda, where Tullow operates.
Their stocks have jumped sharply this year, mostly on the prospect of world-class fields. Tullow shares, up over 100%, have returned to 2008 highs set when crude was about twice today's $78 a barrel, but Anadarko, up 73%, remains below its 2008 high. So the questions are, how much oil is there, and is it reflected in the stock prices?
This prospect will be more definitively appraised as new wells are drilled over the next 12 months, but there is a persuasive case that the potential could top a billion barrels in West Africa. If that proves out, as bulls predict, then shares of Tullow and Anadarko remain undervalued, even after the run_up. Tullow's main trading is in London, where the stock closed Friday at GBP 12.36; Tullow's U.S._traded shares, each equal to 10 U.K. shares, finished at 204. Anadarko closed around 67.
One of the wells generating the excitement, called Venus, hit more than 45 net feet of hydrocarbons off the coast of Sierra Leone, Anadarko said last month. It's 40%_owned by the U.S. company and 10% by Tullow. Few holes have been poked in the new West Africa prospect, so Venus' location is key, creating a possible bookend that - with the large Jubilee field at the prospect's other end off the coast of Ghana, discovered in 2007 - suggests the entire 1,100-kilometer coast could hold hydrocarbons. The other recent significant strike, made by Tullow, is in the Lake Albert area of Uganda.
It's difficult to estimate, but "Venus shows there is a working petroleum system and opens up the potential for more discoveries (along the Sierra Leone-Ghana coast) to be full of oil," notes Christopher Brown, the lead analyst for sub-Saharan Africa for Wood MacKenzie, an Edinburgh-based energy-and-resources consultancy. At minimum, the exploration licenses to drill in that region are more valuable than they were six months ago, he adds.
Wood MacKenzie doesn't comment on how much oil is in the entire prospect, but Anadarko and Tullow's analysis says the Jubilee field, in which they own 24% and 35% stakes, respectively, holds anywhere from 600 million to 1.8 billion barrels.
Earlier this month, that field received a big boost from ExxonMobil, which is reportedly battling China National Offshore Oil Corp., or Cnooc, to buy effectively a 23.5% stake held in Jubilee by Kosmos Energy at a price of $4 billion. The Jubilee field is expected to come online in the third quarter of 2010 and eventually produce 120,000 barrels a day.
"I don't know if you can get a better vote of confidence than that," says Oswald Clint, a London-based Sanford C. Bernstein analyst with an Outperform rating on both Tullow and Anadarko. Given Exxon's traditionally conservative approach, it suggests Jubilee is profitable at significantly less than the current oil price.
The bookended wells, says Sreejith Banerji, a Vontobel portfolio manager and former oil and gas engineer, mean "it's more than speculation [now] . There is a very high chance of a significant resource." Banerji still calls Tullow's stock cheap. "It's doubled, but off very depressed levels." Vontobel, which according to Bloomberg owns about 140,000 shares, hasn't sold into the rally.
Anadarko's global head of exploration, Bob Daniels, a 25-year oil patch veteran and geologist, says the company is looking at 30 well leads similar to Jubilee. Using the low-end estimate for Jubilee, and Anadarko's average 33% well success rate, "you can easily get to six billion barrels," he says.
It could take years to prove that number, if ever, and it isn't reflected in the stock prices. The oil majors ignored the area, so Anadarko and Tullow managed to secure "unmatched" acreage in this new play, adds Stephen Thornber, a money manager who specializes in energy for Threadneedle in London, which is maintaining an over 10 million_share stake in Tullow. Meanwhile, Tullow found oil in Uganda, where few thought there was any, he notes.
In that East African nation, Tullow has found about 700 million barrels of oil - though the entire amount hasn't been audited - not including the Ngassa well find announced last month. Tullow's head of exploration, Angus McCoss, says there's probably another 1.5 billion barrels to be found in Uganda and that Tullow is looking for a partner to bring its Ugandan finds into production. The company's entire drilling needs are financed through the end of 2010, and he adds Tullow's total production should grow from 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day to 200,000 BOE a day "in the short- medium term."
What's the potential value of this to Tullow and Anadarko? Bernstein's Clint, who holds a Ph.D. in geophysics, says Anadarko's stock is cheaper than Tullow on price-to-cash-flow metrics and multiples based on reserves. At year end 2008, Anadarko reserves were 2.3 billion BOE, compared with 314 million BOE for Tullow.
However, since Tullow is much smaller-a $16 billion market capitalization, half the size of Anadarko - Tullow is heavily leveraged to West Africa. Should a gusher come, the U.K. stock could rise sharply again, and more than Anadarko. Conversely, Tullow is more vulnerable if and when dry holes are drilled and could fall more than Anadarko. Indeed, last Thursday brought news of a dry hole drilled off Cote d'Ivoire, and Tullow's share price duly fell 2%.
Clint estimates that wells being drilled in Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone over the next 12 months could bring 1.36 billion BOE net to Tullow and 0.92 billion BOE for Anadarko. That's 64 times Tullow's 2009 production and 4.5 times its reserves. His base-case net asset valuation is GBP 14 a share for Tullow in 12 months, which doesn't include new leads to be drilled in West Africa.
Anadarko's larger reserve base means this same success would equate to four times current production and 40% of proven reserves, says Bernstein, whose target price is 85. Some analysts say Tullow's stock fully reflects what is known. The caveat is clear with any oil explorer: "If they drill dry holes, the stock will fall," says Threadneedle's Thornber. "If we thought the story was exhausted we would have trimmed, but there is still upside."
Political risk is another worry. The nations involved range from stable countries to fledgling democracies. Cote d'Ivoire is troubled by political tensions and violence, notes Philippe de Pontet, an analyst for political-risk consultant, Eurasia Group.
Even relatively stable Uganda has been hit by political turmoil recently. That can make drilling more difficult, but political uncertainty isn't unusual for oil_rich areas.
For Tullow and Anadarko, there are likely to be ups and downs, but this once_overlooked West Africa prospect should bring much more investor clamor to both over the next few years.
16 November 2009
Until relatively recently, big oil gave little thought to sub-Saharan Africa beyond the coast of Nigeria and Angola. That's changing rapidly after a significant find off the Atlantic coast of Sierra Leone, where both Anadarko Petroleum and U.K.-based Tullow have exploration licenses, and another strike in Uganda, where Tullow operates.
Their stocks have jumped sharply this year, mostly on the prospect of world-class fields. Tullow shares, up over 100%, have returned to 2008 highs set when crude was about twice today's $78 a barrel, but Anadarko, up 73%, remains below its 2008 high. So the questions are, how much oil is there, and is it reflected in the stock prices?
This prospect will be more definitively appraised as new wells are drilled over the next 12 months, but there is a persuasive case that the potential could top a billion barrels in West Africa. If that proves out, as bulls predict, then shares of Tullow and Anadarko remain undervalued, even after the run_up. Tullow's main trading is in London, where the stock closed Friday at GBP 12.36; Tullow's U.S._traded shares, each equal to 10 U.K. shares, finished at 204. Anadarko closed around 67.
One of the wells generating the excitement, called Venus, hit more than 45 net feet of hydrocarbons off the coast of Sierra Leone, Anadarko said last month. It's 40%_owned by the U.S. company and 10% by Tullow. Few holes have been poked in the new West Africa prospect, so Venus' location is key, creating a possible bookend that - with the large Jubilee field at the prospect's other end off the coast of Ghana, discovered in 2007 - suggests the entire 1,100-kilometer coast could hold hydrocarbons. The other recent significant strike, made by Tullow, is in the Lake Albert area of Uganda.
It's difficult to estimate, but "Venus shows there is a working petroleum system and opens up the potential for more discoveries (along the Sierra Leone-Ghana coast) to be full of oil," notes Christopher Brown, the lead analyst for sub-Saharan Africa for Wood MacKenzie, an Edinburgh-based energy-and-resources consultancy. At minimum, the exploration licenses to drill in that region are more valuable than they were six months ago, he adds.
Wood MacKenzie doesn't comment on how much oil is in the entire prospect, but Anadarko and Tullow's analysis says the Jubilee field, in which they own 24% and 35% stakes, respectively, holds anywhere from 600 million to 1.8 billion barrels.
Earlier this month, that field received a big boost from ExxonMobil, which is reportedly battling China National Offshore Oil Corp., or Cnooc, to buy effectively a 23.5% stake held in Jubilee by Kosmos Energy at a price of $4 billion. The Jubilee field is expected to come online in the third quarter of 2010 and eventually produce 120,000 barrels a day.
"I don't know if you can get a better vote of confidence than that," says Oswald Clint, a London-based Sanford C. Bernstein analyst with an Outperform rating on both Tullow and Anadarko. Given Exxon's traditionally conservative approach, it suggests Jubilee is profitable at significantly less than the current oil price.
The bookended wells, says Sreejith Banerji, a Vontobel portfolio manager and former oil and gas engineer, mean "it's more than speculation [now] . There is a very high chance of a significant resource." Banerji still calls Tullow's stock cheap. "It's doubled, but off very depressed levels." Vontobel, which according to Bloomberg owns about 140,000 shares, hasn't sold into the rally.
Anadarko's global head of exploration, Bob Daniels, a 25-year oil patch veteran and geologist, says the company is looking at 30 well leads similar to Jubilee. Using the low-end estimate for Jubilee, and Anadarko's average 33% well success rate, "you can easily get to six billion barrels," he says.
It could take years to prove that number, if ever, and it isn't reflected in the stock prices. The oil majors ignored the area, so Anadarko and Tullow managed to secure "unmatched" acreage in this new play, adds Stephen Thornber, a money manager who specializes in energy for Threadneedle in London, which is maintaining an over 10 million_share stake in Tullow. Meanwhile, Tullow found oil in Uganda, where few thought there was any, he notes.
In that East African nation, Tullow has found about 700 million barrels of oil - though the entire amount hasn't been audited - not including the Ngassa well find announced last month. Tullow's head of exploration, Angus McCoss, says there's probably another 1.5 billion barrels to be found in Uganda and that Tullow is looking for a partner to bring its Ugandan finds into production. The company's entire drilling needs are financed through the end of 2010, and he adds Tullow's total production should grow from 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day to 200,000 BOE a day "in the short- medium term."
What's the potential value of this to Tullow and Anadarko? Bernstein's Clint, who holds a Ph.D. in geophysics, says Anadarko's stock is cheaper than Tullow on price-to-cash-flow metrics and multiples based on reserves. At year end 2008, Anadarko reserves were 2.3 billion BOE, compared with 314 million BOE for Tullow.
However, since Tullow is much smaller-a $16 billion market capitalization, half the size of Anadarko - Tullow is heavily leveraged to West Africa. Should a gusher come, the U.K. stock could rise sharply again, and more than Anadarko. Conversely, Tullow is more vulnerable if and when dry holes are drilled and could fall more than Anadarko. Indeed, last Thursday brought news of a dry hole drilled off Cote d'Ivoire, and Tullow's share price duly fell 2%.
Clint estimates that wells being drilled in Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone over the next 12 months could bring 1.36 billion BOE net to Tullow and 0.92 billion BOE for Anadarko. That's 64 times Tullow's 2009 production and 4.5 times its reserves. His base-case net asset valuation is GBP 14 a share for Tullow in 12 months, which doesn't include new leads to be drilled in West Africa.
Anadarko's larger reserve base means this same success would equate to four times current production and 40% of proven reserves, says Bernstein, whose target price is 85. Some analysts say Tullow's stock fully reflects what is known. The caveat is clear with any oil explorer: "If they drill dry holes, the stock will fall," says Threadneedle's Thornber. "If we thought the story was exhausted we would have trimmed, but there is still upside."
Political risk is another worry. The nations involved range from stable countries to fledgling democracies. Cote d'Ivoire is troubled by political tensions and violence, notes Philippe de Pontet, an analyst for political-risk consultant, Eurasia Group.
Even relatively stable Uganda has been hit by political turmoil recently. That can make drilling more difficult, but political uncertainty isn't unusual for oil_rich areas.
For Tullow and Anadarko, there are likely to be ups and downs, but this once_overlooked West Africa prospect should bring much more investor clamor to both over the next few years.
Musharraf approved Blackwater's terror operations in Pak: General Beg.
ANI
16 November 2009
Former Pakistan Army Chief Mirza Aslam Beg has claimed that ex-President Pervez Musharraf had given Blackwater the green signal to carry out its terrorist operations in the cities of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Quetta.
He said that Blackwater was directly involved in the murder of Benazir Bhutto and Lebanese leader Rafiq Hariri.
It is pertinent to note that the foreigners affiliated with the notorious private military contractor Blackwater, whose security company Blackwater was later renamed as Xe Services LLC, arrived in Islamabad during the first week of November.
A wave of fear and insecurity has been felt among residents of the sector due to alleged presence of operatives of Blackwater and the late night movements of suspicious foreigners and some locals clad in suits.
According to frightened residents of the locality, there was fair amount of activity between 11 pm and dawn.
The Nation quoted some residents as saying that that one of the alleged operatives of Blackwater was seen manhandling a local for having a post-dinner stroll.
According to the New York Times August 20, 2009 report by Mark Mazzetti, the Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired contractors from the private security contractor, Blackwater USA, as part of a secret programme to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al-Qaeda.
"It has also drawn a controversy. Blackwater employees hired to guard American diplomats in Iraq were accused of using excessive force on several occasions, including shootings in Baghdad in 2007 in which 17 civilians were killed. Iraqi officials have since refused to give the company an operating licence," the report said.
The newspaper report said that despite publicly breaking with it, the State Department continued to award the company, formerly known as Blackwater, more than 400 million dollars in contracts to fly its diplomats around Iraq, guard them in Afghanistan and train security forces in anti-terrorism tactics at its remote camp in North Carolina.
16 November 2009
Former Pakistan Army Chief Mirza Aslam Beg has claimed that ex-President Pervez Musharraf had given Blackwater the green signal to carry out its terrorist operations in the cities of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Quetta.
He said that Blackwater was directly involved in the murder of Benazir Bhutto and Lebanese leader Rafiq Hariri.
It is pertinent to note that the foreigners affiliated with the notorious private military contractor Blackwater, whose security company Blackwater was later renamed as Xe Services LLC, arrived in Islamabad during the first week of November.
A wave of fear and insecurity has been felt among residents of the sector due to alleged presence of operatives of Blackwater and the late night movements of suspicious foreigners and some locals clad in suits.
According to frightened residents of the locality, there was fair amount of activity between 11 pm and dawn.
The Nation quoted some residents as saying that that one of the alleged operatives of Blackwater was seen manhandling a local for having a post-dinner stroll.
According to the New York Times August 20, 2009 report by Mark Mazzetti, the Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired contractors from the private security contractor, Blackwater USA, as part of a secret programme to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al-Qaeda.
"It has also drawn a controversy. Blackwater employees hired to guard American diplomats in Iraq were accused of using excessive force on several occasions, including shootings in Baghdad in 2007 in which 17 civilians were killed. Iraqi officials have since refused to give the company an operating licence," the report said.
The newspaper report said that despite publicly breaking with it, the State Department continued to award the company, formerly known as Blackwater, more than 400 million dollars in contracts to fly its diplomats around Iraq, guard them in Afghanistan and train security forces in anti-terrorism tactics at its remote camp in North Carolina.
South Africans and Israelis 'training recruits' in Guinea.
SAPA
16 November 2009
South African and Israeli army instructors, hired by the ruling Guinea junta, are training pro-junta recruits in a camp in Forecariah, 100km south of Conakry, witnesses said on Monday.
The new soldiers recruited by the junta, which seized power in Guinea on December 23 last year, are being trained in a camp formerly used to house Sierra Leone refugees outside Forecariah.
The around 40 military instructors are training soldiers "recruited on the basis of their ethnicity" as they belong to the same group as junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, witnesses said.
"You can recognise them by their uniforms which say 'instructor' on the back," a local policeman who asked not to be named, told AFP when reached by phone from Dakar.
Observers accuse the junta, under increasing international pressure after the massacre of over 150 opposition supporters at a rally in September, of recruiting young men from Camara's home region close to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"[Camara] is training them to save his regime in case of trouble," another policeman speaking on condition of anonymity said.
According to a local observer Camara want to "make sure that his ethnic group dominates the army".
16 November 2009
South African and Israeli army instructors, hired by the ruling Guinea junta, are training pro-junta recruits in a camp in Forecariah, 100km south of Conakry, witnesses said on Monday.
The new soldiers recruited by the junta, which seized power in Guinea on December 23 last year, are being trained in a camp formerly used to house Sierra Leone refugees outside Forecariah.
The around 40 military instructors are training soldiers "recruited on the basis of their ethnicity" as they belong to the same group as junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, witnesses said.
"You can recognise them by their uniforms which say 'instructor' on the back," a local policeman who asked not to be named, told AFP when reached by phone from Dakar.
Observers accuse the junta, under increasing international pressure after the massacre of over 150 opposition supporters at a rally in September, of recruiting young men from Camara's home region close to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"[Camara] is training them to save his regime in case of trouble," another policeman speaking on condition of anonymity said.
According to a local observer Camara want to "make sure that his ethnic group dominates the army".
16 November, 2009
ICTR Appeals Judge frees Zigiranyirazo, Overturns Conviction and Slams Trial Chamber's Original Ruling.
Associated Press
16 November 2009
A U.N. appeals court on Monday overturned the conviction of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana's brother-in-law, who had originally been sentenced to 20 years for allegedly organizing a massacre that left about 1,000 dead during the 1994 genocide.
The judge said that serious errors had been committed during Protais Zigiranyirazo's 2008 conviction and sentencing, and ordered him to be released immediately.
Zigiranyirazo, 71, stood in disbelief in the courtroom on Monday. "God is great and justice has been done," he told The Associated Press after the judge overturned the sentence.
In a 30-page ruling, the appeals court said Monday that it had reversed Zigiranyirazo's convictions for genocide and crimes against humanity because those convictions had "violated the most basic and fundamental principles of justice."
"In these circumstances, the Appeals Chamber had no choice, but to reverse Zigiranyirazo's conviction," the ruling said.
Judge Theodor Meron said the trial judgment had "seriously erred in its handling of the evidence."
Lead defense lawyer John Philpot said that Zigiranyirazo, known as "Mr. Z," should be sent back to Belgium where he was arrested, or to France where his wife lives.
"I am extremely happy with the judgment, but the damage done must be reimbursed by the prosecution for the 8 1/2 years spent in detention by Mr. Zigiranyirazo," Philpot said.
According to the indictment, Zigiranyirazo was accused of leading a convoy that attacked Tutsis who were seeking refuge on a hill a few days after the genocide began. About 1,000 people were killed and the convoy later returned to attack survivors, the indictment said.
Zigiranyirazo also was accused of ordering people to set up roadblocks as part of a campaign to kill Tutsis and of paying people to dig a mass grave.
16 November 2009
A U.N. appeals court on Monday overturned the conviction of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana's brother-in-law, who had originally been sentenced to 20 years for allegedly organizing a massacre that left about 1,000 dead during the 1994 genocide.
The judge said that serious errors had been committed during Protais Zigiranyirazo's 2008 conviction and sentencing, and ordered him to be released immediately.
Zigiranyirazo, 71, stood in disbelief in the courtroom on Monday. "God is great and justice has been done," he told The Associated Press after the judge overturned the sentence.
In a 30-page ruling, the appeals court said Monday that it had reversed Zigiranyirazo's convictions for genocide and crimes against humanity because those convictions had "violated the most basic and fundamental principles of justice."
"In these circumstances, the Appeals Chamber had no choice, but to reverse Zigiranyirazo's conviction," the ruling said.
Judge Theodor Meron said the trial judgment had "seriously erred in its handling of the evidence."
Lead defense lawyer John Philpot said that Zigiranyirazo, known as "Mr. Z," should be sent back to Belgium where he was arrested, or to France where his wife lives.
"I am extremely happy with the judgment, but the damage done must be reimbursed by the prosecution for the 8 1/2 years spent in detention by Mr. Zigiranyirazo," Philpot said.
According to the indictment, Zigiranyirazo was accused of leading a convoy that attacked Tutsis who were seeking refuge on a hill a few days after the genocide began. About 1,000 people were killed and the convoy later returned to attack survivors, the indictment said.
Zigiranyirazo also was accused of ordering people to set up roadblocks as part of a campaign to kill Tutsis and of paying people to dig a mass grave.
Burundi on the Brink of Crisis.
SAPA
16 November 2009
Burundi's main opposition group amassed youths at a weekend rally, warning that it was preparing to fight fire with fire after accusing the ruling CNDD-FDD of forming a militia ahead of polls.
Dozens of youths took to the streets of the central town of Gitega on Sunday as part of a "sports day" organised by the Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU).
"The ruling party has for several months been organising massive youth sports days with the aim of forming a militia to destabilise peace before, during and after the elections," said FRODEBU's deputy leader, Frederic Banvuginyunvira.
He said similar rallies organised by the ruling party featured youths armed with clubs.
"We have begun and we will continue as long as the ruling party does it and until it understands that it has taken a dangerous road," Banvuginyunvira told AFP.
Gitega governor Selemani Mossi denounced the rally.
"What FRODEBU is doing is meant to disrupt public order and security and I will take the necessary measures," he said.
Last month, four opposition parties expressed concern over the worsening political climate which they blame on President Pierre Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD, accusing it of corruption and forming a militia.
16 November 2009
Burundi's main opposition group amassed youths at a weekend rally, warning that it was preparing to fight fire with fire after accusing the ruling CNDD-FDD of forming a militia ahead of polls.
Dozens of youths took to the streets of the central town of Gitega on Sunday as part of a "sports day" organised by the Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU).
"The ruling party has for several months been organising massive youth sports days with the aim of forming a militia to destabilise peace before, during and after the elections," said FRODEBU's deputy leader, Frederic Banvuginyunvira.
He said similar rallies organised by the ruling party featured youths armed with clubs.
"We have begun and we will continue as long as the ruling party does it and until it understands that it has taken a dangerous road," Banvuginyunvira told AFP.
Gitega governor Selemani Mossi denounced the rally.
"What FRODEBU is doing is meant to disrupt public order and security and I will take the necessary measures," he said.
Last month, four opposition parties expressed concern over the worsening political climate which they blame on President Pierre Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD, accusing it of corruption and forming a militia.
Ex-US Congressman William Jefferson Gets 13 Years Jail Term.
Vanguard
Emma Aziken with agency report
14 November 2009
A former US Congressman hit with corruption charges over business deals in Nigeria has been jailed for 13 years. Mr. William Jefferson, a Democrat from Louisiana was sentenced on Friday after he was found guilty on August 11 of 11 of 16 corruption charges by a Grand Federal jury.
Jefferson was said to have solicited funds for the purpose of bribing former Vice-president Atiku Abubakar in respect of some telecommunication contracts.
Ninety thousand dollars of the bribe was found in Jefferson's freezer when US government agents raided his home.
Alhaji Atiku reacting to the development spoke of his commitment to the fight against corruption and vowed that he would not be deterred by political conspiracies to smear him with corruption. Two of the counts relating to Nigeria and for which he was found guilty are:
William Jefferson and his wife Andrea Jefferson at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. on Friday
Count 2: Conspiracy to solicit bribes by a public official and deprive citizens of honest services by wire fraud related to his effort on behalf of Arkel Sugar, LETH Energy, TDC Overseas, Procura Financial Interests of South Africa and Worldspace for projects that included a sugar refinery and fertilizer plant in Nigeria, development of marginal oil fields in Nigeria, the sale of garbage-to-energy incinerators in West African nations; the development of satellite educational programming in several West African nations; and a settlement of a dispute regarding oil development rights off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe in West Africa;
Count 3: Solicit of bribes by a public official related to allegations that Jefferson sought payments from iGate Inc, to a firm controlled by his wife Andrea, in return for his help securing telecomunications projects in Nigeria and Ghana.
He was not found guilty in respect of Counts 8 and 11, where Alhaji Atiku's name was mentioned. These are: Count 8: Deprive citizens of honest services by wire fraud related to a fax from Jefferson to Mody attracting various documents including a letter to the then Nigerian vice president, Atiku Abubakar promoting a telecommunications project; and
Count 11: Violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act related to Jefferson's discussion with Mody about possibly bribing Nigerian vice president Abubakar and other Nigerian officials. Charge includes transfer from Mody of $100,000 (in FBI money) that Jefferson said was intended as a bribe to Nigeria's former vice president Abubakar.
All but $10,000 was later found in Jefferson's freezer.
William Jefferson, a Democratic lawmaker who represented a district in the southern state of Louisiana that included part of New Orleans, was convicted in August on 11 of 16 counts, including bribery, money laundering and racketeering involving businesses in Africa.
The 13-year prison sentence, far less than the 27 years recommended by prosecutors, is said to be the longest prison term ever for a US lawmaker convicted on charges of corruption.
The previous record came in 2006, when former Republican congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham received a prison sentence of eight years and four months for accepting bribes from defense contractors.
Jefferson, 62, was also ordered to forfeit more than $470,000 in assets. "In a stunning betrayal of the public's trust, former congressman Jefferson repeatedly used his public office for private gain," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman said in a statement.
The lengthy prison sentence imposed on Mr Jefferson today is a stark reminder to all public officials that the consequences of accepting bribes can and will be severe."
US District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III handed down Jefferson's sentence at an Alexandria, Virginia courtroom just outside Washington.
"We expect to file an appeal at the appropriate time," Jefferson's attorney Amy Jackson told AFP. She declined to comment on the sentence. Following a six-week trial, the jury found that from 2000 to 2005, Jefferson used his post as a US lawmaker to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from oil, communications, sugar and other companies in Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In turn, he advanced the interests of the businesses and individuals who paid the bribes, namely through his seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee - the chamber's top tax-writing panel - without disclosing his own financial dealings with the ventures.
"Mr Jefferson's repeated attempts to sell his office caused significant damage to the public's trust in our elected leaders," said US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride. Jefferson's indictment in 2007, which followed a huge FBI corruption probe, listed a series of alleged schemes in Africa, including telecommunications deals, oil concessions, satellite transmission contracts and the development of industrial plants and other facilities.
The case came to light in August 2005, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Jefferson's Washington home and found the cold cash, allegedly bribe money intended for the former Nigerian vice president, wrapped in aluminum foil and hidden in frozen food containers in his freezer.
In May 2006, FBI agents raided his congressional office - the first raid of its kind - in a move denounced by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. Despite the exhaustive investigation, Jefferson won reelection in 2006 but lost a bid to keep his seat last year.
Atiku says he remains committed to anti-graft crusade
Meanwhile, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has restated his commitment to the fight against corruption saying he will not be deterred by political conspiracies to smear him with corruption.
Reacting to the imprisonment of the erstwhile United States Congressman William Jefferson, Atiku in a statement yesterday said the sentencing of the former congressman made foolish past efforts to link him with the antics of Jefferson.
Atiku's media office in a reaction to the court's verdict said: "The former vice president's strong support of anti-corruption measures will not be diminished by the false accusations of a profiteer like William Jefferson.
Nor will they be diminished by those who abuse government power when they falsely accuse their political opponents of corruption. The vice president has been the victim of trumped up corruption charges by political adversaries in the past and in every case he has emerged with his reputation intact.
These repeated attacks on the vice president's conduct and character underscore the dark side of anti-corruption campaigns - the use of unsubstantiated corruptions charges as a weapon against political opponents.
The fight against corruption is undermined when unfounded corruption charges are used for political gain. Atiku Abubakar reaffirms his commitment to democracy and his solidarity with those who are committed to honest government in Nigeria. He invites those who share these values to join him in the struggle."
Emma Aziken with agency report
14 November 2009
A former US Congressman hit with corruption charges over business deals in Nigeria has been jailed for 13 years. Mr. William Jefferson, a Democrat from Louisiana was sentenced on Friday after he was found guilty on August 11 of 11 of 16 corruption charges by a Grand Federal jury.
Jefferson was said to have solicited funds for the purpose of bribing former Vice-president Atiku Abubakar in respect of some telecommunication contracts.
Ninety thousand dollars of the bribe was found in Jefferson's freezer when US government agents raided his home.
Alhaji Atiku reacting to the development spoke of his commitment to the fight against corruption and vowed that he would not be deterred by political conspiracies to smear him with corruption. Two of the counts relating to Nigeria and for which he was found guilty are:
William Jefferson and his wife Andrea Jefferson at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. on Friday
Count 2: Conspiracy to solicit bribes by a public official and deprive citizens of honest services by wire fraud related to his effort on behalf of Arkel Sugar, LETH Energy, TDC Overseas, Procura Financial Interests of South Africa and Worldspace for projects that included a sugar refinery and fertilizer plant in Nigeria, development of marginal oil fields in Nigeria, the sale of garbage-to-energy incinerators in West African nations; the development of satellite educational programming in several West African nations; and a settlement of a dispute regarding oil development rights off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe in West Africa;
Count 3: Solicit of bribes by a public official related to allegations that Jefferson sought payments from iGate Inc, to a firm controlled by his wife Andrea, in return for his help securing telecomunications projects in Nigeria and Ghana.
He was not found guilty in respect of Counts 8 and 11, where Alhaji Atiku's name was mentioned. These are: Count 8: Deprive citizens of honest services by wire fraud related to a fax from Jefferson to Mody attracting various documents including a letter to the then Nigerian vice president, Atiku Abubakar promoting a telecommunications project; and
Count 11: Violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act related to Jefferson's discussion with Mody about possibly bribing Nigerian vice president Abubakar and other Nigerian officials. Charge includes transfer from Mody of $100,000 (in FBI money) that Jefferson said was intended as a bribe to Nigeria's former vice president Abubakar.
All but $10,000 was later found in Jefferson's freezer.
William Jefferson, a Democratic lawmaker who represented a district in the southern state of Louisiana that included part of New Orleans, was convicted in August on 11 of 16 counts, including bribery, money laundering and racketeering involving businesses in Africa.
The 13-year prison sentence, far less than the 27 years recommended by prosecutors, is said to be the longest prison term ever for a US lawmaker convicted on charges of corruption.
The previous record came in 2006, when former Republican congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham received a prison sentence of eight years and four months for accepting bribes from defense contractors.
Jefferson, 62, was also ordered to forfeit more than $470,000 in assets. "In a stunning betrayal of the public's trust, former congressman Jefferson repeatedly used his public office for private gain," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman said in a statement.
The lengthy prison sentence imposed on Mr Jefferson today is a stark reminder to all public officials that the consequences of accepting bribes can and will be severe."
US District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III handed down Jefferson's sentence at an Alexandria, Virginia courtroom just outside Washington.
"We expect to file an appeal at the appropriate time," Jefferson's attorney Amy Jackson told AFP. She declined to comment on the sentence. Following a six-week trial, the jury found that from 2000 to 2005, Jefferson used his post as a US lawmaker to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from oil, communications, sugar and other companies in Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In turn, he advanced the interests of the businesses and individuals who paid the bribes, namely through his seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee - the chamber's top tax-writing panel - without disclosing his own financial dealings with the ventures.
"Mr Jefferson's repeated attempts to sell his office caused significant damage to the public's trust in our elected leaders," said US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride. Jefferson's indictment in 2007, which followed a huge FBI corruption probe, listed a series of alleged schemes in Africa, including telecommunications deals, oil concessions, satellite transmission contracts and the development of industrial plants and other facilities.
The case came to light in August 2005, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Jefferson's Washington home and found the cold cash, allegedly bribe money intended for the former Nigerian vice president, wrapped in aluminum foil and hidden in frozen food containers in his freezer.
In May 2006, FBI agents raided his congressional office - the first raid of its kind - in a move denounced by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. Despite the exhaustive investigation, Jefferson won reelection in 2006 but lost a bid to keep his seat last year.
Atiku says he remains committed to anti-graft crusade
Meanwhile, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has restated his commitment to the fight against corruption saying he will not be deterred by political conspiracies to smear him with corruption.
Reacting to the imprisonment of the erstwhile United States Congressman William Jefferson, Atiku in a statement yesterday said the sentencing of the former congressman made foolish past efforts to link him with the antics of Jefferson.
Atiku's media office in a reaction to the court's verdict said: "The former vice president's strong support of anti-corruption measures will not be diminished by the false accusations of a profiteer like William Jefferson.
Nor will they be diminished by those who abuse government power when they falsely accuse their political opponents of corruption. The vice president has been the victim of trumped up corruption charges by political adversaries in the past and in every case he has emerged with his reputation intact.
These repeated attacks on the vice president's conduct and character underscore the dark side of anti-corruption campaigns - the use of unsubstantiated corruptions charges as a weapon against political opponents.
The fight against corruption is undermined when unfounded corruption charges are used for political gain. Atiku Abubakar reaffirms his commitment to democracy and his solidarity with those who are committed to honest government in Nigeria. He invites those who share these values to join him in the struggle."
Sen. Jim DeMint Supports Coup in Honduras, Pressures Obama Administration Away from Zelaya.
McClatchy Newspapers
14 November 2009
By James Rosen
Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican known for his efforts to influence domestic immigration and health-care issues, has scored a foreign-policy coup by helping to compel the Obama administration to shift its stance on strife-ridden Honduras.
After demanding for months that deposed Honduran President Mel Zelaya be restored to power, senior State Department officials now say they'll accept the outcome of Nov. 29 elections in the Central American country even if Zelaya doesn't reclaim his post.
"We support the elections process there," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Thursday. "We have provided technical assistance. ... These elections will be important to restoring Democratic and constitutional order in Honduras."
That position is a marked change from the tough stance President Barack Obama took in the days following the June 28 removal of Zelaya, when Honduran soldiers launched a dawn raid and whisked him away in his pajamas.
"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the democratically elected president there," Obama said the day after Zelaya's ouster.
DeMint, by contrast, cited a Honduran Supreme Court ruling, later approved by the Honduran Congress, that the military had followed constitutional provisions in removing Zelaya and installing Roberto Micheletti as interim president.
While the U.S. government froze aid and took other punitive steps, DeMint held up two State Department nominations all summer and into the fall.
Christopher Sabatini, policy director at the Council of Americas, a New York-based organization of international businesses, said DeMint has had a major impact on the Obama administration's evolving response to the Honduran strife.
"DeMint's role has been disproportionate to his interest in Latin America," Sabatini said. "He chose to take a stand on this, and he plunged headlong into it. He drew a line in the sand."
In August, a report by the nonpartisan Library of Congress concurred with DeMint, saying that Zelaya's ouster was legal, though it said Honduran soldiers had overstepped the law in secreting him out of the country.
Zelaya, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, snuck back into Honduras on Sept. 21. He's holed up in the Brazilian Embassy there, sleeping on a couch, wearing his trademark Stetson, giving interviews and greeting various dignitaries.
DeMint, the only senator to have visited Honduras during the crisis, stopped blocking the U.S. diplomatic posts on Nov. 5. He said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had given him her word that the United States would no longer insist on Zelaya's return to power, a claim Clinton aides haven't disputed.
"I'm very thankful that President Obama and Secretary Clinton have finally taken the side of the Honduran people and have committed to letting them choose their own future," DeMint told McClatchy on Saturday.
Zelaya accused the U.S. leaders of abandoning him.
"They have left us in the middle of the river, saying now that their priority is the elections and not the restoration of democracy," Zelaya said Friday on a Costa Rican radio station.
While DeMint's opposition played a key role in forcing the U.S. policy shift, he got a big assist from Zelaya.
At the time of his removal, Zelaya was seeking to annul a constitutional clause limiting the president to a single term and to hold a referendum on the change.
When lawmakers refused to support the referendum, Zelaya imported ballots from Chavez, the flamboyant anti-American Venezuelan leader with whom he'd earlier concluded a major oil-import deal at discounted prices.
Once ensconced in the Brazilian Embassy, the deposed Zelaya said "Israeli mercenaries" were trying to kill him with poison gas and described broad conspiracies behind his ouster. He later apologized for the claim about Israel.
Latin America experts who know Zelaya say it's hardly an understatement to call him eccentric.
"He has no ideological or intellectual convictions whatsoever," said Sabatini, the analyst at the Council of Americas.
"His ideology has always been a melange of strange theories pulled from odd places that have no coherence and no bearing on reality," Sabatini said. "What he got from Chavez is oil and money. He was bought and paid for by Chavez."
As part of a broader effort to reverse President George W. Bush's often unilateral foreign policy, Obama has tried to mend fences with Chavez, even shaking hands with him at their first meeting in April.
Chavez, who called Bush "the devil" in 2006, has praised Obama while continuing to attack U.S. influence in Latin America.
In his new venture into international affairs, DeMint, entering the last year of his first Senate term, has reprised the role of the late Sen. Jesse Helms.
From his perch on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Helms, a North Carolina Republican, would dispatch aides and occasionally travel himself on unannounced foreign trips to meet with anti-Communist governments and groups.
Before his visit to Honduras in early October, DeMint used Helms' tactic of blocking White House nominations to effect change.
DeMint, who sits on the foreign relations panel, put holds on Obama's choices of Arturo Valenzuela to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and Tom Shannon to be ambassador to Brazil.
Shannon, a Bush administration holdover, previously held the senior State Department post for which the Senate confirmed Valenzuela on Nov. 5 after DeMint lifted his hold. Other Republican senators now are blocking a vote on Shannon in a separate dispute over Obama's policy toward Cuba.
In Honduras, neither Zelaya nor Micheletti are on the Nov. 29 ballot, but their political parties have leading candidates.
Zelaya's insistence that he be restored to power is partly symbolic since his term ends in three months, but his earlier attempts to extend his tenure spur doubts that he would leave office quietly.
Under a U.S.-brokered accord last month, Zelaya would stop urging his followers to boycott the Nov. 29 elections and would work with Micheletti to form a "national unity government."
The accord doesn't guarantee that Zelaya would be restored to power, but in recent days he's accused the United States of reneging on secret assurances he claims to have received from Washington.
Obama's break with Zelaya is at odds with the views of some Democratic lawmakers.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, called for Zelaya's return to power Thursday after a three-day visit to Honduras.
Schakowsky said she'd seen widespread evidence of human-rights abuses under Micheletti, including the violent dispersal of peaceful protesters and a clampdown on Honduran journalists.
"I myself was filmed as I left the 1/8Brazilian3/8 embassy by a uniformed soldier in a ski mask," Schakowsky told reporters in a conference call from Miami International Airport.
Schakowsky said she'd met with Zelaya, who "was very calm and upbeat and did not seem agitated or tense in any way despite the number of weeks he's been inside the Brazilian Embassy."
More than 240 professors and Latin America scholars from around the country Wednesday sent Obama a letter denouncing "the innumerable and grave human rights abuses committed by the coup government in Honduras."
State Department spokesman Kelly on Thursday deflected questions from reporters asking about the alleged abuses.
"I'm just not aware of those reports," Kelly said. "I think that we would need to have more details about it for us to really comment."
(Tyler Bridges in Caracas, Venezuela, and Lesley Clark in Washington contributed to this article.)
14 November 2009
By James Rosen
Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican known for his efforts to influence domestic immigration and health-care issues, has scored a foreign-policy coup by helping to compel the Obama administration to shift its stance on strife-ridden Honduras.
After demanding for months that deposed Honduran President Mel Zelaya be restored to power, senior State Department officials now say they'll accept the outcome of Nov. 29 elections in the Central American country even if Zelaya doesn't reclaim his post.
"We support the elections process there," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Thursday. "We have provided technical assistance. ... These elections will be important to restoring Democratic and constitutional order in Honduras."
That position is a marked change from the tough stance President Barack Obama took in the days following the June 28 removal of Zelaya, when Honduran soldiers launched a dawn raid and whisked him away in his pajamas.
"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the democratically elected president there," Obama said the day after Zelaya's ouster.
DeMint, by contrast, cited a Honduran Supreme Court ruling, later approved by the Honduran Congress, that the military had followed constitutional provisions in removing Zelaya and installing Roberto Micheletti as interim president.
While the U.S. government froze aid and took other punitive steps, DeMint held up two State Department nominations all summer and into the fall.
Christopher Sabatini, policy director at the Council of Americas, a New York-based organization of international businesses, said DeMint has had a major impact on the Obama administration's evolving response to the Honduran strife.
"DeMint's role has been disproportionate to his interest in Latin America," Sabatini said. "He chose to take a stand on this, and he plunged headlong into it. He drew a line in the sand."
In August, a report by the nonpartisan Library of Congress concurred with DeMint, saying that Zelaya's ouster was legal, though it said Honduran soldiers had overstepped the law in secreting him out of the country.
Zelaya, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, snuck back into Honduras on Sept. 21. He's holed up in the Brazilian Embassy there, sleeping on a couch, wearing his trademark Stetson, giving interviews and greeting various dignitaries.
DeMint, the only senator to have visited Honduras during the crisis, stopped blocking the U.S. diplomatic posts on Nov. 5. He said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had given him her word that the United States would no longer insist on Zelaya's return to power, a claim Clinton aides haven't disputed.
"I'm very thankful that President Obama and Secretary Clinton have finally taken the side of the Honduran people and have committed to letting them choose their own future," DeMint told McClatchy on Saturday.
Zelaya accused the U.S. leaders of abandoning him.
"They have left us in the middle of the river, saying now that their priority is the elections and not the restoration of democracy," Zelaya said Friday on a Costa Rican radio station.
While DeMint's opposition played a key role in forcing the U.S. policy shift, he got a big assist from Zelaya.
At the time of his removal, Zelaya was seeking to annul a constitutional clause limiting the president to a single term and to hold a referendum on the change.
When lawmakers refused to support the referendum, Zelaya imported ballots from Chavez, the flamboyant anti-American Venezuelan leader with whom he'd earlier concluded a major oil-import deal at discounted prices.
Once ensconced in the Brazilian Embassy, the deposed Zelaya said "Israeli mercenaries" were trying to kill him with poison gas and described broad conspiracies behind his ouster. He later apologized for the claim about Israel.
Latin America experts who know Zelaya say it's hardly an understatement to call him eccentric.
"He has no ideological or intellectual convictions whatsoever," said Sabatini, the analyst at the Council of Americas.
"His ideology has always been a melange of strange theories pulled from odd places that have no coherence and no bearing on reality," Sabatini said. "What he got from Chavez is oil and money. He was bought and paid for by Chavez."
As part of a broader effort to reverse President George W. Bush's often unilateral foreign policy, Obama has tried to mend fences with Chavez, even shaking hands with him at their first meeting in April.
Chavez, who called Bush "the devil" in 2006, has praised Obama while continuing to attack U.S. influence in Latin America.
In his new venture into international affairs, DeMint, entering the last year of his first Senate term, has reprised the role of the late Sen. Jesse Helms.
From his perch on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Helms, a North Carolina Republican, would dispatch aides and occasionally travel himself on unannounced foreign trips to meet with anti-Communist governments and groups.
Before his visit to Honduras in early October, DeMint used Helms' tactic of blocking White House nominations to effect change.
DeMint, who sits on the foreign relations panel, put holds on Obama's choices of Arturo Valenzuela to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and Tom Shannon to be ambassador to Brazil.
Shannon, a Bush administration holdover, previously held the senior State Department post for which the Senate confirmed Valenzuela on Nov. 5 after DeMint lifted his hold. Other Republican senators now are blocking a vote on Shannon in a separate dispute over Obama's policy toward Cuba.
In Honduras, neither Zelaya nor Micheletti are on the Nov. 29 ballot, but their political parties have leading candidates.
Zelaya's insistence that he be restored to power is partly symbolic since his term ends in three months, but his earlier attempts to extend his tenure spur doubts that he would leave office quietly.
Under a U.S.-brokered accord last month, Zelaya would stop urging his followers to boycott the Nov. 29 elections and would work with Micheletti to form a "national unity government."
The accord doesn't guarantee that Zelaya would be restored to power, but in recent days he's accused the United States of reneging on secret assurances he claims to have received from Washington.
Obama's break with Zelaya is at odds with the views of some Democratic lawmakers.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, called for Zelaya's return to power Thursday after a three-day visit to Honduras.
Schakowsky said she'd seen widespread evidence of human-rights abuses under Micheletti, including the violent dispersal of peaceful protesters and a clampdown on Honduran journalists.
"I myself was filmed as I left the 1/8Brazilian3/8 embassy by a uniformed soldier in a ski mask," Schakowsky told reporters in a conference call from Miami International Airport.
Schakowsky said she'd met with Zelaya, who "was very calm and upbeat and did not seem agitated or tense in any way despite the number of weeks he's been inside the Brazilian Embassy."
More than 240 professors and Latin America scholars from around the country Wednesday sent Obama a letter denouncing "the innumerable and grave human rights abuses committed by the coup government in Honduras."
State Department spokesman Kelly on Thursday deflected questions from reporters asking about the alleged abuses.
"I'm just not aware of those reports," Kelly said. "I think that we would need to have more details about it for us to really comment."
(Tyler Bridges in Caracas, Venezuela, and Lesley Clark in Washington contributed to this article.)
ISI used CIA money to build new Islamabad headquarters: One-third of CIA budget goes to ISI
Daily Times
16 November 2009
The CIA has funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) since the 9/11 attacks, accounting for as much as one-third of the foreign spy agency’s annual budget – reported an American newspaper, citing current and former US officials.
The Los Angeles Times quoted officials as saying that the ISI had also “collected tens of millions of dollars through a classified CIA programme that pays for the capture or killing of wanted militants, a clandestine counterpart to the rewards publicly offered by the State Department”.
The officials said the payments have triggered intense debate within the US government, because of “long-standing suspicions that the ISI continues to help Taliban who undermine US efforts in Afghanistan and provide sanctuary to Al Qaeda members in Pakistan”.
But US officials have continued the funding because the ISI’s assistance is considered crucial: “almost every major terrorist plot this decade has originated in Pakistan’s tribal belt, where ISI informant networks are a primary source of intelligence”, said the newspaper.
The White House National Security Council has “this debate every year”, said a former high-ranking US intelligence official involved in the discussions. Despite deep misgivings about the ISI, the official said, “there was no other game in town”. The payments to Pakistan are authorised under a covert programme initially approved by former president George Bush and continued under President Barack Obama.
“The CIA payments are a hidden stream in a much broader financial flow... the US has given Pakistan more than $15 billion over the last eight years in military and civilian aid,” said the Los Angeles Times. “The ISI has used the covert CIA money for a variety of purposes, including the construction of a new headquarters in Islamabad... that project pleased CIA officials because it replaced a structure considered vulnerable to attack: it also eased fears that the US money would end up in the private bank accounts of ISI officials,” it said.
The newspaper said, “The scale of the payments shows the extent to which money has fuelled an espionage alliance that has been credited with damaging Al Qaeda but also plagued by distrusts.”
Given the size of overt military and civilian aid to Pakistan, CIA officials argue that their own disbursements – particularly the bounties for suspected terrorists – should be considered a bargain. “They gave us 600 to 700 people captured or dead,” said one former senior CIA official, who worked with the Pakistanis. “Getting these guys off the street was a good thing, and it was a big savings to [US] taxpayers.”
A US intelligence official said Pakistan had made “decisive contributions to counter-terrorism”. “They have people dying almost every day,” said the official. “Sure, their interests don’t always match up with ours. But things would be one hell of a lot worse if the government there was hostile to us.”
“The CIA also directs millions of dollars to other foreign spy services. But the magnitude of the payments to the ISI reflect Pakistan’s central role. The CIA depends on Pakistan’s cooperation to carry out missile strikes by drones that have killed dozens of suspected extremists in Pakistani border areas,” said the newspaper.
16 November 2009
The CIA has funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) since the 9/11 attacks, accounting for as much as one-third of the foreign spy agency’s annual budget – reported an American newspaper, citing current and former US officials.
The Los Angeles Times quoted officials as saying that the ISI had also “collected tens of millions of dollars through a classified CIA programme that pays for the capture or killing of wanted militants, a clandestine counterpart to the rewards publicly offered by the State Department”.
The officials said the payments have triggered intense debate within the US government, because of “long-standing suspicions that the ISI continues to help Taliban who undermine US efforts in Afghanistan and provide sanctuary to Al Qaeda members in Pakistan”.
But US officials have continued the funding because the ISI’s assistance is considered crucial: “almost every major terrorist plot this decade has originated in Pakistan’s tribal belt, where ISI informant networks are a primary source of intelligence”, said the newspaper.
The White House National Security Council has “this debate every year”, said a former high-ranking US intelligence official involved in the discussions. Despite deep misgivings about the ISI, the official said, “there was no other game in town”. The payments to Pakistan are authorised under a covert programme initially approved by former president George Bush and continued under President Barack Obama.
“The CIA payments are a hidden stream in a much broader financial flow... the US has given Pakistan more than $15 billion over the last eight years in military and civilian aid,” said the Los Angeles Times. “The ISI has used the covert CIA money for a variety of purposes, including the construction of a new headquarters in Islamabad... that project pleased CIA officials because it replaced a structure considered vulnerable to attack: it also eased fears that the US money would end up in the private bank accounts of ISI officials,” it said.
The newspaper said, “The scale of the payments shows the extent to which money has fuelled an espionage alliance that has been credited with damaging Al Qaeda but also plagued by distrusts.”
Given the size of overt military and civilian aid to Pakistan, CIA officials argue that their own disbursements – particularly the bounties for suspected terrorists – should be considered a bargain. “They gave us 600 to 700 people captured or dead,” said one former senior CIA official, who worked with the Pakistanis. “Getting these guys off the street was a good thing, and it was a big savings to [US] taxpayers.”
A US intelligence official said Pakistan had made “decisive contributions to counter-terrorism”. “They have people dying almost every day,” said the official. “Sure, their interests don’t always match up with ours. But things would be one hell of a lot worse if the government there was hostile to us.”
“The CIA also directs millions of dollars to other foreign spy services. But the magnitude of the payments to the ISI reflect Pakistan’s central role. The CIA depends on Pakistan’s cooperation to carry out missile strikes by drones that have killed dozens of suspected extremists in Pakistani border areas,” said the newspaper.
NATO Base In Afghanistan Gets Major Expansion.
NPR
11 July 2008
By Ivan Watson
Iraq's government is taking a hard line with Washington over how long and under what conditions U.S. troops can remain in the country, but in Afghanistan, officials seem to have accepted the indefinite presence of more than 70,000 foreign troops on their soil.
It has been more than six years since the remnants the Taliban regime fought a "last stand" against U.S. and Afghan forces at the airport in Kandahar. Since then, Kandahar Air Field has grown into a vital NATO air base.
The base in southern Afghanistan is now a walled, multicultural military city that houses some 13,000 troops from 17 different countries — the kind of place where you can eat at a Dutch chain restaurant alongside soldiers from the Royal Netherlands Army.
Hockey In The Desert
Not far from U.S. troops who play basketball to the beat of blaring rap is the surreal sight of Canadian troops in heavy pads and helmets playing street hockey in an outdoor rink in the middle of the Afghan desert, the clatter of hockey sticks mingling with gunfire from a shooting range at the edge of the base.
"It is a key air field for the whole of Afghanistan, but particularly for the south," Air Commodore Bob Judson, its British commander, said in a phone interview.
The NATO military presence in Afghanistan has grown from 5,000 soldiers in 2003 to more than 53,000 today, and Judson said about 170 helicopters, fighter jets and transport planes are now based in Kandahar.
Building Infrastructure
Judson said he has a budget of some $780 million to further develop the infrastructure at the base.
"Sooner or later, we will ultimately hand this air field back to the Afghans, to southern Afghanistan in particular," Judson said. "Conservatively, we're saying 2020. That is, of course, a guess. We have no real feel for how long it will be. If we're going to see out the mission that we're here to do, then we would expect it is a good number of years away."
About an hour's flight north of Kandahar is Bagram Air Base, which is run by the U.S. military. Like Kandahar, Bagram is also expanding, military officials there say.
"They are expanding certain pockets," said Lt. Brian Lamar. "We've bought the land from the locals in different places."
Opposition To Expansion
The Western military presence in Afghanistan has unsettled some regional powers, such as Russia.
"Is it all to fight a number of Taliban — 10,000, 12,000 Taliban?" says Zamir Kabulov, Russia's ambassador to Kabul. "Maybe this infrastructure, military infrastructure, [is] not only for internal purposes but for regional also."
Russia views this as a potential threat "because Afghanistan's geographical location is a very strategic one," Kabulov said. "It's very close to three main world basins of hydrocarbons: Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea, Central Asia."
Mark Laity, the spokesman for the NATO alliance in Afghanistan, disagrees.
"Well, not for the first time the Russian ambassador is talking total rubbish," Laity said. "I tell you what would pose a threat to Russian interests, which is a destabilized Afghanistan, either in a civil war or once again ruled by the Taliban."
Though there are some critics of the NATO presence in the Afghan parliament, the only real opposition comes from the Taliban itself.
Air raid sirens go off frequently at Kandahar Air Base, warning of incoming Taliban rockets. And outside the walls, it is much more dangerous.
Afghan military officials say Taliban attacks have jumped 40 percent this summer, with daily roadside bombings and suicide bomb attacks.
A Limit To Hospitality
Gen. Mohammed Azimi, of the Afghan Defense Ministry, said U.S. and NATO troops are welcome to stay in Afghanistan, on one condition:
"Our hospitality depends on their behavior here," Azimi said. "If foreign soldiers break down peoples' doors at night and search their houses, then the people will line up to go and join the Taliban."
Afghans have already demonstrated that there are limits to their hospitality. Two years ago, residents of Kabul rioted after a deadly car accident involving a U.S. military truck. More recently, Afghans blocked roads in the eastern part of the country to protest coalition air strikes, which they say killed Afghan civilians.
11 July 2008
By Ivan Watson
Iraq's government is taking a hard line with Washington over how long and under what conditions U.S. troops can remain in the country, but in Afghanistan, officials seem to have accepted the indefinite presence of more than 70,000 foreign troops on their soil.
It has been more than six years since the remnants the Taliban regime fought a "last stand" against U.S. and Afghan forces at the airport in Kandahar. Since then, Kandahar Air Field has grown into a vital NATO air base.
The base in southern Afghanistan is now a walled, multicultural military city that houses some 13,000 troops from 17 different countries — the kind of place where you can eat at a Dutch chain restaurant alongside soldiers from the Royal Netherlands Army.
Hockey In The Desert
Not far from U.S. troops who play basketball to the beat of blaring rap is the surreal sight of Canadian troops in heavy pads and helmets playing street hockey in an outdoor rink in the middle of the Afghan desert, the clatter of hockey sticks mingling with gunfire from a shooting range at the edge of the base.
"It is a key air field for the whole of Afghanistan, but particularly for the south," Air Commodore Bob Judson, its British commander, said in a phone interview.
The NATO military presence in Afghanistan has grown from 5,000 soldiers in 2003 to more than 53,000 today, and Judson said about 170 helicopters, fighter jets and transport planes are now based in Kandahar.
Building Infrastructure
Judson said he has a budget of some $780 million to further develop the infrastructure at the base.
"Sooner or later, we will ultimately hand this air field back to the Afghans, to southern Afghanistan in particular," Judson said. "Conservatively, we're saying 2020. That is, of course, a guess. We have no real feel for how long it will be. If we're going to see out the mission that we're here to do, then we would expect it is a good number of years away."
About an hour's flight north of Kandahar is Bagram Air Base, which is run by the U.S. military. Like Kandahar, Bagram is also expanding, military officials there say.
"They are expanding certain pockets," said Lt. Brian Lamar. "We've bought the land from the locals in different places."
Opposition To Expansion
The Western military presence in Afghanistan has unsettled some regional powers, such as Russia.
"Is it all to fight a number of Taliban — 10,000, 12,000 Taliban?" says Zamir Kabulov, Russia's ambassador to Kabul. "Maybe this infrastructure, military infrastructure, [is] not only for internal purposes but for regional also."
Russia views this as a potential threat "because Afghanistan's geographical location is a very strategic one," Kabulov said. "It's very close to three main world basins of hydrocarbons: Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea, Central Asia."
Mark Laity, the spokesman for the NATO alliance in Afghanistan, disagrees.
"Well, not for the first time the Russian ambassador is talking total rubbish," Laity said. "I tell you what would pose a threat to Russian interests, which is a destabilized Afghanistan, either in a civil war or once again ruled by the Taliban."
Though there are some critics of the NATO presence in the Afghan parliament, the only real opposition comes from the Taliban itself.
Air raid sirens go off frequently at Kandahar Air Base, warning of incoming Taliban rockets. And outside the walls, it is much more dangerous.
Afghan military officials say Taliban attacks have jumped 40 percent this summer, with daily roadside bombings and suicide bomb attacks.
A Limit To Hospitality
Gen. Mohammed Azimi, of the Afghan Defense Ministry, said U.S. and NATO troops are welcome to stay in Afghanistan, on one condition:
"Our hospitality depends on their behavior here," Azimi said. "If foreign soldiers break down peoples' doors at night and search their houses, then the people will line up to go and join the Taliban."
Afghans have already demonstrated that there are limits to their hospitality. Two years ago, residents of Kabul rioted after a deadly car accident involving a U.S. military truck. More recently, Afghans blocked roads in the eastern part of the country to protest coalition air strikes, which they say killed Afghan civilians.
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