MISNA
7 December 2009
A Congolese priest, Father Daniel Cizimya, was killed on Saturday night by unidentified gunmen in the presbytery of his parish in Kabare, 15km from the city of Bukavu in the north-eastern province of South Kivu, Fr. Justin Nkinzi of the diocesan Justice and Peace told MISNA. Fr. Cizimya, 51, born in Kabare, was shot twice at point blank and few objects of little value were stolen by the killers before fleeing the scene. The local clergy are under shock at yet another act of violence against religious personnel in the region, theatre to widely denounced renewed insecurity. “Despite intimidation, we know that our villages belong to us, we have to protect them and learn to live in them. Despite everything, we must have courage”, wrote in a message Monsignor Pierre Bulambo Lunanga, vicar general of Bukavu, denouncing the spread of “a culture of trivialising life and of impunity”. The death of Fr. Daniel sparked tension in Kabare: an angry crowd intercepted a car yesterday with three people onboard suspected to be connected to the priest’s death; a person was killed and various wounded after the police intervened to restore order.
07 December, 2009
ITALIAN JOURNALIST SHOT DEAD IN HAITI.
MISNA
7 December 2009
Francesco Fantoli, who collaborated with the Haiti Press Network, was shot on Saturday night by unidentified gunmen and died after undergoing surgery at a hospital run by the international aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Trinité, in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince. Fantoli, who had lived in Haiti for over 12 years, was a big soccer fan and was known for sports commentary on local television, including the Italian soccer championship that is very followed in Haiti. He recently founded a soccer school that he was due to inaugurate on January 20 in Jacme, a southern coastal city where he had a home and opened a movie-club projecting and commenting films every Saturday night. “In Francesco’s restaurant you could eat pasta he personally prepared for clients”, writes the ‘Haiti en marche’ news site, emphasising that in his activities the Italian always attempted to portray a positive image of Haiti. Fantoli made a series of reportage for the Europe Union office in Haiti on the daily life of the country, for which he received an award.
7 December 2009
Francesco Fantoli, who collaborated with the Haiti Press Network, was shot on Saturday night by unidentified gunmen and died after undergoing surgery at a hospital run by the international aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Trinité, in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince. Fantoli, who had lived in Haiti for over 12 years, was a big soccer fan and was known for sports commentary on local television, including the Italian soccer championship that is very followed in Haiti. He recently founded a soccer school that he was due to inaugurate on January 20 in Jacme, a southern coastal city where he had a home and opened a movie-club projecting and commenting films every Saturday night. “In Francesco’s restaurant you could eat pasta he personally prepared for clients”, writes the ‘Haiti en marche’ news site, emphasising that in his activities the Italian always attempted to portray a positive image of Haiti. Fantoli made a series of reportage for the Europe Union office in Haiti on the daily life of the country, for which he received an award.
ITALIAN JOURNALIST SHOT DEAD IN HAITI.
MISNA
7 December 2009
Francesco Fantoli, who collaborated with the Haiti Press Network, was shot on Saturday night by unidentified gunmen and died after undergoing surgery at a hospital run by the international aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Trinité, in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince. Fantoli, who had lived in Haiti for over 12 years, was a big soccer fan and was known for sports commentary on local television, including the Italian soccer championship that is very followed in Haiti. He recently founded a soccer school that he was due to inaugurate on January 20 in Jacme, a southern coastal city where he had a home and opened a movie-club projecting and commenting films every Saturday night. “In Francesco’s restaurant you could eat pasta he personally prepared for clients”, writes the ‘Haiti en marche’ news site, emphasising that in his activities the Italian always attempted to portray a positive image of Haiti. Fantoli made a series of reportage for the Europe Union office in Haiti on the daily life of the country, for which he received an award.
7 December 2009
Francesco Fantoli, who collaborated with the Haiti Press Network, was shot on Saturday night by unidentified gunmen and died after undergoing surgery at a hospital run by the international aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Trinité, in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince. Fantoli, who had lived in Haiti for over 12 years, was a big soccer fan and was known for sports commentary on local television, including the Italian soccer championship that is very followed in Haiti. He recently founded a soccer school that he was due to inaugurate on January 20 in Jacme, a southern coastal city where he had a home and opened a movie-club projecting and commenting films every Saturday night. “In Francesco’s restaurant you could eat pasta he personally prepared for clients”, writes the ‘Haiti en marche’ news site, emphasising that in his activities the Italian always attempted to portray a positive image of Haiti. Fantoli made a series of reportage for the Europe Union office in Haiti on the daily life of the country, for which he received an award.
Ethiopian Government Repression of the Free Press Freedom Continues.
Voice of America/Reporters Without Borders
7 December 2009
One of Ethiopia's best-read non-government weekly newspapers has shut down and three of its senior staff have fled the country. The editors of Addis Neger say they have faced a government campaign of intimidation and black propaganda.
The closure of the Amharic-language newspaper, known for its lively discussion of political issues, comes as campaigning heats up in advance of next May's parliamentary election.
In a news release, the paper's editors blamed their decision to close on what they called "another crackdown on free speech and freedom of the press in Ethiopia".
The Paris-based press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, condemned the "climate of fear" prevailing in Ethiopia. It says the spectre of the media and opposition crackdown that followed the disputed 2005 election is resurfacing.
7 December 2009
One of Ethiopia's best-read non-government weekly newspapers has shut down and three of its senior staff have fled the country. The editors of Addis Neger say they have faced a government campaign of intimidation and black propaganda.
The closure of the Amharic-language newspaper, known for its lively discussion of political issues, comes as campaigning heats up in advance of next May's parliamentary election.
In a news release, the paper's editors blamed their decision to close on what they called "another crackdown on free speech and freedom of the press in Ethiopia".
The Paris-based press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, condemned the "climate of fear" prevailing in Ethiopia. It says the spectre of the media and opposition crackdown that followed the disputed 2005 election is resurfacing.
05 December, 2009
Interior secretary issued notice in Blackwater plea.
Daily Times
5 December 2009
Editor's Note: Vanity Fair interviewed former Blackwater/XE CEO Mr. Eric Prince to voice his views on the various allegations leveled against him and his former company. His allegation that he worked as a CIA asset has been recieving the most attention from the mainstream press.
Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Khawaja Muhammad Sharif served notice on the Interior secretary for not replying to a petition against the alleged activities of Blackwater in the federal capital.
The CJ warned that if the secretary did not submit the reply by December 14 he would be prosecuted under the contempt of court law.
On November 20, the LHC sought replies from the Interior Ministry and the Islamabad inspector general.
The LHC chief justice expressed displeasure when told that the Islamabad IG had submitted his reply without signatures. He said: “Is this the way to address the court? It seems that all ineligible persons have been given jobs in (the) Police Department.”
Plea: Separately, the CJ also called a detailed report from the Foreign Ministry on a plea to order the search of US Embassy to recover illegal weapons.
Hashim Shaukat Khan, president of Watan Party Pakistan, had filed the petition.
Barrister Zafarullah, the petitioner’s counsel, cited several news reports according to which American and Dutch nationals were found patrolling the federal capital’s streets with sophisticated weapons. He said the diplomats and marines of both the countries had also beat up the people. He said the “culprits of these incidents” were set free and no action was taken against them for violating the law of the land.
He said an American magazine, The Nation, had disclosed the presence of Blackwater in Pakistan and its hideouts in Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad.
The counsel also said that the Sihala Police Training Centre commandant had also complained that explosives were being heaped in the centre and he was not allowed to visit the sites.
Illegal weapons: Seeking search of US embassy, he said the day Blackwater had stepped into Pakistan, terror acts and suicide attacks had been scaled up. The counsel also alleged that in the US embassy illegal arms and ammunition were being stored, which were being used for “sabotage acts” in the country.
5 December 2009
Editor's Note: Vanity Fair interviewed former Blackwater/XE CEO Mr. Eric Prince to voice his views on the various allegations leveled against him and his former company. His allegation that he worked as a CIA asset has been recieving the most attention from the mainstream press.
Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Khawaja Muhammad Sharif served notice on the Interior secretary for not replying to a petition against the alleged activities of Blackwater in the federal capital.
The CJ warned that if the secretary did not submit the reply by December 14 he would be prosecuted under the contempt of court law.
On November 20, the LHC sought replies from the Interior Ministry and the Islamabad inspector general.
The LHC chief justice expressed displeasure when told that the Islamabad IG had submitted his reply without signatures. He said: “Is this the way to address the court? It seems that all ineligible persons have been given jobs in (the) Police Department.”
Plea: Separately, the CJ also called a detailed report from the Foreign Ministry on a plea to order the search of US Embassy to recover illegal weapons.
Hashim Shaukat Khan, president of Watan Party Pakistan, had filed the petition.
Barrister Zafarullah, the petitioner’s counsel, cited several news reports according to which American and Dutch nationals were found patrolling the federal capital’s streets with sophisticated weapons. He said the diplomats and marines of both the countries had also beat up the people. He said the “culprits of these incidents” were set free and no action was taken against them for violating the law of the land.
He said an American magazine, The Nation, had disclosed the presence of Blackwater in Pakistan and its hideouts in Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad.
The counsel also said that the Sihala Police Training Centre commandant had also complained that explosives were being heaped in the centre and he was not allowed to visit the sites.
Illegal weapons: Seeking search of US embassy, he said the day Blackwater had stepped into Pakistan, terror acts and suicide attacks had been scaled up. The counsel also alleged that in the US embassy illegal arms and ammunition were being stored, which were being used for “sabotage acts” in the country.
04 December, 2009
Eni, Gazprom Welcome France's Entry into South Stream Project.
ENI
12/4/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=83347
Gazprom Chairman Alexey Miller and Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni signed, in the presence of the President of the Russian Federation Dimitrij Medvedev and Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the agreement allowing the entry of France's EdF in the South Stream project, the gas pipeline system, currently under study, which will link Russia to the European Union across the Black Sea and will significantly contribute to improving the security of energy supply for Europe.
The agreement, in principle, welcomes EdF to participate in the South Stream project under conditions to be defined in the next months.
12/4/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=83347
Gazprom Chairman Alexey Miller and Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni signed, in the presence of the President of the Russian Federation Dimitrij Medvedev and Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the agreement allowing the entry of France's EdF in the South Stream project, the gas pipeline system, currently under study, which will link Russia to the European Union across the Black Sea and will significantly contribute to improving the security of energy supply for Europe.
The agreement, in principle, welcomes EdF to participate in the South Stream project under conditions to be defined in the next months.
No Press Freedom in Ethiopia.
SAPA
4 December 2009
A leading Ethiopian newspaper said on Friday it had closed down as a result of months of government "persecution and harassment" against its staff.
"This is the culmination of months of persecution, harassment and black propaganda by the Ethiopian government on Addis Neger," the name of the paper launched two years ago, said executive editor Abiye Teklemariam.
Addis Neger, a weekly newspaper often critical of government policies published its last edition on Saturday before some of its staff fled the country for fear of arrest.
"Three of Addis Neger's editors left the country this week after the paper learnt that the government was preparing criminal charges against its top editors, reporters and owners based on the new anti-terror law and the criminal code," the paper said in a statement sent to AFP.
Freezing media firms' assets
Ethiopia's parliament adopted an anti-terror law earlier this year that opposition leaders and the New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said would curb independent criticism of the ruling EPRDF party ahead of elections in 2010.
Four other media firms meanwhile, told AFP that the government was seeking to freeze their liquid and fixed assets under treason-related charges dating to electoral violence in 2005.
"The government has suddenly decided to pursue the case... and is appealing a pardon by the president in accordance with the law and the public pronouncements of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in 2007," said Serkalem Fasil, speaking for the four groups.
The government was not immediately available for comment on the accusations.
The Horn of Africa nation is to hold elections on May 23, the first since 2005 when nearly 200 people were killed in post-poll violence sparked by allegations of vote-rigging.
4 December 2009
A leading Ethiopian newspaper said on Friday it had closed down as a result of months of government "persecution and harassment" against its staff.
"This is the culmination of months of persecution, harassment and black propaganda by the Ethiopian government on Addis Neger," the name of the paper launched two years ago, said executive editor Abiye Teklemariam.
Addis Neger, a weekly newspaper often critical of government policies published its last edition on Saturday before some of its staff fled the country for fear of arrest.
"Three of Addis Neger's editors left the country this week after the paper learnt that the government was preparing criminal charges against its top editors, reporters and owners based on the new anti-terror law and the criminal code," the paper said in a statement sent to AFP.
Freezing media firms' assets
Ethiopia's parliament adopted an anti-terror law earlier this year that opposition leaders and the New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said would curb independent criticism of the ruling EPRDF party ahead of elections in 2010.
Four other media firms meanwhile, told AFP that the government was seeking to freeze their liquid and fixed assets under treason-related charges dating to electoral violence in 2005.
"The government has suddenly decided to pursue the case... and is appealing a pardon by the president in accordance with the law and the public pronouncements of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in 2007," said Serkalem Fasil, speaking for the four groups.
The government was not immediately available for comment on the accusations.
The Horn of Africa nation is to hold elections on May 23, the first since 2005 when nearly 200 people were killed in post-poll violence sparked by allegations of vote-rigging.
Cuba to Train Uganda Oil Technicians.
The New Vision
3 December 2009
UGANDA is to send oil technicians to Cuba, a country which has been successful in oil and gas production, for training.
The plan to cooperate in the oil industry follows Uganda’s major oil and gas discoveries in the Albertine region stretching for about 23,000 square kilometres, from the West-Nile to the south-western tip in the district of Kanungu.
Visiting the Energas S.A. Plant at Veladero Matanza Province in Cuba on Thursday, President Yoweri Museveni said Uganda will use the gas from the oil wells for generating electricity.
A total of 34 oil wells have been drilled in the Albertine region, 32 of which have oil. The resource base, according to the energy ministry and the oil companies, can sustain long-term oil production that could propel Uganda to the top 50 oil producers in the world.
Sources in the Energy mnistry recently said the exploration had attracted about $506m (about sh961.4b) in foreign direct investments. The figure is expected to go up to $900m (about sh1.7 trillion) by January. Five exploration areas have been licensed to prospecting companies. The four oil prospecting companies include Tullow Oil, Heritage Oil and Gas, Dominion Petroleum and Neptune Resources.
According to a press release from State House, Museveni, who has been in Cuba for a four-day visit, congratulated the Cuban people for locally drilling oil and successfully utilising it to benefit their country. The President was accompanied by the First Lady, several ministers and permanent secretaries.
“I was last in Cuba 22 years ago. The country had not discovered oil. I am happy to find that for the last 10 years, Cuba has become an oil producer,” Museveni remarked.
Vadiva Garcia, Cuba’s gas minister, who briefed the Ugandans about the progress of Cuban oil exploration and production, said their electricity was generated from natural and associated gases using new engineering concepts and technology.
She added that oil and gas production in Cuba was a strategic national project, which was closely monitored from exploration, extraction and utilisation. Museveni also visited the Cuban Youth Centre Palace, where Cuban youth converge regularly to access benefits of new technologies. Cuba and Uganda established diplomatic relations in 1974.
3 December 2009
UGANDA is to send oil technicians to Cuba, a country which has been successful in oil and gas production, for training.
The plan to cooperate in the oil industry follows Uganda’s major oil and gas discoveries in the Albertine region stretching for about 23,000 square kilometres, from the West-Nile to the south-western tip in the district of Kanungu.
Visiting the Energas S.A. Plant at Veladero Matanza Province in Cuba on Thursday, President Yoweri Museveni said Uganda will use the gas from the oil wells for generating electricity.
A total of 34 oil wells have been drilled in the Albertine region, 32 of which have oil. The resource base, according to the energy ministry and the oil companies, can sustain long-term oil production that could propel Uganda to the top 50 oil producers in the world.
Sources in the Energy mnistry recently said the exploration had attracted about $506m (about sh961.4b) in foreign direct investments. The figure is expected to go up to $900m (about sh1.7 trillion) by January. Five exploration areas have been licensed to prospecting companies. The four oil prospecting companies include Tullow Oil, Heritage Oil and Gas, Dominion Petroleum and Neptune Resources.
According to a press release from State House, Museveni, who has been in Cuba for a four-day visit, congratulated the Cuban people for locally drilling oil and successfully utilising it to benefit their country. The President was accompanied by the First Lady, several ministers and permanent secretaries.
“I was last in Cuba 22 years ago. The country had not discovered oil. I am happy to find that for the last 10 years, Cuba has become an oil producer,” Museveni remarked.
Vadiva Garcia, Cuba’s gas minister, who briefed the Ugandans about the progress of Cuban oil exploration and production, said their electricity was generated from natural and associated gases using new engineering concepts and technology.
She added that oil and gas production in Cuba was a strategic national project, which was closely monitored from exploration, extraction and utilisation. Museveni also visited the Cuban Youth Centre Palace, where Cuban youth converge regularly to access benefits of new technologies. Cuba and Uganda established diplomatic relations in 1974.
Guinea's president wounded in assassination attempt.
Daily Telegraph
4 December 2009
Capt Camara was shot at by his military aide, who heads the presidential guard, said Idrissa Cherif, the communications minister. Mr Cherif said his live was not in danger.
A statement read on state TV said the 45-year-old president had been slightly wounded but that his life was not in danger.
"The president of the republic is still the president of the republic and he is in good health," said Mr Cherif, as military helicopters and sporadic shooting could be heard in downtown Conakry.
The shooting came amid rumours of deep divisions within the army nearly three months after a military-led massacre of protesters at a peaceful rally.
Mr Cherif said Capt Camara had left the country's main military barracks, from where he has been running the country since seizing power in a military-led coup 11 months ago. He headed downtown to a military camp housing hundreds of men under the control of Abubakar "Toumba" Diakite, the president's aide-de-camp. The shooting occurred inside the camp.
The incident demonstrates the rifts inside the military clique that grabbed control of the nation of 10 million on Africa's western coast. Capt Camara had initially promised to quickly organize elections, but then reversed course and began hinting that he planned to run for office, prompting a massive protest Sept. 28.
4 December 2009
Capt Camara was shot at by his military aide, who heads the presidential guard, said Idrissa Cherif, the communications minister. Mr Cherif said his live was not in danger.
A statement read on state TV said the 45-year-old president had been slightly wounded but that his life was not in danger.
"The president of the republic is still the president of the republic and he is in good health," said Mr Cherif, as military helicopters and sporadic shooting could be heard in downtown Conakry.
The shooting came amid rumours of deep divisions within the army nearly three months after a military-led massacre of protesters at a peaceful rally.
Mr Cherif said Capt Camara had left the country's main military barracks, from where he has been running the country since seizing power in a military-led coup 11 months ago. He headed downtown to a military camp housing hundreds of men under the control of Abubakar "Toumba" Diakite, the president's aide-de-camp. The shooting occurred inside the camp.
The incident demonstrates the rifts inside the military clique that grabbed control of the nation of 10 million on Africa's western coast. Capt Camara had initially promised to quickly organize elections, but then reversed course and began hinting that he planned to run for office, prompting a massive protest Sept. 28.
03 December, 2009
Inshuti Organization Rejects UN Allegations.
INSHUTI ORGANIZATION
PRESS RELEASE
Manresa, 26th November 2009
Inshuti Association denies all accusations leaked by some
of the media and appears in an UN Security Council
report, which is neither official nor public up to today (1).
Firstly, INSHUTI wants to clarify that it is false to claim that money from public
funds have been diverted to finance FDLR guerrillas according to the above
mentioned accusation. Funds received from Catalan Cooperation Fund and
Manresa City Council have been set aside to assist the following projects:
· Cooperation with Ahadi Institute (Kigoma-Tanzània) Studies
Center camps in Tanzania, with European recognition, and winner of the prestigious international Opus Prize 2007.
· Cooperation with Maendeleo Youth Centre (Kigoma-Tanzània)religious community (Brothers of Charity), hosting youngsters and people with physical and psychological incapacities or people with special needs.
Secondly, INSHUTI wants to report that the Government of Rwanda,
through its political diplomacy (and probably through military intelligence
agents charged with this purpose), uses the United Nations to discredit S’Olivar Foundation de Mallorca, Inshuti, and all small NGOs that have made public statements on countless crimes such as:
· In February 2005, a group of organizations sued high-ranking officials from
the RPF/A (Rwandan Patriotic Front/Army), a politico-military group (and current
government of Rwanda) at the Spanish National High Court for
murdering nine spanish missionaries and aid workers, including a nurse
from Manresa, Flors Sirera. Although INSHUTI fully supports this cause
launched by the spanish courts regarding the violent deaths of our citizens
Flors Sirera and eight other spanish victims (along with other victims
from Rwanda and Congo), INSHUTI declares that our organization has
not been an interested party in this process of international justice,
neither in the past nor at present, against international crimes committed
in Central Africa.
1 Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. UN Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York. 25 November 2009, see: http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2009/db091125.doc.htm.
· On 6th February 2008 the Judge of Instruction Court Number 4 of the
National High Court, Judge Fernando Andreu Merelles issued an
international arrest warrant against 40 high-ranking members of the RPA
that has been governing Rwanda in a totalitarian manner since 1994 according to credible international studies (see The Economist and Freedom House for examples).
· A few months ago, one of the forty most wanted criminals by the National High
Court, Rwanda’s Chief of Staff General James Kabarebe, was under arrest in South Africa. His arrest was reported to Judge Merelles, who immediately started legal proceedings for an extradition that did not occur in the end.
· According to Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the government of
Rwanda is seriously concerned about the implications on its international
relations that this arrest order may imply.
· In this context, Rwanda’s diplomacy is working to discredit NGOs
that have somehow supported this international action of justice against
international crimes committed with impunity.
Finally, INSHUTI members declare that our association has always sided with
the victims of the Great Lakes, with the families of both aid workers and
murdered missionaries, and against the impunity that those responsible for
this tragedy seem to hold.
PRESS RELEASE
Manresa, 26th November 2009
Inshuti Association denies all accusations leaked by some
of the media and appears in an UN Security Council
report, which is neither official nor public up to today (1).
Firstly, INSHUTI wants to clarify that it is false to claim that money from public
funds have been diverted to finance FDLR guerrillas according to the above
mentioned accusation. Funds received from Catalan Cooperation Fund and
Manresa City Council have been set aside to assist the following projects:
· Cooperation with Ahadi Institute (Kigoma-Tanzània) Studies
Center camps in Tanzania, with European recognition, and winner of the prestigious international Opus Prize 2007.
· Cooperation with Maendeleo Youth Centre (Kigoma-Tanzània)religious community (Brothers of Charity), hosting youngsters and people with physical and psychological incapacities or people with special needs.
Secondly, INSHUTI wants to report that the Government of Rwanda,
through its political diplomacy (and probably through military intelligence
agents charged with this purpose), uses the United Nations to discredit S’Olivar Foundation de Mallorca, Inshuti, and all small NGOs that have made public statements on countless crimes such as:
· In February 2005, a group of organizations sued high-ranking officials from
the RPF/A (Rwandan Patriotic Front/Army), a politico-military group (and current
government of Rwanda) at the Spanish National High Court for
murdering nine spanish missionaries and aid workers, including a nurse
from Manresa, Flors Sirera. Although INSHUTI fully supports this cause
launched by the spanish courts regarding the violent deaths of our citizens
Flors Sirera and eight other spanish victims (along with other victims
from Rwanda and Congo), INSHUTI declares that our organization has
not been an interested party in this process of international justice,
neither in the past nor at present, against international crimes committed
in Central Africa.
1 Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. UN Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York. 25 November 2009, see: http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2009/db091125.doc.htm.
· On 6th February 2008 the Judge of Instruction Court Number 4 of the
National High Court, Judge Fernando Andreu Merelles issued an
international arrest warrant against 40 high-ranking members of the RPA
that has been governing Rwanda in a totalitarian manner since 1994 according to credible international studies (see The Economist and Freedom House for examples).
· A few months ago, one of the forty most wanted criminals by the National High
Court, Rwanda’s Chief of Staff General James Kabarebe, was under arrest in South Africa. His arrest was reported to Judge Merelles, who immediately started legal proceedings for an extradition that did not occur in the end.
· According to Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the government of
Rwanda is seriously concerned about the implications on its international
relations that this arrest order may imply.
· In this context, Rwanda’s diplomacy is working to discredit NGOs
that have somehow supported this international action of justice against
international crimes committed with impunity.
Finally, INSHUTI members declare that our association has always sided with
the victims of the Great Lakes, with the families of both aid workers and
murdered missionaries, and against the impunity that those responsible for
this tragedy seem to hold.
02 December, 2009
Burundi-Stop Deporting Innocent Rwandan Asylum Seekers:Forced Return After Rwandan Government Pressure Violates National + International Refugee Law.
Human Rights Watch
2 December 2009
Burundi’s government should immediately reverse a new policy of deporting Rwandan asylum seekers without considering their cases, Human Rights Watch said today. On November 27, 2009, Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana ordered police to return 103 asylum seekers to Rwanda, in violation of international law.
Burundi’s decision came days after an official delegation from Rwanda told the Burundian government that recently arrived Rwandans should be sent back to Rwanda, the Burundi state news agency reported. Officials were quoted as saying that they wanted to protect Rwanda’s international image as a peaceful country that does not produce refugees. Several Burundian officials, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, told Human Rights Watch that Rwanda had an important role in the returns.
“Asylum seekers are entitled to an objective assessment of whether they would face persecution upon returning home,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Both national and international law guarantee these assessments, and Rwanda and Burundi should not be meddling in the process.”
The 103 deported asylum seekers were among several hundred Rwandans who fled to Burundi’s northern provinces of Kirundo and Ngozi, most between July and September. In October, Human Rights Watch interviewed several Rwandan asylum seekers in Kirundo province, some of whom appeared to have credible fears of persecution in Rwanda, including the risk of being unlawfully tried twice for the same crime by Rwanda’s community-based gacaca courts and the fear of being “disappeared.” Some reported that fellow villagers had been taken at night from their homes in Rwanda’s Southern province by unknown persons or by local defense forces.
Although 60 families (approximately 115 people) who said they were fleeing violence and repression in Rwanda managed to claim asylum in late October, others, perhaps owing to a fear of immediate deportation, did not come forward to lodge their claims until November 10.
On November 17, Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana told Human Rights Watch that the claims of this latter group had been filed “too late” and that the Rwandans would be deported. He informed Human Rights Watch that no new cases would be heard, explaining, “We consider them illegals. We spent enough time waiting for them to come forward. They should have taken that responsibility.” Nduwimana signed a communiqué confirming his decision on November 23, four days before the Rwandans were deported.
International refugee law allows asylum seekers to pursue claims even if they are not submitted within the host nation’s required time frame. Both international refugee and human rights law prohibit refoulement, sending persons to a country where they would risk persecution, inhuman or degrading treatment, or other serious human rights abuses.
Burundi is a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which prohibits states from expelling or returning refugees to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Burundi’s own refugee law (Loi n°1/32 du 13 novembre 2008 sur l’Asile et la Protection des réfugiés au Burundi, articles 19 and 20) provides similar protection.
The African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, to which Burundi is also a state party, not only prohibits refoulement, but also calls upon nations to receive refugees and secure their settlement. It says that “[t]he grant of asylum to refugees is a peaceful and humanitarian act and shall not be regarded as an unfriendly act by any Member State.”
A journalist from African Public Radio who observed the deportations from Kirundo province on November 27 said that large numbers of police and soldiers surrounded the site where 136 Rwandan asylum seekers had been staying for three weeks. The Kirundo governor read aloud the interior minister’s statement of November 23 – saying none of the Rwandans in the group would be allowed to lodge asylum claims – and then instructed police to force them onto trucks. Thirty-three of the asylum seekers fled the site.
The journalist said that when the remaining 103 refused to board the trucks, police struck several of them with clubs and forced all of them to board. They were driven to the Rwandan border and turned over to four officials from Rwanda’s Southern province. A police official told Human Rights Watch that at least three of the deported asylum seekers were unaccompanied children, whose parents had stayed behind in Kirundo.
One week earlier, on November 19 and 20, the Rwandan government delegation had visited Burundi to urge the authorities to send home all the Rwandans who had recently crossed the border into Burundi’s northern provinces. The report by the Burundian state news agency, Agence Burundaise de la Presse, said that the governor of Rwanda’s Southern province stated that the “illegals” presence in Burundi was damaging to Rwanda’s image and that they should be sent home.
On November 21, Human Rights Watch wrote to Minister Nduwimana and reminded him and other Burundian authorities that international and Burundian law prohibits refoulement. This prohibition covers all asylum seekers, including those who have not lodged their asylum claims within deadlines set by national legislation.
An official from Burundi’s refugee agency, National Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (ONPRA), told Human Rights Watch that the decision was intended to prevent further influxes of Rwanda’s “peasant masses.”
“Burundi has a moral and legal obligation to receive Rwandans who fear for their lives,” Gagnon said. “In violation of the law, and because of political concerns, it is now sending the message that Rwandans wishing to flee their country are not welcome in Burundi.”
Background
Between July and September, hundreds of Rwandans, most from Rwanda’s Southern province, arrived in Burundi’s Kirundo and Ngozi provinces.
On October 8, Interior Minister Nduwimana declared that all recently arrived Rwandans – then estimated at 300 to 400 individuals – should be “rapidly expelled” from the country. On October 12, the government forced an unknown number of Rwandan asylum seekers to return to Rwanda, by falsely informing them that the United Nations refugee agency had decided they were not refugees.
Following queries by Human Rights Watch and other organizations, including the UN refugee agency (which funds Burundi’s refugee agency and helped draft Burundi’s new refugee laws), the Burundian authorities agreed to halt all further deportations and to review all Rwandan asylum seekers’ claims on a case-by-case basis, as required by Burundian law. In late October, 60 families lodged asylum claims and were individually interviewed by the country’s refugee agency.
All 60 claims were denied by a newly established government commission that works alongside the refugee agency, and Nduwimana initially proposed blocking the families’ right to appeal, although he later changed his decision. Thirty-six of the 60 have filed appeals. They remain in the country pending the evaluation and resolution of their appeals.
Meanwhile, Agence Burundaise de la Presse reported at least 70 more Rwandan asylum seekers who had been in hiding in households in the communes of Vumbi, Ntega, and Marangara for several months tried to claim asylum in the town of Kirundo on November 10. Many of them had not initially come forward out of fear that they would be deported immediately.
Instead of registering their claims, the police, who by law are supposed to serve as a “first point of contact” for asylum seekers and refer them to the refugee agency, tried to deport them. When the asylum seekers refused, the police left. The following week, refugee agency officials gave the Rwandans forms to fill out asking for basic information, but did not conduct individual interviews, as required by Burundi’s refugee law. These were among the 103 asylum seekers illegally deported on November 27.
To read the October 16, 2009 Human Rights Watch press release calling on the Government of Burundi to end all measures seeking to coerce Rwandan asylum seekers into returning to Rwanda, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/16/burundi-review-rwandans-asylum-claims
For more information, please contact:
In New York, Georgette Gagnon (English,): + 1-212-216-1223; or +1-917-535-0375 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Jonathan Elliott (English, French): + 1-202-612-4348; or +1-917-379-0713 (mobile)
In Geneva, Gerry Simpson (English, French): +41-22-738-0483; or +41-79-219-9568 (mobile)
2 December 2009
Burundi’s government should immediately reverse a new policy of deporting Rwandan asylum seekers without considering their cases, Human Rights Watch said today. On November 27, 2009, Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana ordered police to return 103 asylum seekers to Rwanda, in violation of international law.
Burundi’s decision came days after an official delegation from Rwanda told the Burundian government that recently arrived Rwandans should be sent back to Rwanda, the Burundi state news agency reported. Officials were quoted as saying that they wanted to protect Rwanda’s international image as a peaceful country that does not produce refugees. Several Burundian officials, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, told Human Rights Watch that Rwanda had an important role in the returns.
“Asylum seekers are entitled to an objective assessment of whether they would face persecution upon returning home,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Both national and international law guarantee these assessments, and Rwanda and Burundi should not be meddling in the process.”
The 103 deported asylum seekers were among several hundred Rwandans who fled to Burundi’s northern provinces of Kirundo and Ngozi, most between July and September. In October, Human Rights Watch interviewed several Rwandan asylum seekers in Kirundo province, some of whom appeared to have credible fears of persecution in Rwanda, including the risk of being unlawfully tried twice for the same crime by Rwanda’s community-based gacaca courts and the fear of being “disappeared.” Some reported that fellow villagers had been taken at night from their homes in Rwanda’s Southern province by unknown persons or by local defense forces.
Although 60 families (approximately 115 people) who said they were fleeing violence and repression in Rwanda managed to claim asylum in late October, others, perhaps owing to a fear of immediate deportation, did not come forward to lodge their claims until November 10.
On November 17, Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana told Human Rights Watch that the claims of this latter group had been filed “too late” and that the Rwandans would be deported. He informed Human Rights Watch that no new cases would be heard, explaining, “We consider them illegals. We spent enough time waiting for them to come forward. They should have taken that responsibility.” Nduwimana signed a communiqué confirming his decision on November 23, four days before the Rwandans were deported.
International refugee law allows asylum seekers to pursue claims even if they are not submitted within the host nation’s required time frame. Both international refugee and human rights law prohibit refoulement, sending persons to a country where they would risk persecution, inhuman or degrading treatment, or other serious human rights abuses.
Burundi is a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which prohibits states from expelling or returning refugees to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Burundi’s own refugee law (Loi n°1/32 du 13 novembre 2008 sur l’Asile et la Protection des réfugiés au Burundi, articles 19 and 20) provides similar protection.
The African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, to which Burundi is also a state party, not only prohibits refoulement, but also calls upon nations to receive refugees and secure their settlement. It says that “[t]he grant of asylum to refugees is a peaceful and humanitarian act and shall not be regarded as an unfriendly act by any Member State.”
A journalist from African Public Radio who observed the deportations from Kirundo province on November 27 said that large numbers of police and soldiers surrounded the site where 136 Rwandan asylum seekers had been staying for three weeks. The Kirundo governor read aloud the interior minister’s statement of November 23 – saying none of the Rwandans in the group would be allowed to lodge asylum claims – and then instructed police to force them onto trucks. Thirty-three of the asylum seekers fled the site.
The journalist said that when the remaining 103 refused to board the trucks, police struck several of them with clubs and forced all of them to board. They were driven to the Rwandan border and turned over to four officials from Rwanda’s Southern province. A police official told Human Rights Watch that at least three of the deported asylum seekers were unaccompanied children, whose parents had stayed behind in Kirundo.
One week earlier, on November 19 and 20, the Rwandan government delegation had visited Burundi to urge the authorities to send home all the Rwandans who had recently crossed the border into Burundi’s northern provinces. The report by the Burundian state news agency, Agence Burundaise de la Presse, said that the governor of Rwanda’s Southern province stated that the “illegals” presence in Burundi was damaging to Rwanda’s image and that they should be sent home.
On November 21, Human Rights Watch wrote to Minister Nduwimana and reminded him and other Burundian authorities that international and Burundian law prohibits refoulement. This prohibition covers all asylum seekers, including those who have not lodged their asylum claims within deadlines set by national legislation.
An official from Burundi’s refugee agency, National Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (ONPRA), told Human Rights Watch that the decision was intended to prevent further influxes of Rwanda’s “peasant masses.”
“Burundi has a moral and legal obligation to receive Rwandans who fear for their lives,” Gagnon said. “In violation of the law, and because of political concerns, it is now sending the message that Rwandans wishing to flee their country are not welcome in Burundi.”
Background
Between July and September, hundreds of Rwandans, most from Rwanda’s Southern province, arrived in Burundi’s Kirundo and Ngozi provinces.
On October 8, Interior Minister Nduwimana declared that all recently arrived Rwandans – then estimated at 300 to 400 individuals – should be “rapidly expelled” from the country. On October 12, the government forced an unknown number of Rwandan asylum seekers to return to Rwanda, by falsely informing them that the United Nations refugee agency had decided they were not refugees.
Following queries by Human Rights Watch and other organizations, including the UN refugee agency (which funds Burundi’s refugee agency and helped draft Burundi’s new refugee laws), the Burundian authorities agreed to halt all further deportations and to review all Rwandan asylum seekers’ claims on a case-by-case basis, as required by Burundian law. In late October, 60 families lodged asylum claims and were individually interviewed by the country’s refugee agency.
All 60 claims were denied by a newly established government commission that works alongside the refugee agency, and Nduwimana initially proposed blocking the families’ right to appeal, although he later changed his decision. Thirty-six of the 60 have filed appeals. They remain in the country pending the evaluation and resolution of their appeals.
Meanwhile, Agence Burundaise de la Presse reported at least 70 more Rwandan asylum seekers who had been in hiding in households in the communes of Vumbi, Ntega, and Marangara for several months tried to claim asylum in the town of Kirundo on November 10. Many of them had not initially come forward out of fear that they would be deported immediately.
Instead of registering their claims, the police, who by law are supposed to serve as a “first point of contact” for asylum seekers and refer them to the refugee agency, tried to deport them. When the asylum seekers refused, the police left. The following week, refugee agency officials gave the Rwandans forms to fill out asking for basic information, but did not conduct individual interviews, as required by Burundi’s refugee law. These were among the 103 asylum seekers illegally deported on November 27.
To read the October 16, 2009 Human Rights Watch press release calling on the Government of Burundi to end all measures seeking to coerce Rwandan asylum seekers into returning to Rwanda, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/16/burundi-review-rwandans-asylum-claims
For more information, please contact:
In New York, Georgette Gagnon (English,): + 1-212-216-1223; or +1-917-535-0375 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Jonathan Elliott (English, French): + 1-202-612-4348; or +1-917-379-0713 (mobile)
In Geneva, Gerry Simpson (English, French): +41-22-738-0483; or +41-79-219-9568 (mobile)
Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Releases Final Report.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia
2 December 2009
Press release
Editor's Note: The reports are available at:
https://www.trcofliberia.org/reports/final
THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION OF LIBERIA (TRC) has announced the release and publication of its final reports after several weeks of editing and technical work leading to its publication. The report which is an edited version of the “TRC FINAL REPORT, VOLUME II, CONSOLIDATED REPORT(UNEDITED)” was released on June 30, 2009. Atleast 1,500 copies of the report is now in print, courtesy of funding provided by the UNDP.
The report, containing twenty-one (21) chapters, and approximately 1,500 pages in all is published in three volumes as follows:
Volume I: Preliminary Report , presented to the Government of Liberia December 20, 2008;
Volume II: Consolidated Final Report, presented to the Government of Liberia June 29, 2009;
Volume III: Appendices Containing thirteen (13) titles of supplemental and specialized reports.
Volume IV:Transcripts Containing ten thousand pages of testimonies from TRC witnesses during the Survivors’ Hearings, Thematic and Institutional Hearings and the TRC Diaspora Hearings, remains unpublished.
According to a TRC press release issued December 1, 2009 in Monrovia, the report provides a historical analysis of the conflict in Liberia, the root causes of the conflict and 142 pieces of recommendations intended to redress Liberia’s legacy of conflict, dysfunction, massive human rights violations and promote national peace, unity and reconciliation.
In all, the report includes eight (8) recommendations for public sanctions and prosecution combined and another eight (8) peieces of recommendations relating to economic crimes. The remaining total of 126 recommendations relate to a wide range of public interest issues including public integrity, corruption, human rights, economic empowerment, good governance, national identity and reparation, amongst others intended to resolve past conflicts as part of a national progression towards lasting peace and reconciliation.
The Report also contains a list of dead perpetrators, the names, nationalities and probable locations of 102 foreign fighters who operated in Liberia; 26 tables and 5 figures of TRC statistical information; a listing of 116 most notorious perpetrators recommended for prosecution by an Extraordinary Criminal Court and 58 perpetrators recommended for prosecution in the domestic courts of Liberia; public sanctions for 49 persons for their role in suppporting, financially and otherwise, various warring factions. Another 45 persons are recommended for economic crimes prosecution and 54 others recommended for further investigation into their activities related to economic crimes.
The TRC Release furthered that of the over 103,019 former combatants disarmed by the United Nations Mission in Liberia under its demobolization and disarmament programs, the report is recommending that a little over 7,000 face the “Palava Hut Program” as a community reconciliation initiative to build peace at the grass roots level, meaning that of the 103,019 documented perpetrators, 0.169% percent is being recommended for prosecution whilst 6.7% documented perpetrators have been identified to participate in the Palava Hut Program, as would those recommended for economic crimes prosecution and public sanctions on account of their support for various warring factions.
The release signed by TRC media department, quotes the TRC Chairman, Cllr Jerome J Verdier as saying that the report “is dedicated to the evergreen memory of all those who lost their lives during the Liberian conflict, the children of tomorrow and all who dare to hope for a better Liberia”. He said the completion of this exercise and the release of the report “marks the rebirth of a new Liberia in which all Liberians irrespective of their roles or expereinces in the past will acknowledge the throes of the bitter past and unite for a peaceful and more prosperous Liberia”.
The TRC Release called on Liberians to spare no efforts in working and praying for unity, peace, justice and reconciliation in Liberia while thanking the Almighty God for his benevolence to the nation and its people.
The release concluded that the Report is published on the TRC website at www.trcofliberia.org ,and will be dissiminated locally and internationally. The Commission, through the Release is thanking the government of Liberia, its many partners, stakeholders and the people of Liberia for their support during this national enterprise. The Commission now awaits its formal retirement by the Government of Liberia.
Signed: The TRC Media Department
2 December 2009
Press release
Editor's Note: The reports are available at:
https://www.trcofliberia.org/reports/final
THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION OF LIBERIA (TRC) has announced the release and publication of its final reports after several weeks of editing and technical work leading to its publication. The report which is an edited version of the “TRC FINAL REPORT, VOLUME II, CONSOLIDATED REPORT(UNEDITED)” was released on June 30, 2009. Atleast 1,500 copies of the report is now in print, courtesy of funding provided by the UNDP.
The report, containing twenty-one (21) chapters, and approximately 1,500 pages in all is published in three volumes as follows:
Volume I: Preliminary Report , presented to the Government of Liberia December 20, 2008;
Volume II: Consolidated Final Report, presented to the Government of Liberia June 29, 2009;
Volume III: Appendices Containing thirteen (13) titles of supplemental and specialized reports.
Volume IV:Transcripts Containing ten thousand pages of testimonies from TRC witnesses during the Survivors’ Hearings, Thematic and Institutional Hearings and the TRC Diaspora Hearings, remains unpublished.
According to a TRC press release issued December 1, 2009 in Monrovia, the report provides a historical analysis of the conflict in Liberia, the root causes of the conflict and 142 pieces of recommendations intended to redress Liberia’s legacy of conflict, dysfunction, massive human rights violations and promote national peace, unity and reconciliation.
In all, the report includes eight (8) recommendations for public sanctions and prosecution combined and another eight (8) peieces of recommendations relating to economic crimes. The remaining total of 126 recommendations relate to a wide range of public interest issues including public integrity, corruption, human rights, economic empowerment, good governance, national identity and reparation, amongst others intended to resolve past conflicts as part of a national progression towards lasting peace and reconciliation.
The Report also contains a list of dead perpetrators, the names, nationalities and probable locations of 102 foreign fighters who operated in Liberia; 26 tables and 5 figures of TRC statistical information; a listing of 116 most notorious perpetrators recommended for prosecution by an Extraordinary Criminal Court and 58 perpetrators recommended for prosecution in the domestic courts of Liberia; public sanctions for 49 persons for their role in suppporting, financially and otherwise, various warring factions. Another 45 persons are recommended for economic crimes prosecution and 54 others recommended for further investigation into their activities related to economic crimes.
The TRC Release furthered that of the over 103,019 former combatants disarmed by the United Nations Mission in Liberia under its demobolization and disarmament programs, the report is recommending that a little over 7,000 face the “Palava Hut Program” as a community reconciliation initiative to build peace at the grass roots level, meaning that of the 103,019 documented perpetrators, 0.169% percent is being recommended for prosecution whilst 6.7% documented perpetrators have been identified to participate in the Palava Hut Program, as would those recommended for economic crimes prosecution and public sanctions on account of their support for various warring factions.
The release signed by TRC media department, quotes the TRC Chairman, Cllr Jerome J Verdier as saying that the report “is dedicated to the evergreen memory of all those who lost their lives during the Liberian conflict, the children of tomorrow and all who dare to hope for a better Liberia”. He said the completion of this exercise and the release of the report “marks the rebirth of a new Liberia in which all Liberians irrespective of their roles or expereinces in the past will acknowledge the throes of the bitter past and unite for a peaceful and more prosperous Liberia”.
The TRC Release called on Liberians to spare no efforts in working and praying for unity, peace, justice and reconciliation in Liberia while thanking the Almighty God for his benevolence to the nation and its people.
The release concluded that the Report is published on the TRC website at www.trcofliberia.org ,and will be dissiminated locally and internationally. The Commission, through the Release is thanking the government of Liberia, its many partners, stakeholders and the people of Liberia for their support during this national enterprise. The Commission now awaits its formal retirement by the Government of Liberia.
Signed: The TRC Media Department
Somalia: Government Clears Federal Constitution.
Daily Nation
2 December 2009
By Abdulkadir Khalif
1 December 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mogadishu — The cabinet of ministers of the Transitional Federal Government approved a Federal Constitution during a meeting in Mogadishu on Sunday.
The document was discussed by the Cabinet ministers chaired by Prime Minister Omar Abdurashid Ali Sharmarke and later endorsed by the portfolio holders.
Abdi Haji Gobdon, a media advisor to the cabinet, announced the development after the meeting.
"A federal constitution has been endorsed by the ministers," said Gobdon.
The minister for Constitutional and parliamentary affairs, Madobe Nunow Mohamed, told the media that the document will be passed on to the Transitional Federal Parliament for endorsement. It will also be signed by the President.
Minister Nunow said that a special committee was assigned to harmonise various previous documents.
"This last version is very compatible with all the provisions of Sharia (Islamic), laws" said the minister.
The ministers also approved a Chief Judge for the Supreme Court. "Dr Mohamed Omar Farah alias Indhabur has been nominated and endorsed by the cabinet," said Gobdon.
2 December 2009
By Abdulkadir Khalif
1 December 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mogadishu — The cabinet of ministers of the Transitional Federal Government approved a Federal Constitution during a meeting in Mogadishu on Sunday.
The document was discussed by the Cabinet ministers chaired by Prime Minister Omar Abdurashid Ali Sharmarke and later endorsed by the portfolio holders.
Abdi Haji Gobdon, a media advisor to the cabinet, announced the development after the meeting.
"A federal constitution has been endorsed by the ministers," said Gobdon.
The minister for Constitutional and parliamentary affairs, Madobe Nunow Mohamed, told the media that the document will be passed on to the Transitional Federal Parliament for endorsement. It will also be signed by the President.
Minister Nunow said that a special committee was assigned to harmonise various previous documents.
"This last version is very compatible with all the provisions of Sharia (Islamic), laws" said the minister.
The ministers also approved a Chief Judge for the Supreme Court. "Dr Mohamed Omar Farah alias Indhabur has been nominated and endorsed by the cabinet," said Gobdon.
Uganda: Rwanda Bans Border Agents.
Daily Monitor
2 December 2009
By Robert Muhereza
Rwanda customs officials have banned Ugandan clearing agents operating at Katuna border town from clearing goods in their country at the adjacent border town of Gatuna saying that they have enough staff to handle trucks entering and leaving their country.
The chairman of the Ugandan clearing agents at Katuna Mr. Micheal Sidi said that his counterpart at the Rwandan border town of Gatuna Mr Gilbert Manzi informed him on Monday that Rwandan custom officials had banned Ugandan clearing agents from entering Rwanda. "He has told me to inform my team to stop conducting their business across the border because they have enough clearing agents," he said.
The leader of the Rwandan clearing agents at border town, Mr Gilbert Manzi confirmed the ban yesterday saying Ugandan clearing agents have been rendering them jobless as they would clear vehicles and other goods from Uganda and then follow them into Rwanda as if they are no clearing agents there.
"We have agreed to stop Ugandan clearing agents from clearing goods within our area. They should transact their business in their country and leave us to handle everything that crosses into our country," he said. He said Ugandan clearing agents have been getting handling fees from clients promising to clear their goods at both sides of the border point.
2 December 2009
By Robert Muhereza
Rwanda customs officials have banned Ugandan clearing agents operating at Katuna border town from clearing goods in their country at the adjacent border town of Gatuna saying that they have enough staff to handle trucks entering and leaving their country.
The chairman of the Ugandan clearing agents at Katuna Mr. Micheal Sidi said that his counterpart at the Rwandan border town of Gatuna Mr Gilbert Manzi informed him on Monday that Rwandan custom officials had banned Ugandan clearing agents from entering Rwanda. "He has told me to inform my team to stop conducting their business across the border because they have enough clearing agents," he said.
The leader of the Rwandan clearing agents at border town, Mr Gilbert Manzi confirmed the ban yesterday saying Ugandan clearing agents have been rendering them jobless as they would clear vehicles and other goods from Uganda and then follow them into Rwanda as if they are no clearing agents there.
"We have agreed to stop Ugandan clearing agents from clearing goods within our area. They should transact their business in their country and leave us to handle everything that crosses into our country," he said. He said Ugandan clearing agents have been getting handling fees from clients promising to clear their goods at both sides of the border point.
Uganda: Leaked Report On Oil Deals Puts Pressure On Govt.
The Independent
2 December 2009
By Ariel Rubin
1 December 2009
Kampala — A scathing new report issued by the London-based environment and governance watchdog Platform has put government and oil companies under fire. Revealing for the first time one of the production sharing agreements (PSAs) between Heritage and the government, Platform's analysis reveals that, contrary to oil company and government executives' claims that the state would get up to 80% of oil revenues, internal figures reveal that the state will actually take in between 67%-74%. Platform's own analysis puts the government take even lower at a potential 47.4% - 79.5%, depending on a variety of external factors (price of oil, developmental costs, etc).
Oil executives have publicly proclaimed that Uganda has secured some of the best deals in the world for its oil exploration, but this new report suggests otherwise. An April 2009 analysis of Heritage's operations in Uganda by Credit Suisse noted that while "the Uganda exploration campaign has been a phenomenal success", the "Ugandan fiscal terms are unattractive, with government take rising from 55% at $30 oil to 67% at $70 oil." A November 22 Sunday Monitor story referenced an August 2008 report commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation (NORAD) which noted:
"The 2006 model PSA provides for production sharing on the basis of daily production volume. This model does not provide for the Government to capture economic rent as a consequence of higher prices, and cannot be regarded as being in accordance with the interests of the host country. "
Government and oil company sources have gone to great lengths to assure people that Uganda's PSAs are more than generous. In September, a New Vision article about Aiden Heavey, the chief executive of Tullow Oil proclaimed that "Uganda secured one of the best deals in the world for its oil exploration." However, Platform's report represents a major crack in the windshield. Without disclosure and (likely) renegotiations, it appears as though Ugandan oil exploitation could go much in the same, worrisome direction as other oil-rich, rent-seeking African countries.
In August of this year, Energy and Mineral Development Minister Hilary Onek stated that revenue PSAs signed by the government must remain confidential in order to protect the interests of both parties. But in a recent interview with The Independent, Neptune country manager Marilyn Hill said that any lack of transparency is "only on the government's side", before quickly assuring that "in all my experience and looking at the PSAs in other countries - it's one of the most advantageous for government I have ever seen."
According to the Platform report, Heritage's deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq is actually a better one than Uganda's, and "the KRG isn't even a recognised state, doesn't have legal authority to negotiate and remains under military occupation." In other words, it seems as though the wool might have been pulled over a naïve government's eyes. Or perhaps the hundreds of millions of dollars in signature bonuses have enticed key government figures to look the other way.
The shirking of responsibility to the citizens of Uganda allows for oil companies and government to quietly work together, securing short term deals that enrich certain elites and give the transnational oil corporations (TNOC) strongholds in the market. This in turn allows for, as Platform argues, "excessive profit-taking". According to Godber W. Tumushabe, Executive Director for Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), this is emblematic of the "strategic alliance" between the government and the TNOCs where "each of them can give the other as the excuse for not being transparent."
This concern about lack of transparency has been further echoed by other civil society groups including the Wildlife Conservation Society, who have expressed concern at the lack of full-scale environmental impact surveys being conducted in the Albertine region. Sarah Prinsloo, the Oil Impact Mitigation Manager at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) notes that for oil companies, like all businesses, the first and foremost priority is profit maximisation. Much of the frustration lies with the Ministry of Energy where the apparent refusal to allow stakeholders to be involved in discussions over the potential impact of the extensive drilling emanates from the quandary of a Janus-faced government: trying to represent its constituents and its business interests. The Ministry of Energy is against additional investment in conservation measures because these expenses will be claimed back by the companies in the cost-recovery mechanisms. This is the problem facing the Petroleum Exploration and Production Department (PEPD) in its dual role as developer and as a ministry. It renders them totally not independent.
Speaking at the launch of the Civil Society Coalition for Oil (CSCO) on November 24, PEPD Senior Geologist Dozith Abenomugisha called Platform's report "misleading" in comparing Uganda's deal with established oil-rich countries like Libya and Iraq as opposed to other newly explored countries like Chad and Sudan. Furthermore, he maintained, because the government's take is based on production "if prices increase then the take for goverment also increases."
Regarding the news that Heritage has sold its Ugandan interests to ENI, Minister of Energy Hilary Onek was quoted by the Daily Monitor on November 23 as being "unaware" of any sale. Interestingly, Heritage's PSA stipulates that government has to agree any new license holders. Repeated requests for comments were ignored and the Ministry of Energy's website is defunct, not a promising sign for proponents of transparency.
For Tumushabe, the way towards reclaiming the oil exploitation process lies in serious civil society mobilisation and pressure; the answer may lie in the newly-formed CSCO. This 17-member coalition is comprised of different civil society groups with an interest in oil issues, with the objective to face and inform all relevant stake-holders "on the challenges and opportunities presented by oil and gas". Pressure from below will remain an essential tool in ensuring governmental accountability and robust democratic freedom. Platform's report and the Civil Society Coalition on Oil are two potential catalysts for change, demanding both government's engagement with the people it represents and the companies' engagement with the country from which they profit.
2 December 2009
By Ariel Rubin
1 December 2009
Kampala — A scathing new report issued by the London-based environment and governance watchdog Platform has put government and oil companies under fire. Revealing for the first time one of the production sharing agreements (PSAs) between Heritage and the government, Platform's analysis reveals that, contrary to oil company and government executives' claims that the state would get up to 80% of oil revenues, internal figures reveal that the state will actually take in between 67%-74%. Platform's own analysis puts the government take even lower at a potential 47.4% - 79.5%, depending on a variety of external factors (price of oil, developmental costs, etc).
Oil executives have publicly proclaimed that Uganda has secured some of the best deals in the world for its oil exploration, but this new report suggests otherwise. An April 2009 analysis of Heritage's operations in Uganda by Credit Suisse noted that while "the Uganda exploration campaign has been a phenomenal success", the "Ugandan fiscal terms are unattractive, with government take rising from 55% at $30 oil to 67% at $70 oil." A November 22 Sunday Monitor story referenced an August 2008 report commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation (NORAD) which noted:
"The 2006 model PSA provides for production sharing on the basis of daily production volume. This model does not provide for the Government to capture economic rent as a consequence of higher prices, and cannot be regarded as being in accordance with the interests of the host country. "
Government and oil company sources have gone to great lengths to assure people that Uganda's PSAs are more than generous. In September, a New Vision article about Aiden Heavey, the chief executive of Tullow Oil proclaimed that "Uganda secured one of the best deals in the world for its oil exploration." However, Platform's report represents a major crack in the windshield. Without disclosure and (likely) renegotiations, it appears as though Ugandan oil exploitation could go much in the same, worrisome direction as other oil-rich, rent-seeking African countries.
In August of this year, Energy and Mineral Development Minister Hilary Onek stated that revenue PSAs signed by the government must remain confidential in order to protect the interests of both parties. But in a recent interview with The Independent, Neptune country manager Marilyn Hill said that any lack of transparency is "only on the government's side", before quickly assuring that "in all my experience and looking at the PSAs in other countries - it's one of the most advantageous for government I have ever seen."
According to the Platform report, Heritage's deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq is actually a better one than Uganda's, and "the KRG isn't even a recognised state, doesn't have legal authority to negotiate and remains under military occupation." In other words, it seems as though the wool might have been pulled over a naïve government's eyes. Or perhaps the hundreds of millions of dollars in signature bonuses have enticed key government figures to look the other way.
The shirking of responsibility to the citizens of Uganda allows for oil companies and government to quietly work together, securing short term deals that enrich certain elites and give the transnational oil corporations (TNOC) strongholds in the market. This in turn allows for, as Platform argues, "excessive profit-taking". According to Godber W. Tumushabe, Executive Director for Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), this is emblematic of the "strategic alliance" between the government and the TNOCs where "each of them can give the other as the excuse for not being transparent."
This concern about lack of transparency has been further echoed by other civil society groups including the Wildlife Conservation Society, who have expressed concern at the lack of full-scale environmental impact surveys being conducted in the Albertine region. Sarah Prinsloo, the Oil Impact Mitigation Manager at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) notes that for oil companies, like all businesses, the first and foremost priority is profit maximisation. Much of the frustration lies with the Ministry of Energy where the apparent refusal to allow stakeholders to be involved in discussions over the potential impact of the extensive drilling emanates from the quandary of a Janus-faced government: trying to represent its constituents and its business interests. The Ministry of Energy is against additional investment in conservation measures because these expenses will be claimed back by the companies in the cost-recovery mechanisms. This is the problem facing the Petroleum Exploration and Production Department (PEPD) in its dual role as developer and as a ministry. It renders them totally not independent.
Speaking at the launch of the Civil Society Coalition for Oil (CSCO) on November 24, PEPD Senior Geologist Dozith Abenomugisha called Platform's report "misleading" in comparing Uganda's deal with established oil-rich countries like Libya and Iraq as opposed to other newly explored countries like Chad and Sudan. Furthermore, he maintained, because the government's take is based on production "if prices increase then the take for goverment also increases."
Regarding the news that Heritage has sold its Ugandan interests to ENI, Minister of Energy Hilary Onek was quoted by the Daily Monitor on November 23 as being "unaware" of any sale. Interestingly, Heritage's PSA stipulates that government has to agree any new license holders. Repeated requests for comments were ignored and the Ministry of Energy's website is defunct, not a promising sign for proponents of transparency.
For Tumushabe, the way towards reclaiming the oil exploitation process lies in serious civil society mobilisation and pressure; the answer may lie in the newly-formed CSCO. This 17-member coalition is comprised of different civil society groups with an interest in oil issues, with the objective to face and inform all relevant stake-holders "on the challenges and opportunities presented by oil and gas". Pressure from below will remain an essential tool in ensuring governmental accountability and robust democratic freedom. Platform's report and the Civil Society Coalition on Oil are two potential catalysts for change, demanding both government's engagement with the people it represents and the companies' engagement with the country from which they profit.
Rights group finds mass graves in Indian-Held Kashmir.
Daily Times
2 December 2009
A human rights group in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) said Tuesday it had found unmarked graves containing several thousand bodies in the revolt-hit region during a three-year survey of dozens of villages. International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice said it had found the unidentified bodies buried in villages bordering Azad Kashmir. The independent Srinagar-based group said that its report to be released on Wednesday documented 2,700 “unknown, unmarked, and mass graves” containing at least 2,900 bodies. A police officer said most of the bodies were likely those of Pakistan militants killed in fighting with Indian forces.
2 December 2009
A human rights group in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) said Tuesday it had found unmarked graves containing several thousand bodies in the revolt-hit region during a three-year survey of dozens of villages. International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice said it had found the unidentified bodies buried in villages bordering Azad Kashmir. The independent Srinagar-based group said that its report to be released on Wednesday documented 2,700 “unknown, unmarked, and mass graves” containing at least 2,900 bodies. A police officer said most of the bodies were likely those of Pakistan militants killed in fighting with Indian forces.
01 December, 2009
NATO to fund spy system.
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Naples, Italy — Fifteen NATO nations will provide funding for an air surveillance command and control system to be located at the shared Italian-U.S. Navy base in Sicily.
The Air Ground Surveillance system is expected to boost the military presence at Naval Air Station Sigonella by about 800 troops, officials said.
The system consists of eight RQ-4B Global Hawk high-altitude, long-range unmanned aerial vehicles. The ground portion will be developed by Canadian and European industry, according to a NATO news release.
The NATO surveillance project is expected to cost between $1.5 billion to $2.3 billion. Plans are for the project to be in place by 2012.
The system would be beneficial for missions as far from the Mediterranean as Afghanistan, and an asset to coalition navies’ ongoing efforts to quash piracy off the Somali coast and into the Gulf of Aden, said Ludwig Decamps, head of the Armaments Program Support Section of NATO’s Defense Investment Division.
The system would provide NATO forces with key technologies such as radar signals that can be transformed into images to be analyzed by technicians, and an unmanned plane that can track moving targets and at the same time zoom in on those targets to provide analysts with detailed information, Decamps said.
Fifteen NATO countries will pay for the system, while all 28 NATO member nations have been invited to contribute manpower, he said.
The 15 countries are Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States.
No decisions have been made on what infrastructure changes will be necessary at Sigonella to accommodate the new system and additional personnel, NATO and U.S. Navy officials said.
European edition, Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Naples, Italy — Fifteen NATO nations will provide funding for an air surveillance command and control system to be located at the shared Italian-U.S. Navy base in Sicily.
The Air Ground Surveillance system is expected to boost the military presence at Naval Air Station Sigonella by about 800 troops, officials said.
The system consists of eight RQ-4B Global Hawk high-altitude, long-range unmanned aerial vehicles. The ground portion will be developed by Canadian and European industry, according to a NATO news release.
The NATO surveillance project is expected to cost between $1.5 billion to $2.3 billion. Plans are for the project to be in place by 2012.
The system would be beneficial for missions as far from the Mediterranean as Afghanistan, and an asset to coalition navies’ ongoing efforts to quash piracy off the Somali coast and into the Gulf of Aden, said Ludwig Decamps, head of the Armaments Program Support Section of NATO’s Defense Investment Division.
The system would provide NATO forces with key technologies such as radar signals that can be transformed into images to be analyzed by technicians, and an unmanned plane that can track moving targets and at the same time zoom in on those targets to provide analysts with detailed information, Decamps said.
Fifteen NATO countries will pay for the system, while all 28 NATO member nations have been invited to contribute manpower, he said.
The 15 countries are Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States.
No decisions have been made on what infrastructure changes will be necessary at Sigonella to accommodate the new system and additional personnel, NATO and U.S. Navy officials said.
Blair adviser: US did not expect to stabilize Iraq.
By Meera Selva, Associated Press Writer
November 30, 2009
American troops did not expect to play a role in stabilizing Iraq after overthrowing Saddam Hussein, a key adviser to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday.
David Manning, who served as a Blair's top foreign policy aide before being appointed ambassador to Washington in 2003, told a British inquiry into the Iraq war the American military did not believe peacekeeping was their responsibility.
"The American military thought that they were fighting a war and when the war was over they were expecting to go home," he said.
Manning said British troops in Basra talked to local people, but that American troops were not willing to do the same.
"I was very struck ... by the reluctance of U.S. soldiers to get out of their tanks, to take off their helmets and to trying to build up links with local communities," he said. "They looked still much more in fighting mode than in peacekeeping mode."
He also said he believed Paul Bremer — the U.S. diplomat charged with overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq — made the situation worse by disbanding the army and trying to bar members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party from public life.
The inquiry, which is in its second week, is not set up to apportion blame or hold anyone liable for the conflict, but it does have the potential to embarrass officials in the U.S. and Britain who argued — wrongly — that the war was justified because Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction and building close links with al-Qaida.
Jeremy Greenstock, the former British ambassador to the United Nations, told the inquiry on Friday that the U.S. was "hell bent" on war with Iraq from the very beginning and undermined efforts by Britain to win international authorization for the invasion. Manning's predecessor as ambassador to the United States, Christopher Meyer, also testified that the U.S. was looking for connections between Iraq and Sept. 11 within hours of the attacks.
Manning echoed Meyer's claim, saying that then-President George W. Bush talked about possible links between Saddam Hussein, al-Qaida and Osama Bin Laden right after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but that Blair had counseled caution.
"The prime minister's response to this was that the evidence would have to be very compelling indeed to justify taking any action against Iraq," Manning said, adding that the British leader followed the conversation up with a letter stressing the need to focus on the situation in Afghanistan, where al-Qaida was based.
Manning said Blair had initially said Britain could only support the United States in military action against Iraq through the United Nations, though he did later accept that military action may be possible during a meeting with Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002.
"I look back at Crawford as the moment that he (Blair) was saying: 'Yes, there is a route through this that is an international, peaceful one, and it is through the U.N. But if it doesn't work, we will be willing to undertake regime change.'"
Manning said Blair asked British officials to present him with some options for military operations in Iraq in June and July 2002, though he did not want to make a firm decision at the time.
Over the weekend, Blair denied that he had tried to gag his main legal advisor Peter Goldsmith after he questioned the legality of the Iraq war in a letter.
The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported that Blair sidelined Goldsmith after the letter, but when asked by CNN on Sunday if it was true that he had bullied Goldsmith into keeping quiet, Blair replied: "No, its not."
Blair refused to comment further on the claims, saying: "I think the best thing with this inquiry is actually to let us all give our evidence to the inquiry."
November 30, 2009
American troops did not expect to play a role in stabilizing Iraq after overthrowing Saddam Hussein, a key adviser to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday.
David Manning, who served as a Blair's top foreign policy aide before being appointed ambassador to Washington in 2003, told a British inquiry into the Iraq war the American military did not believe peacekeeping was their responsibility.
"The American military thought that they were fighting a war and when the war was over they were expecting to go home," he said.
Manning said British troops in Basra talked to local people, but that American troops were not willing to do the same.
"I was very struck ... by the reluctance of U.S. soldiers to get out of their tanks, to take off their helmets and to trying to build up links with local communities," he said. "They looked still much more in fighting mode than in peacekeeping mode."
He also said he believed Paul Bremer — the U.S. diplomat charged with overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq — made the situation worse by disbanding the army and trying to bar members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party from public life.
The inquiry, which is in its second week, is not set up to apportion blame or hold anyone liable for the conflict, but it does have the potential to embarrass officials in the U.S. and Britain who argued — wrongly — that the war was justified because Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction and building close links with al-Qaida.
Jeremy Greenstock, the former British ambassador to the United Nations, told the inquiry on Friday that the U.S. was "hell bent" on war with Iraq from the very beginning and undermined efforts by Britain to win international authorization for the invasion. Manning's predecessor as ambassador to the United States, Christopher Meyer, also testified that the U.S. was looking for connections between Iraq and Sept. 11 within hours of the attacks.
Manning echoed Meyer's claim, saying that then-President George W. Bush talked about possible links between Saddam Hussein, al-Qaida and Osama Bin Laden right after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but that Blair had counseled caution.
"The prime minister's response to this was that the evidence would have to be very compelling indeed to justify taking any action against Iraq," Manning said, adding that the British leader followed the conversation up with a letter stressing the need to focus on the situation in Afghanistan, where al-Qaida was based.
Manning said Blair had initially said Britain could only support the United States in military action against Iraq through the United Nations, though he did later accept that military action may be possible during a meeting with Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002.
"I look back at Crawford as the moment that he (Blair) was saying: 'Yes, there is a route through this that is an international, peaceful one, and it is through the U.N. But if it doesn't work, we will be willing to undertake regime change.'"
Manning said Blair asked British officials to present him with some options for military operations in Iraq in June and July 2002, though he did not want to make a firm decision at the time.
Over the weekend, Blair denied that he had tried to gag his main legal advisor Peter Goldsmith after he questioned the legality of the Iraq war in a letter.
The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported that Blair sidelined Goldsmith after the letter, but when asked by CNN on Sunday if it was true that he had bullied Goldsmith into keeping quiet, Blair replied: "No, its not."
Blair refused to comment further on the claims, saying: "I think the best thing with this inquiry is actually to let us all give our evidence to the inquiry."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
