BBC News
19 March 2010
The killing of a Colombian human rights activist has sparked calls for an urgent investigation into his death.
Reports say Jhonny Hurtado, 59, was shot dead on Monday at his farm near La Catalina, in Colombia's Meta region.
The farmer had recently spoken to a British delegation of union activists and labour campaigners about alleged rights abuses in the area.
The delegation said it is "deeply saddened" and has urged the government to bring those responsible to justice.
"We were deeply concerned to learn that soldiers of the Colombian Army were allegedly present in the area at the time that this killing occurred," the delegation said in a letter to Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe Velez.
The Colombian authorities have not yet commented on the case. However Gen Orlando Paez, operational director of the National Police told the Associated Press that he was unaware of the case as he had no units in the region, which is controlled by a special army unit.
19 March, 2010
PM Zenawi admits jamming VOA radio broadcasts in Amharic.
BBC News
19 March 2010
Ethiopia has admitted it is jamming the Voice of America's (VOA) broadcasts in Amharic, accusing the radio station of engaging in "destabilising propaganda".
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia had been testing jamming equipment, although there had been no formal decision to bloc the US station.
The Amharic Service has experienced interference since late February.
Mr Meles also compared the VOA's transmissions to broadcasts in Rwanda in the mid-1990s that incited genocide.
'Unfortunate' comments
"We have for some time now been trying to beef up our capacity to deal with this, including... jamming," Mr Meles said on Thursday.
In a statement, VOA director Danforth Austin said that any comparison of VOA programming to Rwandan broadcasts inciting genocide in the 1990s was "incorrect and unfortunate".
"The VOA deplores jamming as a form of media censorship wherever it may occur," he said, adding that the station's Amharic Service was required by law to provide accurate and objective information.
The VOA and other foreign media organisations say broadcasts in Amharic - the country's most widely spoken language - have been jammed around elections in the past.
The next polls in Ethiopia are in May and human rights groups say there has been a crackdown on the press.
The last elections saw opposition accusations of widespread rigging.
Thousands of opposition supporters were arrested after protests and some western countries reduced aid to Ethiopia.
Mr Meles also rejected calls to free opposition leader Birtukan Medeksa from jail.
She was sentenced to life in prison in 2005 after the election protests, pardoned in 2007 and then re-imprisoned in 2008.
The prime minister said she would remain in prison "permanently" and that diplomats and journalists could not visit her - the same rules as for all other prisoners in Ethiopia.
Separately, Mr Meles denied claims in a recent BBC report that he had ordered the diversion of food aid money to buy arms for his TPLF to fight the Derg government in the 1980s.
"We did not need to [do it]. We were not short of ammunition or arms. That was never our problem. Our main problem was that we were operating in an environmentally very fragile area unable to feed itself," he said.
19 March 2010
Ethiopia has admitted it is jamming the Voice of America's (VOA) broadcasts in Amharic, accusing the radio station of engaging in "destabilising propaganda".
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia had been testing jamming equipment, although there had been no formal decision to bloc the US station.
The Amharic Service has experienced interference since late February.
Mr Meles also compared the VOA's transmissions to broadcasts in Rwanda in the mid-1990s that incited genocide.
'Unfortunate' comments
"We have for some time now been trying to beef up our capacity to deal with this, including... jamming," Mr Meles said on Thursday.
In a statement, VOA director Danforth Austin said that any comparison of VOA programming to Rwandan broadcasts inciting genocide in the 1990s was "incorrect and unfortunate".
"The VOA deplores jamming as a form of media censorship wherever it may occur," he said, adding that the station's Amharic Service was required by law to provide accurate and objective information.
The VOA and other foreign media organisations say broadcasts in Amharic - the country's most widely spoken language - have been jammed around elections in the past.
The next polls in Ethiopia are in May and human rights groups say there has been a crackdown on the press.
The last elections saw opposition accusations of widespread rigging.
Thousands of opposition supporters were arrested after protests and some western countries reduced aid to Ethiopia.
Mr Meles also rejected calls to free opposition leader Birtukan Medeksa from jail.
She was sentenced to life in prison in 2005 after the election protests, pardoned in 2007 and then re-imprisoned in 2008.
The prime minister said she would remain in prison "permanently" and that diplomats and journalists could not visit her - the same rules as for all other prisoners in Ethiopia.
Separately, Mr Meles denied claims in a recent BBC report that he had ordered the diversion of food aid money to buy arms for his TPLF to fight the Derg government in the 1980s.
"We did not need to [do it]. We were not short of ammunition or arms. That was never our problem. Our main problem was that we were operating in an environmentally very fragile area unable to feed itself," he said.
Rio Tinto signs Guinea mining deal with China's Chinalco.
BBC News
19 March 2010
The Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto says it has signed a deal with China to develop a massive iron ore mine in West Africa.
China's state-backed metals group Chinalco will pay $1.3bn (£0.85bn) for 47% of the Simandou project in Guinea.
The tie-up comes amid tensions between China and Australia over next week's trial of four Rio employees on bribery and commercial spying charges.
China has rejected requests for the trial to be fully open to diplomats.
The four accused, Australian Stern Hu and three Chinese colleagues, Wang Yong, Ge Minqiang and Liu Caikui, were arrested last June and go on trial in Shanghai on Monday.
At the time of their arrest they were working on an iron ore price-setting round which would determine the price that China and other customers would pay for the commodity for the year - an annual process that is now under way again.
RIO TINTO TRIAL
Four executives including one Australian on trial
Group face charges of bribery and illegally obtaining commercial secrets
Parts of the trial will be held behind closed doors, despite Australian objections
The Australian embassy in Beijing has been told by the Chinese authorities that parts of the trial relating to commercial secrets will be held behind closed doors.
The Australian department of foreign affairs and trade said it was disappointed but "does not propose to make further representations on this matter".
And Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said trade ties with China would not be harmed by the forthcoming trial.
"The two matters are separate," Mr Crean told ABC. "We are treating the Stern Hu case strictly as a consular case. We've never sought to make any link and neither have the Chinese in their discussions with us."
In a statement, Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese welcomed the Chinalco tie-up.
"We have long believed that Rio Tinto and Chinalco could work together on major projects for mutual benefit," he said.
A month before the arrests, Rio scrapped a $19.5bn (£12.5bn) deal with Chinalco in favour of a tie-up with rival giant BHP Billiton.
Jobs for Guinea
According to Rio Tinto, Simandou is one of the world's biggest undeveloped iron ore deposits.
The deal also covers rail and port infrastructure and could create tens of thousands of jobs in Guinea.
BBC Guinea reporter Alhassan Sillah says the timing of the announcement is no coincidence, coming just two weeks after a date - 27 June - was set for elections in Guinea to restore civilian rule.
He claims the international community has renewed faith that the military junta will return to barracks.
19 March 2010
The Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto says it has signed a deal with China to develop a massive iron ore mine in West Africa.
China's state-backed metals group Chinalco will pay $1.3bn (£0.85bn) for 47% of the Simandou project in Guinea.
The tie-up comes amid tensions between China and Australia over next week's trial of four Rio employees on bribery and commercial spying charges.
China has rejected requests for the trial to be fully open to diplomats.
The four accused, Australian Stern Hu and three Chinese colleagues, Wang Yong, Ge Minqiang and Liu Caikui, were arrested last June and go on trial in Shanghai on Monday.
At the time of their arrest they were working on an iron ore price-setting round which would determine the price that China and other customers would pay for the commodity for the year - an annual process that is now under way again.
RIO TINTO TRIAL
Four executives including one Australian on trial
Group face charges of bribery and illegally obtaining commercial secrets
Parts of the trial will be held behind closed doors, despite Australian objections
The Australian embassy in Beijing has been told by the Chinese authorities that parts of the trial relating to commercial secrets will be held behind closed doors.
The Australian department of foreign affairs and trade said it was disappointed but "does not propose to make further representations on this matter".
And Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said trade ties with China would not be harmed by the forthcoming trial.
"The two matters are separate," Mr Crean told ABC. "We are treating the Stern Hu case strictly as a consular case. We've never sought to make any link and neither have the Chinese in their discussions with us."
In a statement, Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese welcomed the Chinalco tie-up.
"We have long believed that Rio Tinto and Chinalco could work together on major projects for mutual benefit," he said.
A month before the arrests, Rio scrapped a $19.5bn (£12.5bn) deal with Chinalco in favour of a tie-up with rival giant BHP Billiton.
Jobs for Guinea
According to Rio Tinto, Simandou is one of the world's biggest undeveloped iron ore deposits.
The deal also covers rail and port infrastructure and could create tens of thousands of jobs in Guinea.
BBC Guinea reporter Alhassan Sillah says the timing of the announcement is no coincidence, coming just two weeks after a date - 27 June - was set for elections in Guinea to restore civilian rule.
He claims the international community has renewed faith that the military junta will return to barracks.
Ntaganda Removed as PS-Imberakuri Head, He Hits back at RPF.
AFP
18 March 2010
Bernard Ntaganda, a Rwandan opposition politician who intends to run in the August presidential poll, has been removed as the head of his party PS-Imberakuri, state radio reported Thursday.
"The decision was taken to remove him" at an extraordinary meeting in Kigali, the party's deputy chief Christine Mukabunane said.
Mukabunane, little known on the Rwandan political scene, will head the party until a new chairperson is elected in two months time.
PS Imberakuri is the only Rwandan opposition party to have been registered by the Rwandan government.
Since last month he has been accused, by party members opposed to him, of having links to the people behind recent grenade attacks in the capital.
In a statement Tuesday, Ntaganda hit back and accused the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) of being behind repeated attempts to remove him as party chief, with the aim of "destroying" the PS-Imberakuri party.
Mr. Ntaganda is a lawyer and the former head of a well-known Rwandan football club. When he founded PS-Imberakuri in January 2009, he split off from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which is aligned with the FPR.
18 March 2010
Bernard Ntaganda, a Rwandan opposition politician who intends to run in the August presidential poll, has been removed as the head of his party PS-Imberakuri, state radio reported Thursday.
"The decision was taken to remove him" at an extraordinary meeting in Kigali, the party's deputy chief Christine Mukabunane said.
Mukabunane, little known on the Rwandan political scene, will head the party until a new chairperson is elected in two months time.
PS Imberakuri is the only Rwandan opposition party to have been registered by the Rwandan government.
Since last month he has been accused, by party members opposed to him, of having links to the people behind recent grenade attacks in the capital.
In a statement Tuesday, Ntaganda hit back and accused the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) of being behind repeated attempts to remove him as party chief, with the aim of "destroying" the PS-Imberakuri party.
Mr. Ntaganda is a lawyer and the former head of a well-known Rwandan football club. When he founded PS-Imberakuri in January 2009, he split off from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which is aligned with the FPR.
Opposition party slams Rwandan Government over political oppression.
AFP
18 March 2010
A Rwandan opposition party in exile accused the authorities in Kigali on Thursday of blocking its registration in order to lock it out of presidential elections in August.
The United Democratic Forces (FDU), which operates out of the Netherlands, has applied for both registration and a green light to hold a congress inside Rwanda.
But the mayor of a Kigali district said last week she would refuse to grant authorisation so long as its leader Victoire Ingabire is under police investigation.
Local Administration Minister James Musoni confirmed this week on Voice of America radio that the mayor's position was in line with official policy.
"By refusing to let the FDU hold their congress, the minister is also stopping us from being registered as an approved political party because we won't be able to produce the constitutive act," Ingabire said in a statement.
"The national police is getting orders from the presidency to harrass opposition leaders with endless inquiries and summons in order to make their political activities impossible," she added.
18 March 2010
A Rwandan opposition party in exile accused the authorities in Kigali on Thursday of blocking its registration in order to lock it out of presidential elections in August.
The United Democratic Forces (FDU), which operates out of the Netherlands, has applied for both registration and a green light to hold a congress inside Rwanda.
But the mayor of a Kigali district said last week she would refuse to grant authorisation so long as its leader Victoire Ingabire is under police investigation.
Local Administration Minister James Musoni confirmed this week on Voice of America radio that the mayor's position was in line with official policy.
"By refusing to let the FDU hold their congress, the minister is also stopping us from being registered as an approved political party because we won't be able to produce the constitutive act," Ingabire said in a statement.
"The national police is getting orders from the presidency to harrass opposition leaders with endless inquiries and summons in order to make their political activities impossible," she added.
18 March, 2010
Election Victory for Togo's Gnassingbe.
AP
18 March 2010
Togo's constitutional court has declared victory for the son of the former dictator and dismissed fraud complaints in a disputed presidential election held earlier this month.
The court's ruling on Thursday gave Faure Gnassingbe a nearly 61% victory in the March 4 vote. The final results closely resemble provisional results issued days after the election.
Opposition candidate Jean-Pierre Fabre said his party will hold a demonstration to protest the ruling. The court said Fabre won less than 34% of votes.
The court said complaints of vote rigging were found to be unsubstantiated.
18 March 2010
Togo's constitutional court has declared victory for the son of the former dictator and dismissed fraud complaints in a disputed presidential election held earlier this month.
The court's ruling on Thursday gave Faure Gnassingbe a nearly 61% victory in the March 4 vote. The final results closely resemble provisional results issued days after the election.
Opposition candidate Jean-Pierre Fabre said his party will hold a demonstration to protest the ruling. The court said Fabre won less than 34% of votes.
The court said complaints of vote rigging were found to be unsubstantiated.
US to Build New Embassy Complex in Burundi.
United States Department of State - Office of the Spokesman
Press Release
18 March 2010
U.S. Ambassador to Burundi Pamela J. H. Slutz; Mayor of Bujumbura Mr. Evrard Giswaswa; and Acting Managing Director for Operations of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations John Finnegan, Jr. broke ground on the Bujumbura New Embassy Compound (NEC) in Burundi March 17, 2010.
The groundbreaking of the NEC in Bujumbura is the start of construction on the 100th diplomatic facility to be built by the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) since 2001. In the last nine years, OBO has completed 70 new diplomatic facilities and has moved more than 20,000 individuals into safe, secure and functional facilities. The Bureau has built 26 new facilities in Africa and the NEC in Burundi joins nine additional projects in design or under construction on the continent.
The Bujumbura NEC will provide a secure, safe, and functional facility for approximately 320 embassy employees. The NEC will consist of seven buildings including a chancery, Marine Security Guard Quarters, a support annex with maintenance shops, a utility building, and three compound access control structures.
The site's landscaping creates a unified environment for its seven buildings – demonstrating the U.S. Government's commitment to green design and sustainability as well as excellence in architecture. The compound's design incorporates rain water harvesting and photovoltaic panels to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver rating.
Caddell Construction of Montgomery, Alabama will construct the NEC. The approximate cost of the entire project is $137 million. The architectural firm of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott of Albany, New York designed the compound. The proposed completion date for the NEC is 2012. Approximately 500 workers will be involved in the construction of the NEC.
Press Release
18 March 2010
U.S. Ambassador to Burundi Pamela J. H. Slutz; Mayor of Bujumbura Mr. Evrard Giswaswa; and Acting Managing Director for Operations of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations John Finnegan, Jr. broke ground on the Bujumbura New Embassy Compound (NEC) in Burundi March 17, 2010.
The groundbreaking of the NEC in Bujumbura is the start of construction on the 100th diplomatic facility to be built by the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) since 2001. In the last nine years, OBO has completed 70 new diplomatic facilities and has moved more than 20,000 individuals into safe, secure and functional facilities. The Bureau has built 26 new facilities in Africa and the NEC in Burundi joins nine additional projects in design or under construction on the continent.
The Bujumbura NEC will provide a secure, safe, and functional facility for approximately 320 embassy employees. The NEC will consist of seven buildings including a chancery, Marine Security Guard Quarters, a support annex with maintenance shops, a utility building, and three compound access control structures.
The site's landscaping creates a unified environment for its seven buildings – demonstrating the U.S. Government's commitment to green design and sustainability as well as excellence in architecture. The compound's design incorporates rain water harvesting and photovoltaic panels to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver rating.
Caddell Construction of Montgomery, Alabama will construct the NEC. The approximate cost of the entire project is $137 million. The architectural firm of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott of Albany, New York designed the compound. The proposed completion date for the NEC is 2012. Approximately 500 workers will be involved in the construction of the NEC.
Update from Rwanda Mar 18-19, 2010
A press conference called by the heads of the media fraternity in Rwanda was also attended by the Director of Press House, Mr. Albert Rudatsimburwa, Mr. Frank Ndamage from the Rwanda Media Ethics Commission and Mr. Kennedy Ndahiro from the Rwanda Editors Forum. This "media fraternity" officially "disowned" 256 News reporter Godwin Agaba, who has fled from persecution and threats of arrest by the Rwandan government for his reporting on the Rwandan opposition parties and the recent flight of several top RPF/RDF officials. RPF officials and sympathizers claim Mr. Agaba has a history of deceit, extortion and fabricating stories for financial or cheap publicity. Mr. Agaba remains in hiding. Mr. Rudatsimburwa is the co-owner of the popular radio station Contact FM along with the brother of Rwandan President Paul Kagame's wife, First Lady Jeannette Kagame. Mr. Kennedy Ndahiro serves as a communications advisor to President Kagame. He has published numerous articles in the pro-government daily The New Times. Mr. Frank Ngamage is the Editor-in-Chief of the government-owned periodical Imvaho.
Mr. Deo Mushayidi was charged with 6 crimes at the Nyarugenge Intermediate Court today. The charges include causing state insecurity, using false documents, collaborating with the FDLR/FOCA, genocide revisionism, genocide ideology and divisionism. The case will be prosecuted by Richard Muhumuza. Mr. Mushayidi has applied for bail and the court will allegedly decide soon if they will grant it, but sources claim it is expected to be denied.
Update- 19 March 2010: Mr. Mushayidi was denied bail by Judge Yvette Uwantage as expected on grounds he is an alleged threat to the state. He will be transferred to 1930 for a 30 day period before his next court appearance. Mr. Mushayidi's current lawyer is Mr. Protais Mutembe.
BREAKING - Mr. Ntaganda has come out of hiding and is fine. He is holding a press conference at his office just before 9 pm Kigali time.
From a Rwandan source:
Subject: Urgent From Providence Rubingisa - Bernard Ntganda, Opposition Candidate in Rwanda, is Missing
Dear all,
Providence Rubingisa has asked me to send this email to all of you. I received a call tonight from Providence tonight who was extremely upset. He has been in very close and consistent contact with Bernard Ntaganda, opposition presidential candidate of P.S.-Imberakuri, the only registered opposition party in Rwanda. Providence said that Bernard Nganda emailed a press release last night, March 17 at approximately 7pm and asked that it be translated into English and sent out into the international community. The press release is in Kinyarwanda (attached). Providence is attempting to get it translated, but tried to translate the press release for me. In general Bernard warned of an escalation of threats against party members. The press release also stated that on Tuesday night, March 16 the P.S. Imberakuri committee was brought to the RPF headquarters where they were told to remove Bernard as the president of the party. They were told to choose between resigning or losing their lives. They were told by the RPF that they (P.S. Imberakuri committee members) had to go to the party convention in the morning on March 17, 2010. They were also told that if they did not cooperate they would be responsible for the deaths of P.S. Imberakuri members who will lose their lives.
After receiving this email Providence called Bernard on his cell phone on Wednesday, March 17th at approximately noon CST, and Bernard's personal secretary answered and relayed the following information:
Bernard and his committee were taken by the Secretary General of the RPF Francois Ngarambe to the RPF headquarters in the early evening on Tuesday, March 16. During this meeting Bernard was asked by the RPF to resign yet he refused. Ngarambe then asked the other committee members to support the decision to force Bernard to resign, but they also refused. Ngarambe and RPF soldiers then took the committee members and Bernard back to their homes, but returned a short while later and demanded that each committee member return to the headquarters, but without Bernard. During this second meeting Ngarambe offered each committee member high-ranking positions within the RPF if they would agreed to remove Bernard as the party's president, but they still refused. Ngarambe put particular pressure on Christine Mukabunani, the Vice President of the party, but she vehemently refused to remove Bernard as President. The RPF then took each committee member back to their homes, dropping off the vice-president, Christine Mukabunani last.
Bernard and his committee members came into the party headquarters this morning, Wednesday, March 17. According to Bernard's secretary someone called Bernard on his cell phone. Bernard hung up and walked outside. Bernard has not been seen since, and cannot be located.
Sometime later in the morning the committee members went to the convention but were not allowed inside. They learned that Noel Hakizimfura and Augustin Niyitegeka (two members who had been removed from the party one month ago for accepting bribes from the RPF), and the Vice President Christine Mukabunani were leading the meeting. It was during this meeting that Christine announced that Bernard had been removed as President of the party, and that the party would be run by her, Noel and Augustin for 60 days when another president of the party would be named. The committee members said that several hundred people were at this meeting but they believed that many were RPF members, not members of P.S. Imberakuri.
Providence said that the secretary of the party fears that Bernard has either been killed or imprisoned. At about 3 pm CST Providence contacted the official spoke person for the party, Sylvin Mwiderwa, who confirmed everything that the secretary stated and said that the party was still in-tact, that the announcement of Bernard's forced removal was false and had not been agreed to by the party. He said that they are attempting to reach out to party members to inform them of what is going on, and he reported the false report of Bernard's forced removal on Radio Rwanda. He stated that the party is doing everything possible to remain strong and committed. But he also stated that as of that time, all of the committee members except Christine the Vice President and himself were missing. Mwiderwa's cell phone number is 011250783144144.
Mr. Deo Mushayidi was charged with 6 crimes at the Nyarugenge Intermediate Court today. The charges include causing state insecurity, using false documents, collaborating with the FDLR/FOCA, genocide revisionism, genocide ideology and divisionism. The case will be prosecuted by Richard Muhumuza. Mr. Mushayidi has applied for bail and the court will allegedly decide soon if they will grant it, but sources claim it is expected to be denied.
Update- 19 March 2010: Mr. Mushayidi was denied bail by Judge Yvette Uwantage as expected on grounds he is an alleged threat to the state. He will be transferred to 1930 for a 30 day period before his next court appearance. Mr. Mushayidi's current lawyer is Mr. Protais Mutembe.
BREAKING - Mr. Ntaganda has come out of hiding and is fine. He is holding a press conference at his office just before 9 pm Kigali time.
From a Rwandan source:
Subject: Urgent From Providence Rubingisa - Bernard Ntganda, Opposition Candidate in Rwanda, is Missing
Dear all,
Providence Rubingisa has asked me to send this email to all of you. I received a call tonight from Providence tonight who was extremely upset. He has been in very close and consistent contact with Bernard Ntaganda, opposition presidential candidate of P.S.-Imberakuri, the only registered opposition party in Rwanda. Providence said that Bernard Nganda emailed a press release last night, March 17 at approximately 7pm and asked that it be translated into English and sent out into the international community. The press release is in Kinyarwanda (attached). Providence is attempting to get it translated, but tried to translate the press release for me. In general Bernard warned of an escalation of threats against party members. The press release also stated that on Tuesday night, March 16 the P.S. Imberakuri committee was brought to the RPF headquarters where they were told to remove Bernard as the president of the party. They were told to choose between resigning or losing their lives. They were told by the RPF that they (P.S. Imberakuri committee members) had to go to the party convention in the morning on March 17, 2010. They were also told that if they did not cooperate they would be responsible for the deaths of P.S. Imberakuri members who will lose their lives.
After receiving this email Providence called Bernard on his cell phone on Wednesday, March 17th at approximately noon CST, and Bernard's personal secretary answered and relayed the following information:
Bernard and his committee were taken by the Secretary General of the RPF Francois Ngarambe to the RPF headquarters in the early evening on Tuesday, March 16. During this meeting Bernard was asked by the RPF to resign yet he refused. Ngarambe then asked the other committee members to support the decision to force Bernard to resign, but they also refused. Ngarambe and RPF soldiers then took the committee members and Bernard back to their homes, but returned a short while later and demanded that each committee member return to the headquarters, but without Bernard. During this second meeting Ngarambe offered each committee member high-ranking positions within the RPF if they would agreed to remove Bernard as the party's president, but they still refused. Ngarambe put particular pressure on Christine Mukabunani, the Vice President of the party, but she vehemently refused to remove Bernard as President. The RPF then took each committee member back to their homes, dropping off the vice-president, Christine Mukabunani last.
Bernard and his committee members came into the party headquarters this morning, Wednesday, March 17. According to Bernard's secretary someone called Bernard on his cell phone. Bernard hung up and walked outside. Bernard has not been seen since, and cannot be located.
Sometime later in the morning the committee members went to the convention but were not allowed inside. They learned that Noel Hakizimfura and Augustin Niyitegeka (two members who had been removed from the party one month ago for accepting bribes from the RPF), and the Vice President Christine Mukabunani were leading the meeting. It was during this meeting that Christine announced that Bernard had been removed as President of the party, and that the party would be run by her, Noel and Augustin for 60 days when another president of the party would be named. The committee members said that several hundred people were at this meeting but they believed that many were RPF members, not members of P.S. Imberakuri.
Providence said that the secretary of the party fears that Bernard has either been killed or imprisoned. At about 3 pm CST Providence contacted the official spoke person for the party, Sylvin Mwiderwa, who confirmed everything that the secretary stated and said that the party was still in-tact, that the announcement of Bernard's forced removal was false and had not been agreed to by the party. He said that they are attempting to reach out to party members to inform them of what is going on, and he reported the false report of Bernard's forced removal on Radio Rwanda. He stated that the party is doing everything possible to remain strong and committed. But he also stated that as of that time, all of the committee members except Christine the Vice President and himself were missing. Mwiderwa's cell phone number is 011250783144144.
Kyrgyzstan unveils US military training base plan.
AP
17 March 2010
Officials in the impoverished Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan say the United States plans to build a $5 million military base for training local troops.
Kyrgyzstan already hosts a U.S. military base in Manas, outside the capital Bishkek, used by Washington as a regional hub for the U.S.-led war in nearby Afghanistan.
A Kyrgyz Defense Ministry statement released Wednesday says the training base — complete with barracks, dining hall, classrooms and an assault course — will be constructed near the southern town of Batken.
No timeframe was mentioned.
The Kyrgyz government last year backed off a threat to evict U.S. forces from Manas after Washington offered to increase the rent it pays threefold.
17 March 2010
Officials in the impoverished Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan say the United States plans to build a $5 million military base for training local troops.
Kyrgyzstan already hosts a U.S. military base in Manas, outside the capital Bishkek, used by Washington as a regional hub for the U.S.-led war in nearby Afghanistan.
A Kyrgyz Defense Ministry statement released Wednesday says the training base — complete with barracks, dining hall, classrooms and an assault course — will be constructed near the southern town of Batken.
No timeframe was mentioned.
The Kyrgyz government last year backed off a threat to evict U.S. forces from Manas after Washington offered to increase the rent it pays threefold.
17 March, 2010
Update From Rwanda
PS-Imberakuri President, Bernard Ntaganda, has been ousted from the party presidency today in an impromptu congress held after he was reported missing. He was replaced by his Vice President, Christine Mukabonane, Ntaganda is still missing as of this writing and his whereabouts are unknown. The party will likely now fall into the hands of RPF sympathizers and they will try to fracture the cooperation between the Rwandan Greens, PS-Imberakuri, and the UDF-Inkingi. The political situation remains very tense as the political spaces closes even further.
Tomorrow, Deo Mushayidi will appear before the high court in the Nyamirambo District of Kigali.
Tomorrow, Deo Mushayidi will appear before the high court in the Nyamirambo District of Kigali.
Total eyes Congo JV with Tullow Oil.
Reuters
16 March 2010
By Katrina Manson
France's Total wants to explore for oil in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with Britain's Tullow Oil, a company official said, potentially boosting the latter's bid for key blocks there.
"The idea is to partner with Tullow in Congo just as we are in Uganda," Philippe Hergaux, project director for new ventures and asset management at Total, told Reuters by telephone from Paris late on Monday following a visit to Kinshasa.
Total and Tullow last week agreed a three-way deal with China's CNOOC over Tullow's Uganda oil assets, subject to government approval, to up output from three Ugandan oil blocks on Lake Albert, which straddles Congo and Uganda.
Congo has parcelled its own adjoining oil-rich zone into five blocks along Lake Albert and further south, but several companies have been waiting years for exploration licences to be ratified and some are contested.
"The presence of Total will help solve the situation for the best of the country and we will help the government to settle these issues," said Hergaux. "There is three years of delay compared to what has been done in Uganda."
Tullow has been in the running for Congo Blocks 1 and 2 with partner Heritage Oil.
"We are not looking to exit DRC, we are not selling our interest," Paul Atherton, Chief Financial Officer of Heritage Oil, which would have a 39.5 percent stake in the two blocks with Tullow Oil on the Congo side, told Reuters.
"If Tullow is looking to reduce its interest and sell a portion to Total it would just mean a (another) company would come in on the licence," said Atherton of Total's interest.
Among competitors for Congo's blocks is Divine Inspiration Group (DIG), part of a South African consortium that paid $4.5 million in signature bonuses for Blocks 1 and 3.
"Any third party laying claim to Block 1 is misrepresenting the current status," said Andrea Brown, CEO of DIG and director of SacOil, in an email to Reuters. "...(W)e have validly executed and legitimate rights and we are confident the DRC government will respect our contracts."
DIG says its consortium, backed by Investec Bank and JSE-listed SacOil Holdings, with South African state oil company PetroSA as its technical partner, is ready to spend $200 million on exploration over three years, pending a presidential decree.
Tullow's deal for Blocks 1 and 2 was cancelled in 2007 after the government said it was signed with an unauthorised deputy minister and that its $500,000 signature bonus could not cover both blocks at once.
In 2009, however, a mining minister who has since been replaced announced Tullow had been given back its concession.
"Tullow signed a contract for Blocks 1 and 2 in 2006, and still awaits the sanction from President Kabila," Tullow spokesman Tim O'Hanlon told Reuters by telephone, declining to comment on the proposed partnership with Total.
ENI
Italian oil major Eni could also be in the running for Congo oil assets. The company signed a strategic deal with Congo in August last year, naming northern Kivu and the great lakes, which include Lake Albert and Lake Edward.
Eni, which pulled out of a deal to buy Heritage Oil's assets in Uganda last month, declined to comment.
Congo Oil Minister Celestin Mbuyu, new to the post following a cabinet reshuffle last month, said discussions underway would result in a positive conclusion, but declined to add details.
"Usually we would expect oil majors to come in much later, but it's going to be very expensive so it needs majors with long pockets," Jon Marx, editorial director of African Energy newsletter, told Reuters, citing Lake Albert's remote shores.
Total said Congo stands to benefit from "synergies" should the same team take on both sides of the lake, but detractors said Congo would risk losing out to a monopoly controlled by the Uganda side.
"(President) Kabila knows that however much you do on mining, the real game-changer is oil and I think he's watching it like a hawk and that's why he is taking his time," said Marx.
16 March 2010
By Katrina Manson
France's Total wants to explore for oil in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with Britain's Tullow Oil, a company official said, potentially boosting the latter's bid for key blocks there.
"The idea is to partner with Tullow in Congo just as we are in Uganda," Philippe Hergaux, project director for new ventures and asset management at Total, told Reuters by telephone from Paris late on Monday following a visit to Kinshasa.
Total and Tullow last week agreed a three-way deal with China's CNOOC over Tullow's Uganda oil assets, subject to government approval, to up output from three Ugandan oil blocks on Lake Albert, which straddles Congo and Uganda.
Congo has parcelled its own adjoining oil-rich zone into five blocks along Lake Albert and further south, but several companies have been waiting years for exploration licences to be ratified and some are contested.
"The presence of Total will help solve the situation for the best of the country and we will help the government to settle these issues," said Hergaux. "There is three years of delay compared to what has been done in Uganda."
Tullow has been in the running for Congo Blocks 1 and 2 with partner Heritage Oil.
"We are not looking to exit DRC, we are not selling our interest," Paul Atherton, Chief Financial Officer of Heritage Oil, which would have a 39.5 percent stake in the two blocks with Tullow Oil on the Congo side, told Reuters.
"If Tullow is looking to reduce its interest and sell a portion to Total it would just mean a (another) company would come in on the licence," said Atherton of Total's interest.
Among competitors for Congo's blocks is Divine Inspiration Group (DIG), part of a South African consortium that paid $4.5 million in signature bonuses for Blocks 1 and 3.
"Any third party laying claim to Block 1 is misrepresenting the current status," said Andrea Brown, CEO of DIG and director of SacOil, in an email to Reuters. "...(W)e have validly executed and legitimate rights and we are confident the DRC government will respect our contracts."
DIG says its consortium, backed by Investec Bank and JSE-listed SacOil Holdings, with South African state oil company PetroSA as its technical partner, is ready to spend $200 million on exploration over three years, pending a presidential decree.
Tullow's deal for Blocks 1 and 2 was cancelled in 2007 after the government said it was signed with an unauthorised deputy minister and that its $500,000 signature bonus could not cover both blocks at once.
In 2009, however, a mining minister who has since been replaced announced Tullow had been given back its concession.
"Tullow signed a contract for Blocks 1 and 2 in 2006, and still awaits the sanction from President Kabila," Tullow spokesman Tim O'Hanlon told Reuters by telephone, declining to comment on the proposed partnership with Total.
ENI
Italian oil major Eni could also be in the running for Congo oil assets. The company signed a strategic deal with Congo in August last year, naming northern Kivu and the great lakes, which include Lake Albert and Lake Edward.
Eni, which pulled out of a deal to buy Heritage Oil's assets in Uganda last month, declined to comment.
Congo Oil Minister Celestin Mbuyu, new to the post following a cabinet reshuffle last month, said discussions underway would result in a positive conclusion, but declined to add details.
"Usually we would expect oil majors to come in much later, but it's going to be very expensive so it needs majors with long pockets," Jon Marx, editorial director of African Energy newsletter, told Reuters, citing Lake Albert's remote shores.
Total said Congo stands to benefit from "synergies" should the same team take on both sides of the lake, but detractors said Congo would risk losing out to a monopoly controlled by the Uganda side.
"(President) Kabila knows that however much you do on mining, the real game-changer is oil and I think he's watching it like a hawk and that's why he is taking his time," said Marx.
Very Brief Update on Situation of Deo Mushayidi.
WNJ
17 March 2010
Deo Mushayidi, who has been appearing at the Prosecutor General’s office, has now been transferred to the courts. Human rights organizations continue to monitor his situation.
17 March 2010
Deo Mushayidi, who has been appearing at the Prosecutor General’s office, has now been transferred to the courts. Human rights organizations continue to monitor his situation.
Mao wants Museveni probed over northern war killings.
Daily Monitor
17 March 2010
By Robert Mwanje
Democratic Party president Norbert Mao has asked the International Criminal Court [ICC] to investigate President Museveni over the northern Uganda war killings.
The developments come a day after the newly-elected Uganda People’s Congress president, Mr Olara Otunnu, called for an independent inquiry into the killings in Luweero during Mr Museveni’s fight against the UPC government between 1981 and 1985.
The Youth Right, a human rights assembly under the Inter Party Cooperation, also last month petitioned the ICC to investigate the September 2009 riots that left at least 27 people dead.
Mr Mao said; “The ICC should investigate President Museveni over the two-decades war and its atrocities. It’s not enough to investigate the Lord’s Resistance Army [LRA] when Mr Museveni is the man who has been giving orders as the commander-in-chief.”
Related Stories
Kony may be in Sudan- Museveni
He was speaking during a press conference in Kampala on Tuesday.
“We should not allow any acts of impunity to prevail in this country. We shall not shut our eyes to any wrong character. The ICC should not let us down,” Mr Mao said.
Civilian protection
But the Senior Presidential Advisor on media, Mr John Nagenda, criticised Mr Mao’s demands saying that he should realise that the President was protecting Ugandans to fight the rebels in northern Uganda.
“He should not make irresponsible statements. It’s as if he is putting President Museveni and Kony at the same level,” Mr Nagenda said yesterday.
In October 2005, the ICC indicted LRA leader Joseph Kony and top lieutenants for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, Mr Mao on Monday lost a travelling bag, a laptop, two flash disks and mobile phones after unknown people broke into his car at Nakasero, a Kampala suburb.
17 March 2010
By Robert Mwanje
Democratic Party president Norbert Mao has asked the International Criminal Court [ICC] to investigate President Museveni over the northern Uganda war killings.
The developments come a day after the newly-elected Uganda People’s Congress president, Mr Olara Otunnu, called for an independent inquiry into the killings in Luweero during Mr Museveni’s fight against the UPC government between 1981 and 1985.
The Youth Right, a human rights assembly under the Inter Party Cooperation, also last month petitioned the ICC to investigate the September 2009 riots that left at least 27 people dead.
Mr Mao said; “The ICC should investigate President Museveni over the two-decades war and its atrocities. It’s not enough to investigate the Lord’s Resistance Army [LRA] when Mr Museveni is the man who has been giving orders as the commander-in-chief.”
Related Stories
Kony may be in Sudan- Museveni
He was speaking during a press conference in Kampala on Tuesday.
“We should not allow any acts of impunity to prevail in this country. We shall not shut our eyes to any wrong character. The ICC should not let us down,” Mr Mao said.
Civilian protection
But the Senior Presidential Advisor on media, Mr John Nagenda, criticised Mr Mao’s demands saying that he should realise that the President was protecting Ugandans to fight the rebels in northern Uganda.
“He should not make irresponsible statements. It’s as if he is putting President Museveni and Kony at the same level,” Mr Nagenda said yesterday.
In October 2005, the ICC indicted LRA leader Joseph Kony and top lieutenants for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, Mr Mao on Monday lost a travelling bag, a laptop, two flash disks and mobile phones after unknown people broke into his car at Nakasero, a Kampala suburb.
16 March, 2010
Rwanda political stalemate: Police investigations used as a tool to oppress opposition parties.
UDF/FDU-Inkingi
PRESS RELEASE
On VOA Kinyarwanda today, the Minister of Local Government, Mr. James Musoni, confirmed that as long as the police are investigating Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and/or her political party, she and her party, the UDF-Inkingi, will be indefinitely denied the right to convene anywhere in Rwanda. On 12th March 2010, responding to both of our applications dated 16th February and 04th March 2010, the Mayor of Nyarugenge (Kigali City) informed us that because of the pending police investigations of Mrs. Victoire Ingabire, Chair of the UDF-Inkingi, there will be no authorisation for the party to hold its national congress in the municipality. In an interview on national radio aired 12th March 2010, the mayor added that “we can't allow them to convene because we don't know what they will say to the public”! This is completely against freedom of expression and freedom of association.
The current controversial party law, organic law n° 19/2007 of 04/05/2007 modifying and complementing organic law n° 16/2003 of 27/06/2003 governing political organizations and politicians grants the Ministry of Local government, the key position handling political parties’ applications, the ability to grant registrations and allow political activities. He is the last resort and the highest authority in the hierarchy of the appellate system. The Minister is clear: there will be no authorisation for our congress and no registration of the UDF-Inkingi party. The national police are weighed down by orders from the President to grill opposition leaders constantly. The Ministry and the municipal administrations use the issue as a tool that is strong enough to deny any opposition party its political rights. This political tactic to silence any opposition is systematically used against all opposition leaders.
What about the presumption of innocence? Why should the government deny citizens their constitutional right to be considered innocent until proven guilty?
This conspiracy and the use police powers to try and silence the opposition are unacceptable. It is not surprising that public confidence in the police force and the government administration has been shaken. We call upon the President of Rwanda to prove his commitment to a peaceful democratic process by distancing himself from Minister James Musoni’s views.
We call on the partners of the government of Rwanda, the bilateral donors funding the election in Rwanda and the international community to ensure all the actors in this process are sincere and accountable. The current standoff reveals the hidden agenda of the ruling party and its government to shy away any serious competition and its clear intention to rig the election process from the start.
Done in Kigali
15 March 2010
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson
UDF-Inkingi
PRESS RELEASE
On VOA Kinyarwanda today, the Minister of Local Government, Mr. James Musoni, confirmed that as long as the police are investigating Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and/or her political party, she and her party, the UDF-Inkingi, will be indefinitely denied the right to convene anywhere in Rwanda. On 12th March 2010, responding to both of our applications dated 16th February and 04th March 2010, the Mayor of Nyarugenge (Kigali City) informed us that because of the pending police investigations of Mrs. Victoire Ingabire, Chair of the UDF-Inkingi, there will be no authorisation for the party to hold its national congress in the municipality. In an interview on national radio aired 12th March 2010, the mayor added that “we can't allow them to convene because we don't know what they will say to the public”! This is completely against freedom of expression and freedom of association.
The current controversial party law, organic law n° 19/2007 of 04/05/2007 modifying and complementing organic law n° 16/2003 of 27/06/2003 governing political organizations and politicians grants the Ministry of Local government, the key position handling political parties’ applications, the ability to grant registrations and allow political activities. He is the last resort and the highest authority in the hierarchy of the appellate system. The Minister is clear: there will be no authorisation for our congress and no registration of the UDF-Inkingi party. The national police are weighed down by orders from the President to grill opposition leaders constantly. The Ministry and the municipal administrations use the issue as a tool that is strong enough to deny any opposition party its political rights. This political tactic to silence any opposition is systematically used against all opposition leaders.
What about the presumption of innocence? Why should the government deny citizens their constitutional right to be considered innocent until proven guilty?
This conspiracy and the use police powers to try and silence the opposition are unacceptable. It is not surprising that public confidence in the police force and the government administration has been shaken. We call upon the President of Rwanda to prove his commitment to a peaceful democratic process by distancing himself from Minister James Musoni’s views.
We call on the partners of the government of Rwanda, the bilateral donors funding the election in Rwanda and the international community to ensure all the actors in this process are sincere and accountable. The current standoff reveals the hidden agenda of the ruling party and its government to shy away any serious competition and its clear intention to rig the election process from the start.
Done in Kigali
15 March 2010
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson
UDF-Inkingi
Anti-rape funds in Congo wasted.
The Globe and Mail
14 March 2010
By Geoffrey York
In her long battle against Congo's frightening epidemic of sexual violence, Justine Masika Bihamba has paid a heavy price. Her children have been repeatedly attacked, and one of her daughters was sexually assaulted by a gang of soldiers who broke into her home and tied up the children at gunpoint.
In an average week, at least 150 women and girls are raped in the war-torn hills of eastern Congo – usually by soldiers or rebel militia, and usually with impunity. Hundreds of thousands of women have been raped across the country in the past 12 years of war, often so brutally that they are left with permanent injuries.
“ How much will reach the victim? The victim, at the end, will get nothing. ”
— Justine Masika Bihamba
Since 2006, Canada has poured $15-million in government money into a massive foreign campaign against the sexual violence in Congo. But Ms. Bihamba, who as leader of a women's group spent lonely years speaking out against the problem, is now one of a growing number of skeptics who question whether this money is achieving its goals.
The anti-rape projects in Congo are sparking a fierce debate among experts. An internal Canadian government report obtained by The Globe and Mail concluded that Canada was spending too much money on T-shirts, vests, caps, cardboard folders and gaudy posters while failing to make progress on the bigger issues of prevention and justice. Ms. Bihamba chuckled grimly as she described the foreign- aid projects. The simple problem with the campaign, she said, is that most perpetrators of sexual violence are illiterate – they can't read the printed messages.
The Canadian International Development Agency has taken a lead role in the international campaign. Its project was one of the first foreign-aid projects of Stephen Harper's government, and it immediately made Canada one of the top donors in the fight against sexual violence in Congo.
The project has since been joined by a multitude of other efforts by governments and celebrities. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with sexual-violence victims in Congo last year and pledged $17-million (U.S.) to help them. Governor-General Michaëlle Jean is planning to visit Congolese victims next month. The governments of Belgium and the Netherlands have launched similar projects.
The wives of the prime ministers of Britain and France, along with various Hollywood celebrities, are expected in Congo in May to attend the opening of the “City of Joy” project for sexual-assault victims, headed by Eve Ensler, the U.S. playwright of The Vagina Monologues fame.
But Ms. Bihamba said there is no evidence that the foreign aid is having any impact on the epidemic of sexual violence. She said the government projects are wasteful and ineffective; the number of rapes and sexual assaults has shown no sign of diminishing.
The government insists it has been successful in helping victims with health care and legal help. But critics say it has funnelled money to bureaucratic United Nations agencies, wasting money on administrative costs and foreign staff while failing to adequately fund smaller Congolese groups that can help the victims more effectively.
“A lot of money is mobilized around the world for sexual violence programs, and it's lost in administration and logistics,” said Ms. Bihamba, whose own organization has received more than $90,000 from the Canadian project, mostly to rehabilitate a hospital and buy an ambulance.
“The foreign experts have to be flown in and lodged. They have to have 4x4 cars and a good salary and danger pay. They're in lakeside houses for $6,000 a month. All of this is money that could go to the program. How much will reach the victim? The victim, at the end, will get nothing.”
Denis Tougas, a long-time Congo analyst at a Catholic group called L'Entraide missionnaire, in Montreal, said the Canadian project is too bureaucratic – women's groups in Congo feel excluded and “scorned” by the foreign experts.
In 2008, two years after the launch of the CIDA project, an internal government report said the project was failing to prevent sexual violence or provide justice.
The report, written by four Canadian aid officials and obtained by The Globe and Mail, said the project had succeeded in providing medical services to some victims. But it said the project was “weak” in preventing further acts of sexual violence. And it said the project's justice component was “essentially non-functional.”
With the epidemic of sexual violence continuing, the report spoke of the “banalization” of rape in Congo. It criticized the CIDA project for spending too much money on T-shirts and vests (intended to educate Congolese people about sexual violence) and on “relatively minor activities such as thousands of dollars planned for meetings.”
Because of continued warfare in the region, the project was dependent on military escorts from UN peacekeepers, the report noted. “The net effect is that the areas where most rapes are happening are the areas where barely any prevention or response can be implemented.”
A CIDA spokeswoman, Emilie Milroy, said the agency is satisfied with its Congo project, which is now scheduled to continue until June, 2011. She said the project has helped more than 36,000 victims receive health services, including psycho-social services, and it has provided skills training to more than 7,000 victims. It has also given legal assistance to 1,863 victims, compelling 188 perpetrators to pay compensation, she said.
“One program in the space of a few years cannot redress all of the challenges related to the scourge of sexual violence,” she said. “The work CIDA is funding is important and there are results.”
14 March 2010
By Geoffrey York
In her long battle against Congo's frightening epidemic of sexual violence, Justine Masika Bihamba has paid a heavy price. Her children have been repeatedly attacked, and one of her daughters was sexually assaulted by a gang of soldiers who broke into her home and tied up the children at gunpoint.
In an average week, at least 150 women and girls are raped in the war-torn hills of eastern Congo – usually by soldiers or rebel militia, and usually with impunity. Hundreds of thousands of women have been raped across the country in the past 12 years of war, often so brutally that they are left with permanent injuries.
“ How much will reach the victim? The victim, at the end, will get nothing. ”
— Justine Masika Bihamba
Since 2006, Canada has poured $15-million in government money into a massive foreign campaign against the sexual violence in Congo. But Ms. Bihamba, who as leader of a women's group spent lonely years speaking out against the problem, is now one of a growing number of skeptics who question whether this money is achieving its goals.
The anti-rape projects in Congo are sparking a fierce debate among experts. An internal Canadian government report obtained by The Globe and Mail concluded that Canada was spending too much money on T-shirts, vests, caps, cardboard folders and gaudy posters while failing to make progress on the bigger issues of prevention and justice. Ms. Bihamba chuckled grimly as she described the foreign- aid projects. The simple problem with the campaign, she said, is that most perpetrators of sexual violence are illiterate – they can't read the printed messages.
The Canadian International Development Agency has taken a lead role in the international campaign. Its project was one of the first foreign-aid projects of Stephen Harper's government, and it immediately made Canada one of the top donors in the fight against sexual violence in Congo.
The project has since been joined by a multitude of other efforts by governments and celebrities. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with sexual-violence victims in Congo last year and pledged $17-million (U.S.) to help them. Governor-General Michaëlle Jean is planning to visit Congolese victims next month. The governments of Belgium and the Netherlands have launched similar projects.
The wives of the prime ministers of Britain and France, along with various Hollywood celebrities, are expected in Congo in May to attend the opening of the “City of Joy” project for sexual-assault victims, headed by Eve Ensler, the U.S. playwright of The Vagina Monologues fame.
But Ms. Bihamba said there is no evidence that the foreign aid is having any impact on the epidemic of sexual violence. She said the government projects are wasteful and ineffective; the number of rapes and sexual assaults has shown no sign of diminishing.
The government insists it has been successful in helping victims with health care and legal help. But critics say it has funnelled money to bureaucratic United Nations agencies, wasting money on administrative costs and foreign staff while failing to adequately fund smaller Congolese groups that can help the victims more effectively.
“A lot of money is mobilized around the world for sexual violence programs, and it's lost in administration and logistics,” said Ms. Bihamba, whose own organization has received more than $90,000 from the Canadian project, mostly to rehabilitate a hospital and buy an ambulance.
“The foreign experts have to be flown in and lodged. They have to have 4x4 cars and a good salary and danger pay. They're in lakeside houses for $6,000 a month. All of this is money that could go to the program. How much will reach the victim? The victim, at the end, will get nothing.”
Denis Tougas, a long-time Congo analyst at a Catholic group called L'Entraide missionnaire, in Montreal, said the Canadian project is too bureaucratic – women's groups in Congo feel excluded and “scorned” by the foreign experts.
In 2008, two years after the launch of the CIDA project, an internal government report said the project was failing to prevent sexual violence or provide justice.
The report, written by four Canadian aid officials and obtained by The Globe and Mail, said the project had succeeded in providing medical services to some victims. But it said the project was “weak” in preventing further acts of sexual violence. And it said the project's justice component was “essentially non-functional.”
With the epidemic of sexual violence continuing, the report spoke of the “banalization” of rape in Congo. It criticized the CIDA project for spending too much money on T-shirts and vests (intended to educate Congolese people about sexual violence) and on “relatively minor activities such as thousands of dollars planned for meetings.”
Because of continued warfare in the region, the project was dependent on military escorts from UN peacekeepers, the report noted. “The net effect is that the areas where most rapes are happening are the areas where barely any prevention or response can be implemented.”
A CIDA spokeswoman, Emilie Milroy, said the agency is satisfied with its Congo project, which is now scheduled to continue until June, 2011. She said the project has helped more than 36,000 victims receive health services, including psycho-social services, and it has provided skills training to more than 7,000 victims. It has also given legal assistance to 1,863 victims, compelling 188 perpetrators to pay compensation, she said.
“One program in the space of a few years cannot redress all of the challenges related to the scourge of sexual violence,” she said. “The work CIDA is funding is important and there are results.”
MPs urge caution on restrictive new media regulations.
Daily Monitor
16 March 2010
By Yasiin Mugerwa
A day after the media and human rights activists denounced the proposed Press and Journalists (Amendment) Bill, 2010, as an attempt by the to suppress the freedom of the press; MPs have said they will reject the Bill when it comes to Parliament.
Lawmakers across the political divide yesterday condemned the Bill as authoritarian and excessive. They said they would throw it back to the drafters if Cabinet goes ahead to table it. “Any piece of legislation that muzzles the press cannot be supported,” Rubaga South MP, Susan Nampijja (CP) said. “Who doesn’t know that the media is crucial in development? Parliament we shall not be a party to such dictatorial tendencies.”
While the Bill is still before Cabinet, activists say its proposals are draconian, uncalled for and undoubtedly contravene the principles of democracy and rule of law.
In the new proposals pushed by the Minister for Information and National Guidance, Ms Kabakumba Masiko, the government wants to introduce new licensing conditions for newspapers and to empower the Media Council to close media houses. The Bill also calls for restrictions on foreign ownership of the media.
The Bill also calls for a strengthening of the disciplinary committee of the Media Council, whose board will be appointed by the information minister. Media practioners and journalists have for long called for self regulation.
Budadiri West MP Nandala Mafabi said the Bill will make “journalism pathetic” and make the government intolerant to dissenting views. “If they want to know that people don’t want their Bill let them call for a referendum, they will be ashamed,” Mr Mafabi said, adding: “We don’t need this Bill and I call upon colleagues in Parliament to reject it in public interest,”
Youth MP Dennis Obua (NRM) also condemned the Bill and advised government to go slow in its attempts to gag the media. On Sunday, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, Mr Livingstone Ssewanyana, warned that the new law will narrow the space for independent thought and called upon Ugandans to reject it.
Chwa MP Livingstone Okello-Okello (UPC) said by attempting to gag the free media ahead of the 2011 general election, “the government is provoking Ugandans and it will be rejected.”
Ethics Minister Dr James Nsaba Buturo however appealed for calm insisting that the media is still young and does not understand what constitutes national interest. The Bill comes on the heels of the growing fears about increasing attacks on media freedom in the country.
16 March 2010
By Yasiin Mugerwa
A day after the media and human rights activists denounced the proposed Press and Journalists (Amendment) Bill, 2010, as an attempt by the to suppress the freedom of the press; MPs have said they will reject the Bill when it comes to Parliament.
Lawmakers across the political divide yesterday condemned the Bill as authoritarian and excessive. They said they would throw it back to the drafters if Cabinet goes ahead to table it. “Any piece of legislation that muzzles the press cannot be supported,” Rubaga South MP, Susan Nampijja (CP) said. “Who doesn’t know that the media is crucial in development? Parliament we shall not be a party to such dictatorial tendencies.”
While the Bill is still before Cabinet, activists say its proposals are draconian, uncalled for and undoubtedly contravene the principles of democracy and rule of law.
In the new proposals pushed by the Minister for Information and National Guidance, Ms Kabakumba Masiko, the government wants to introduce new licensing conditions for newspapers and to empower the Media Council to close media houses. The Bill also calls for restrictions on foreign ownership of the media.
The Bill also calls for a strengthening of the disciplinary committee of the Media Council, whose board will be appointed by the information minister. Media practioners and journalists have for long called for self regulation.
Budadiri West MP Nandala Mafabi said the Bill will make “journalism pathetic” and make the government intolerant to dissenting views. “If they want to know that people don’t want their Bill let them call for a referendum, they will be ashamed,” Mr Mafabi said, adding: “We don’t need this Bill and I call upon colleagues in Parliament to reject it in public interest,”
Youth MP Dennis Obua (NRM) also condemned the Bill and advised government to go slow in its attempts to gag the media. On Sunday, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, Mr Livingstone Ssewanyana, warned that the new law will narrow the space for independent thought and called upon Ugandans to reject it.
Chwa MP Livingstone Okello-Okello (UPC) said by attempting to gag the free media ahead of the 2011 general election, “the government is provoking Ugandans and it will be rejected.”
Ethics Minister Dr James Nsaba Buturo however appealed for calm insisting that the media is still young and does not understand what constitutes national interest. The Bill comes on the heels of the growing fears about increasing attacks on media freedom in the country.
15 March, 2010
Otunnu Demands Investigation of Luwero Triangle massacres.
Daily Monitor
16 March 2010
By Isaac Khisa & Mercy Nalugo
Olara Otunnu turned up for his first press conference as UPC leader yesterday and his message went back more than 20 years ago. Mr Otunnu, elected UPC party president on Saturday night, called for an independent inquiry into the killings in Luwero, which saw the fiercest fighting between President Museveni’s National Resistance Army and Obote’s UPC government between 1981 and 1985.
Punish the guilty
“UPC calls for a complete, independent and an in-depth investigation into what happened in Luwero Triangle and those who committed the atrocities held accountable,” Mr Otunnu said yesterday.
“I don’t care whether the person who committed the atrocities bears the name of a Muganda, Ankole or an Acholi; we must have the inquiry done and chips fall where they lie,” he said. “A lot of innocent people were caught up in crossfire and UPC calls for thorough investigation. Whoever will be found guilty be held responsible for their actions. Whether NRA or Museveni himself, they must be dealt with and held responsible.”
President Museveni, whose fighters ousted the Tito Okello regime in 1986, a year after Obote had been overthrown in a coup, has always blamed the Uganda National Liberation Army under the UPC of having committed atrocities and killed many of the 250,000 people believed to have died in the five-year war, most of them civilians.
In the 1996 election, President Museveni used threats of Obote’s return – complete with newspaper adverts of skulls – to scare voters in Luwero Triangle and elsewhere to vote for him.
Obote’s denial
Before his death in 2005, former President Milton Obote had consistently denied committing atrocities in the Luwero Triangle. In a dossier written in 1990 while in exile in Zambia, Obote accused NRA rebels of committing atrocities in Luwero and blaming them on government troops to turn the population against them.
Questioning record
Mr Otunnu served as Ambassador to the UN under Obote and as Foreign Affairs Minister under Tito Okello. He was also involved in the failed peace talks in Nairobi between the late Okello and Mr Museveni before leaving for exile and a long diplomatic career in the United Nations.
Yesterday’s comments seem to indicate that Otunnu, who has previously accused the Museveni government of genocide in northern Uganda during the two-decade war against the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, will use his time as UPC leader to question the NRM government’s record on governance and human rights.
NRM deputy spokesperson Ofwono Opondo yesterday dismissed Mr Otunnu’s demands as an “old song”. He claimed: “Dr Otunnu has been saying that we committed atrocities in Luwero Triangle and Northern Uganda and that we took [the army] to infect HIV to women in northern Uganda.”
Urging the opposition leader to report the matter to the International Criminal Court if he has evidence, Mr Opondo said: “Mr Otunnu is campaigning for presidency and so let him campaign and became the president and thereafter institute his own inquiry or arrest those he thinks committed the atrocities.”
Mr John Nagenda, a senior advisor to President Museveni and one of the brains behind the skulls campaign in 1996 said yesterday that it was the government of the day, not NRA, that killed civilians in the area. “It now seems that the history of Luwero is being rewritten by Mr Otuunu because to the common knowledge, many people are still alive and know what exactly happened.”
At yesterday’s press conference, Mr Otunnu also took time to explain why he is unmarried at 58, pointing out that he should be judged by his ability, not marital status. “Uganda needs more business rather than moving with another person in your arms,” Mr Otunnu said. He added that former president Obote and former Indian Prime Minister Mahatma Ghandi took office while single.
Mr Otunnu yesterday also urged the Democratic Party to join the Interparty Cooperation in order to strengthen the opposition.
16 March 2010
By Isaac Khisa & Mercy Nalugo
Olara Otunnu turned up for his first press conference as UPC leader yesterday and his message went back more than 20 years ago. Mr Otunnu, elected UPC party president on Saturday night, called for an independent inquiry into the killings in Luwero, which saw the fiercest fighting between President Museveni’s National Resistance Army and Obote’s UPC government between 1981 and 1985.
Punish the guilty
“UPC calls for a complete, independent and an in-depth investigation into what happened in Luwero Triangle and those who committed the atrocities held accountable,” Mr Otunnu said yesterday.
“I don’t care whether the person who committed the atrocities bears the name of a Muganda, Ankole or an Acholi; we must have the inquiry done and chips fall where they lie,” he said. “A lot of innocent people were caught up in crossfire and UPC calls for thorough investigation. Whoever will be found guilty be held responsible for their actions. Whether NRA or Museveni himself, they must be dealt with and held responsible.”
President Museveni, whose fighters ousted the Tito Okello regime in 1986, a year after Obote had been overthrown in a coup, has always blamed the Uganda National Liberation Army under the UPC of having committed atrocities and killed many of the 250,000 people believed to have died in the five-year war, most of them civilians.
In the 1996 election, President Museveni used threats of Obote’s return – complete with newspaper adverts of skulls – to scare voters in Luwero Triangle and elsewhere to vote for him.
Obote’s denial
Before his death in 2005, former President Milton Obote had consistently denied committing atrocities in the Luwero Triangle. In a dossier written in 1990 while in exile in Zambia, Obote accused NRA rebels of committing atrocities in Luwero and blaming them on government troops to turn the population against them.
Questioning record
Mr Otunnu served as Ambassador to the UN under Obote and as Foreign Affairs Minister under Tito Okello. He was also involved in the failed peace talks in Nairobi between the late Okello and Mr Museveni before leaving for exile and a long diplomatic career in the United Nations.
Yesterday’s comments seem to indicate that Otunnu, who has previously accused the Museveni government of genocide in northern Uganda during the two-decade war against the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, will use his time as UPC leader to question the NRM government’s record on governance and human rights.
NRM deputy spokesperson Ofwono Opondo yesterday dismissed Mr Otunnu’s demands as an “old song”. He claimed: “Dr Otunnu has been saying that we committed atrocities in Luwero Triangle and Northern Uganda and that we took [the army] to infect HIV to women in northern Uganda.”
Urging the opposition leader to report the matter to the International Criminal Court if he has evidence, Mr Opondo said: “Mr Otunnu is campaigning for presidency and so let him campaign and became the president and thereafter institute his own inquiry or arrest those he thinks committed the atrocities.”
Mr John Nagenda, a senior advisor to President Museveni and one of the brains behind the skulls campaign in 1996 said yesterday that it was the government of the day, not NRA, that killed civilians in the area. “It now seems that the history of Luwero is being rewritten by Mr Otuunu because to the common knowledge, many people are still alive and know what exactly happened.”
At yesterday’s press conference, Mr Otunnu also took time to explain why he is unmarried at 58, pointing out that he should be judged by his ability, not marital status. “Uganda needs more business rather than moving with another person in your arms,” Mr Otunnu said. He added that former president Obote and former Indian Prime Minister Mahatma Ghandi took office while single.
Mr Otunnu yesterday also urged the Democratic Party to join the Interparty Cooperation in order to strengthen the opposition.
Critiques apportées au livre "N'épargnez pas les enfants! Mémoire d'un génocide de proximité."
Le livre « N'épargnez pas les enfants ! Mémoire d'un génocide de proximité » est paru en septembre 2009 aux Editions Aden. Il a été publié sous la direction de Radouane Bouhlal (président du MRAX) et de Placide Kalisa (président honoraire d'Ibuka-Mémoire et Justice). Les co-auteurs du livre sont : Eric DAVID, Francis DELPÉRÉE, Isabelle DURANT, Albert GAKUMBA HANGU, Edouard JAKHIAN, Philippe MAHOUX, Jean MUKIMBIRI, Louise MUSHIKIWABO, François ROELANTS du VIVIER, Jean-Philippe SCHREIBER, Maxime STEINBERG, Alain VERHAAGEN.
La participation des co-auteurs du livre à la déformation de l’histoire est une incorrection académique majeure.Des exemples tirés des textes de quelques co-auteurs du livre illustrent leur volonté de désinformer et de manipuler les gens en vue de les rallier aux mensonges du FPR.
1. J.P. SCHREIBER, historien, professeur à l’ULB, cofondateur d’Ibuka-Mémoire et justice, Belgique, a pratiqué une méthode d’investigation utilisant la délation et le mensonge.
Il cite un témoignage recueilli auprès d’un certain G. NGARAMBE qui lui a raconté : « à Kaberondo (plutôt Kabarondo) dans la Préfecture de Kibungo, le bourgmestre hutu a tué sa propre femme tutsi, et leurs enfants, devant l’ensemble de la population de la commune, pour l’exemple », (p. 52).
Ce professeur, aurait dû vérifier son information. Le Bourgmestre de Kabarondo de 1984 à avril 1994, agronome forestier, est actuellement réfugié dans un pays d’Afrique. Sa femme tutsi et ses enfants sont en vie en France.
A ce sujet, P. PEAN relate le témoignage de M. GÉRIN : « …j’ai assisté personnellement à l’intervention du bourgmestre de Kibungo qui a essayé d’arrêter les mouvements isolés de miliciens Interahamwe. Même s’il a échoué partiellement, on ne peut pas parler d’incitation au génocide »[1].
Parlant des victimes et des rescapés tutsi, J. P. SCHREIBER, écrit encore : « Chaque jour des preuves indispensables à l’établissement des faits disparaissent, des témoins sont assassinés », (p. 48). Cette phrase rappelle curieusement les pratiques du FPR relatées par de nombreux observateurs de sa guerre meurtrière.
A propos de ces pratiques du FPR, C.BREACKMAN, cite le témoignage d’un commandant ougandais rencontré à la procure à Kisangani assiégée par l’APR :
« En avril 1994, lorsque après l’assassinat du Président Habyarimana et le début du génocide commis par les extrémistes hutus, nous avons vu des corps descendre le cours de la rivière Akagera et flotter sur le lac Victoria, il nous a fallu du temps pour comprendre ce qui se passait, car les communes frontalières (avec l’Ouganda et la Tanzanie) étaient entièrement contrôlées par le FPR. Nous avons finalement compris que ces corps n’étaient pas ceux de Tutsi, mais de civils hutu systématiquement éliminés…. Ici à Kisangani les belligérants ont tiré les leçons de l’Akagera ; les morts ne sont pas laissés à la disposition d’enquêteurs éventuels, on les fait soigneusement disparaître »[2].
Dans cette citation, on note que l’implication du FPR dans les massacres des civils est évidente, mais elle a été occultée par les observateurs qui n’écoutaient qu’un seul son des cloches.
Ch. ONANA, relate le massacre de trois humanitaires espagnols, SIRERA, MADRAZO et VALTUENA, après la destruction des camps de réfugiés au Zaïre (RDC) et leur retour au Rwanda en novembre 1996: « Ils ont vécu le calvaire infligé aux Hutu par les extrémistes tutsi en RDC… Le 18 janvier 1997, le domicile des humanitaires essuie des tirs des éléments de l’APR…les extrémistes tutsi de l’APR achèvent ainsi, de sang froid, des témoins gênants de Medicus del Mundo »[3].
Les témoins oculaires de ce qui précède : le père canadien Claude SIMARD tué le 18 octobre 1994 et le prêtre canadien Guy PINARD tué le 2 février 1997, ont été sauvagement assassinés par le FPR.
S. DESOUTER et F. REYNTJENS[4], mentionnent que, pour camoufler les corps de victimes, le FPR utilisent diverses pratiques : entasser des victimes dans des fosses communes, les brûler à l’essence dans les huttes et les maisons, transporter des cadavres vers des endroits inconnus (notamment en Ouganda) où ils ont été ensevelis dans des fosses communes, déterrer des corps et les brûler, puis les jeter dans des fosses communes situées en ‘zones militaires’.
D’autres témoins ont parlé de fours crématoires dans le camp militaire de Bugesera, le parc national de l’Akagera et dans la forêt de Nyungwe. Notons aussi les massacres qui ont fait la Une de l’actualité, mais qui ont été aussitôt oubliés par les médias : camp de Kibeho – plus de 100 000 déplacés encerclés par 2500 militaires APR et dont plus de 8 000 tués par des lance-roquettes, des grenades et des kalachnikovs et de nombreux blessés ; 7 000 fugitifs des grottes de Kanama…, plusieurs centaines de milliers de réfugiés hutu tués en RDC dont les traces ont été effacées par l’APR.
J. P. SCHREIBER relate que F.NSANZUWERA, a parlé «...de la prise d’otages de plus d’un million de personnes en juin 1994, par le gouvernement génocidaire, qui les précipita sur le chemin de l’exil » (p. 51).
Cet historien de l’ULB déforme la réalité. Nombreux témoins oculaires affirment que ce sont des atrocités inqualifiables commises par les assassins du FPR qui terrorisaient les populations civiles innocentes et les poussaient à l’exil.
P. PÉAN cite encore M. GÉRIN « … j’ai vu des gens, des Tutsi parfois, se suicider en buvant le liquide provenant de piles électriques trempées dans l’eau, ou en se pendant aux arbres. Ces personnes ne voulaient pas vivre une nouvelle fois ce qu’elles avaient enduré dans le nord du pays, et elles choisissaient pour elles-mêmes la solution finale. J’ai vu des gens s’avancer tout seuls dans les lacs Cyambwe et Rwampanga pour se noyer… En tout cas, les gros massacres de la région, ont bien été exécutés par ces hordes armées que j’ai citées, qu’on appelle Armée patriotique rwandaise ou groupes armés tutsi … »[5].
D’autres aberrations peuvent être relevées dans l’article de J. P. SCHREIBER, mais les quelques exemples cités montrent qu’on a à faire non pas à un historien, mais à un propagandiste.
2. R. BOUHLAL (Président du MRAX) et P. KALISA (Président de l’association BUKA), tous les deux militants de l’antiracisme, manipulent les chiffres relatifs aux victimes tutsi pour frapper et émouvoir.
Dans l’introduction du livre, ils donnent un chiffre de victimes : « plus d’un million de Tutsi furent exterminés par le régime ‘hutu power’ rwandais » (p. 21).
Cet exemple illustre la volonté d’exagération contenue dans leurs textes.
Pourquoi majorer le nombre de victimes ? En 1991, le recensement général de la population et de l’habitat effectué par le gouvernement rwandais, en collaboration avec le PNUD et le FNUAP, a estimé à 7 164 994 habitants, dont 6 527 309 Hutu (91,1°), 601 859 Tutsi (8,4%), 29 660 Twa (0,4%) et 7 165 autres (0,1%).
Bernard LUGAN[6] op.cit, se référant aux données du ‘Dénombrement des victimes du génocide : analyse des résultats, Kigali République rwandaise, mars 2001’, constate : « Les autorités de Kigali font un autre calcul. Pour elles, il y a eu bien 1,1 million de victimes durant le génocide, très exactement 1 074 017…Mais 93,7% d’entre elles étaient Tutsi, ce qui donnerait 1 006 353 Tutsi assassinés. Démographiquement, cela est impossible ».
Depuis quinze ans ou plutôt 19 ans, la spéculation sur le nombre de victimes tutsi varie amplement.
Pourquoi refuse-t-on d’enquêter sur toutes les victimes rwandaises tant de la part du gouvernement de Kigali que des institutions internationales ?
Pourquoi refuser d’investiguer sur l’assassinat des présidents HABYARIMANA et NTARYAMIRA, facteur déclencheur des massacres d’avril à juillet 1994 ?
Le régime de KAGAME fait tout pour saborder les mandats d’arrêt internationaux lancés par le juge BRUGUIÈRE (France) et le Juge MERELLES (Espagne) contre les hauts responsables du FPR suspectés d’avoir commis des crimes contre l’humanité et des crimes de guerre depuis octobre 1990. N’est-ce pas parce qu’il se sait coupable ?
Le TPIR n’a jamais fait d’investigations en profondeur sur les crimes commis au Rwanda. Comment prétend-t-il poursuivre des crimes de guerre et des crimes contre l’humanité commis par le FPR en vertu de son double mandat?
Voilà des points auxquels les chercheurs de l’ULB, les autres experts et les journalistes devraient s’intéresser et donner une réponse correcte.
[…]
3. Alain VERHAAGEN, Professeur à l’ULB, ne fait que répéter exclusivement les propos du FPR au sujet des Interahamwe, de la radio RTLM, des quotas et des « hutu modérés ».
[…]
A propos des massacres des Tutsi par les Interahamwe A. VERHAAGEN écrit : « la mise en place de leur machine infernale … des listes nominatives de milliers de personnes à exécuter qui sont constituées et viennent compléter le dispositif » (p.37).
Personne n’a jamais vu lesdites listes. Peut-il les produire ? Par contre, il existait une liste de 213 Hutu liés au MRND, établie par le FPR depuis 1993. Après la prise du pouvoir par le FPR en juillet 1994, la liste a été actualisée et officialisée par décret présidentiel en novembre 1996, ensuite en février 2001. Elle a été ainsi étendue à plus 2 000 personnes. Il y a aussi d’autres listes : le rapport du Rwanda sur les droits de l’homme soumis au comité des droits de l’homme à Genève le 17 mars 2009, parle de 1 056 606 dossiers de Gacaca ; il y a également une liste de 93 personnes déposée auprès de l’Interpol ; enfin, une de 130 000 détenus dans les prisons et autres lieux d’enfermement. Ces listes constamment actualisées sont utilisées par le TPIR, pour traquer « les présumés criminels hutu ». Les Gouvernements occidentaux s’y réfèrent aussi comme critère de refus d’asile politique aux réfugiés hutu. En général, il n’y a de présomption d’innocence pour aucune des personnes se trouvant sur ces listes.
Concernant la radio RTLM, A. VERHAAGEN dit : « …une radio libre exclusivement vouée à une propagande d’élimination systématique de tous les Tutsi et des opposants hutu » (p. 37).
On ne peut nier le rôle de la RTLM dans la tragédie rwandaise. Créée en août 1993, elle émettait en FM, captable dans un rayon restreint autour de Kigali (plus ou moins 25 Km). Ce « spécialiste » de l’Afrique ignore ou feint ignorer la réalité. Cette radio a été créée notamment, pour réagir aux émissions de la radio MUHABURA du FPR, émettant en ondes courtes depuis 1990 à partir de l’Etat-major du Burundi à Bujumbura. Elle était écoutée partout au Burundi, au Rwanda, en Ouganda, en Tanzanie et en RDC. Elle n’a cessé de diffuser des mensonges, des messages de haine à travers de pièces de théâtres de Idris BIZIRAGUTEBA, de son vrai nom Sillas MBONIMANA et les chansons de Cécile KAYIREBWA ; messages de haine à l’égard des Hutu en général et du Président HABYARIMANA en particulier tout au long de la guerre. […].
Pour P. ERNY, la RTLM « répondait par des invectives haineuses aux invectives non moins insupportables de la Radio MUHABURA, contrôlée par le FPR »[7].
« L’ethnisme hutu n’a été la plupart du temps qu’une réaction à l’ethnisme tutsi au Rwanda comme au Burundi. Si on avait laissé la société rwandaise évoluer doucement comme elle l’a fait dans les années 80, on aurait pu espérer qu’en une ou deux générations ce problème s’estompe définitivement »[8]. L’influence néfaste de la radio MUHABURA sur le cours des évènements n’a jamais été prise en considération. Or, la vérité impose d’analyser les messages de ces deux radios pour mieux comprendre tout le contexte et le climat de l’époque.
Le concept « hutu modéré », créé afin de ne pas parler de pro-FPR, a semé la confusion dans l’opinion.
Le général R. DALLAIRE dit à propos d’un des chefs d’un parti d’opposition :
« J’étais assis près de Félicien GATABAZI - Chef du très influent PSD (un parti encore uni), Hutu modéré bien connu du sud et très pro-FPR »[9].
En effet, l’opposition dite « modérée » contre le président HABYARIMANA se distinguait par sa complicité avec le FPR. Les partis d’opposition : MDR, PSD, et PL, n’ont-ils pas publié un communiqué commun de collaboration avec les Représentants du FPR lors de leur rencontre de Bruxelles du 29 mai au 3 juin 1992 ? Certains déclaraient même que le FPR était leur branche armée ! Ils ignoraient que le FPR et ses parrains avaient chacun leur agenda propre et caché. Alors, les « Hutu modéré », c’est quoi au juste ? Des sympathisants, des complices, des collabos, c’était la confusion.
Au sujet du système de quotas, A. VERHAAGEN écrit : « le régime institua un système de quotas, par lequel les différentes composantes de la population accéderaient à l’enseignement et aux emplois publics à concurrence du pourcentage de la population qu’elles représentaient officiellement » (p.33).
Au sujet de la scolarisation en 1958, Pierre ERNY écrit : «… les élèves tutsi, malgré leur faible proportion en regard de la population globale, étaient en très large majorité dans l’enseignement secondaire et monopoliseraient les filières supérieures, dans l’administration publique, l’enseignement et la vie économique, les Tutsi étaient de loin en position dominante »[10].
Effectivement, étant donné le nombre limité de places dans les écoles secondaires, le système de quotas a été une mesure de répartition plus équitable de places disponibles. […].
Quant aux Interahamwe, A. VERHAAGEN dit : « Le 26 août 1991 le régime crée les milices paramilitaires Interahamwe qui seront en fait le bras armé civil du MRND exécutrice de basses œuvres … De décembre 1992 à février 1993, les Interahamwe, qui ont été levés à raison de 200 hommes dans chacune de 150 communes du pays, perpètrent des massacres d’opposants hutu et de Tutsi… » (p.36-37).
Après avoir constaté que l’un des fondateurs de l’organisation est Tutsi, B. LUGAN écrit : « il est donc pour le moins insolite de constater que des Tutsi ont pu avoir de tels rôles essentiels dans la création, l’organisation d’une milice présentée comme ayant préparé et commis le génocide des Tutsi…je suis absolument certain que les Interahamwe étaient commandés à partir du siège de l’Etat major du FPR »[11]
Le fondateur des Interahamwe est en effet un tutsi, A. Gasana qui est devenu Ministre des Affaires étrangères du FPR en 1994. Le Président, R. KAJUGA et 2 vice-présidents des Interahamwe étaient aussi Tutsi, soit 3 tutsi sur 5 responsables des Interahamwe.
Le Parti MRND n’a pas pris l’initiative de créer cette organisation. Il s’agissait d’un projet de jeunes qui ont choisi spontanément leur comité directeur et ont soumis leur projet aux instances du parti MRND. Notons que d’autres organisations de jeunes affiliées aux différents partis, avaient vu le jour avant les Interahamwe: chronologiquement, Abakombozi (les libérateurs) du PSD, JDR (Jeunesse démocrate républicaine), Inkuba (Foudre) du MDR, Jeunesse du PL (en réalité, jeunesse du FPR), Interahamwe du MRND et Impuzamugambi (ceux qui ont un même but) de la CDR.
Fin 1993, après l’assassinat du président Melchior NDADAYE, hutu élu démocratiquement, par la junte militaire tutsi, l’opposition a implosé et une grande partie de celle-ci s’est rapprochée du MRND, après avoir découvert le vrai visage du FPR. Voilà des points importants ignorés par les experts. Cette réalité politique ne peut être niée par personne en particulier les professeurs de l’ULB.
4. Philipe MAHOUX, continue de tromper l’opinion belge à propos de l’existence d’une prétendue préparation de massacres des Tutsi.
Ce Sénateur, note : « ... les autorités belges disposaient d’une série d’informations concordantes qui concernaient, sinon la préparation d’un génocide, du moins l’existence de la préparation de massacres à grande échelle » (p.130).
Il est étonnant d’entendre ce genre de déclaration par un responsable politique, qui est en contradiction avec celle de l’Ambassadeur belge en fonction à Kigali jusqu’en avril 1994. Ce dernier a témoigné devant les assises de Bruxelles, dans le procès du major NTUYAHAGA, en 2007. Il a affirmé qu’il n’y avait pas eu de planification du génocide et que s’il y avait eu un plan, les services de l’ambassade l’auraient su.
Dans les procès du TPIR à Arusha, plusieurs experts s’accordent à dire que c’est le fameux informateur tutsi Jean-Pierre, alias Abubacar TURATSINZE fils de Jussuf UGIRASHEBUJA, alias Kaliyaliya, qui a révélé l’existence d’une planification de génocide des Tutsi au général R. DALLAIRE commandant de la MINUAR. Ce dernier a envoyé ces infos par fax à Maurice BARIL, général canadien, conseiller militaire auprès du Secrétaire général de l’ONU, sans en informer son chef hiérarchique, le Représentant spécial de l’ONU, Mr BOOH-BOOH, ni le colonel Luc MARCHAL, commandant du contingent belge de la MINUAR.
Comme par hasard, ce précieux fax, base de toutes les accusations relatives à la planification du génocide, n’a jamais existé à l’ONU, de même ce tutsi Jean-Pierre infiltré du FPR a mystérieusement disparu.
Selon B. LUGAN, le général R. DALLAIRE et son staff, « ont un contact au mois de janvier 1994 avec un certain Jean Pierre … les Interahamwe seraient à mesure de tuer 1 000 Tutsi toutes les 20 minutes (ou en 20 minutes) ?... le major belge HOCK considérait l’informateur comme étant peu crédible.. »[12].
5. Isabelle DURANT, Sénatrice et Co-Présidente d’Ecolo fait remarquer la partialité de la commission d’enquête parlementaire belge dans la recherche d’informations sur le terrain.
Parlant de cette commission I. DURANT révèle que la commission a cherché des informations uniquement à charge : En 1997 : « Nous avons rencontré nombre d’acteurs, de survivants, de personnes encore menacées et vivant cachées. Nous avons aussi vu les lieux, des ossements, les traces de la barbarie… nous avons discuté des premiers tribunaux de village… A côté de tous les témoignages entendus, ceux du gouvernement de 1994 étaient donc sans appel : aucun des 3 ministres (Premier, Affaires étrangères, Défense) n’a fait part de réels regrets, nuances. Le dossier rwandais ne pouvait les faire tomber ou les ébranler » (p.145.146).
Suite à cette déclaration, on est en droit de se poser des questions sur la véracité de données recueillies à cette époque, étant donné la terreur imposée aux présumés génocidaires. La filtration d’informations, la manipulation, les mensonges du régime FPR ont été démontrés par divers experts et journalistes indépendants.
Ces déclarations ne révèlent-elles pas plutôt que le souci premier de certains membres de la commission était de salir les membres du gouvernement belge de l’époque ? Découvrir la vérité sur la situation réelle au Rwanda passait après la démonstration de la mauvaise gestion de la crise rwandaise par les ministres belges visés. Dans ce cas, il importait pour eux, de démontrer le côté diabolique de l’ancien régime rwandais.
Rappelons que cette commission a refusé d’entendre certains anciens coopérants belges au Rwanda qui pouvaient témoigner sans parti pris. Ceci a été exprimé lors du procès d’assisses des quatre rwandais en 2001.
En matière d’éthique politique, I. DURANT ne devrait pas donner de leçon quand elle dit : « Une responsabilité évidente repose sur le pouvoir au Rwanda qui n’a jamais rien entrepris de significatif pour sortir de l’idéologie ethniste qui a prévalu dans ce pays depuis la fin des années 1950 » (p. 153).
Que dit-elle actuellement à un groupe ethnique minoritaire qui se singularise par un complexe de supériorité pour justifier sa volonté de dominer les autres groupes ?
Doit-il continuer à user de la manipulation, des mensonges, de la terreur, des massacres et autres barbaries pour se maintenir au pouvoir ?
Ce groupe ethnique tutsi peut-il continuer impunément à semer la terreur et à piller les ressources en RDC ? A quel titre s’arroge-t-il le droit de déstabiliser toute une région en y semant la terreur et la désolation ?
L’impossibilité de gérer la question de partage du pouvoir vient de ce dilemme : « la volonté de dominer et la peur d’être dominé ».
Cette sénatrice devrait s’interroger sur la validité des découvertes de cette commission d’enquête et surtout sur le vrai visage du pouvoir du FPR. Sa position de responsable politique impose d’avoir une information correcte sur ce qui se passe dans la région des Grands Lacs. Il faudrait éviter de prendre comme argent comptant des informations partiales sans aucune vérification. C’est ce défaut d’analyse et de parti pris qui continuent à dévaster la région des Grands Lacs.
6. Jean MIKIMBIRI compare le génocide tutsi avec la shoah : une forfaiture historique.
Ce Docteur en philosophie et lettres s’efforce de trouver des similitudes entre le massacre des Tutsi et la shoah tout au long de son article.
Ch.ONANA relève les erreurs d’une telle comparaison : «…c’est Hitler lui-même avec son livre Mein Kampf qui a le plus œuvré à la diffusion de l’idéologie raciste. Au Rwanda, le président HABYARIMANA n’a jamais écrit un texte ni prononcé un seul discours haineux ou discriminatoire …Il est établi que l’Allemagne nazi avait adopté à l’unanimité lors du 7ème congrès annuel du NSDAP en 1935, un arsenal juridique dans le dessein de légitimer et de légaliser l’idéologie raciste (loi de Nuremberg)… Ce type de lois ou d’initiatives étatiques n’a jamais existé au Rwanda avant 1994 … »[13].
Ch. ONANA développe à suffisance d’autres éléments qui montrent que cette comparaison ne peut pas être confirmée par des faits objectifs.
À propos du « Manifeste des Bahutu », J. MUKUMBILI dit :
« En statuant les Tutsi comme une race étrangère au Rwanda au destin inconciliable à celui des Hutu….et delà il faudrait bien envisager ‘la solution finale’ à ce problème » … «Qu’à cela ne tienne, le Manifeste des Bahutu annonce déjà le génocide » (p.69-p.89).
L’auteur se permet des raccourcis historiques erronés, notamment en taxant exclusivement la colonisation d’avoir opposé les Tutsi aux Hutu. Il fait abstraction de l’Institution « Ubuhake » (servage pastoral) qui existait déjà avant la colonisation. Il oublie certains débats au sein du Conseil Supérieur du pays, initiés par la Tutelle belge, qui visaient à réduire les tensions entre des détenteurs du pouvoir, les Tutsi, et leurs subordonnés, les Hutu.
Le « Manifeste des Bahutu » de mars 1957 était une demande d’accès aux droits de l’homme, à la codification de la coutume, à la suppression du servage....
Si les grands Serviteurs du Mwami (Roi) n’avaient répliqué à ce manifeste que le seul lien entre les Tutsi est les Hutu est le servage, le pays aurait connu un meilleur tournant historique. Ce refus de partage du pouvoir a déterminé l’impérative nécessité de changer un tel système politique où le Hutu devenait l’esclave de son maître tutsi.
N’oublions pas les mythes inventés par les Tutsi pour justifier leur droit de supériorité sur les autres groupes ethniques : les Tutsi = « Ibimanuka (les descendus du ciel)… ».
Contrairement à ce que raconte l’auteur, les Tutsi, les Hutu et les Twa n’ont pas d’ancêtre commun. Celui des Hutu est Kanyarwanda ; et celui des Tutsi est Kigwa (« descendu du ciel ») comme le proclame leur mythologie sur l’origine des Tutsi tel que développée par Mgr A. KAGAME, l’historien tutsi et gardien du Code ésotérique (« Umwiru »), dans son ouvrage « Inganji Kalinga »..
Au sujet des ethnies J. MUKIMBIRI écrit encore : « dès à présent, pour les Tutsi du Rwanda, qu’il s’agit d’une redéfinition tributaire d’une anthropologie coloniale qui apparente ou affilie les Tutsi à la race dite hamite, et établit Bantous les Hutu, alors que bantou connote les langues, dont est le Kinyarwanda qui est aussi la langue des Tutsi)…….L’ethnicité et l’histoire attestent la perméabilité de frontières entre les différents statuts si bien que des jumeaux pouvaient être l’un Hutu, l’autre Tutsi » (p. 69-70).
A ce propos, Bernard LUGAN, fait cette mise au point : « Il est essentiel de bien voir qu’au Rwanda et au Burundi, les ancêtres des actuels Tutsi se sont jadis linguistiquement ‘bantuisés’ en adoptant une langue bantu et en perdant l’usage de la leur, qui appartenait au groupe Nil- Sahara »… « Seuls pouvaient devenir tutsi certains Hutu qui s’étaient distingués, notamment au combat, et que le mwami (roi) désirait particulièrement honorer »[14].
L’appartenance ethnique ne se réduit pas au statut social et économique, elle est de naissance et se confirme par un état d’esprit transmis de génération en génération par l’éducation dans un système patriarcal. Il y a donc un groupe ethnique qui se reconnaît Tutsi. D’ailleurs les intellectuels tutsis s’attellent actuellement à la recherche de leur affiliation avec les Juifs par la reine de SABAH. Ils se disent hamites descendants de cet ancêtre par son fils MENELEK qu’elle a eu avec le roi SALOMON.
Pierre ERNY dit : « que dans les milieux tutsi traditionnels, on ait eu une idée très vive de la hiérarchie des races avec droit des uns à dominer les autres est une évidence telle qu’il faudrait être de mauvaise foi pour le nier …Mais je crains que dans le fond, sans évidemment le dire jamais, l’idéologie du FPR reste fondée sur cette idée de supériorité et de droit ‘naturel’ au commandement qui sous-tendait le système monarchique »[15].
Cet écrivain ne s’est pas trompé. Les faits sont là pour démontrer que le régime actuel dominé par la minorité tutsi est discriminatoire et dictatorial.
On naît donc tutsi ou hutu. La preuve incontestable est qu’au Burundi, il n’y a jamais eu de mention ethnique sur les cartes d’identité, mais depuis 1972, les militaires tutsi du Burundi ne tuaient que des Hutu. Comment faisaient-ils pour les identifier ? Chacun connaît ses origines et celles des autres.
7. Louise MUSHIKIWABO traite de négationniste toute personne qui pose des questions sur les massacres commis par le FPR.
Licenciée en langues, Ministre de l’information puis des Affaires étrangères au Rwanda, L. MUSHIKIWABO dit : « La rationalisation négationniste vise à sélectionner des témoignages douteux afin de jeter le discrédit sur tous les témoignages crédibles ou à relever des contradictions au sein d’autres récits, qui sans infirmer le génocide, sont utilisées pour invalider l’ensemble du témoignage » (p .159).
Elle dévoile la pratique du FPR qui consiste à faire des montages de preuves pour camoufler ses crimes. Pourquoi ne peut-on pas mettre en question les témoignages douteux, les mensonges ?
Au sujet de certains témoins, F. REYNTJENS dit : « J’ai également pu mesurer les écueils de la preuve : dans un certain nombre de cas, des témoins ont manifestement menti sous serment, sans que cela ait eu pour eux les conséquences qui s’imposaient »[16].
N’est-ce pas là ce qu’on peut appeler l’incitation aux mensonges et à la délation ? S’acharner à occulter la vérité par des mensonges, des montages de toutes sortes, des emprunts aux génocides arméniens et juifs, est-ce vraiment investiguer sur les faits réels qui se sont déroulés dans le temps et l’espace au Rwanda ?
L. MUSHIKIWABO traite, les utilisateurs des termes, tels que : « génocide rwandais, guerre interethnique, tragédie, autodéfense du ‘peuple hutu’… », de négationnistes. Un débat contradictoire en vue de mieux appréhender le drame rwandais n’est pas autorisé, puisqu’il permettrait de mettre en péril le régime FPR qui trouve son fondement dans le crime et la terreur.
[…]
Personne ne nie le massacre des Tutsi au Rwanda. Pourquoi dès lors occulter d’autres massacres perpétrés par le FPR au Rwanda et en RDC durant la même période, avant et après ?
Dans ce drame, il y a des victimes et des bourreaux dans les deux camps. Pour faire triompher la justice et la vérité, chacun doit dénoncer sans parti pris les déclarations « des blancs et noirs menteurs » qui divisent les communautés par leur racisme.
Combattre la désinformation que l’association IBUKA et les « Blancs menteurs » distillent à l’encan ne peut être considéré comme « négationnisme ». La complaisance et le parti pris sont incompatibles avec la recherche de la vérité.
Martine Syoen,
Présidente de « SOS Rwanda-Burundi asbl »
15/03/2010
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[1] Pierre PEAN, Noires fureurs, blancs menteurs. Rwanda 1990-1994, Editions Mille et Une Nuit, novembre 2005, p. 264
[2] Colette BRECKMAN, ‘Les nouveaux prédateurs - Politique des puissances occidentales, Paris, Fayard, février 2003, p.19.
[3] Charles ONANA, Ces Tueurs Tutsi au cœur de la tragédie congolaise », Paris, Editions Duboris, avril 2009, p.194-195.
[4] Serge DESOUTER et Filip REYNTJENS, Rwanda, Violation des droits de l’homme par le FPR,, 1ère partie. Working Paper, Anvers, juin 1995, p.10
[5] Pierre Péan, op.cit, p. p.268
[6] Bernard LUGAN, Rwanda - Contre-enquête sur le génocide, Editions Privat, février 2007, p. 120
[7] Pierre ERNY, Rwanda 1994, Paris, Editions, L’Harmattan, 1944, p.104.
[8] Pierre Erny, op.cit., p.228.
[9] Roméo DALLAIRE, J’ai serré la main du diable -– La faillite de l’humanitaire, Libre expression, Outremont Québec, octobre, 2003. p.247.
[10] Pierre Erny op.cit., p.82.
[11] B. LUGAN, op.cit., p.56-57.
[12] B. LUGAN, op.cit., p.158-163.
[13] Charles ONANA, op.cit., p.280-283.
[14] Bernard LUGAN, op.cit., p.23.
[15] Pierre ERNY, op. cit., p.39.
[16] Filip REYNTJENS, Les risques du métier - Trois décennies comme chercheur-acteur au Rwanda et au Burundi, Paris, Editions L’Harmattan, janvier 2009, p.99.
La participation des co-auteurs du livre à la déformation de l’histoire est une incorrection académique majeure.Des exemples tirés des textes de quelques co-auteurs du livre illustrent leur volonté de désinformer et de manipuler les gens en vue de les rallier aux mensonges du FPR.
1. J.P. SCHREIBER, historien, professeur à l’ULB, cofondateur d’Ibuka-Mémoire et justice, Belgique, a pratiqué une méthode d’investigation utilisant la délation et le mensonge.
Il cite un témoignage recueilli auprès d’un certain G. NGARAMBE qui lui a raconté : « à Kaberondo (plutôt Kabarondo) dans la Préfecture de Kibungo, le bourgmestre hutu a tué sa propre femme tutsi, et leurs enfants, devant l’ensemble de la population de la commune, pour l’exemple », (p. 52).
Ce professeur, aurait dû vérifier son information. Le Bourgmestre de Kabarondo de 1984 à avril 1994, agronome forestier, est actuellement réfugié dans un pays d’Afrique. Sa femme tutsi et ses enfants sont en vie en France.
A ce sujet, P. PEAN relate le témoignage de M. GÉRIN : « …j’ai assisté personnellement à l’intervention du bourgmestre de Kibungo qui a essayé d’arrêter les mouvements isolés de miliciens Interahamwe. Même s’il a échoué partiellement, on ne peut pas parler d’incitation au génocide »[1].
Parlant des victimes et des rescapés tutsi, J. P. SCHREIBER, écrit encore : « Chaque jour des preuves indispensables à l’établissement des faits disparaissent, des témoins sont assassinés », (p. 48). Cette phrase rappelle curieusement les pratiques du FPR relatées par de nombreux observateurs de sa guerre meurtrière.
A propos de ces pratiques du FPR, C.BREACKMAN, cite le témoignage d’un commandant ougandais rencontré à la procure à Kisangani assiégée par l’APR :
« En avril 1994, lorsque après l’assassinat du Président Habyarimana et le début du génocide commis par les extrémistes hutus, nous avons vu des corps descendre le cours de la rivière Akagera et flotter sur le lac Victoria, il nous a fallu du temps pour comprendre ce qui se passait, car les communes frontalières (avec l’Ouganda et la Tanzanie) étaient entièrement contrôlées par le FPR. Nous avons finalement compris que ces corps n’étaient pas ceux de Tutsi, mais de civils hutu systématiquement éliminés…. Ici à Kisangani les belligérants ont tiré les leçons de l’Akagera ; les morts ne sont pas laissés à la disposition d’enquêteurs éventuels, on les fait soigneusement disparaître »[2].
Dans cette citation, on note que l’implication du FPR dans les massacres des civils est évidente, mais elle a été occultée par les observateurs qui n’écoutaient qu’un seul son des cloches.
Ch. ONANA, relate le massacre de trois humanitaires espagnols, SIRERA, MADRAZO et VALTUENA, après la destruction des camps de réfugiés au Zaïre (RDC) et leur retour au Rwanda en novembre 1996: « Ils ont vécu le calvaire infligé aux Hutu par les extrémistes tutsi en RDC… Le 18 janvier 1997, le domicile des humanitaires essuie des tirs des éléments de l’APR…les extrémistes tutsi de l’APR achèvent ainsi, de sang froid, des témoins gênants de Medicus del Mundo »[3].
Les témoins oculaires de ce qui précède : le père canadien Claude SIMARD tué le 18 octobre 1994 et le prêtre canadien Guy PINARD tué le 2 février 1997, ont été sauvagement assassinés par le FPR.
S. DESOUTER et F. REYNTJENS[4], mentionnent que, pour camoufler les corps de victimes, le FPR utilisent diverses pratiques : entasser des victimes dans des fosses communes, les brûler à l’essence dans les huttes et les maisons, transporter des cadavres vers des endroits inconnus (notamment en Ouganda) où ils ont été ensevelis dans des fosses communes, déterrer des corps et les brûler, puis les jeter dans des fosses communes situées en ‘zones militaires’.
D’autres témoins ont parlé de fours crématoires dans le camp militaire de Bugesera, le parc national de l’Akagera et dans la forêt de Nyungwe. Notons aussi les massacres qui ont fait la Une de l’actualité, mais qui ont été aussitôt oubliés par les médias : camp de Kibeho – plus de 100 000 déplacés encerclés par 2500 militaires APR et dont plus de 8 000 tués par des lance-roquettes, des grenades et des kalachnikovs et de nombreux blessés ; 7 000 fugitifs des grottes de Kanama…, plusieurs centaines de milliers de réfugiés hutu tués en RDC dont les traces ont été effacées par l’APR.
J. P. SCHREIBER relate que F.NSANZUWERA, a parlé «...de la prise d’otages de plus d’un million de personnes en juin 1994, par le gouvernement génocidaire, qui les précipita sur le chemin de l’exil » (p. 51).
Cet historien de l’ULB déforme la réalité. Nombreux témoins oculaires affirment que ce sont des atrocités inqualifiables commises par les assassins du FPR qui terrorisaient les populations civiles innocentes et les poussaient à l’exil.
P. PÉAN cite encore M. GÉRIN « … j’ai vu des gens, des Tutsi parfois, se suicider en buvant le liquide provenant de piles électriques trempées dans l’eau, ou en se pendant aux arbres. Ces personnes ne voulaient pas vivre une nouvelle fois ce qu’elles avaient enduré dans le nord du pays, et elles choisissaient pour elles-mêmes la solution finale. J’ai vu des gens s’avancer tout seuls dans les lacs Cyambwe et Rwampanga pour se noyer… En tout cas, les gros massacres de la région, ont bien été exécutés par ces hordes armées que j’ai citées, qu’on appelle Armée patriotique rwandaise ou groupes armés tutsi … »[5].
D’autres aberrations peuvent être relevées dans l’article de J. P. SCHREIBER, mais les quelques exemples cités montrent qu’on a à faire non pas à un historien, mais à un propagandiste.
2. R. BOUHLAL (Président du MRAX) et P. KALISA (Président de l’association BUKA), tous les deux militants de l’antiracisme, manipulent les chiffres relatifs aux victimes tutsi pour frapper et émouvoir.
Dans l’introduction du livre, ils donnent un chiffre de victimes : « plus d’un million de Tutsi furent exterminés par le régime ‘hutu power’ rwandais » (p. 21).
Cet exemple illustre la volonté d’exagération contenue dans leurs textes.
Pourquoi majorer le nombre de victimes ? En 1991, le recensement général de la population et de l’habitat effectué par le gouvernement rwandais, en collaboration avec le PNUD et le FNUAP, a estimé à 7 164 994 habitants, dont 6 527 309 Hutu (91,1°), 601 859 Tutsi (8,4%), 29 660 Twa (0,4%) et 7 165 autres (0,1%).
Bernard LUGAN[6] op.cit, se référant aux données du ‘Dénombrement des victimes du génocide : analyse des résultats, Kigali République rwandaise, mars 2001’, constate : « Les autorités de Kigali font un autre calcul. Pour elles, il y a eu bien 1,1 million de victimes durant le génocide, très exactement 1 074 017…Mais 93,7% d’entre elles étaient Tutsi, ce qui donnerait 1 006 353 Tutsi assassinés. Démographiquement, cela est impossible ».
Depuis quinze ans ou plutôt 19 ans, la spéculation sur le nombre de victimes tutsi varie amplement.
Pourquoi refuse-t-on d’enquêter sur toutes les victimes rwandaises tant de la part du gouvernement de Kigali que des institutions internationales ?
Pourquoi refuser d’investiguer sur l’assassinat des présidents HABYARIMANA et NTARYAMIRA, facteur déclencheur des massacres d’avril à juillet 1994 ?
Le régime de KAGAME fait tout pour saborder les mandats d’arrêt internationaux lancés par le juge BRUGUIÈRE (France) et le Juge MERELLES (Espagne) contre les hauts responsables du FPR suspectés d’avoir commis des crimes contre l’humanité et des crimes de guerre depuis octobre 1990. N’est-ce pas parce qu’il se sait coupable ?
Le TPIR n’a jamais fait d’investigations en profondeur sur les crimes commis au Rwanda. Comment prétend-t-il poursuivre des crimes de guerre et des crimes contre l’humanité commis par le FPR en vertu de son double mandat?
Voilà des points auxquels les chercheurs de l’ULB, les autres experts et les journalistes devraient s’intéresser et donner une réponse correcte.
[…]
3. Alain VERHAAGEN, Professeur à l’ULB, ne fait que répéter exclusivement les propos du FPR au sujet des Interahamwe, de la radio RTLM, des quotas et des « hutu modérés ».
[…]
A propos des massacres des Tutsi par les Interahamwe A. VERHAAGEN écrit : « la mise en place de leur machine infernale … des listes nominatives de milliers de personnes à exécuter qui sont constituées et viennent compléter le dispositif » (p.37).
Personne n’a jamais vu lesdites listes. Peut-il les produire ? Par contre, il existait une liste de 213 Hutu liés au MRND, établie par le FPR depuis 1993. Après la prise du pouvoir par le FPR en juillet 1994, la liste a été actualisée et officialisée par décret présidentiel en novembre 1996, ensuite en février 2001. Elle a été ainsi étendue à plus 2 000 personnes. Il y a aussi d’autres listes : le rapport du Rwanda sur les droits de l’homme soumis au comité des droits de l’homme à Genève le 17 mars 2009, parle de 1 056 606 dossiers de Gacaca ; il y a également une liste de 93 personnes déposée auprès de l’Interpol ; enfin, une de 130 000 détenus dans les prisons et autres lieux d’enfermement. Ces listes constamment actualisées sont utilisées par le TPIR, pour traquer « les présumés criminels hutu ». Les Gouvernements occidentaux s’y réfèrent aussi comme critère de refus d’asile politique aux réfugiés hutu. En général, il n’y a de présomption d’innocence pour aucune des personnes se trouvant sur ces listes.
Concernant la radio RTLM, A. VERHAAGEN dit : « …une radio libre exclusivement vouée à une propagande d’élimination systématique de tous les Tutsi et des opposants hutu » (p. 37).
On ne peut nier le rôle de la RTLM dans la tragédie rwandaise. Créée en août 1993, elle émettait en FM, captable dans un rayon restreint autour de Kigali (plus ou moins 25 Km). Ce « spécialiste » de l’Afrique ignore ou feint ignorer la réalité. Cette radio a été créée notamment, pour réagir aux émissions de la radio MUHABURA du FPR, émettant en ondes courtes depuis 1990 à partir de l’Etat-major du Burundi à Bujumbura. Elle était écoutée partout au Burundi, au Rwanda, en Ouganda, en Tanzanie et en RDC. Elle n’a cessé de diffuser des mensonges, des messages de haine à travers de pièces de théâtres de Idris BIZIRAGUTEBA, de son vrai nom Sillas MBONIMANA et les chansons de Cécile KAYIREBWA ; messages de haine à l’égard des Hutu en général et du Président HABYARIMANA en particulier tout au long de la guerre. […].
Pour P. ERNY, la RTLM « répondait par des invectives haineuses aux invectives non moins insupportables de la Radio MUHABURA, contrôlée par le FPR »[7].
« L’ethnisme hutu n’a été la plupart du temps qu’une réaction à l’ethnisme tutsi au Rwanda comme au Burundi. Si on avait laissé la société rwandaise évoluer doucement comme elle l’a fait dans les années 80, on aurait pu espérer qu’en une ou deux générations ce problème s’estompe définitivement »[8]. L’influence néfaste de la radio MUHABURA sur le cours des évènements n’a jamais été prise en considération. Or, la vérité impose d’analyser les messages de ces deux radios pour mieux comprendre tout le contexte et le climat de l’époque.
Le concept « hutu modéré », créé afin de ne pas parler de pro-FPR, a semé la confusion dans l’opinion.
Le général R. DALLAIRE dit à propos d’un des chefs d’un parti d’opposition :
« J’étais assis près de Félicien GATABAZI - Chef du très influent PSD (un parti encore uni), Hutu modéré bien connu du sud et très pro-FPR »[9].
En effet, l’opposition dite « modérée » contre le président HABYARIMANA se distinguait par sa complicité avec le FPR. Les partis d’opposition : MDR, PSD, et PL, n’ont-ils pas publié un communiqué commun de collaboration avec les Représentants du FPR lors de leur rencontre de Bruxelles du 29 mai au 3 juin 1992 ? Certains déclaraient même que le FPR était leur branche armée ! Ils ignoraient que le FPR et ses parrains avaient chacun leur agenda propre et caché. Alors, les « Hutu modéré », c’est quoi au juste ? Des sympathisants, des complices, des collabos, c’était la confusion.
Au sujet du système de quotas, A. VERHAAGEN écrit : « le régime institua un système de quotas, par lequel les différentes composantes de la population accéderaient à l’enseignement et aux emplois publics à concurrence du pourcentage de la population qu’elles représentaient officiellement » (p.33).
Au sujet de la scolarisation en 1958, Pierre ERNY écrit : «… les élèves tutsi, malgré leur faible proportion en regard de la population globale, étaient en très large majorité dans l’enseignement secondaire et monopoliseraient les filières supérieures, dans l’administration publique, l’enseignement et la vie économique, les Tutsi étaient de loin en position dominante »[10].
Effectivement, étant donné le nombre limité de places dans les écoles secondaires, le système de quotas a été une mesure de répartition plus équitable de places disponibles. […].
Quant aux Interahamwe, A. VERHAAGEN dit : « Le 26 août 1991 le régime crée les milices paramilitaires Interahamwe qui seront en fait le bras armé civil du MRND exécutrice de basses œuvres … De décembre 1992 à février 1993, les Interahamwe, qui ont été levés à raison de 200 hommes dans chacune de 150 communes du pays, perpètrent des massacres d’opposants hutu et de Tutsi… » (p.36-37).
Après avoir constaté que l’un des fondateurs de l’organisation est Tutsi, B. LUGAN écrit : « il est donc pour le moins insolite de constater que des Tutsi ont pu avoir de tels rôles essentiels dans la création, l’organisation d’une milice présentée comme ayant préparé et commis le génocide des Tutsi…je suis absolument certain que les Interahamwe étaient commandés à partir du siège de l’Etat major du FPR »[11]
Le fondateur des Interahamwe est en effet un tutsi, A. Gasana qui est devenu Ministre des Affaires étrangères du FPR en 1994. Le Président, R. KAJUGA et 2 vice-présidents des Interahamwe étaient aussi Tutsi, soit 3 tutsi sur 5 responsables des Interahamwe.
Le Parti MRND n’a pas pris l’initiative de créer cette organisation. Il s’agissait d’un projet de jeunes qui ont choisi spontanément leur comité directeur et ont soumis leur projet aux instances du parti MRND. Notons que d’autres organisations de jeunes affiliées aux différents partis, avaient vu le jour avant les Interahamwe: chronologiquement, Abakombozi (les libérateurs) du PSD, JDR (Jeunesse démocrate républicaine), Inkuba (Foudre) du MDR, Jeunesse du PL (en réalité, jeunesse du FPR), Interahamwe du MRND et Impuzamugambi (ceux qui ont un même but) de la CDR.
Fin 1993, après l’assassinat du président Melchior NDADAYE, hutu élu démocratiquement, par la junte militaire tutsi, l’opposition a implosé et une grande partie de celle-ci s’est rapprochée du MRND, après avoir découvert le vrai visage du FPR. Voilà des points importants ignorés par les experts. Cette réalité politique ne peut être niée par personne en particulier les professeurs de l’ULB.
4. Philipe MAHOUX, continue de tromper l’opinion belge à propos de l’existence d’une prétendue préparation de massacres des Tutsi.
Ce Sénateur, note : « ... les autorités belges disposaient d’une série d’informations concordantes qui concernaient, sinon la préparation d’un génocide, du moins l’existence de la préparation de massacres à grande échelle » (p.130).
Il est étonnant d’entendre ce genre de déclaration par un responsable politique, qui est en contradiction avec celle de l’Ambassadeur belge en fonction à Kigali jusqu’en avril 1994. Ce dernier a témoigné devant les assises de Bruxelles, dans le procès du major NTUYAHAGA, en 2007. Il a affirmé qu’il n’y avait pas eu de planification du génocide et que s’il y avait eu un plan, les services de l’ambassade l’auraient su.
Dans les procès du TPIR à Arusha, plusieurs experts s’accordent à dire que c’est le fameux informateur tutsi Jean-Pierre, alias Abubacar TURATSINZE fils de Jussuf UGIRASHEBUJA, alias Kaliyaliya, qui a révélé l’existence d’une planification de génocide des Tutsi au général R. DALLAIRE commandant de la MINUAR. Ce dernier a envoyé ces infos par fax à Maurice BARIL, général canadien, conseiller militaire auprès du Secrétaire général de l’ONU, sans en informer son chef hiérarchique, le Représentant spécial de l’ONU, Mr BOOH-BOOH, ni le colonel Luc MARCHAL, commandant du contingent belge de la MINUAR.
Comme par hasard, ce précieux fax, base de toutes les accusations relatives à la planification du génocide, n’a jamais existé à l’ONU, de même ce tutsi Jean-Pierre infiltré du FPR a mystérieusement disparu.
Selon B. LUGAN, le général R. DALLAIRE et son staff, « ont un contact au mois de janvier 1994 avec un certain Jean Pierre … les Interahamwe seraient à mesure de tuer 1 000 Tutsi toutes les 20 minutes (ou en 20 minutes) ?... le major belge HOCK considérait l’informateur comme étant peu crédible.. »[12].
5. Isabelle DURANT, Sénatrice et Co-Présidente d’Ecolo fait remarquer la partialité de la commission d’enquête parlementaire belge dans la recherche d’informations sur le terrain.
Parlant de cette commission I. DURANT révèle que la commission a cherché des informations uniquement à charge : En 1997 : « Nous avons rencontré nombre d’acteurs, de survivants, de personnes encore menacées et vivant cachées. Nous avons aussi vu les lieux, des ossements, les traces de la barbarie… nous avons discuté des premiers tribunaux de village… A côté de tous les témoignages entendus, ceux du gouvernement de 1994 étaient donc sans appel : aucun des 3 ministres (Premier, Affaires étrangères, Défense) n’a fait part de réels regrets, nuances. Le dossier rwandais ne pouvait les faire tomber ou les ébranler » (p.145.146).
Suite à cette déclaration, on est en droit de se poser des questions sur la véracité de données recueillies à cette époque, étant donné la terreur imposée aux présumés génocidaires. La filtration d’informations, la manipulation, les mensonges du régime FPR ont été démontrés par divers experts et journalistes indépendants.
Ces déclarations ne révèlent-elles pas plutôt que le souci premier de certains membres de la commission était de salir les membres du gouvernement belge de l’époque ? Découvrir la vérité sur la situation réelle au Rwanda passait après la démonstration de la mauvaise gestion de la crise rwandaise par les ministres belges visés. Dans ce cas, il importait pour eux, de démontrer le côté diabolique de l’ancien régime rwandais.
Rappelons que cette commission a refusé d’entendre certains anciens coopérants belges au Rwanda qui pouvaient témoigner sans parti pris. Ceci a été exprimé lors du procès d’assisses des quatre rwandais en 2001.
En matière d’éthique politique, I. DURANT ne devrait pas donner de leçon quand elle dit : « Une responsabilité évidente repose sur le pouvoir au Rwanda qui n’a jamais rien entrepris de significatif pour sortir de l’idéologie ethniste qui a prévalu dans ce pays depuis la fin des années 1950 » (p. 153).
Que dit-elle actuellement à un groupe ethnique minoritaire qui se singularise par un complexe de supériorité pour justifier sa volonté de dominer les autres groupes ?
Doit-il continuer à user de la manipulation, des mensonges, de la terreur, des massacres et autres barbaries pour se maintenir au pouvoir ?
Ce groupe ethnique tutsi peut-il continuer impunément à semer la terreur et à piller les ressources en RDC ? A quel titre s’arroge-t-il le droit de déstabiliser toute une région en y semant la terreur et la désolation ?
L’impossibilité de gérer la question de partage du pouvoir vient de ce dilemme : « la volonté de dominer et la peur d’être dominé ».
Cette sénatrice devrait s’interroger sur la validité des découvertes de cette commission d’enquête et surtout sur le vrai visage du pouvoir du FPR. Sa position de responsable politique impose d’avoir une information correcte sur ce qui se passe dans la région des Grands Lacs. Il faudrait éviter de prendre comme argent comptant des informations partiales sans aucune vérification. C’est ce défaut d’analyse et de parti pris qui continuent à dévaster la région des Grands Lacs.
6. Jean MIKIMBIRI compare le génocide tutsi avec la shoah : une forfaiture historique.
Ce Docteur en philosophie et lettres s’efforce de trouver des similitudes entre le massacre des Tutsi et la shoah tout au long de son article.
Ch.ONANA relève les erreurs d’une telle comparaison : «…c’est Hitler lui-même avec son livre Mein Kampf qui a le plus œuvré à la diffusion de l’idéologie raciste. Au Rwanda, le président HABYARIMANA n’a jamais écrit un texte ni prononcé un seul discours haineux ou discriminatoire …Il est établi que l’Allemagne nazi avait adopté à l’unanimité lors du 7ème congrès annuel du NSDAP en 1935, un arsenal juridique dans le dessein de légitimer et de légaliser l’idéologie raciste (loi de Nuremberg)… Ce type de lois ou d’initiatives étatiques n’a jamais existé au Rwanda avant 1994 … »[13].
Ch. ONANA développe à suffisance d’autres éléments qui montrent que cette comparaison ne peut pas être confirmée par des faits objectifs.
À propos du « Manifeste des Bahutu », J. MUKUMBILI dit :
« En statuant les Tutsi comme une race étrangère au Rwanda au destin inconciliable à celui des Hutu….et delà il faudrait bien envisager ‘la solution finale’ à ce problème » … «Qu’à cela ne tienne, le Manifeste des Bahutu annonce déjà le génocide » (p.69-p.89).
L’auteur se permet des raccourcis historiques erronés, notamment en taxant exclusivement la colonisation d’avoir opposé les Tutsi aux Hutu. Il fait abstraction de l’Institution « Ubuhake » (servage pastoral) qui existait déjà avant la colonisation. Il oublie certains débats au sein du Conseil Supérieur du pays, initiés par la Tutelle belge, qui visaient à réduire les tensions entre des détenteurs du pouvoir, les Tutsi, et leurs subordonnés, les Hutu.
Le « Manifeste des Bahutu » de mars 1957 était une demande d’accès aux droits de l’homme, à la codification de la coutume, à la suppression du servage....
Si les grands Serviteurs du Mwami (Roi) n’avaient répliqué à ce manifeste que le seul lien entre les Tutsi est les Hutu est le servage, le pays aurait connu un meilleur tournant historique. Ce refus de partage du pouvoir a déterminé l’impérative nécessité de changer un tel système politique où le Hutu devenait l’esclave de son maître tutsi.
N’oublions pas les mythes inventés par les Tutsi pour justifier leur droit de supériorité sur les autres groupes ethniques : les Tutsi = « Ibimanuka (les descendus du ciel)… ».
Contrairement à ce que raconte l’auteur, les Tutsi, les Hutu et les Twa n’ont pas d’ancêtre commun. Celui des Hutu est Kanyarwanda ; et celui des Tutsi est Kigwa (« descendu du ciel ») comme le proclame leur mythologie sur l’origine des Tutsi tel que développée par Mgr A. KAGAME, l’historien tutsi et gardien du Code ésotérique (« Umwiru »), dans son ouvrage « Inganji Kalinga »..
Au sujet des ethnies J. MUKIMBIRI écrit encore : « dès à présent, pour les Tutsi du Rwanda, qu’il s’agit d’une redéfinition tributaire d’une anthropologie coloniale qui apparente ou affilie les Tutsi à la race dite hamite, et établit Bantous les Hutu, alors que bantou connote les langues, dont est le Kinyarwanda qui est aussi la langue des Tutsi)…….L’ethnicité et l’histoire attestent la perméabilité de frontières entre les différents statuts si bien que des jumeaux pouvaient être l’un Hutu, l’autre Tutsi » (p. 69-70).
A ce propos, Bernard LUGAN, fait cette mise au point : « Il est essentiel de bien voir qu’au Rwanda et au Burundi, les ancêtres des actuels Tutsi se sont jadis linguistiquement ‘bantuisés’ en adoptant une langue bantu et en perdant l’usage de la leur, qui appartenait au groupe Nil- Sahara »… « Seuls pouvaient devenir tutsi certains Hutu qui s’étaient distingués, notamment au combat, et que le mwami (roi) désirait particulièrement honorer »[14].
L’appartenance ethnique ne se réduit pas au statut social et économique, elle est de naissance et se confirme par un état d’esprit transmis de génération en génération par l’éducation dans un système patriarcal. Il y a donc un groupe ethnique qui se reconnaît Tutsi. D’ailleurs les intellectuels tutsis s’attellent actuellement à la recherche de leur affiliation avec les Juifs par la reine de SABAH. Ils se disent hamites descendants de cet ancêtre par son fils MENELEK qu’elle a eu avec le roi SALOMON.
Pierre ERNY dit : « que dans les milieux tutsi traditionnels, on ait eu une idée très vive de la hiérarchie des races avec droit des uns à dominer les autres est une évidence telle qu’il faudrait être de mauvaise foi pour le nier …Mais je crains que dans le fond, sans évidemment le dire jamais, l’idéologie du FPR reste fondée sur cette idée de supériorité et de droit ‘naturel’ au commandement qui sous-tendait le système monarchique »[15].
Cet écrivain ne s’est pas trompé. Les faits sont là pour démontrer que le régime actuel dominé par la minorité tutsi est discriminatoire et dictatorial.
On naît donc tutsi ou hutu. La preuve incontestable est qu’au Burundi, il n’y a jamais eu de mention ethnique sur les cartes d’identité, mais depuis 1972, les militaires tutsi du Burundi ne tuaient que des Hutu. Comment faisaient-ils pour les identifier ? Chacun connaît ses origines et celles des autres.
7. Louise MUSHIKIWABO traite de négationniste toute personne qui pose des questions sur les massacres commis par le FPR.
Licenciée en langues, Ministre de l’information puis des Affaires étrangères au Rwanda, L. MUSHIKIWABO dit : « La rationalisation négationniste vise à sélectionner des témoignages douteux afin de jeter le discrédit sur tous les témoignages crédibles ou à relever des contradictions au sein d’autres récits, qui sans infirmer le génocide, sont utilisées pour invalider l’ensemble du témoignage » (p .159).
Elle dévoile la pratique du FPR qui consiste à faire des montages de preuves pour camoufler ses crimes. Pourquoi ne peut-on pas mettre en question les témoignages douteux, les mensonges ?
Au sujet de certains témoins, F. REYNTJENS dit : « J’ai également pu mesurer les écueils de la preuve : dans un certain nombre de cas, des témoins ont manifestement menti sous serment, sans que cela ait eu pour eux les conséquences qui s’imposaient »[16].
N’est-ce pas là ce qu’on peut appeler l’incitation aux mensonges et à la délation ? S’acharner à occulter la vérité par des mensonges, des montages de toutes sortes, des emprunts aux génocides arméniens et juifs, est-ce vraiment investiguer sur les faits réels qui se sont déroulés dans le temps et l’espace au Rwanda ?
L. MUSHIKIWABO traite, les utilisateurs des termes, tels que : « génocide rwandais, guerre interethnique, tragédie, autodéfense du ‘peuple hutu’… », de négationnistes. Un débat contradictoire en vue de mieux appréhender le drame rwandais n’est pas autorisé, puisqu’il permettrait de mettre en péril le régime FPR qui trouve son fondement dans le crime et la terreur.
[…]
Personne ne nie le massacre des Tutsi au Rwanda. Pourquoi dès lors occulter d’autres massacres perpétrés par le FPR au Rwanda et en RDC durant la même période, avant et après ?
Dans ce drame, il y a des victimes et des bourreaux dans les deux camps. Pour faire triompher la justice et la vérité, chacun doit dénoncer sans parti pris les déclarations « des blancs et noirs menteurs » qui divisent les communautés par leur racisme.
Combattre la désinformation que l’association IBUKA et les « Blancs menteurs » distillent à l’encan ne peut être considéré comme « négationnisme ». La complaisance et le parti pris sont incompatibles avec la recherche de la vérité.
Martine Syoen,
Présidente de « SOS Rwanda-Burundi asbl »
15/03/2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Pierre PEAN, Noires fureurs, blancs menteurs. Rwanda 1990-1994, Editions Mille et Une Nuit, novembre 2005, p. 264
[2] Colette BRECKMAN, ‘Les nouveaux prédateurs - Politique des puissances occidentales, Paris, Fayard, février 2003, p.19.
[3] Charles ONANA, Ces Tueurs Tutsi au cœur de la tragédie congolaise », Paris, Editions Duboris, avril 2009, p.194-195.
[4] Serge DESOUTER et Filip REYNTJENS, Rwanda, Violation des droits de l’homme par le FPR,, 1ère partie. Working Paper, Anvers, juin 1995, p.10
[5] Pierre Péan, op.cit, p. p.268
[6] Bernard LUGAN, Rwanda - Contre-enquête sur le génocide, Editions Privat, février 2007, p. 120
[7] Pierre ERNY, Rwanda 1994, Paris, Editions, L’Harmattan, 1944, p.104.
[8] Pierre Erny, op.cit., p.228.
[9] Roméo DALLAIRE, J’ai serré la main du diable -– La faillite de l’humanitaire, Libre expression, Outremont Québec, octobre, 2003. p.247.
[10] Pierre Erny op.cit., p.82.
[11] B. LUGAN, op.cit., p.56-57.
[12] B. LUGAN, op.cit., p.158-163.
[13] Charles ONANA, op.cit., p.280-283.
[14] Bernard LUGAN, op.cit., p.23.
[15] Pierre ERNY, op. cit., p.39.
[16] Filip REYNTJENS, Les risques du métier - Trois décennies comme chercheur-acteur au Rwanda et au Burundi, Paris, Editions L’Harmattan, janvier 2009, p.99.
Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation Calls for Democracy in Rwanda.
Hotel Rwanda Ruesesabagina Foundation
Press Release
For Immediate Release: March 12, 2010
http://hrrfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/HRRFcondemnselectionviolence.pdf
Contact: Kitty Kurth
Phone: 312-617-7288
Re: The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) Condemns Election Related Violence in Rwanda - Calls for Real Democratic Activity to be Allowed.
The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) deplores the violence occurring over the last several weeks in Kigali, Rwanda. As an organization focusing on the peaceful reconciliation of ongoing conflicts in the Great Lakes Region, HRRF joins with other international voices to call for an end to the violence and human rights abuses.
HRRF Founder and President Paul Rusesabagina said, “We are always saddened by injury and loss of life on all sides. We are particularly upset because THIS violence seems to be linked to the desire of Rwandans for free and fair and real democratic elections. The Rwandan people need the international community to pay attention to these elections, and to condemn the actions of all people, including those affiliated with the government, who are trying to disrupt the election process.”
With the election season underway in Rwanda leading up to the August, 2010 presidential vote, it is increasingly clear that the well-reported suppression of dissent by the Rwandan government is now bubbling up into violence. Various reports have blamed this on internal struggles between factions in the RPF regime, on attempts by the government to discredit opposition parties, and on outside groups. The complete lack of openness in Rwandan society makes the actual culprit very difficult to determine. Unfortunately the current government is just as likely to scapegoat a political foe as they are to seek real justice.
HRRF echoes the call of Amnesty International for the safeguarding of human rights during the election season in its press release entitled: Rwanda: Intimidation of opposition parties must end (http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/rwanda-intimidation-opposition-parties-must-end-20100218).
And, HRRF applauds Human Rights Watch call for an end to election related attacks on opposition (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/02/10/rwanda-end-attacks-opposition-parties).
Further, HRRF agrees with Senator Russ Feingold’s call for increased democracy in Africa. (http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=322668)
Rusesabagina concluded, “The HRRF continues to work for truth, equal rights, equal justice and eventually reconciliation in Rwanda and the region. Our goal is to prevent the recurrence of the horrific violence that the world saw during the genocide in 1994. It is imperative that the world take notice of the political, social and humanitarian crisis currently facing Rwanda and the region. Without international attention and support to find peace and reconciliation, events like these may be an early sign that we are on the road to another terrible outbreak of mass violence.”
Press Release
For Immediate Release: March 12, 2010
http://hrrfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/HRRFcondemnselectionviolence.pdf
Contact: Kitty Kurth
Phone: 312-617-7288
Re: The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) Condemns Election Related Violence in Rwanda - Calls for Real Democratic Activity to be Allowed.
The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) deplores the violence occurring over the last several weeks in Kigali, Rwanda. As an organization focusing on the peaceful reconciliation of ongoing conflicts in the Great Lakes Region, HRRF joins with other international voices to call for an end to the violence and human rights abuses.
HRRF Founder and President Paul Rusesabagina said, “We are always saddened by injury and loss of life on all sides. We are particularly upset because THIS violence seems to be linked to the desire of Rwandans for free and fair and real democratic elections. The Rwandan people need the international community to pay attention to these elections, and to condemn the actions of all people, including those affiliated with the government, who are trying to disrupt the election process.”
With the election season underway in Rwanda leading up to the August, 2010 presidential vote, it is increasingly clear that the well-reported suppression of dissent by the Rwandan government is now bubbling up into violence. Various reports have blamed this on internal struggles between factions in the RPF regime, on attempts by the government to discredit opposition parties, and on outside groups. The complete lack of openness in Rwandan society makes the actual culprit very difficult to determine. Unfortunately the current government is just as likely to scapegoat a political foe as they are to seek real justice.
HRRF echoes the call of Amnesty International for the safeguarding of human rights during the election season in its press release entitled: Rwanda: Intimidation of opposition parties must end (http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/rwanda-intimidation-opposition-parties-must-end-20100218).
And, HRRF applauds Human Rights Watch call for an end to election related attacks on opposition (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/02/10/rwanda-end-attacks-opposition-parties).
Further, HRRF agrees with Senator Russ Feingold’s call for increased democracy in Africa. (http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=322668)
Rusesabagina concluded, “The HRRF continues to work for truth, equal rights, equal justice and eventually reconciliation in Rwanda and the region. Our goal is to prevent the recurrence of the horrific violence that the world saw during the genocide in 1994. It is imperative that the world take notice of the political, social and humanitarian crisis currently facing Rwanda and the region. Without international attention and support to find peace and reconciliation, events like these may be an early sign that we are on the road to another terrible outbreak of mass violence.”
UPC-Besigye-Otunnu ticket expected.
The Observer
14 March 2010
By Michael Mubangizi
The defeat of Jimmy Akena in the UPC presidency race Sunday morning marks the first time in history that someone, outside the Obote family, leads the party. Olara Otunnu defeated Jimmy Akena by a wide margin. He got 623 votes, followed by Akena who polled 180 votes. None of the remaining six candidates got more than 40 votes.
At national level, analysts believe that because Otunnu is pro-coalition, his victory will galvanise those who believe in a joint bid against President Museveni in the 2011 elections.
In fact, some opposition politicians are preparing for the possibility of a joint ticket between FDC leader, Dr. Kizza Besigye and Olara Otunnu, where one is presidential candidate and the other, his running-mate.
These two arguably most prominent opposition politicians in Uganda today are now at the helm of the two strongest parties in the Inter-Party Coalition, which also has CP and JEEMA.
With the Democratic Party expected to stay out of this arrangement, Besigye and Otunnu will likely lead the way. While Norbert Mao's election as DP President General last month was seen as likely to jeopardise FDC leader Kizza Besigye's block vote in Mao's homeland of Acholi, Otunnu's emergence now changes the political landscape.
Being from Acholi himself, joining forces with Besigye who is already popular there would consolidate the vote, according to an FDC leader who declined to be named.
Besides, the fact that one is from Western and the other Northern Uganda, would make it an interesting joint bid, analysts say.
FDC Spokesman, Wafula Oguttu, told The Observer that his party is happy about Otunnu's election.
"We are excited about his election. Olara supports the IPC. He wants to see political parties working together," he said by phone yesterday. Wafula added: "He is a big asset. He brings a wealth of experience and international connections."
Wafula, however, noted that the IPC Protocol has no provision for a running mate. He nevertheless said that after the selection of IPC flag bearer, all the party presidents subscribing to the IPC will join the campaign trail and solicit votes for the IPC candidate. Thus Otunnu and Besigye may not run as flag bearer and running mate, but their joint campaign might have the same effect.
HAIR-RAISING MOMENTS
The conference at Namboole Stadium, attended by about 1,010 delegates, passed off largely peacefully although there were some hair-raising moments. For instance, three lists of delegates were tabled and for about three hours, officials could not agree on the genuine list.
Otunnu, who appeared to have been more aggrieved, camped outside the conference hall and only re-entered after he was sure that the mess had been sorted out.
One of the actions taken was the suspension of Margaret Kirunda, one of the UPC electoral commissioners, who was allegedly found smuggling unauthorised delegates onto the list.
The conference kicked off at 2p.m. In her farewell speech, outgoing party president, Miria Obote, said she was retiring from UPC leadership but not from politics. She said she would continue to play a key role in UPC politics as an advisor.
In his campaign speech, Otunnu said that he would work towards healing the poor relationship between UPC and the Buganda establishment at Mengo. The relationship soured in 1966 after Apolo Milton Obote, the then Prime Minister, ordered the Army to attack the Kabaka's palace at Lubiri after politically falling out with Edward Mutesa II who was then ceremonial president.
Kabaka Edward Mutesa II narrowly survived death and fled to England where he died three years later. Otunnu also talked of reconciling and rebuilding the party, which had of recent been eaten up by internal wrangles.
He said he would reach out to former UPC members who defected to other parties or have resigned from party affairs. As part of his harvest, after being sworn in, he introduced former External Security Organisation chief, David Pulkol, who told delegates shortly after 3a.m. on Sunday morning that he had joined UPC.
NOT EASY
Otunnu's win, while expected, did not come easy. He was constantly confronted with allegations that he participated in the 1985 coup that deposed Obote for the second time. Also, in a culturally conservative society, the fact that at 60 he is not married raised eyebrows and wherever he went, he appeared hard pressed to explain that he was still looking for a suitor.
More than any other candidate, Otunnu invested a lot of time traversing the country and meeting delegates. By January, he had set up a campaign task force, which no other candidate had done.
At Namboole, most candidates appeared to be hitting at him. Yona Kanyomozi, for instance, said that delegates should vote for him because had stayed in Uganda and suffered for the sake of the party, while Henry Mayega caused laughter when he said during the introduction that he is not searching for a wife.
Joseph Ochieno was not impressed that Patrick Mwondha had stood down in favour of Otunnu. He also claimed to be more experienced at the politics of diplomacy.
As for his main challenger, Akena, the day ended like it started--in agony.
First, he had to fend off allegations that he bribed some delegates. In his speech, he told the delegates not to elect him because he is Obote's son but to look at his credentials as any other UPC member who has offered him/herself for leadership.
He said that if elected, he would recruit new members and embark on mass mobilisation. Aaron Mukwaya, a senior lecturer in Makerere University's Political Science department, says that an Akena's win would have led to UPC's collapse as many of its members would have seen it as a family affair.
Akena is the only Obote child who has opted for a political career like his father. Obote led UPC since inception in 1959 until his demise in October 2005. He was succeeded by his wife, Miria.
MOF POLITICS
Many analysts say that for the Obote family, the UPC presidency is more than politics; it is also economics in the sense that the family wants to control Milton Obote Foundation (MOF), the party's successful business entity.
Miria Obote contested for the MOF presidency early this year, but lost to Ignatius Barungi. She was instead named "governor" in the business founded by her late husband.
Her son, Jimmy Akena, had also been nominated governor to replace his father but was voted out in an election he described as "an internal coup."
MOF and UPC have had a history of disagreements over the former's ownership and management of properties that include Uganda House, Ugationers, Uganda Press Trust, and land in Kampala, Mbale, Bunyole and Nakasongola.
The UPC argues that MOF, formed in the 1960s, is an economic arm of the party, but this is contested by MOF, which at one time wanted to evict UPC from Uganda House.
In May 2009, the party withdrew a case in court in which UPC wanted to be declared an equitable owner of all MOF properties. Otunnu's win is likely to bridge the UPC- MOF rift.
Although MOF didn't endorse any candidate for the party's top leadership, most of its members individually supported Otunnu. These include Peter Walubiri (Chairman, MOF Board of Trustees), Prof. Patrick Rubaihayo, Livingstone Okello Okello (Chua MP) and Eng. Chris Opio, all MOF governors.
ENVIABLE CV
Akena's loss also brings to Uganda's political scene Otunnu, a man with an enviable CV.
Otunnu has previously served as UN Under-Secretary General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict (1998 - 2005), President, International Peace Academy (1990 - 1998), President UN Security Council (1981), and Uganda's Representative to the UN Security Council (1981 - 1982).
Other high profile positions he has held include chairman, UN Commission on Human Rights (1983 - 1984), Uganda's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN (1980-1985).
IPC ALLY
But more importantly, in Otunnu the Inter-Party Coalition (IPC) has an ally who will make its work easier. Since his return, Otunnu has preached unity of all opposition parties.
He told the DP recent delegate's conference in Mbale, "We desire a strong vibrant DP which is good for democracy. So my prayer is that you take a decision to join IPC. Let's fight the enemy while each party retains its sovereignty, core values."
A pro-IPC Otunnu is likely to influence some UPC members who still have doubts about the party's participation in the coalition effort. The out-going Head of Makerere University's Political Science Department, Assoc. Prof. Yasin Olum, told The Observer a day before the delegates' conference that Akena's win at this material time would be bad for the party and the country.
"Tomorrow Museveni would justify having his son succeed him as president or NRM leader, saying it has happened in UPC," Olum pointed out.
Aaron Mukwaya had also told The Observer a day before the delegate's conference that both Akena and Otunnu offer limited choice to UPC.
"Neither of the two understands local politics, and more so NRM politics which they seek to oust," he said, referring to their long stay abroad. Akena spent 29 years in Tanzania and Zambia exile with his deceased father, and returned home only five years ago. Otunnu returned to Uganda in August 2009 after more than 20 years abroad.
In fact, some candidates indirectly campaigned against Otunnu and Akena on account of their long stay abroad.
"Vote for Kanyomozi because I have been with you, lived with you, shared all the grief and happiness with you," Kanyomozi told delegates.
"Some people have two countries - Uganda and another in Europe. We don't need such leaders who would go to foreign countries when things get worse here," another presidential aspirant, Sospater Akwenyu, told delegates.
AKENA'S CHANCE
According to Makerere University's Mukwaya, Akena's loss gives the Obote family an opportunity to re-enter UPC politics with more legitimacy at a later stage. Unlike Otunnu who is 60, Akena is in his 40s and could well lead UPC in future.
Indeed Akena appeared to be aware of this possibility as he conducted himself maturely after the election. He conceded defeat and agreed to work with Otunnu in rebuilding the party.
Chris Opio, a MOF governor, told The Observer that Akena's loss shouldn't end the Obote family's role in UPC affairs.
"I hope the family will continue to be treated as part and parcel of UPC and that they won't be delineated from the party," he said.
He added that Miria Obote is currently a MOF governor while Akena is a MOF member.
"Every three years MOF renews its leadership, so they still have an opportunity to contest for MOF or even UPC leadership."
The current term of MOF leadership expires in February 2011 when new leaders will be elected.
Walubiri, another MOF member, told The Observer that Akena's loss has ended the "wrong perception" that UPC is an Obote family affair.
"It means that the Obote family will be like ordinary UPC members; enjoying equal status not a special status by virtue of birth," he said.
14 March 2010
By Michael Mubangizi
The defeat of Jimmy Akena in the UPC presidency race Sunday morning marks the first time in history that someone, outside the Obote family, leads the party. Olara Otunnu defeated Jimmy Akena by a wide margin. He got 623 votes, followed by Akena who polled 180 votes. None of the remaining six candidates got more than 40 votes.
At national level, analysts believe that because Otunnu is pro-coalition, his victory will galvanise those who believe in a joint bid against President Museveni in the 2011 elections.
In fact, some opposition politicians are preparing for the possibility of a joint ticket between FDC leader, Dr. Kizza Besigye and Olara Otunnu, where one is presidential candidate and the other, his running-mate.
These two arguably most prominent opposition politicians in Uganda today are now at the helm of the two strongest parties in the Inter-Party Coalition, which also has CP and JEEMA.
With the Democratic Party expected to stay out of this arrangement, Besigye and Otunnu will likely lead the way. While Norbert Mao's election as DP President General last month was seen as likely to jeopardise FDC leader Kizza Besigye's block vote in Mao's homeland of Acholi, Otunnu's emergence now changes the political landscape.
Being from Acholi himself, joining forces with Besigye who is already popular there would consolidate the vote, according to an FDC leader who declined to be named.
Besides, the fact that one is from Western and the other Northern Uganda, would make it an interesting joint bid, analysts say.
FDC Spokesman, Wafula Oguttu, told The Observer that his party is happy about Otunnu's election.
"We are excited about his election. Olara supports the IPC. He wants to see political parties working together," he said by phone yesterday. Wafula added: "He is a big asset. He brings a wealth of experience and international connections."
Wafula, however, noted that the IPC Protocol has no provision for a running mate. He nevertheless said that after the selection of IPC flag bearer, all the party presidents subscribing to the IPC will join the campaign trail and solicit votes for the IPC candidate. Thus Otunnu and Besigye may not run as flag bearer and running mate, but their joint campaign might have the same effect.
HAIR-RAISING MOMENTS
The conference at Namboole Stadium, attended by about 1,010 delegates, passed off largely peacefully although there were some hair-raising moments. For instance, three lists of delegates were tabled and for about three hours, officials could not agree on the genuine list.
Otunnu, who appeared to have been more aggrieved, camped outside the conference hall and only re-entered after he was sure that the mess had been sorted out.
One of the actions taken was the suspension of Margaret Kirunda, one of the UPC electoral commissioners, who was allegedly found smuggling unauthorised delegates onto the list.
The conference kicked off at 2p.m. In her farewell speech, outgoing party president, Miria Obote, said she was retiring from UPC leadership but not from politics. She said she would continue to play a key role in UPC politics as an advisor.
In his campaign speech, Otunnu said that he would work towards healing the poor relationship between UPC and the Buganda establishment at Mengo. The relationship soured in 1966 after Apolo Milton Obote, the then Prime Minister, ordered the Army to attack the Kabaka's palace at Lubiri after politically falling out with Edward Mutesa II who was then ceremonial president.
Kabaka Edward Mutesa II narrowly survived death and fled to England where he died three years later. Otunnu also talked of reconciling and rebuilding the party, which had of recent been eaten up by internal wrangles.
He said he would reach out to former UPC members who defected to other parties or have resigned from party affairs. As part of his harvest, after being sworn in, he introduced former External Security Organisation chief, David Pulkol, who told delegates shortly after 3a.m. on Sunday morning that he had joined UPC.
NOT EASY
Otunnu's win, while expected, did not come easy. He was constantly confronted with allegations that he participated in the 1985 coup that deposed Obote for the second time. Also, in a culturally conservative society, the fact that at 60 he is not married raised eyebrows and wherever he went, he appeared hard pressed to explain that he was still looking for a suitor.
More than any other candidate, Otunnu invested a lot of time traversing the country and meeting delegates. By January, he had set up a campaign task force, which no other candidate had done.
At Namboole, most candidates appeared to be hitting at him. Yona Kanyomozi, for instance, said that delegates should vote for him because had stayed in Uganda and suffered for the sake of the party, while Henry Mayega caused laughter when he said during the introduction that he is not searching for a wife.
Joseph Ochieno was not impressed that Patrick Mwondha had stood down in favour of Otunnu. He also claimed to be more experienced at the politics of diplomacy.
As for his main challenger, Akena, the day ended like it started--in agony.
First, he had to fend off allegations that he bribed some delegates. In his speech, he told the delegates not to elect him because he is Obote's son but to look at his credentials as any other UPC member who has offered him/herself for leadership.
He said that if elected, he would recruit new members and embark on mass mobilisation. Aaron Mukwaya, a senior lecturer in Makerere University's Political Science department, says that an Akena's win would have led to UPC's collapse as many of its members would have seen it as a family affair.
Akena is the only Obote child who has opted for a political career like his father. Obote led UPC since inception in 1959 until his demise in October 2005. He was succeeded by his wife, Miria.
MOF POLITICS
Many analysts say that for the Obote family, the UPC presidency is more than politics; it is also economics in the sense that the family wants to control Milton Obote Foundation (MOF), the party's successful business entity.
Miria Obote contested for the MOF presidency early this year, but lost to Ignatius Barungi. She was instead named "governor" in the business founded by her late husband.
Her son, Jimmy Akena, had also been nominated governor to replace his father but was voted out in an election he described as "an internal coup."
MOF and UPC have had a history of disagreements over the former's ownership and management of properties that include Uganda House, Ugationers, Uganda Press Trust, and land in Kampala, Mbale, Bunyole and Nakasongola.
The UPC argues that MOF, formed in the 1960s, is an economic arm of the party, but this is contested by MOF, which at one time wanted to evict UPC from Uganda House.
In May 2009, the party withdrew a case in court in which UPC wanted to be declared an equitable owner of all MOF properties. Otunnu's win is likely to bridge the UPC- MOF rift.
Although MOF didn't endorse any candidate for the party's top leadership, most of its members individually supported Otunnu. These include Peter Walubiri (Chairman, MOF Board of Trustees), Prof. Patrick Rubaihayo, Livingstone Okello Okello (Chua MP) and Eng. Chris Opio, all MOF governors.
ENVIABLE CV
Akena's loss also brings to Uganda's political scene Otunnu, a man with an enviable CV.
Otunnu has previously served as UN Under-Secretary General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict (1998 - 2005), President, International Peace Academy (1990 - 1998), President UN Security Council (1981), and Uganda's Representative to the UN Security Council (1981 - 1982).
Other high profile positions he has held include chairman, UN Commission on Human Rights (1983 - 1984), Uganda's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN (1980-1985).
IPC ALLY
But more importantly, in Otunnu the Inter-Party Coalition (IPC) has an ally who will make its work easier. Since his return, Otunnu has preached unity of all opposition parties.
He told the DP recent delegate's conference in Mbale, "We desire a strong vibrant DP which is good for democracy. So my prayer is that you take a decision to join IPC. Let's fight the enemy while each party retains its sovereignty, core values."
A pro-IPC Otunnu is likely to influence some UPC members who still have doubts about the party's participation in the coalition effort. The out-going Head of Makerere University's Political Science Department, Assoc. Prof. Yasin Olum, told The Observer a day before the delegates' conference that Akena's win at this material time would be bad for the party and the country.
"Tomorrow Museveni would justify having his son succeed him as president or NRM leader, saying it has happened in UPC," Olum pointed out.
Aaron Mukwaya had also told The Observer a day before the delegate's conference that both Akena and Otunnu offer limited choice to UPC.
"Neither of the two understands local politics, and more so NRM politics which they seek to oust," he said, referring to their long stay abroad. Akena spent 29 years in Tanzania and Zambia exile with his deceased father, and returned home only five years ago. Otunnu returned to Uganda in August 2009 after more than 20 years abroad.
In fact, some candidates indirectly campaigned against Otunnu and Akena on account of their long stay abroad.
"Vote for Kanyomozi because I have been with you, lived with you, shared all the grief and happiness with you," Kanyomozi told delegates.
"Some people have two countries - Uganda and another in Europe. We don't need such leaders who would go to foreign countries when things get worse here," another presidential aspirant, Sospater Akwenyu, told delegates.
AKENA'S CHANCE
According to Makerere University's Mukwaya, Akena's loss gives the Obote family an opportunity to re-enter UPC politics with more legitimacy at a later stage. Unlike Otunnu who is 60, Akena is in his 40s and could well lead UPC in future.
Indeed Akena appeared to be aware of this possibility as he conducted himself maturely after the election. He conceded defeat and agreed to work with Otunnu in rebuilding the party.
Chris Opio, a MOF governor, told The Observer that Akena's loss shouldn't end the Obote family's role in UPC affairs.
"I hope the family will continue to be treated as part and parcel of UPC and that they won't be delineated from the party," he said.
He added that Miria Obote is currently a MOF governor while Akena is a MOF member.
"Every three years MOF renews its leadership, so they still have an opportunity to contest for MOF or even UPC leadership."
The current term of MOF leadership expires in February 2011 when new leaders will be elected.
Walubiri, another MOF member, told The Observer that Akena's loss has ended the "wrong perception" that UPC is an Obote family affair.
"It means that the Obote family will be like ordinary UPC members; enjoying equal status not a special status by virtue of birth," he said.
The ones that got left behind in Kigali's demolished shantytown.
France 24
12 March 2010
http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20100312-ones-got-left-behind-kigali-demolished-shantytown-expropriation-kiyovu
Editor's Note: I had the opportunity to visit and hang around one of these shanty towns at the end of June 2006 when I was in Kigali. I had no idea the government had destroyed these areas located towards the bottom of the hills. All the waste from the storm and sewage drains at the top of the hill gets dumped on these shanty town areas. The people living there had almost nothing.
In the summer of 2008, the Rwandan authorities bought up and bulldozed the capital's remaining city-centre slum, which sat right next to the "rich town". Last week, one of our Observers there went to photograph the deserted area. What he found, was a group of families, still waiting to be compensated and moved out. Due to heavy rain, their homes have been destroyed, but they're still living in them. The authorities tell them simply "to wait".
Kigali's central district of Kiyovu was, until three years ago, spilt in two. On the upper side, "Rich Kiyovu" - home to government officials, grand hotels and international schools. Lying directly below it, "poor Kiyovu" - home to the most impoverished of the Rwandan capital, a patchwork of concrete shacks and mud huts.
In May 2007, the Mayor of Kigali, Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, announced the launch of an expropriation scheme which would see the homes of poor Kiyovu demolished and replaced with upmarket apartments. Depending on the material and size of their home, residents were offered up to 3.5 million Rwandan Francs (€4,450) in compensation.
After claims from residents that bulldozers were arriving without warning to demolish homes and that the compensation given was not enough, the mayor responded in July 2008 by calling on "Rwandans who love their country to embrace positive change".
Janvier Ruhigisha is an IT technician and amateur photographer from Kigali. He went to "poor Kiyovu" district to see what was left of the shantytown (it has yet to be redeveloped).
The authorities expropriated poor Kiyovu's inhabitants in order to place them in better housing, but also so they could build fashionable new apartments on the former shantytown. The families were moved to houses which aren't central and are expensive. Although they're allowed to pay in instalments, the interest is high [14% over a 20 year period].
For the people left behind however, who I came across when I went to photograph the area, the situation is impossible. A recent bout of heavy rain has completely destroyed their homes. To rebuild them however, they need planning permission from the local authorities. Now seeing as they signed their homes over to the local authorities two years ago, they are not allowed this permission, because the properties no longer belong to them! They are constantly asking the authorities when they will receive the money to move out, but the response is always the same: "soon, be patient". They're worried they'll be there so long that the state will forget all about them. The family in the photos below told me they would have to move to relatives' homes soon, but they're worried that if they do that, then the government won't give them any compensation money at all."
Maurice, who runs the blog "Mostly Maurice", is an expat living in Kigali. He followed the destruction of "poor Kiyuvo" through friends who lived there.
The government actually ended up compensating everyone who was properly expropriated from that particular site. People who took the government to court ended up getting the higher compensation demanded. My friend K (name changed), a musician who lived in Poor Kiyovu, won his court case and received a higher price that he was looking for. The last I heard he was staying with relatives and still looking for a place.
I was not expecting the scheme to be fair, as the Rwandan government has a poor reputation for fair expropriation schemes. However, in this particular case, it seems that the City of Kigali was acting somewhat independently of the presidency, and that there was a sincere recognition that mistakes were made. However, I also feel that there is a larger question here, regarding to whether the central city areas should be cleared of all low-income residential areas.
Incidentally, the area pictured [seen in 'after demolition'] has not yet been built on. Presumably because no developer has been found..."
12 March 2010
http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20100312-ones-got-left-behind-kigali-demolished-shantytown-expropriation-kiyovu
Editor's Note: I had the opportunity to visit and hang around one of these shanty towns at the end of June 2006 when I was in Kigali. I had no idea the government had destroyed these areas located towards the bottom of the hills. All the waste from the storm and sewage drains at the top of the hill gets dumped on these shanty town areas. The people living there had almost nothing.
In the summer of 2008, the Rwandan authorities bought up and bulldozed the capital's remaining city-centre slum, which sat right next to the "rich town". Last week, one of our Observers there went to photograph the deserted area. What he found, was a group of families, still waiting to be compensated and moved out. Due to heavy rain, their homes have been destroyed, but they're still living in them. The authorities tell them simply "to wait".
Kigali's central district of Kiyovu was, until three years ago, spilt in two. On the upper side, "Rich Kiyovu" - home to government officials, grand hotels and international schools. Lying directly below it, "poor Kiyovu" - home to the most impoverished of the Rwandan capital, a patchwork of concrete shacks and mud huts.
In May 2007, the Mayor of Kigali, Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, announced the launch of an expropriation scheme which would see the homes of poor Kiyovu demolished and replaced with upmarket apartments. Depending on the material and size of their home, residents were offered up to 3.5 million Rwandan Francs (€4,450) in compensation.
After claims from residents that bulldozers were arriving without warning to demolish homes and that the compensation given was not enough, the mayor responded in July 2008 by calling on "Rwandans who love their country to embrace positive change".
Janvier Ruhigisha is an IT technician and amateur photographer from Kigali. He went to "poor Kiyovu" district to see what was left of the shantytown (it has yet to be redeveloped).
The authorities expropriated poor Kiyovu's inhabitants in order to place them in better housing, but also so they could build fashionable new apartments on the former shantytown. The families were moved to houses which aren't central and are expensive. Although they're allowed to pay in instalments, the interest is high [14% over a 20 year period].
For the people left behind however, who I came across when I went to photograph the area, the situation is impossible. A recent bout of heavy rain has completely destroyed their homes. To rebuild them however, they need planning permission from the local authorities. Now seeing as they signed their homes over to the local authorities two years ago, they are not allowed this permission, because the properties no longer belong to them! They are constantly asking the authorities when they will receive the money to move out, but the response is always the same: "soon, be patient". They're worried they'll be there so long that the state will forget all about them. The family in the photos below told me they would have to move to relatives' homes soon, but they're worried that if they do that, then the government won't give them any compensation money at all."
Maurice, who runs the blog "Mostly Maurice", is an expat living in Kigali. He followed the destruction of "poor Kiyuvo" through friends who lived there.
The government actually ended up compensating everyone who was properly expropriated from that particular site. People who took the government to court ended up getting the higher compensation demanded. My friend K (name changed), a musician who lived in Poor Kiyovu, won his court case and received a higher price that he was looking for. The last I heard he was staying with relatives and still looking for a place.
I was not expecting the scheme to be fair, as the Rwandan government has a poor reputation for fair expropriation schemes. However, in this particular case, it seems that the City of Kigali was acting somewhat independently of the presidency, and that there was a sincere recognition that mistakes were made. However, I also feel that there is a larger question here, regarding to whether the central city areas should be cleared of all low-income residential areas.
Incidentally, the area pictured [seen in 'after demolition'] has not yet been built on. Presumably because no developer has been found..."
Bol Deng Kot Biemnon county assassinated by uniformed men in Unity state.
Sudan Tribune
15 March 2010
Honorable Bol Deng Kot was slain by unknown uniformed men on Wednesday, March 10, resulting in condemnation by authorities and the citizenry of Biemnon county of the southern state of Unity.
Honorable Bol Deng Kot was a member of parliament in the regional legislative assembly in Juba, representing Biemnom constituency as a member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.
During the selection and endorsement process of official party nominees in January 2010, Hon. Bol Deng Kot’s name never appeared though reportedly he had been selected by the state electoral college.
Without the endorsement of the SPLM Political Bureau, he chose to stand as an independent candidate. But his popularity in the area compelled SPLM leadership to promise him a parliamentary seat from among the 40 seats allocated to SPLM after the latest negotiations with the ruling National Congress Party.
Last Wednesday at 2 a.m., a group of armed men allegedly entered his accommodation at Jebel Kunjur, west of Juba town, fired bullets indiscriminately to scare family members and relatives living in the same compound and forcefully made their way into his room.
According to his wife, five strong armed men in military uniforms with AKM rifles and pistols wrapped her up and muzzled her mouth to stop her from making loud noise. "They rushed straight into our bed and started seeking where my husband was on the bed," she recalled.
She said she was forcefully removed from her husband. "I was removed and thrown away by two men holding my throat and mouth tightly," she said. "I tried to cry but could not as my throat and mouth were tightly held by two strong men while three others were wrestling with him."
Then they shot her husband to death.
Others gunmen were said to be outside the house. All the family members and relatives including the brother of the MP were confined to their living rooms as they had no guns. The group left and were never traced as they vanished into the mountains.
The government is quiet about whether it is launching any investigation procedures. Relatives say they brought Bol Deng Kot’s body to Bentiu awaiting transportation to his village of birth for burial.
15 March 2010
Honorable Bol Deng Kot was slain by unknown uniformed men on Wednesday, March 10, resulting in condemnation by authorities and the citizenry of Biemnon county of the southern state of Unity.
Honorable Bol Deng Kot was a member of parliament in the regional legislative assembly in Juba, representing Biemnom constituency as a member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.
During the selection and endorsement process of official party nominees in January 2010, Hon. Bol Deng Kot’s name never appeared though reportedly he had been selected by the state electoral college.
Without the endorsement of the SPLM Political Bureau, he chose to stand as an independent candidate. But his popularity in the area compelled SPLM leadership to promise him a parliamentary seat from among the 40 seats allocated to SPLM after the latest negotiations with the ruling National Congress Party.
Last Wednesday at 2 a.m., a group of armed men allegedly entered his accommodation at Jebel Kunjur, west of Juba town, fired bullets indiscriminately to scare family members and relatives living in the same compound and forcefully made their way into his room.
According to his wife, five strong armed men in military uniforms with AKM rifles and pistols wrapped her up and muzzled her mouth to stop her from making loud noise. "They rushed straight into our bed and started seeking where my husband was on the bed," she recalled.
She said she was forcefully removed from her husband. "I was removed and thrown away by two men holding my throat and mouth tightly," she said. "I tried to cry but could not as my throat and mouth were tightly held by two strong men while three others were wrestling with him."
Then they shot her husband to death.
Others gunmen were said to be outside the house. All the family members and relatives including the brother of the MP were confined to their living rooms as they had no guns. The group left and were never traced as they vanished into the mountains.
The government is quiet about whether it is launching any investigation procedures. Relatives say they brought Bol Deng Kot’s body to Bentiu awaiting transportation to his village of birth for burial.
Lam Akol launches Juba campaign.
Reuters
14 March 2010
Lam Akol, the sole challenger to south Sudan's incumbent president Salva Kiir, launched his campaign in the region's capital Saturday, promising an end to corruption if he wins April's election.
"The (southern) government has failed," said Akol speaking in a local Arabic dialect in the south's capital Juba.
"Corruption has defeated people in the government. That is why it needs new people," he told a small crowd.
April's presidential and legislative elections, Sudan's first multi-party polls in 24 years, will be scrutinized especially in the south because many analysts believe the south will become Africa's newest nation state in 2011.
Akol made waves when he split from the south's ex-rebel and dominant Sudan People's Liberation Movement last year. Akol, who was the SPLM foreign minister, said he formed his own party because of mismanagement in the SPLM-dominated government created after a 2005 north-south peace deal.
The 22-year north-south war killed some 2 million people and displaced another 4 million from their homes. Fought over religious and political differences, it also saw much fracturing, often along tribal lines, within the south.
Earlier this year Akol said if southerners voted for separation in a January referendum on independence it would be suicide because the semi-autonomous government was so weak.
Tensions between Akol and the SPLM remain and Charles Kisanga, secretary-general of Akol's party the SPLM-DC, told the crowd that four members of the party had been in prison for more than seven months without charge.
"We have been faced with unconstitutional bans and threats against our members," he said.
Akol is based in Khartoum and has openly said he is supporting the SPLM's former foe, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, for the national presidency.
Observers in the south view Akol's chances of beating Salva Kiir as slim.
His anti-corruption stand may draw some support from southern Sudanese who have seen much of the aid and oil money promised to rebuild their war-ravaged infra structure pocketed by corrupt officials.
A handful of serious graft cases, some acknowledged by the government, have raised their heads in the past five years but no official has been jailed.
Akol himself is a contentious figure. In 1991 he first split from the southern insurgency movement saying it was undemocratic and formed a separate armed group. A few years later he signed a peace deal with the north before rejoining the SPLM.
(Reporting by Skye Wheeler; Editing by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Matthew Jones)
14 March 2010
Lam Akol, the sole challenger to south Sudan's incumbent president Salva Kiir, launched his campaign in the region's capital Saturday, promising an end to corruption if he wins April's election.
"The (southern) government has failed," said Akol speaking in a local Arabic dialect in the south's capital Juba.
"Corruption has defeated people in the government. That is why it needs new people," he told a small crowd.
April's presidential and legislative elections, Sudan's first multi-party polls in 24 years, will be scrutinized especially in the south because many analysts believe the south will become Africa's newest nation state in 2011.
Akol made waves when he split from the south's ex-rebel and dominant Sudan People's Liberation Movement last year. Akol, who was the SPLM foreign minister, said he formed his own party because of mismanagement in the SPLM-dominated government created after a 2005 north-south peace deal.
The 22-year north-south war killed some 2 million people and displaced another 4 million from their homes. Fought over religious and political differences, it also saw much fracturing, often along tribal lines, within the south.
Earlier this year Akol said if southerners voted for separation in a January referendum on independence it would be suicide because the semi-autonomous government was so weak.
Tensions between Akol and the SPLM remain and Charles Kisanga, secretary-general of Akol's party the SPLM-DC, told the crowd that four members of the party had been in prison for more than seven months without charge.
"We have been faced with unconstitutional bans and threats against our members," he said.
Akol is based in Khartoum and has openly said he is supporting the SPLM's former foe, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, for the national presidency.
Observers in the south view Akol's chances of beating Salva Kiir as slim.
His anti-corruption stand may draw some support from southern Sudanese who have seen much of the aid and oil money promised to rebuild their war-ravaged infra structure pocketed by corrupt officials.
A handful of serious graft cases, some acknowledged by the government, have raised their heads in the past five years but no official has been jailed.
Akol himself is a contentious figure. In 1991 he first split from the southern insurgency movement saying it was undemocratic and formed a separate armed group. A few years later he signed a peace deal with the north before rejoining the SPLM.
(Reporting by Skye Wheeler; Editing by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Matthew Jones)
Rwanda's "democratic" credentials in serious doubt.
The Independent
15 March 2010
By Daniel Howden
Rwanda's democratic credentials have been questioned amid evidence that authorities are blocking efforts by the country's Green Party to contest this year's elections. The new Greens have been repeatedly thwarted in their attempts to register the party, their meetings have been violently broken up or blocked by police and their leader has had anonymous death threats.
The central African nation has won international praise for its green record and is the host of this year's UN World Environment Day. "[But] through police harassment and intimidation they are stopping us registering the party which is a legal requirement for taking part in the elections," said Green party leader Frank Habineza. The politician, formerly an official with the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, has also had a series of death threats, culminating in a recent front page in the newspaper, Umeseso, headlined, "Frank Habineza to be killed in sixty days". The report, which cited anonymous sources, claimed Rwandan security agents would target the politician.
"The government dismisses what is written in Umeseso but then it tends to come true," said Mr Habineza. "I am scared but I still believe a government should protect its citizens. I am not a criminal; I just have different ideas."
In February, at a hotel in the capital, Kigali, the party leader was threatened by an individual claiming to speak for the security forces. Two attempts to stage a party conference, a first step to registering the Democratic Green Party, have also been stopped by police. Repeated attempts to contact Rwandan authorities for a response to the threats and police actions were unsuccessful.
There are also widespread reports of intimidation and harassment of opposition parties as the country, which has been ruled by the same party for 15 years, gears up for the presidential vote expected in August. Human Rights Watch says all three opposition groups trying to contest the election have faced serious intimidation and bureaucratic blocks.
"The Rwandan government already tightly controls political space," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director for the US-based rights group. "These incidents will further undermine democracy by discouraging any meaningful opposition in the elections."
A day after the February threats against Mr Habineza, a leading member of another opposition group, United Democratic Forces, was beaten by a mob in front of a local government office. The attack appeared to have been well co-ordinated, said HRW. Joseph Ntawangundi said he was attacked by youths who punched him, kicked and scratched him, threw him into the air, and ripped his clothes.
And President Paul Kagame has openly warned his leading rival Victoire Ingabire, leader of the UDF, that she could face prosecution under Rwanda's very controversial "genocide ideology" law. The legislation is allegedly meant to safeguard against ethnic divisions, but human rights lawyers say they have been used to silence critics.
15 March 2010
By Daniel Howden
Rwanda's democratic credentials have been questioned amid evidence that authorities are blocking efforts by the country's Green Party to contest this year's elections. The new Greens have been repeatedly thwarted in their attempts to register the party, their meetings have been violently broken up or blocked by police and their leader has had anonymous death threats.
The central African nation has won international praise for its green record and is the host of this year's UN World Environment Day. "[But] through police harassment and intimidation they are stopping us registering the party which is a legal requirement for taking part in the elections," said Green party leader Frank Habineza. The politician, formerly an official with the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, has also had a series of death threats, culminating in a recent front page in the newspaper, Umeseso, headlined, "Frank Habineza to be killed in sixty days". The report, which cited anonymous sources, claimed Rwandan security agents would target the politician.
"The government dismisses what is written in Umeseso but then it tends to come true," said Mr Habineza. "I am scared but I still believe a government should protect its citizens. I am not a criminal; I just have different ideas."
In February, at a hotel in the capital, Kigali, the party leader was threatened by an individual claiming to speak for the security forces. Two attempts to stage a party conference, a first step to registering the Democratic Green Party, have also been stopped by police. Repeated attempts to contact Rwandan authorities for a response to the threats and police actions were unsuccessful.
There are also widespread reports of intimidation and harassment of opposition parties as the country, which has been ruled by the same party for 15 years, gears up for the presidential vote expected in August. Human Rights Watch says all three opposition groups trying to contest the election have faced serious intimidation and bureaucratic blocks.
"The Rwandan government already tightly controls political space," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director for the US-based rights group. "These incidents will further undermine democracy by discouraging any meaningful opposition in the elections."
A day after the February threats against Mr Habineza, a leading member of another opposition group, United Democratic Forces, was beaten by a mob in front of a local government office. The attack appeared to have been well co-ordinated, said HRW. Joseph Ntawangundi said he was attacked by youths who punched him, kicked and scratched him, threw him into the air, and ripped his clothes.
And President Paul Kagame has openly warned his leading rival Victoire Ingabire, leader of the UDF, that she could face prosecution under Rwanda's very controversial "genocide ideology" law. The legislation is allegedly meant to safeguard against ethnic divisions, but human rights lawyers say they have been used to silence critics.
Leonard Nyangoma gets the nod from his party.
SAPA
14 March 2010
The leader of Burundi's ex-rebel Hutus, Leonard Nyangoma, was on Sunday chosen by his party as presidential candidate for a June election, according to an AFP journalist.
Nyangoma, 58, heads the National Council for the Defence of Democracy, which came fourth in 2005 legislative elections and has five deputies in the parliament.
The Hutu lawmaker is one of the fiercest critics of president and fellow Hutu Pierre Nkurunziza.
"The current powers have failed, the current powers have badly led the country and driven it to the edge of the abyss," Nyangoma told journalists after a party congress.
"My party has nominated me as presidential candidate to revive Burundi and that is possible."
Nyangoma is the seventh presidential candidate to be declared ahead of the June general election in Burundi.
14 March 2010
The leader of Burundi's ex-rebel Hutus, Leonard Nyangoma, was on Sunday chosen by his party as presidential candidate for a June election, according to an AFP journalist.
Nyangoma, 58, heads the National Council for the Defence of Democracy, which came fourth in 2005 legislative elections and has five deputies in the parliament.
The Hutu lawmaker is one of the fiercest critics of president and fellow Hutu Pierre Nkurunziza.
"The current powers have failed, the current powers have badly led the country and driven it to the edge of the abyss," Nyangoma told journalists after a party congress.
"My party has nominated me as presidential candidate to revive Burundi and that is possible."
Nyangoma is the seventh presidential candidate to be declared ahead of the June general election in Burundi.
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