Xinhua News
22 May 2010
The Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) said on Saturday that Israel's intelligence agency Mossad is interrogating Arab prisoners in Iraqi jails.
"I received calls from Jordanian prisoners at Iraqi jails and they informed us that Mossad is interrogating them and other Arab prisoners in jails in Iraq," Abdul Karim Shreideh, head of the prisoners and detention centers committee at AOHR, said in a press conference in the Jordanian capital of Amman Saturday.
"The prisoners said Mossad gives them the option to work with the agency as their agents and thus be able to leave the prisons or remain in jail," Shreideh told reporters at the conference held to launch the AOHR's annual report on situation of human rights in Jordan in 2009.
According to the organization, there are 33 Jordanians jailed in Iraq and thousands of Arab prisoners in Iraqi jails.
In the press conference, the AOHR President Hani Dahleh urged the Jordanian government to intensify steps to secure the release of Jordanians jailed abroad.
There are 250 Jordanians jailed in Syria, 41 in Saudi Arabia, 37 in Israel, seven in the United States, five in Iran and one in Kuwait.
The Jordanian government has repeatedly stressed that the issue of Jordanians jailed abroad tops its priorities and that it is exerting its utmost efforts to follow up on the issue.
22 May, 2010
Hamas Seeks More Direct Talks With the US.
Xinhua News
22 May 2010
Editor's Note: Officially, Obama's Transitional Government said in January 2009 that it would not conduct direct talks with Hamas. However, the administration has been in secret talks with Hamas through Egyptian mediators and some reports state there have been some low-level face-to-face talks in Damascus to try and revive peace talks aimed at a 2-state solution. Such talks are critical for the US to gain credibility in the Arab world and simultaneously rebuke an often-used political tool cited by anti-American militants as a reason for resistance. This show of cooperation with the Palestinians may lead to other Arab militant groups to splinter as moderates, now seeing credible possibility for negotiations with the US, will decide to enter talks, isolating the remaining militants. Such moderates may also be able to provide invaluable intel. With the Palestinian "demographic bomb" still in play, exedient and meaningful talks are even more important. For Hamas, if they are able to obtain a 2-state solution as the sole Palestinian actor in the negotiations, they will have obtained the endgame the PLO/Fatah never did, which will increase their legitimacy amongst the Palestinians and strengthen their leverage against Fatah.
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The Islamic Hamas movement is looking forward to establish "direct relations" with the U.S. Administration, a Gaza-based Hamas official said on Saturday.
"We want open and stable ties with the American administration without the help of any mediators," Ahmed Youssef, deputy foreign minister in Hamas deposed government told a press conference in Gaza following a meeting between former U.S. diplomats and Hamas ousted Prime Minister, Ismail Haneya.
The seven-member unofficial U.S. delegation arrived in Gaza on Friday to have a look at the humanitarian situation of the Hamas- controlled Gaza Strip.
The delegation, chaired by David Newton, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, also had plans to meet with a number of Hamas Gaza rulers to assess obstacles that prevent Hamas from reconciling with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
Youssef called upon the U.S. President Barack Obama to "take courageous steps to end the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza strip since 2007."
Israel forced a siege on the Gaza strip since the Hamas movement assumed control of the coastal enclave after its victory in the legislative elections in January 2006.
The siege was strictly tightened after the Islamic movement, accused of terror by Israel and the West, seized the Gaza Strip by force after defeating rival Fatah party's forces in 2007.
"We stress that we accept the solution that calls for establishing our state on the lands occupied in 1967," he affirmed. "We support any Arab, Palestinian or international efforts in this regard."
22 May 2010
Editor's Note: Officially, Obama's Transitional Government said in January 2009 that it would not conduct direct talks with Hamas. However, the administration has been in secret talks with Hamas through Egyptian mediators and some reports state there have been some low-level face-to-face talks in Damascus to try and revive peace talks aimed at a 2-state solution. Such talks are critical for the US to gain credibility in the Arab world and simultaneously rebuke an often-used political tool cited by anti-American militants as a reason for resistance. This show of cooperation with the Palestinians may lead to other Arab militant groups to splinter as moderates, now seeing credible possibility for negotiations with the US, will decide to enter talks, isolating the remaining militants. Such moderates may also be able to provide invaluable intel. With the Palestinian "demographic bomb" still in play, exedient and meaningful talks are even more important. For Hamas, if they are able to obtain a 2-state solution as the sole Palestinian actor in the negotiations, they will have obtained the endgame the PLO/Fatah never did, which will increase their legitimacy amongst the Palestinians and strengthen their leverage against Fatah.
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The Islamic Hamas movement is looking forward to establish "direct relations" with the U.S. Administration, a Gaza-based Hamas official said on Saturday.
"We want open and stable ties with the American administration without the help of any mediators," Ahmed Youssef, deputy foreign minister in Hamas deposed government told a press conference in Gaza following a meeting between former U.S. diplomats and Hamas ousted Prime Minister, Ismail Haneya.
The seven-member unofficial U.S. delegation arrived in Gaza on Friday to have a look at the humanitarian situation of the Hamas- controlled Gaza Strip.
The delegation, chaired by David Newton, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, also had plans to meet with a number of Hamas Gaza rulers to assess obstacles that prevent Hamas from reconciling with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
Youssef called upon the U.S. President Barack Obama to "take courageous steps to end the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza strip since 2007."
Israel forced a siege on the Gaza strip since the Hamas movement assumed control of the coastal enclave after its victory in the legislative elections in January 2006.
The siege was strictly tightened after the Islamic movement, accused of terror by Israel and the West, seized the Gaza Strip by force after defeating rival Fatah party's forces in 2007.
"We stress that we accept the solution that calls for establishing our state on the lands occupied in 1967," he affirmed. "We support any Arab, Palestinian or international efforts in this regard."
Congo Minerals Act Provision Earmarked into Financial Bill.
New York Times
21 May 2010
By EDWARD WYATT
During their long effort to pass a financial regulation bill, senators cited many causes for the housing crisis and the financial market collapse that led to the recession.
The mining of minerals in Congo was not one of them.
Nevertheless, tucked into the bill passed by the Senate on Thursday is a provision that requires any publicly traded company that uses certain minerals to file reports annually with the Securities and Exchange Commission certifying whether the minerals originated in Congo or neighboring countries.
It also requires them to report what steps the company took to ensure that the purchase of these minerals did not benefit armed groups in Africa. Minerals trading in Africa is often used to finance military activities.
These are not just any minerals, however. Columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, gold and metals derived from them are widely used in the manufacture of cellphones, laptop computers, MP3 players, digital cameras and all sorts of other consumer electronics. Thus, the regulations could affect hundreds of companies.
Wolframite, for example, is a source of tungsten, which is used in integrated circuits, light bulbs, and computer and television screens.
The measure calls for any company using the minerals as a primary ingredient in its products to file the reports and to describe the steps taken to ensure that its mineral procurements did not benefit armed groups in Africa.
Senate leaders had vowed that the financial regulation bill would not be weighed down by amendments favoring the pet projects of lawmakers. But the Congo mineral amendment has been a project of Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, for years. The amendment was approved by a voice vote.
Mr. Brownback, who argued strongly for the need to exclude auto dealers from the regulations the legislation imposes on them by a new consumer financial protection bureau, said he was “hopeful that this amendment will bring accountability and transparency to the supply chain of minerals used in the manufacturing of many electronic devices, without placing a disproportionate burden on publicly traded companies.”
21 May 2010
By EDWARD WYATT
During their long effort to pass a financial regulation bill, senators cited many causes for the housing crisis and the financial market collapse that led to the recession.
The mining of minerals in Congo was not one of them.
Nevertheless, tucked into the bill passed by the Senate on Thursday is a provision that requires any publicly traded company that uses certain minerals to file reports annually with the Securities and Exchange Commission certifying whether the minerals originated in Congo or neighboring countries.
It also requires them to report what steps the company took to ensure that the purchase of these minerals did not benefit armed groups in Africa. Minerals trading in Africa is often used to finance military activities.
These are not just any minerals, however. Columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, gold and metals derived from them are widely used in the manufacture of cellphones, laptop computers, MP3 players, digital cameras and all sorts of other consumer electronics. Thus, the regulations could affect hundreds of companies.
Wolframite, for example, is a source of tungsten, which is used in integrated circuits, light bulbs, and computer and television screens.
The measure calls for any company using the minerals as a primary ingredient in its products to file the reports and to describe the steps taken to ensure that its mineral procurements did not benefit armed groups in Africa.
Senate leaders had vowed that the financial regulation bill would not be weighed down by amendments favoring the pet projects of lawmakers. But the Congo mineral amendment has been a project of Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, for years. The amendment was approved by a voice vote.
Mr. Brownback, who argued strongly for the need to exclude auto dealers from the regulations the legislation imposes on them by a new consumer financial protection bureau, said he was “hopeful that this amendment will bring accountability and transparency to the supply chain of minerals used in the manufacturing of many electronic devices, without placing a disproportionate burden on publicly traded companies.”
Suspended newspaper UMUVUGIZI may be “blocked” on the internet.
Rwandan News Agency
21 May 2010
The Rwandan High Media Council has said the suspended UMUVUGIZI newspaper, which is now publishing on the internet, could be “blocked” from relaying into Rwanda.
This latest threat to UMUVUGIZI comes after RNA revealed on May 18th that the paper’s exiled editor had circumvented the April 13 six-month suspension by moving to the internet. Mr. Jean Bosco Gasasira is now publishing on www.umuvugizi.com where laid-out issues of the paper will be posted as well as other news stories.
The High Media Council stepped in. Executive Secretary Mr. Patrice Mulama warned the paper was defying its suspension and the Council would engage with other relevant institutions to have UMUVUGIZI blocked from relaying into Rwanda.
“We can work with other departments to have [UMUVUGIZI] blocked on the internet or any other modes,” Mr. Mulama told the BBC Great Lakes Service on Wednesday evening.
He said blocking websites has not been easy but added that it was indeed “feasible”. The Council has not decided on the next course of action yet, he said, adding that there is already a case in court seeking a complete ban on UMUVUGIZI and UMUSESO.
According to Mr. Mulama, should UMUVUGIZI go online, it will give the Council more evidence to convince the courts of the need to ban the paper.
There have not been any previously known cases where a website has been blocked from Rwanda, but it has happened in Uganda. The site www.radiokatwe.com, which often published heavily critical content on President Yoweri Museveni's government is no longer accessible. It was available there until February 2006.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported on February 22, 2006, that the Ugandan government had blocked internal access to the Radio Katwe just days before their presidential elections.
The state-owned daily The New Vision and the private paper The Daily Monitor reported the same week that the government-controlled Uganda Communications Commission had directed Uganda’s leading telecommunications company, MTN, to block the site.
An MTN statement, quoted by The Daily Monitor, defended the decision to block the site, saying that Ugandan law “empowers the commission to direct any telecoms operator to operate networks in such a manner that is appropriate to national and public interest.”
21 May 2010
The Rwandan High Media Council has said the suspended UMUVUGIZI newspaper, which is now publishing on the internet, could be “blocked” from relaying into Rwanda.
This latest threat to UMUVUGIZI comes after RNA revealed on May 18th that the paper’s exiled editor had circumvented the April 13 six-month suspension by moving to the internet. Mr. Jean Bosco Gasasira is now publishing on www.umuvugizi.com where laid-out issues of the paper will be posted as well as other news stories.
The High Media Council stepped in. Executive Secretary Mr. Patrice Mulama warned the paper was defying its suspension and the Council would engage with other relevant institutions to have UMUVUGIZI blocked from relaying into Rwanda.
“We can work with other departments to have [UMUVUGIZI] blocked on the internet or any other modes,” Mr. Mulama told the BBC Great Lakes Service on Wednesday evening.
He said blocking websites has not been easy but added that it was indeed “feasible”. The Council has not decided on the next course of action yet, he said, adding that there is already a case in court seeking a complete ban on UMUVUGIZI and UMUSESO.
According to Mr. Mulama, should UMUVUGIZI go online, it will give the Council more evidence to convince the courts of the need to ban the paper.
There have not been any previously known cases where a website has been blocked from Rwanda, but it has happened in Uganda. The site www.radiokatwe.com, which often published heavily critical content on President Yoweri Museveni's government is no longer accessible. It was available there until February 2006.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported on February 22, 2006, that the Ugandan government had blocked internal access to the Radio Katwe just days before their presidential elections.
The state-owned daily The New Vision and the private paper The Daily Monitor reported the same week that the government-controlled Uganda Communications Commission had directed Uganda’s leading telecommunications company, MTN, to block the site.
An MTN statement, quoted by The Daily Monitor, defended the decision to block the site, saying that Ugandan law “empowers the commission to direct any telecoms operator to operate networks in such a manner that is appropriate to national and public interest.”
Ravalomanana denies fomenting mutiny.
SAPA
22 May 2010
Madagascar's ousted president Marc Ravalomanana denied Saturday fomenting a deadly mutiny this week in the capital Antananarivo.
"Some confusion could mislead, or cause wrong interpretations, especially for key leaders of the international community," his spokesman Guy Rivo Randrianarisoa said in a statement.
"We would therefore clarify that the name Ravalomanana uttered during the violent clash that unfolded... in Antananarivo on Thursday, May 20, 2010, is not referring to President Marc Ravalomanana, but to a man with the same last name, Colonel Richard Ravalomanana," the statement said.
Two people died on Thursday in a gunbattle between mutineers from the gendarmerie's elite intervention unit and forces loyal to Andry Rajoelina, who seized power last year with the military's blessing.
The statement said that Colonel Ravalomanana led the forces that clashed with the mutineers.
Rajoelina's office has accused the ousted president, now living in exile in South Africa, of seeking to sow discord between Madagascar's military leadership and the rank-and-file.
22 May 2010
Madagascar's ousted president Marc Ravalomanana denied Saturday fomenting a deadly mutiny this week in the capital Antananarivo.
"Some confusion could mislead, or cause wrong interpretations, especially for key leaders of the international community," his spokesman Guy Rivo Randrianarisoa said in a statement.
"We would therefore clarify that the name Ravalomanana uttered during the violent clash that unfolded... in Antananarivo on Thursday, May 20, 2010, is not referring to President Marc Ravalomanana, but to a man with the same last name, Colonel Richard Ravalomanana," the statement said.
Two people died on Thursday in a gunbattle between mutineers from the gendarmerie's elite intervention unit and forces loyal to Andry Rajoelina, who seized power last year with the military's blessing.
The statement said that Colonel Ravalomanana led the forces that clashed with the mutineers.
Rajoelina's office has accused the ousted president, now living in exile in South Africa, of seeking to sow discord between Madagascar's military leadership and the rank-and-file.
Zenawi Faces Strong Opposition in his Home Area.
AFP
22 May 2010
By Aaron Maasho
For the first time since coming to power 19 years ago, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his ruling coalition are facing a strong electoral challenge in their own Tigray stronghold.
While there is little real doubt Ethiopia's 55-year-old strongman will retain his job after Sunday's legislative elections, the heartland of the rebellion he joined when he was 20 is not united.
In Mekelle, the capital of the northern region of Tigray, monuments to the fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) who fought against the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam abound.
Life-size statues of men and women holding firearms and riding on tanks surround the city's best-known landmark, a monument topped by a bronze sphere that towers over the skyline.
The TPLF and Meles came to power in 1991. In its time as a rebel group it enjoyed almost unanimous support here.
But this time around Meles and his supporters from the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition will come up against some of their former comrades-in-arms, a number of them even blood-related.
"Our families are very close with each other. We have a long history dating back to our grandfathers and grandmothers," said Aregash Adane, who is running for her Arena Tigray party against Meles in his hometown of Adwa.
Arena Tigray was formed two years ago by disgruntled former EPRDF members who accuse Meles of "betraying the cause" by imposing dictatorial rule.
"We weren't going the way we were supposed to go in terms of democratic transformation. The country is now led by a one-man, one-party regime," Awalom Woldu, a former ambassador to Eritrea, told AFP.
Awalom himself will face his younger brother Abay, who remained a staunch EPRDF member and is currently the region's vice president.
"We meet sometimes but not as frequently as before" the split in the EPRDF, Awalom said.
The tight-knit EPRDF finally split in 2001, with long-running disagreements blowing up as a result of the 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea.
The dissenters accused Meles of taking a soft stance on Asmara when he could have toppled the Eritrean regime and secured access to the port of Assab instead of leaving Ethiopia a landlocked country.
"Instead of securing our interests, he advocated for the Eritreans", said Arena chairman Gebru Asrat, who also has relatives among his election rivals.
Arena has accused the government of clinging to power at all cost, resorting to killing opposition supporters and depriving them of food aid.
The group recently said one of its candidates was stabbed to death by "government agents", while another had grenades hurled at his home.
"These elections are beset by problems. Our members are being harassed and intimidated," Gebru said.
The EPRDF denies any wrongdoing.
"They've been fabricating claims for the past eight months. They've been invited to carry out investigations but have refused," Tedros Hagos, head of the party's political office, told AFP.
Tedros accused the opposition of seeking to foment violence.
"They want a change in government, if possible through street violence," he said. "They are the ones who betrayed the ideals of the struggle. We fought for equality and established a constitutional system, but they went against it."
22 May 2010
By Aaron Maasho
For the first time since coming to power 19 years ago, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his ruling coalition are facing a strong electoral challenge in their own Tigray stronghold.
While there is little real doubt Ethiopia's 55-year-old strongman will retain his job after Sunday's legislative elections, the heartland of the rebellion he joined when he was 20 is not united.
In Mekelle, the capital of the northern region of Tigray, monuments to the fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) who fought against the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam abound.
Life-size statues of men and women holding firearms and riding on tanks surround the city's best-known landmark, a monument topped by a bronze sphere that towers over the skyline.
The TPLF and Meles came to power in 1991. In its time as a rebel group it enjoyed almost unanimous support here.
But this time around Meles and his supporters from the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition will come up against some of their former comrades-in-arms, a number of them even blood-related.
"Our families are very close with each other. We have a long history dating back to our grandfathers and grandmothers," said Aregash Adane, who is running for her Arena Tigray party against Meles in his hometown of Adwa.
Arena Tigray was formed two years ago by disgruntled former EPRDF members who accuse Meles of "betraying the cause" by imposing dictatorial rule.
"We weren't going the way we were supposed to go in terms of democratic transformation. The country is now led by a one-man, one-party regime," Awalom Woldu, a former ambassador to Eritrea, told AFP.
Awalom himself will face his younger brother Abay, who remained a staunch EPRDF member and is currently the region's vice president.
"We meet sometimes but not as frequently as before" the split in the EPRDF, Awalom said.
The tight-knit EPRDF finally split in 2001, with long-running disagreements blowing up as a result of the 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea.
The dissenters accused Meles of taking a soft stance on Asmara when he could have toppled the Eritrean regime and secured access to the port of Assab instead of leaving Ethiopia a landlocked country.
"Instead of securing our interests, he advocated for the Eritreans", said Arena chairman Gebru Asrat, who also has relatives among his election rivals.
Arena has accused the government of clinging to power at all cost, resorting to killing opposition supporters and depriving them of food aid.
The group recently said one of its candidates was stabbed to death by "government agents", while another had grenades hurled at his home.
"These elections are beset by problems. Our members are being harassed and intimidated," Gebru said.
The EPRDF denies any wrongdoing.
"They've been fabricating claims for the past eight months. They've been invited to carry out investigations but have refused," Tedros Hagos, head of the party's political office, told AFP.
Tedros accused the opposition of seeking to foment violence.
"They want a change in government, if possible through street violence," he said. "They are the ones who betrayed the ideals of the struggle. We fought for equality and established a constitutional system, but they went against it."
Rwandan PSD Party Executive Committee Nominates Ntawukuriryayo as its Presidental Candidate.
Rwandan News Agency
22 May 2010
Senior officials in the political bureau of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) have told RNA that Dr. Jean-Damascene Ntawukuriryayo is the preferred party candidate for president.
700 delegates of the PSD converged at the Rainbow Hotel to vote for the new executive committee and nominate their presidential candidate for the August 09 polls.
Several PSD insiders revealed to RNA that the hard-talking Dr. Ntawukuriryayo was seconded by the outgoing Executive Committee which was headed by Senate President Dr. Vincent Biruta, who has been the party leader since 2005.
Dr. Ntawukuriryayo was the Health Minister for several years up until two years ago just before the August 2008 Parliamentary elections. He was on the PSD's list of candidates for parliament. In the House, he was elected Vice President.
As Health Minister, Dr. Ntawukuriryayo was the brains behind the very successful health insurance scheme Mutuelle de Sante – which is now said to be covering more than 80% of the population.
The 700 party delegates have yet to vote for the candidates, but it is unlikely the Political Bureau’s choice will be rejected.
Meanwhile, delegates have already voted to support Dr. Vincent Biruta for another five-year term at the helm of PSD with 99.8%. The party's First Vice President is now Mr. Marc Rugenera and Second Vice President is Ms. Jacquiline Mukakanyamugenge.
22 May 2010
Senior officials in the political bureau of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) have told RNA that Dr. Jean-Damascene Ntawukuriryayo is the preferred party candidate for president.
700 delegates of the PSD converged at the Rainbow Hotel to vote for the new executive committee and nominate their presidential candidate for the August 09 polls.
Several PSD insiders revealed to RNA that the hard-talking Dr. Ntawukuriryayo was seconded by the outgoing Executive Committee which was headed by Senate President Dr. Vincent Biruta, who has been the party leader since 2005.
Dr. Ntawukuriryayo was the Health Minister for several years up until two years ago just before the August 2008 Parliamentary elections. He was on the PSD's list of candidates for parliament. In the House, he was elected Vice President.
As Health Minister, Dr. Ntawukuriryayo was the brains behind the very successful health insurance scheme Mutuelle de Sante – which is now said to be covering more than 80% of the population.
The 700 party delegates have yet to vote for the candidates, but it is unlikely the Political Bureau’s choice will be rejected.
Meanwhile, delegates have already voted to support Dr. Vincent Biruta for another five-year term at the helm of PSD with 99.8%. The party's First Vice President is now Mr. Marc Rugenera and Second Vice President is Ms. Jacquiline Mukakanyamugenge.
21 May, 2010
Umuvugizi website may be “blocked" by Rwandan Government.
Expression Today
21 May 2010
Rwanda’s Media Council has said the suspended Umuvugizi weekly which is now publishing online could be “blocked.”
The latest threat to Umuvugizi comes after an announcement by the paper’s exiled editor that he was launching his paper on the internet despite a six-month suspension imposed by the Media Council on April 13. Jean Bosco Gasasira is now publishing www.umuvugizi.com where issues of the paper will be posted as well as other news stories.
Media Council Executive Secretary Patrice Mulama in an interview with the BBC on May 20 warned that should the paper continue to defy the suspension, the Council could engage with other relevant institutions to have the Umuvugizi website blocked.
“We can work with other departments to have [Umuvugizi] blocked on the internet or any other modes,” Mulama told the BBC Great Lakes Service.
He said blocking websites has not been easy even in other countries but added that it was “feasible”. The Council has not decided on the next course of action, he said, adding that there is already a case in court seeking a complete ban on Umuvugizi and Umuseso tabloids.
According to Mulama, going online will give the Council more reason to convince the courts of the need to completely ban the paper.
21 May 2010
Rwanda’s Media Council has said the suspended Umuvugizi weekly which is now publishing online could be “blocked.”
The latest threat to Umuvugizi comes after an announcement by the paper’s exiled editor that he was launching his paper on the internet despite a six-month suspension imposed by the Media Council on April 13. Jean Bosco Gasasira is now publishing www.umuvugizi.com where issues of the paper will be posted as well as other news stories.
Media Council Executive Secretary Patrice Mulama in an interview with the BBC on May 20 warned that should the paper continue to defy the suspension, the Council could engage with other relevant institutions to have the Umuvugizi website blocked.
“We can work with other departments to have [Umuvugizi] blocked on the internet or any other modes,” Mulama told the BBC Great Lakes Service.
He said blocking websites has not been easy even in other countries but added that it was “feasible”. The Council has not decided on the next course of action, he said, adding that there is already a case in court seeking a complete ban on Umuvugizi and Umuseso tabloids.
According to Mulama, going online will give the Council more reason to convince the courts of the need to completely ban the paper.
Ravalomanana ‘behind mutiny’
Reuters
21 May 2010
Former Madagascar president Marc Ravalomanana was behind an attempted mutiny this week, Madagascar's government said on Friday, providing funds to sympathetic military leaders to destabilise the Indian Ocean island.
President Andry Rajoelina's office said in a statement that Ravalomanana had transferred a quarter of a million dollars to a number of security force chiefs behind an attempted uprising on Thursday that left two dead.
"The objective was to create tensions within the armed forces, especially among the top-brass," the statement said.
"The unease which is affecting the FIGN (elite military police unit) ... started from the moment the former president in exile in South Africa declared he had transferred 500 million ariary to certain senior military officials," it said.
Aides for Ravalomanana, a self-made millionaire exiled in South Africa, declined to comment.
In the latest escalation of a political crisis which has rocked Madagascar for almost 18 months and unnerved investors in the island's oil and mineral resources, security forces stormed a military camp on Thursday after gun-battles with dissident military police killed two soldiers.
The government also accused former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano, who has headed months of mediation to end the leadership struggle, of siding with Ravalomanana.
Political manipulation
"(Chissano) has increasingly manouevred to defend the interests of the former head of state," Rajoelina's office said. "He is now trying to force the political leaders to take part in further talks which are destined to fail."
Rajoelina, Africa's youngest leader and a former disc jockey, toppled Ravalomanana with the help of renegade troops in March last year. The coup spooked foreign investors and hammered the tourism industry on the world's fourth largest island.
Rajoelina's failure to restore political order have deepened rifts within the armed forces, opening the doors to political manipulation by senior politicians, analysts have said.
Since the crisis erupted, there has been a diplomatic divide among African nations with Anglophones largely seen favouring Ravalomanana and Francophones tending to side with Rajoelina, African Union sources and analysts say.
A string of deals in late 2009 paved the way for a unity government but each collapsed with Rajoelina and Ravalomanana deadlocked over how to share the top jobs.
Earlier this month, Rajoelina set out a new roadmap to end the turmoil, promising a constitutional referendum in August and a presidential election in November.
21 May 2010
Former Madagascar president Marc Ravalomanana was behind an attempted mutiny this week, Madagascar's government said on Friday, providing funds to sympathetic military leaders to destabilise the Indian Ocean island.
President Andry Rajoelina's office said in a statement that Ravalomanana had transferred a quarter of a million dollars to a number of security force chiefs behind an attempted uprising on Thursday that left two dead.
"The objective was to create tensions within the armed forces, especially among the top-brass," the statement said.
"The unease which is affecting the FIGN (elite military police unit) ... started from the moment the former president in exile in South Africa declared he had transferred 500 million ariary to certain senior military officials," it said.
Aides for Ravalomanana, a self-made millionaire exiled in South Africa, declined to comment.
In the latest escalation of a political crisis which has rocked Madagascar for almost 18 months and unnerved investors in the island's oil and mineral resources, security forces stormed a military camp on Thursday after gun-battles with dissident military police killed two soldiers.
The government also accused former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano, who has headed months of mediation to end the leadership struggle, of siding with Ravalomanana.
Political manipulation
"(Chissano) has increasingly manouevred to defend the interests of the former head of state," Rajoelina's office said. "He is now trying to force the political leaders to take part in further talks which are destined to fail."
Rajoelina, Africa's youngest leader and a former disc jockey, toppled Ravalomanana with the help of renegade troops in March last year. The coup spooked foreign investors and hammered the tourism industry on the world's fourth largest island.
Rajoelina's failure to restore political order have deepened rifts within the armed forces, opening the doors to political manipulation by senior politicians, analysts have said.
Since the crisis erupted, there has been a diplomatic divide among African nations with Anglophones largely seen favouring Ravalomanana and Francophones tending to side with Rajoelina, African Union sources and analysts say.
A string of deals in late 2009 paved the way for a unity government but each collapsed with Rajoelina and Ravalomanana deadlocked over how to share the top jobs.
Earlier this month, Rajoelina set out a new roadmap to end the turmoil, promising a constitutional referendum in August and a presidential election in November.
Repression High Before Vote in Ethiopia.
New York Times
20 May 2010
By Jeffery Gettleman
Diplomats, human rights groups and witnesses say the Ethiopian government is methodically stifling dissent in the prelude to this weekend’s national elections, denying food aid to opposition supporters, jailing political opponents and possibly killing a few activists, part of a broader pattern of repression in several of America’s closest allies in Africa, especially during election time.
Ethiopia is one of the poorest and most aid-dependent countries in the world, and the American government and the World Bank, two of its biggest donors, are investigating potential leaks in the aid system and allegations that the government is manipulating food aid to reward political allies and literally starve out political opposition.
“We have seen these reports, and we are looking into them, and we would object to any politicization of our humanitarian assistance,” said Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs. “We expect countries to use the aid in the manner in which it was given and to ensure that it reaches those who need it.”
The allegations, which the Ethiopian government strongly denies, seem to be part of an increasingly iron-fisted strategy to ensure that the governing party holds on to power while preventing the widespread protests that erupted after the last major elections in 2005.
Back then, opposition groups said they had won far more seats than the government acknowledged, setting off demonstrations that were violently suppressed. Security forces arrested tens of thousands and killed scores of unarmed protesters.
According to human rights groups, recent State Department reports and witnesses, the Ethiopian government has recently imprisoned opposition leaders on false charges, passed laws to stymie intellectual and human rights groups and silenced independent media. Ethiopia gets roughly a billion dollars a year in aid from American taxpayers; at the same time, the government is jamming radio broadcasts from the American-financed Voice of America, one of the few major independent media outlets left in the country.
The complaints pouring out of Ethiopia echo some of those from Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, American allies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid each year.
Elections are looming in each of these countries, and though such contests are supposed to be the embodiment of democracy, they often presage harsh crackdowns. Human rights groups say strongman governments across the continent continue to use a variety of tools — arresting journalists, driving out human rights monitors and jailing opponents — to eliminate any serious political threat.
“More repression, less democracy and no real outcry,” said Daniela Kroslak, deputy Africa program director for the International Crisis Group. “That’s true for much of Africa today.”
In a recent report, Human Rights Watch describes how the Ethiopian government employs an extensive network of local officials, militias and spies to control who gets donor-financed fertilizer, seeds, food aid and jobs. It is part of a “complex and multilayered strategy aimed at preventing political opposition and dissent,” the report said, and the elections on Sunday will probably be “a veneer of democratic pretension hiding a repressive state apparatus.”
Many Ethiopians are terrified to discuss these issues openly, and the government has denied visas to several foreign journalists trying to cover the elections and is restricting the movements of foreign diplomats.
But some Ethiopians are speaking out. Hassan Ali, a farmer in central Ethiopia with seven children, was one of several villagers who said they were cut off from a donor-supported antipoverty program because they backed the opposition. He said local officials warned him in March, “Unless you join the E.P.R.D.F.,” the ruling party, “you could die and your family will starve to death.”
Some analysts go as far as saying that American aid to governments like Ethiopia’s is actually subsidizing the problem.
“Our findings show that the development assistance is helping to underwrite the repression” in Ethiopia, said Georgette Gagnon, director of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
American officials say they have tried to broach these complaints with their Ethiopian counterparts, and the State Department’s human rights report on Ethiopia is unsparing: “There were numerous credible reports of unlawful detention of opposition candidates,” and, “Security forces committed arbitrary and politically motivated killings during the year.”
Since early March, two opposition activists and one candidate have been killed. Witnesses and some Western diplomats say the victims were singled out because they were outspoken opponents of the governing party.
The Ethiopian government claims the killings were common crimes, not assassinations, and that the opposition is fabricating abuses to discredit the election. The government has also lashed out at critics abroad, denouncing the State Department assessment and dismissing the Human Rights Watch report as “a smear campaign.”
Bereket Simon, Ethiopia’s minister of communication affairs, claimed last week that the government did not need coercion to win the election because “the people of Ethiopia know for sure the future of Ethiopia lies with this government.”
Supporters of the government say it has reduced poverty and improved infrastructure, unlike some African nations that get staggering sums of foreign aid yet have little to show for it because of corruption.
The United States has many interests to balance in Ethiopia, a sprawling Christian-led country of 85 million people in a region struggling with violence. Mr. Carson, the State Department official, acknowledged that a top priority was maintaining a “military-to-military relationship” with the Ethiopians, who received covert American help in 2006 to invade Somalia and oust the government.
Human rights groups are urging the United States to put more strings on the humanitarian aid to Ethiopia, but the Obama Administration is against that.
“We should never tie our humanitarian assistance to political goals and objectives,” Mr. Carson said. “We are trying to ensure that poor people’s lives are saved.”
But he added that “other pieces of the aid package are subject to discussion when governments backslide on democratic reform.”
That backsliding is a problem across the continent, despite the money, effort and diplomatic capital spent on democratic reform. Sudan just completed its first multiparty election in 24 years, but many analysts claim the previous election, in 1986, was freer and fairer. Kenya held a clean election in 2002, and a disastrously flawed one in 2007.
Few of Africa’s authoritarian governments, like Ethiopia’s, were previously bastions of liberty. The country has a long history of repression and rebellion. But critics contend that many of Africa’s former-guerrilla-fighters-turned-leaders are growing steadily more repressive as their terms stretch from years into decades. Ethiopia’s prime minister, Meles Zenawi, has led the country for 19 years.
“They still have this leftist ideology that the vanguard party knows what is right for the people,” said Berhanu Nega, who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa, the capital, in 2005, then jailed for nearly two years, forced into exile in the United States and recently sentenced to death in absentia. “Anyone who opposes the party is an enemy of the people.” (Editor's Note: The EPRDF formed as a Marxist group but quickly embraced privatization and capitalism after taking power.)
Jason McLure and an Ethiopian journalist contributed reporting from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
20 May 2010
By Jeffery Gettleman
Diplomats, human rights groups and witnesses say the Ethiopian government is methodically stifling dissent in the prelude to this weekend’s national elections, denying food aid to opposition supporters, jailing political opponents and possibly killing a few activists, part of a broader pattern of repression in several of America’s closest allies in Africa, especially during election time.
Ethiopia is one of the poorest and most aid-dependent countries in the world, and the American government and the World Bank, two of its biggest donors, are investigating potential leaks in the aid system and allegations that the government is manipulating food aid to reward political allies and literally starve out political opposition.
“We have seen these reports, and we are looking into them, and we would object to any politicization of our humanitarian assistance,” said Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs. “We expect countries to use the aid in the manner in which it was given and to ensure that it reaches those who need it.”
The allegations, which the Ethiopian government strongly denies, seem to be part of an increasingly iron-fisted strategy to ensure that the governing party holds on to power while preventing the widespread protests that erupted after the last major elections in 2005.
Back then, opposition groups said they had won far more seats than the government acknowledged, setting off demonstrations that were violently suppressed. Security forces arrested tens of thousands and killed scores of unarmed protesters.
According to human rights groups, recent State Department reports and witnesses, the Ethiopian government has recently imprisoned opposition leaders on false charges, passed laws to stymie intellectual and human rights groups and silenced independent media. Ethiopia gets roughly a billion dollars a year in aid from American taxpayers; at the same time, the government is jamming radio broadcasts from the American-financed Voice of America, one of the few major independent media outlets left in the country.
The complaints pouring out of Ethiopia echo some of those from Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, American allies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid each year.
Elections are looming in each of these countries, and though such contests are supposed to be the embodiment of democracy, they often presage harsh crackdowns. Human rights groups say strongman governments across the continent continue to use a variety of tools — arresting journalists, driving out human rights monitors and jailing opponents — to eliminate any serious political threat.
“More repression, less democracy and no real outcry,” said Daniela Kroslak, deputy Africa program director for the International Crisis Group. “That’s true for much of Africa today.”
In a recent report, Human Rights Watch describes how the Ethiopian government employs an extensive network of local officials, militias and spies to control who gets donor-financed fertilizer, seeds, food aid and jobs. It is part of a “complex and multilayered strategy aimed at preventing political opposition and dissent,” the report said, and the elections on Sunday will probably be “a veneer of democratic pretension hiding a repressive state apparatus.”
Many Ethiopians are terrified to discuss these issues openly, and the government has denied visas to several foreign journalists trying to cover the elections and is restricting the movements of foreign diplomats.
But some Ethiopians are speaking out. Hassan Ali, a farmer in central Ethiopia with seven children, was one of several villagers who said they were cut off from a donor-supported antipoverty program because they backed the opposition. He said local officials warned him in March, “Unless you join the E.P.R.D.F.,” the ruling party, “you could die and your family will starve to death.”
Some analysts go as far as saying that American aid to governments like Ethiopia’s is actually subsidizing the problem.
“Our findings show that the development assistance is helping to underwrite the repression” in Ethiopia, said Georgette Gagnon, director of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
American officials say they have tried to broach these complaints with their Ethiopian counterparts, and the State Department’s human rights report on Ethiopia is unsparing: “There were numerous credible reports of unlawful detention of opposition candidates,” and, “Security forces committed arbitrary and politically motivated killings during the year.”
Since early March, two opposition activists and one candidate have been killed. Witnesses and some Western diplomats say the victims were singled out because they were outspoken opponents of the governing party.
The Ethiopian government claims the killings were common crimes, not assassinations, and that the opposition is fabricating abuses to discredit the election. The government has also lashed out at critics abroad, denouncing the State Department assessment and dismissing the Human Rights Watch report as “a smear campaign.”
Bereket Simon, Ethiopia’s minister of communication affairs, claimed last week that the government did not need coercion to win the election because “the people of Ethiopia know for sure the future of Ethiopia lies with this government.”
Supporters of the government say it has reduced poverty and improved infrastructure, unlike some African nations that get staggering sums of foreign aid yet have little to show for it because of corruption.
The United States has many interests to balance in Ethiopia, a sprawling Christian-led country of 85 million people in a region struggling with violence. Mr. Carson, the State Department official, acknowledged that a top priority was maintaining a “military-to-military relationship” with the Ethiopians, who received covert American help in 2006 to invade Somalia and oust the government.
Human rights groups are urging the United States to put more strings on the humanitarian aid to Ethiopia, but the Obama Administration is against that.
“We should never tie our humanitarian assistance to political goals and objectives,” Mr. Carson said. “We are trying to ensure that poor people’s lives are saved.”
But he added that “other pieces of the aid package are subject to discussion when governments backslide on democratic reform.”
That backsliding is a problem across the continent, despite the money, effort and diplomatic capital spent on democratic reform. Sudan just completed its first multiparty election in 24 years, but many analysts claim the previous election, in 1986, was freer and fairer. Kenya held a clean election in 2002, and a disastrously flawed one in 2007.
Few of Africa’s authoritarian governments, like Ethiopia’s, were previously bastions of liberty. The country has a long history of repression and rebellion. But critics contend that many of Africa’s former-guerrilla-fighters-turned-leaders are growing steadily more repressive as their terms stretch from years into decades. Ethiopia’s prime minister, Meles Zenawi, has led the country for 19 years.
“They still have this leftist ideology that the vanguard party knows what is right for the people,” said Berhanu Nega, who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa, the capital, in 2005, then jailed for nearly two years, forced into exile in the United States and recently sentenced to death in absentia. “Anyone who opposes the party is an enemy of the people.” (Editor's Note: The EPRDF formed as a Marxist group but quickly embraced privatization and capitalism after taking power.)
Jason McLure and an Ethiopian journalist contributed reporting from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Local Burundi Polls Delayed.
SAPA
20 May 2010
Burundi has postponed local elections scheduled for Friday until Sunday because of a delay in distributing ballot papers in the small Central African nation, a top electoral official said.
The delay announced late on Thursday comes after a marathon electoral campaign to woo about 3.5 million voters, in which former civil war foes will need to prove they can compete without jeopardising a fragile peace deal.
"The vote has been delayed until Sunday," Prosper Ntahorwamiye, a spokesperson for the national electoral commission, told reporters, adding that an official announcement on the postponement would be made later on Thursday.
The president of the electoral commission met diplomats in Bujumbura late Thursday to announce the decision, a diplomatic source said.
"They delayed the elections to ensure the distribution of electoral cards and ballot papers in certain provinces where there are a lot of logistical constraints," the source said on condition of anonymity.
"In the current conditions the election vote would not have taken place in good conditions."
Several sources said that between 25 percent and 35 percent of Burundi's electorate had not yet received their voting registration cards, while electoral lists contained errors.
The elections for local councillors are a key popularity test for the main contenders in upcoming presidential polls on June 28 and legislative polls on July 23.
President Pierre Nkurunziza and former rebel leader Agathon Rwasa conducted high-octane presidential-style campaigns for the local polls, relentlessly criss-crossing the landlocked country, one of the poorest in the world.
The 45-year-old born-again Christian president spared no effort until the very last minute of the campaign on Tuesday evening, rallying crowds with his characteristic blend of song and dance.
20 May 2010
Burundi has postponed local elections scheduled for Friday until Sunday because of a delay in distributing ballot papers in the small Central African nation, a top electoral official said.
The delay announced late on Thursday comes after a marathon electoral campaign to woo about 3.5 million voters, in which former civil war foes will need to prove they can compete without jeopardising a fragile peace deal.
"The vote has been delayed until Sunday," Prosper Ntahorwamiye, a spokesperson for the national electoral commission, told reporters, adding that an official announcement on the postponement would be made later on Thursday.
The president of the electoral commission met diplomats in Bujumbura late Thursday to announce the decision, a diplomatic source said.
"They delayed the elections to ensure the distribution of electoral cards and ballot papers in certain provinces where there are a lot of logistical constraints," the source said on condition of anonymity.
"In the current conditions the election vote would not have taken place in good conditions."
Several sources said that between 25 percent and 35 percent of Burundi's electorate had not yet received their voting registration cards, while electoral lists contained errors.
The elections for local councillors are a key popularity test for the main contenders in upcoming presidential polls on June 28 and legislative polls on July 23.
President Pierre Nkurunziza and former rebel leader Agathon Rwasa conducted high-octane presidential-style campaigns for the local polls, relentlessly criss-crossing the landlocked country, one of the poorest in the world.
The 45-year-old born-again Christian president spared no effort until the very last minute of the campaign on Tuesday evening, rallying crowds with his characteristic blend of song and dance.
Museveni tells US he will not fire Electoral Commission.
Daily Monitor
21 May 2010
By Tabu Butagira
Editor's Note: Will Undersecretary Carson go to Rwanda and Burundi to demand free, fair, and transparent elections like he should?
The visiting top American diplomat for Africa, Ambassador Johnnie Carson, on Thursday asked President Museveni to reconstitute the Electoral Commission to include more representation of all political parties.
Sources say Mr Carson, a former US ambassador to Uganda, told President Museveni public confidence in the election process ahead of the 2011 ballot is vital.
However, Mr Museveni, according to a statement issued by State House, defended EC chairman Eng. Badru Badru and his other six commissioners as professionals properly vetted by Parliament’s Appointments Committee, comprising opposition MPs.
In Thursday’s statement, Ms Lindah Nabusayi, the deputy presidential press secretary, said during the closed-door meeting Ambassador Carson “said that some groups in Uganda had raised concern over membership of the commission. He said they feel that there should be more representation to the electoral body.”
In recent months, the Inter-Party Cooperation, a grouping of four opposition political parties, has demanded the disbandment of the current commission.
But the President, who reportedly met Ambassador Carson for close to three hours, appeared unfazed – at least in remarks captured by his press team.
Cup of coffee
“The President advised Uganda’s development partners not to allow opposition politicians to confuse them with lies,” State House said.
Mr Museveni is reported to have said: “When they come, give them a cup of coffee to boost our coffee industry and send them away because what they are complaining about can be discussed in the Inter-Party Forum [a consensus-building avenue for all parties].”
Ms Joann Lockard, the public affairs officer at the US Mission in Kampala, when asked if Ambassador Carson dropped a letter calling for outright disbandment of the EC, said: “I’m not aware and I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
Opposition meet
The four leaders of IPC; UPC’s Otunnu, Dr Kizza Besigye (FDC), Mr John Lukyamuzi (Conservative Party) and Mr Mohammed Kibirige (JEEMA) met late into the night on Thursday at their Katonga Road head office in Kampala, ahead of their meeting with Ambassador Carson on Friday.
“Mr Museveni listens more to foreign diplomats and international voices,” said Mr Ibrahim Nganda, the IPC spokesman.
“Ambassador Carson is a unique visitor and we are going to speak to him about electoral reforms, the attempts by the ruling NRM party to rig the upcoming elections and the swindling of public resources by government officials.”
Meanwhile, Reuters news agency reported last evening that Uganda’s opposition could boycott the elections.
“This EC is deeply discredited and cannot hold a free and fair election as demanded by the Constitution,” Kibirige Mayanja, chairman of the IPC told Reuters.
“We hope the government will hear the desire of Ugandans and sack the leadership of the EC. But should they remain obstinate we’ll boycott any electoral activity organised by them.”
US Ambassador to Uganda Jerry Lanier; Mr Vann Van Diepen, the acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of International Security and Non-proliferation, General William Ward, Commander of the US Africa command accompanied Ambassador Carson.
The Uganda delegation included the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa and his Permanent Secretary, Ambassador James Mugume.
Mr Mugume later said Ambassador Carson had asked Uganda, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, to support a draft resolution for sanctions on Iran that his country introduced on Wednesday.
21 May 2010
By Tabu Butagira
Editor's Note: Will Undersecretary Carson go to Rwanda and Burundi to demand free, fair, and transparent elections like he should?
The visiting top American diplomat for Africa, Ambassador Johnnie Carson, on Thursday asked President Museveni to reconstitute the Electoral Commission to include more representation of all political parties.
Sources say Mr Carson, a former US ambassador to Uganda, told President Museveni public confidence in the election process ahead of the 2011 ballot is vital.
However, Mr Museveni, according to a statement issued by State House, defended EC chairman Eng. Badru Badru and his other six commissioners as professionals properly vetted by Parliament’s Appointments Committee, comprising opposition MPs.
In Thursday’s statement, Ms Lindah Nabusayi, the deputy presidential press secretary, said during the closed-door meeting Ambassador Carson “said that some groups in Uganda had raised concern over membership of the commission. He said they feel that there should be more representation to the electoral body.”
In recent months, the Inter-Party Cooperation, a grouping of four opposition political parties, has demanded the disbandment of the current commission.
But the President, who reportedly met Ambassador Carson for close to three hours, appeared unfazed – at least in remarks captured by his press team.
Cup of coffee
“The President advised Uganda’s development partners not to allow opposition politicians to confuse them with lies,” State House said.
Mr Museveni is reported to have said: “When they come, give them a cup of coffee to boost our coffee industry and send them away because what they are complaining about can be discussed in the Inter-Party Forum [a consensus-building avenue for all parties].”
Ms Joann Lockard, the public affairs officer at the US Mission in Kampala, when asked if Ambassador Carson dropped a letter calling for outright disbandment of the EC, said: “I’m not aware and I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
Opposition meet
The four leaders of IPC; UPC’s Otunnu, Dr Kizza Besigye (FDC), Mr John Lukyamuzi (Conservative Party) and Mr Mohammed Kibirige (JEEMA) met late into the night on Thursday at their Katonga Road head office in Kampala, ahead of their meeting with Ambassador Carson on Friday.
“Mr Museveni listens more to foreign diplomats and international voices,” said Mr Ibrahim Nganda, the IPC spokesman.
“Ambassador Carson is a unique visitor and we are going to speak to him about electoral reforms, the attempts by the ruling NRM party to rig the upcoming elections and the swindling of public resources by government officials.”
Meanwhile, Reuters news agency reported last evening that Uganda’s opposition could boycott the elections.
“This EC is deeply discredited and cannot hold a free and fair election as demanded by the Constitution,” Kibirige Mayanja, chairman of the IPC told Reuters.
“We hope the government will hear the desire of Ugandans and sack the leadership of the EC. But should they remain obstinate we’ll boycott any electoral activity organised by them.”
US Ambassador to Uganda Jerry Lanier; Mr Vann Van Diepen, the acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of International Security and Non-proliferation, General William Ward, Commander of the US Africa command accompanied Ambassador Carson.
The Uganda delegation included the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa and his Permanent Secretary, Ambassador James Mugume.
Mr Mugume later said Ambassador Carson had asked Uganda, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, to support a draft resolution for sanctions on Iran that his country introduced on Wednesday.
20 May, 2010
City of Berkley Asks Obama to Hold Uganda and Rwanda accountable for Their Direct Role in the DRC slaughter.
256 News
20 May 2010
United States President Barack Obama has been urged to hold Uganda and Rwanda accountable for their direct actions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in which at least 45,000 people are said to be dying every month due to the conflict in which both countries are involved.
In a letter to US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the United States city of Berkeley in California says that, for the last 13 years, nearly six million men, women and children have died in the DRC and hundreds of thousands more have been victims of the conflict in which the armies of Uganda and Rwanda have taken part.
The Berkeley City letter said the conflict has resulted in unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity and threaten the peace, security and well-being of Congo and its people.
It added: "Those responsible for such crimes have largely gone unpunished."
The letter which was also copied to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon went on to say that it was gravely concerned for the people of the DRC. It urged the US administration not to use US military forces in the DRC and that it should make it a priority to support local Congolese institutions with a proven record of delivering services to the people.
It also urged the United States to play a key role in the DRC and the Great Lakes region by relieving the tremendous suffering of the region's men, women and children.
Berkeley city also wants the Obama Administration to hold US corporations accountable for their actions in the DRC.
Several US companies are involved in the buying of various kinds of DRC precious stones mostly sold by warring military factions who in turn use the hard currency gained from the sale of such stones to buy military equipment such as guns, ammunition, grenades and bombs that prolongs the DRC conflict.
It therefore directed Berkeley City Clerk to send the letter to Mrs Clinton, US Senator Barbara Boxer and Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Berkeley also called for an end to the wrongful exploitation of the Congolese people's resources, saying that these should not be a curse but rather a blessing to the Congolese people.
In what has become known as a landmark ruling in 2005, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seating at its Peace Palace headquarters in the Hague, ruled that there was ‘credible evidence' sufficient to conclude that the Ugandan Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF), in the course of their military intervention into the DRC, committed acts of killing, torture and other forms of inhumane treatment of the civilian population.
The Court concluded that Uganda had violated the sovereignty and also the territorial integrity of the DRC and that its actions constituted interference in the internal affairs of the DRC and in the civil war raging there. "The unlawful military intervention by Uganda was of such magnitude and duration that the Court considers it to be a grave violation of the prohibition on the use of force expressed in Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter," ICJ ruled.
The ICJ also held Uganda as being ‘internationally responsible' for acts of looting, plundering and exploitation of the DRC's natural resources committed by members of the UPDF in the territory of the DRC, for violating its obligation of vigilance in regard to these acts and for failing to comply with its obligations under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations of 1907.
During ICJ's hearings, Uganda had claimed that the DRC had allowed opponents of the Ugandan regime to operate freely in the country and mount attacks on Uganda. But the court ruled that during its deliberations, Uganda had failed to produce any evidence to support these claims.
"The Court notes that during this period, the DRC was in fact acting together with Uganda against the rebels, not in support of them,2 ICJ ruled. While Uganda had argued that its attacks on the DRC was in self-defence, the ICJ ruled it considered that any military action taken by the DRC against Uganda during that period could not be deemed wrongful since it would have been justified as action taken in self-defence.
The Court also pointed out that, while it had pronounced on the violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed by Ugandan military forces on the territory of the DRC, it nonetheless observed that the actions of the various parties in the complex conflict in the DRC had contributed to the immense suffering faced by the Congolese population. It said it was painfully aware that many atrocities had been committed in the course of the conflict.
20 May 2010
United States President Barack Obama has been urged to hold Uganda and Rwanda accountable for their direct actions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in which at least 45,000 people are said to be dying every month due to the conflict in which both countries are involved.
In a letter to US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the United States city of Berkeley in California says that, for the last 13 years, nearly six million men, women and children have died in the DRC and hundreds of thousands more have been victims of the conflict in which the armies of Uganda and Rwanda have taken part.
The Berkeley City letter said the conflict has resulted in unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity and threaten the peace, security and well-being of Congo and its people.
It added: "Those responsible for such crimes have largely gone unpunished."
The letter which was also copied to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon went on to say that it was gravely concerned for the people of the DRC. It urged the US administration not to use US military forces in the DRC and that it should make it a priority to support local Congolese institutions with a proven record of delivering services to the people.
It also urged the United States to play a key role in the DRC and the Great Lakes region by relieving the tremendous suffering of the region's men, women and children.
Berkeley city also wants the Obama Administration to hold US corporations accountable for their actions in the DRC.
Several US companies are involved in the buying of various kinds of DRC precious stones mostly sold by warring military factions who in turn use the hard currency gained from the sale of such stones to buy military equipment such as guns, ammunition, grenades and bombs that prolongs the DRC conflict.
It therefore directed Berkeley City Clerk to send the letter to Mrs Clinton, US Senator Barbara Boxer and Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Berkeley also called for an end to the wrongful exploitation of the Congolese people's resources, saying that these should not be a curse but rather a blessing to the Congolese people.
In what has become known as a landmark ruling in 2005, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seating at its Peace Palace headquarters in the Hague, ruled that there was ‘credible evidence' sufficient to conclude that the Ugandan Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF), in the course of their military intervention into the DRC, committed acts of killing, torture and other forms of inhumane treatment of the civilian population.
The Court concluded that Uganda had violated the sovereignty and also the territorial integrity of the DRC and that its actions constituted interference in the internal affairs of the DRC and in the civil war raging there. "The unlawful military intervention by Uganda was of such magnitude and duration that the Court considers it to be a grave violation of the prohibition on the use of force expressed in Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter," ICJ ruled.
The ICJ also held Uganda as being ‘internationally responsible' for acts of looting, plundering and exploitation of the DRC's natural resources committed by members of the UPDF in the territory of the DRC, for violating its obligation of vigilance in regard to these acts and for failing to comply with its obligations under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations of 1907.
During ICJ's hearings, Uganda had claimed that the DRC had allowed opponents of the Ugandan regime to operate freely in the country and mount attacks on Uganda. But the court ruled that during its deliberations, Uganda had failed to produce any evidence to support these claims.
"The Court notes that during this period, the DRC was in fact acting together with Uganda against the rebels, not in support of them,2 ICJ ruled. While Uganda had argued that its attacks on the DRC was in self-defence, the ICJ ruled it considered that any military action taken by the DRC against Uganda during that period could not be deemed wrongful since it would have been justified as action taken in self-defence.
The Court also pointed out that, while it had pronounced on the violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed by Ugandan military forces on the territory of the DRC, it nonetheless observed that the actions of the various parties in the complex conflict in the DRC had contributed to the immense suffering faced by the Congolese population. It said it was painfully aware that many atrocities had been committed in the course of the conflict.
Madagascar troops quell attempted mutiny.
Reuters
20 May 2010
By Alain Iloniaina
Antananarivo - Madagascar's security forces quickly quashed an attempted mutiny by a small group of military police on Thursday after a gunbattle in the capital Antananarivo.
A military police commander said the dissident troops had retreated into their barracks and were trying to negotiate a way out.
Political analysts say there has been growing unease within some elements of the armed forces at President Andry Rajoelina's failure to end an economically crippling political crisis on the Indian Ocean island.
"Everything is calm. They have retreated into their camp and are negotiating a way out," regional military police commander Colonel Richard Ravalomanana told Reuters.
Col. Ravalomanana said he thought 21 renegade troops from the National Gendarmes Intervention Force (FIGN) were involved in the clash. He said four people had been wounded, including one civilian and two rebel military policemen.
The Madagascar Red Cross said it treated three civilians with bullet wounds after several hundred anti-government protestors rallied in support of the rebel troops.
A Reuters witness also saw former parliamentarians aligned with exiled former president Marc Ravalomanana at the protest site.
Political instability has convulsed the world's fourth largest island, eyed increasingly by foreign investors for its oil and mineral resources, since Rajoelina grabbed power with military backing in March last year.
Earlier this month, Madagascar's army chief rowed back on an ultimatum given to Rajoelina to find a solution to the leadership crisis after the president pledged to form a "neutral" government.
A military police officer leading the protest, Colonel Raymond Andrianjafy, said "injustices and arrests" had prevailed under Rajoelina's leadership.
"The truth will never die and we are prepared to go all the way and take hold of our responsibilities," Andrianjafy told reporters late on Wednesday.
The FIGN's commander, General Viennot Zafera, described the dissidents' action as an attempted coup.
Former president Ravalomanana opened Madagascar's doors to major foreign companies, and overseas investment surged to around $1.47 billion to 2008 from $86 million in 2005. Inflows have collapsed, but by how much is not clear.
20 May 2010
By Alain Iloniaina
Antananarivo - Madagascar's security forces quickly quashed an attempted mutiny by a small group of military police on Thursday after a gunbattle in the capital Antananarivo.
A military police commander said the dissident troops had retreated into their barracks and were trying to negotiate a way out.
Political analysts say there has been growing unease within some elements of the armed forces at President Andry Rajoelina's failure to end an economically crippling political crisis on the Indian Ocean island.
"Everything is calm. They have retreated into their camp and are negotiating a way out," regional military police commander Colonel Richard Ravalomanana told Reuters.
Col. Ravalomanana said he thought 21 renegade troops from the National Gendarmes Intervention Force (FIGN) were involved in the clash. He said four people had been wounded, including one civilian and two rebel military policemen.
The Madagascar Red Cross said it treated three civilians with bullet wounds after several hundred anti-government protestors rallied in support of the rebel troops.
A Reuters witness also saw former parliamentarians aligned with exiled former president Marc Ravalomanana at the protest site.
Political instability has convulsed the world's fourth largest island, eyed increasingly by foreign investors for its oil and mineral resources, since Rajoelina grabbed power with military backing in March last year.
Earlier this month, Madagascar's army chief rowed back on an ultimatum given to Rajoelina to find a solution to the leadership crisis after the president pledged to form a "neutral" government.
A military police officer leading the protest, Colonel Raymond Andrianjafy, said "injustices and arrests" had prevailed under Rajoelina's leadership.
"The truth will never die and we are prepared to go all the way and take hold of our responsibilities," Andrianjafy told reporters late on Wednesday.
The FIGN's commander, General Viennot Zafera, described the dissidents' action as an attempted coup.
Former president Ravalomanana opened Madagascar's doors to major foreign companies, and overseas investment surged to around $1.47 billion to 2008 from $86 million in 2005. Inflows have collapsed, but by how much is not clear.
Gun battles in Madagascar capital Antananarivo.
BBC News
20 May 2010
Calm has been restored after clashes in the Madagascar capital Antananarivo between rival security forces.
Madagascar's army and police exchanged gunfire with a rebel police faction.
The faction has retreated to its barracks and is trying to negotiate a way out, a military officer says.
Madagascar has been in political turmoil since opposition leader Andry Rajoelina assumed power in January 2009, with military backing.
Dissident members of the elite intervention force National Gendarmes Intervention Force (FIGN) were thought to be protesting against the country's political crisis.
Colonel Richard Ravalomanana, who was leading the military operation against the rebel faction, says there were 21 dissidents.
"We never meant to attack but they started opening fire on us. We only retaliated for half an hour when we decided to move towards their base," he told the AFP news agency.
The dissidents had set up barricades around their base in Antananarivo.
Reports suggest both members of the security forces and civilians were injured in the clashes.
Mr Rajoelina has faced criticism at home and abroad for not having resolved the country's political crisis.
Earlier this month, he announced he would not run in elections planned for later this year.
20 May 2010
Calm has been restored after clashes in the Madagascar capital Antananarivo between rival security forces.
Madagascar's army and police exchanged gunfire with a rebel police faction.
The faction has retreated to its barracks and is trying to negotiate a way out, a military officer says.
Madagascar has been in political turmoil since opposition leader Andry Rajoelina assumed power in January 2009, with military backing.
Dissident members of the elite intervention force National Gendarmes Intervention Force (FIGN) were thought to be protesting against the country's political crisis.
Colonel Richard Ravalomanana, who was leading the military operation against the rebel faction, says there were 21 dissidents.
"We never meant to attack but they started opening fire on us. We only retaliated for half an hour when we decided to move towards their base," he told the AFP news agency.
The dissidents had set up barricades around their base in Antananarivo.
Reports suggest both members of the security forces and civilians were injured in the clashes.
Mr Rajoelina has faced criticism at home and abroad for not having resolved the country's political crisis.
Earlier this month, he announced he would not run in elections planned for later this year.
Undersecretary Carson Visits Uganda.
Daily Monitor
20 May 2010
By Henry Ochieng & Isaac Khisa (email the author)
Posted Thursday, May 20 2010 at 00:00
Kampala
The US government has sent its highest ranking diplomat on Africa to Uganda a month after a report highly critical of Kampala’s perceived failure to move on electoral reforms was submitted to the American Congress, Daily Monitor can reveal.
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jonnie Carson should have landed at Entebbe Airport just after midnight yesterday, according to American embassy sources here. The sources also said this was an unplanned, but “official visit to allow [him] address a broad range of bilateral and regional issues with President Museveni and civil society leaders”. “It was not a scheduled trip … I believe the secretary of state (Hilary Clinton) had a conversation with President Museveni a few weeks ago and the President invited him,” Ms Joann Lockard, the public affairs officer at the US embassy, said yesterday.
Ms Lockard said Mr Carson, who was in Kampala last October, will “stress the US government’s commitment to democracy, a free and independent media, good governance, regional security and stability.” She could not, however, say whether Mr Carson’s trip has anything to do with a report issued in April by Ms Clinton.
Yesterday, some Opposition politicians suggested that Mr Carson’s visit is connected to the Clinton report issued in April that observed that the Uganda government has done nothing to further the independence of the Electoral Commission, guarantee the sanctity of the voters’ register, ensure free movement of opposition politicians, and that the government continues to impose restrictions on local media.
Museveni’s views
Days after newspapers here reported on the existence of that document, President Museveni said the American leadership had no right “to lecture” Uganda on democracy. In a telephone interview, Mr Robert Kanusu, press secretary to Uganda People’s Congress leader, Olara Otunnu, confirmed that his party boss will be meeting Mr Carson together with other opposition leaders. “I am sure they will discuss the disbanding of the Electoral Commission (EC) and how a new EC can be constituted. No amount of intervention by President Museveni can stop the momentum now,” Mr Kanusu said.
Also on Wednesday, Democratic Party leader Norbert Mao confirmed the planned Friday lunchtime meeting to take place with Mr Carson at the American embassy. “We (opposition leaders) will amplify the Clinton report since we know the US State Department is interested in the road to 2011 as a key partner of Uganda. We shall put several footnotes to that report. For example, we shall show how the current voter registration exercise is proving to be a sham,” Mr Mao said.
Mr Carson’s visit comes hours after the Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) demanded an immediate disbanding of the EC presently headed by Eng. Badru Kiggundu. The IPC (see full statement) leaders at a press conference in Kampala yesterday said the EC is partisan and could not conduct free and fair polls in a multi-party system. Last evening, Deputy Attorney General Fred Ruhindi said, “The opposition has just presented a Bill today (Wednesday) on the floor of the House on constitutional amendment and they lost it.”
20 May 2010
By Henry Ochieng & Isaac Khisa (email the author)
Posted Thursday, May 20 2010 at 00:00
Kampala
The US government has sent its highest ranking diplomat on Africa to Uganda a month after a report highly critical of Kampala’s perceived failure to move on electoral reforms was submitted to the American Congress, Daily Monitor can reveal.
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jonnie Carson should have landed at Entebbe Airport just after midnight yesterday, according to American embassy sources here. The sources also said this was an unplanned, but “official visit to allow [him] address a broad range of bilateral and regional issues with President Museveni and civil society leaders”. “It was not a scheduled trip … I believe the secretary of state (Hilary Clinton) had a conversation with President Museveni a few weeks ago and the President invited him,” Ms Joann Lockard, the public affairs officer at the US embassy, said yesterday.
Ms Lockard said Mr Carson, who was in Kampala last October, will “stress the US government’s commitment to democracy, a free and independent media, good governance, regional security and stability.” She could not, however, say whether Mr Carson’s trip has anything to do with a report issued in April by Ms Clinton.
Yesterday, some Opposition politicians suggested that Mr Carson’s visit is connected to the Clinton report issued in April that observed that the Uganda government has done nothing to further the independence of the Electoral Commission, guarantee the sanctity of the voters’ register, ensure free movement of opposition politicians, and that the government continues to impose restrictions on local media.
Museveni’s views
Days after newspapers here reported on the existence of that document, President Museveni said the American leadership had no right “to lecture” Uganda on democracy. In a telephone interview, Mr Robert Kanusu, press secretary to Uganda People’s Congress leader, Olara Otunnu, confirmed that his party boss will be meeting Mr Carson together with other opposition leaders. “I am sure they will discuss the disbanding of the Electoral Commission (EC) and how a new EC can be constituted. No amount of intervention by President Museveni can stop the momentum now,” Mr Kanusu said.
Also on Wednesday, Democratic Party leader Norbert Mao confirmed the planned Friday lunchtime meeting to take place with Mr Carson at the American embassy. “We (opposition leaders) will amplify the Clinton report since we know the US State Department is interested in the road to 2011 as a key partner of Uganda. We shall put several footnotes to that report. For example, we shall show how the current voter registration exercise is proving to be a sham,” Mr Mao said.
Mr Carson’s visit comes hours after the Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) demanded an immediate disbanding of the EC presently headed by Eng. Badru Kiggundu. The IPC (see full statement) leaders at a press conference in Kampala yesterday said the EC is partisan and could not conduct free and fair polls in a multi-party system. Last evening, Deputy Attorney General Fred Ruhindi said, “The opposition has just presented a Bill today (Wednesday) on the floor of the House on constitutional amendment and they lost it.”
19 May, 2010
Rwanda People's Party-Imvura Manifesto Made Public.
The Rwanda People's Party – IMVURA
INTRODUCTION
PRE-INDEPENDENCE
Rwanda is a small tropical country located in the Great Lakes region of Africa. It has a population of 10 million people, with a significant number of millions living in the neighbouring countries or in the Diaspora as refugees or settled citizens. It became a German colony following the 1885 Berlin Conference.
In 1918, the country was mandated to the King of Belgium whose rule instituted the divisions between the ethnic groups in the country especially between the two main groups, the Tutsis and Hutus. The colonisation of Rwanda also led to arbitrary demarcations of borders and the parcelling of large parts of pre-colonial Rwanda territory and annexing them to the neighbouring countries.
INDEPENDENCE
Rwanda achieved independence in 1961, with Grégoire Kayibanda as its first president. In reality this was a flag independence as the country still remained deeply controlled by the former colonial masters, Belgium as well as France. The post-colonial period was mainly characterised by great instability and ethnic tensions, resulting in periodic genocide and ethnic cleansing that left over 100,000 RwandansTutsi dead and forced thousands to seek refuge in neigbhouring countries.
Under the Kayibanda and Habyarimana’s regimes, a discriminatory system was established, which meant that Tutsis would be allowed only nine percent of school and university places and civil service positions. Both governments also continued the 1933 Belgian colonial policy of labeling people with ethnic identity cards, and used this practice to attack mixed marriages. This policy remained in place until 1980s. It forced millions of Hutus to live in impoverishment, poverty and between 1961 –1989, thousands of Hutu left Rwanda to seek a better life in Uganda.
In Rwanda in the meantime, Kayibanda continued to rule with an iron-fist on an openly sectarian basis. The ineptitude of his government generated wide spread social unrest and in 1973, the head of the Hutu-dominated National Guard, Maj. Gen. Juvenal Habyarimana, led a coup, ousting Kayibanda and established a military government.
Parliament was suspended as Habyarimana formed the Hutu-dominated Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND) and decreed it as the only legally permitted political organization. Ex-President Grégoire Kayibanda died in detention shortly after his overthrow, believed as a result of torture and neglect. Habyarimana was killed in plane crash at Kanombe airport, in still un-explained circumstances.
POST-COLONIAL RULE
Both regimes led by Kayibanda and Habyarimana were friendly to the West and provided a base for CIA operations in the successful effort to oust the left-learning Patrice Lumumba of the Congo. The Catholic Church also played a very prominent role in the body-politic of the country and was instrumental in maintaining links between Rwanda and Belgium and Germany.
The Roman Catholic Church, the primary educators in the country, subscribed to and reinforced the ethnic differences between Hutu and Tutsi. They developed separate educational systems for each, all throughout the 1940s and 1980s and onwards. The country's two newspapers, both strong supporters of the government, were both staunchly Catholic publications.
CIVIL WAR IN RWANDA
The Habyarimana regime very quickly established itself as a viciuous and corrupt military dictatorship through-out the 1970s and 1980s while at the same time refugees in neighbouring countries, especially Uganda, were agitating to return home. As a result in July 1987, he banned all refugees from returning to Rwanda. During a state visit to Uganda, Mr Habyarimana told Rwandan refugees to forget their dream of returning home.
Instead he advised them to settle in Uganda. This intransigent attitude set the back-drop to the civil war which emerged from around 1986, led by the Rwanda National Liberation Movement (RNLM). And on October 1, 1990, the RPF crossed into Rwanda from their bases in Ibanda forest, Uganda.
Though the RPA objective seemed to be to put pressure on the Rwandan government into making concessions, their return was seen as an attempt to install the Tutsi ethnic group back into power. After 3 years of fighting and multiple prior "cease-fires," the government and the RPF signed a "final" cease-fire agreement in July 1994, known as the Arusha Accord and agreed a power-sharing arrangement. This Accord immediately ran into problems when the Habyarimana regime failed to honour it. This escalated the civil war.
GENOCIDE
On 6th April 1994, Habyarimana was killed in plane crash at Kanombe airport, in still un-explained circumstances. It is alleged that this became the trigger for genocide. The RPP - IMVURA on the other hand believes that the conditions for genocide in Rwanda were already existing in Rwanda with or without Habyarimana.
Organized armed forces ( FAR) and allied militia groups called Interahamwe were set and in place and as soon Habyarimana was killed, they went into action, using Habrarimana’s death as the excuse for the violence that then emerged. The extremists began rounding up and killing Tutsis en masse, as well as political moderates irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds.
The killing swiftly spread from Kigali to all corners of the country; between April 6 and the beginning of July 1994, a genocide of unprecedented swiftness left between 800,000 and 1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead at the hands of organised FAR and Interahamwe militias.
The death of one million people within a short period of time was a tragedy of major proportions and destroyed what little was left of the Rwandan state. That it was a failed state became evident. It also intensified the war being waged by the RPF as its units pushed deeper and deeper into Rwanda to stop the genocide. In July 1994, the RPF overthrew the Rwanda government and set up an interim government led by Pasteur Bizimungu as President and put an end to the genocide.
The RPF leader, Paul Kagame served as vice President in the interim government, but in March 2000, he overthrew the interim government and assumed full powers as President, setting up a virtual military government. He went on to enact a new constitution by which elections were held in 2003, which were won by the RPF as there were no opposing political parties. President Kagame was mandated to serve for a 7 year term up to 2010, a term which expires in a few months time. The country is therefore preparing for Presidential elections which are scheduled for August 2010.
THE RPF TODAY
It is the contention of the RPP – IMVURA that the current RPF regime is repeating the same mistakes of the past regimes that caused state failure and so much suffering for Rwandan people and led to the genocide. It has not come up with effective economic and political policies to deal with the urgent tasks that faced Rwanda post-genocide and faces it today. It has also failed to bring about the most needed national reconciliation.
Today the gap between the poor and rich is widening on a daily basis. Rwanda is a police state where people live in extreme poverty and fear. The state is run like a family business; there is an irrational discrimination against Tutsi returnees based on their countries of past asylum. There is an unprecedented campaign to discriminate, blackmail, harass and persecute Rwanda Tutsi refugees who lived outside refugee camps in Uganda.
Increasingly, the IBUKA (genocide survivors) have no room in Rwanda while the Hutu community in Rwanda are equally marginalised.
Rwanda has over 1.7 million orphans, children born through rape during and after the genocide, and street children displaced by the 1994 genocide. These children have no future, no hopes, no dreams and no aspirations.
Rwandan orphan children and other vulnerable people are segregated from the rest of Rwandan community. Many are arrested and taken to prison and /or to the infamous IWAWA ISLAND Concentration Camp and others transported and dumped in rural areas away from Kigali where they cannot be seen by foreigners. The RPF has totally failed to solve the monumental problems the country faces, with mounting public discontent, poverty, unemployment and HIV/AIDS. The regime is also faced with an internal rebellion within its own army and party which threatens to throw the country back to violent civil war.
There is no contingency plan in place to address the needs of those who have experienced physical injuries through civil wars. And some of which have resulted into mental and physical disabilities. In Rwanda today, thousands of genocide survivors still face significant challenges in their efforts to rebuild their lives, including victims of sexual violence, orphans and widows. No trauma and psychological programmes established to promote effective safety nets for the protection of the most vulnerable groups. The country is also faced with the dilemma of the demand from the Rwandan refugees who are scattered around the world who are desperately in need to return to their homeland - Rwanda. These Rwandans have been living in difficult conditions some of these refugees have been stateless since 1959.
Today, Rwanda has more than 2.5 million refugees, some dating back from 1959. There are hundreds of Rwandans fleeing Kagame’s oppressive regime for sanctuaries in the neighbouring countries and other countries most of whom in Europe and US. Yet, the RPF inner cycle have accumulated enormous wealth at the expense of the common people. Billions of US dollars that are intended to support genocide survivors and improve social conditions of Rwandan people are being siphoned off and stashed in foreign bank accounts.
Political persecution has reached new heights, corruption is rampant, and the government is inept and unaccountable. A climate of paranoia has enveloped the country to an extent neighbours are encouraged to spy on each other, just like members of families are encouraged to do the same.
The media is today completely muzzled and freedom of expression, a fundamental human right is virtually non-existent. Presidential elections are scheduled to be held this year, but opposition parties have been prevented or obstructed from any meaningful participation.
Many have been arrested and it seems the government wants a situation where the current President stands un-opposed. This is causing deep anxiety in the country and may lead to violence and significant public dis-order, attested by recent unexplained bombings in Kigali and rumours of coups. These are the same conditions that created and led to the 1990 civil war and 1994 genocide and even previous genocides.
THE RPP – IMVURA
The RPP – IMVURA is a new political party born out of the Rwanda National Liberation Movement (RNLM) which was formed in Uganda in April 1986 to wage a political and military struggle against the Habyarimana regime in Rwanda. Since the overthrow of the Habyarimana regime, the RPP - IMVURA considers that the phase of using armed force to effect social and political change in Rwanda is now at an end and that new forms of political mobilisation and struggle need to be utilised hence the formation of the party.
The RPP-IMVURA has the following as its core principles:
The establishment of :
1. A regime of freedom, in which the people determine their own future and a democratic, representative and modern State, based on the people's aspirations and participation
2. A justice policy premised on the protection of human rights and the rule of law, with a fully vibrant, responsive and independent judiciary.
3. A national reconciliation policy that heals old wounds and unites all the ethnic groups of Rwanda in a common endeavour to rebuild our country and provide a platform on which foster enduring peace and prosperity for all our people.
4. An economic development model based on a mixed, modern and dynamic economy, serving the people and the country.
5. A social policy to provide better living conditions for the people and generally ensure their well-being.
6. A cultural policy that guarantees access to the creation and enjoyment of culture, mental and physical recreation.
7. An independent and sovereign country with a policy of peace, friendship and cooperation with all peoples that plays its full role in the community of nations.
INTRODUCTION
PRE-INDEPENDENCE
Rwanda is a small tropical country located in the Great Lakes region of Africa. It has a population of 10 million people, with a significant number of millions living in the neighbouring countries or in the Diaspora as refugees or settled citizens. It became a German colony following the 1885 Berlin Conference.
In 1918, the country was mandated to the King of Belgium whose rule instituted the divisions between the ethnic groups in the country especially between the two main groups, the Tutsis and Hutus. The colonisation of Rwanda also led to arbitrary demarcations of borders and the parcelling of large parts of pre-colonial Rwanda territory and annexing them to the neighbouring countries.
INDEPENDENCE
Rwanda achieved independence in 1961, with Grégoire Kayibanda as its first president. In reality this was a flag independence as the country still remained deeply controlled by the former colonial masters, Belgium as well as France. The post-colonial period was mainly characterised by great instability and ethnic tensions, resulting in periodic genocide and ethnic cleansing that left over 100,000 RwandansTutsi dead and forced thousands to seek refuge in neigbhouring countries.
Under the Kayibanda and Habyarimana’s regimes, a discriminatory system was established, which meant that Tutsis would be allowed only nine percent of school and university places and civil service positions. Both governments also continued the 1933 Belgian colonial policy of labeling people with ethnic identity cards, and used this practice to attack mixed marriages. This policy remained in place until 1980s. It forced millions of Hutus to live in impoverishment, poverty and between 1961 –1989, thousands of Hutu left Rwanda to seek a better life in Uganda.
In Rwanda in the meantime, Kayibanda continued to rule with an iron-fist on an openly sectarian basis. The ineptitude of his government generated wide spread social unrest and in 1973, the head of the Hutu-dominated National Guard, Maj. Gen. Juvenal Habyarimana, led a coup, ousting Kayibanda and established a military government.
Parliament was suspended as Habyarimana formed the Hutu-dominated Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND) and decreed it as the only legally permitted political organization. Ex-President Grégoire Kayibanda died in detention shortly after his overthrow, believed as a result of torture and neglect. Habyarimana was killed in plane crash at Kanombe airport, in still un-explained circumstances.
POST-COLONIAL RULE
Both regimes led by Kayibanda and Habyarimana were friendly to the West and provided a base for CIA operations in the successful effort to oust the left-learning Patrice Lumumba of the Congo. The Catholic Church also played a very prominent role in the body-politic of the country and was instrumental in maintaining links between Rwanda and Belgium and Germany.
The Roman Catholic Church, the primary educators in the country, subscribed to and reinforced the ethnic differences between Hutu and Tutsi. They developed separate educational systems for each, all throughout the 1940s and 1980s and onwards. The country's two newspapers, both strong supporters of the government, were both staunchly Catholic publications.
CIVIL WAR IN RWANDA
The Habyarimana regime very quickly established itself as a viciuous and corrupt military dictatorship through-out the 1970s and 1980s while at the same time refugees in neighbouring countries, especially Uganda, were agitating to return home. As a result in July 1987, he banned all refugees from returning to Rwanda. During a state visit to Uganda, Mr Habyarimana told Rwandan refugees to forget their dream of returning home.
Instead he advised them to settle in Uganda. This intransigent attitude set the back-drop to the civil war which emerged from around 1986, led by the Rwanda National Liberation Movement (RNLM). And on October 1, 1990, the RPF crossed into Rwanda from their bases in Ibanda forest, Uganda.
Though the RPA objective seemed to be to put pressure on the Rwandan government into making concessions, their return was seen as an attempt to install the Tutsi ethnic group back into power. After 3 years of fighting and multiple prior "cease-fires," the government and the RPF signed a "final" cease-fire agreement in July 1994, known as the Arusha Accord and agreed a power-sharing arrangement. This Accord immediately ran into problems when the Habyarimana regime failed to honour it. This escalated the civil war.
GENOCIDE
On 6th April 1994, Habyarimana was killed in plane crash at Kanombe airport, in still un-explained circumstances. It is alleged that this became the trigger for genocide. The RPP - IMVURA on the other hand believes that the conditions for genocide in Rwanda were already existing in Rwanda with or without Habyarimana.
Organized armed forces ( FAR) and allied militia groups called Interahamwe were set and in place and as soon Habyarimana was killed, they went into action, using Habrarimana’s death as the excuse for the violence that then emerged. The extremists began rounding up and killing Tutsis en masse, as well as political moderates irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds.
The killing swiftly spread from Kigali to all corners of the country; between April 6 and the beginning of July 1994, a genocide of unprecedented swiftness left between 800,000 and 1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead at the hands of organised FAR and Interahamwe militias.
The death of one million people within a short period of time was a tragedy of major proportions and destroyed what little was left of the Rwandan state. That it was a failed state became evident. It also intensified the war being waged by the RPF as its units pushed deeper and deeper into Rwanda to stop the genocide. In July 1994, the RPF overthrew the Rwanda government and set up an interim government led by Pasteur Bizimungu as President and put an end to the genocide.
The RPF leader, Paul Kagame served as vice President in the interim government, but in March 2000, he overthrew the interim government and assumed full powers as President, setting up a virtual military government. He went on to enact a new constitution by which elections were held in 2003, which were won by the RPF as there were no opposing political parties. President Kagame was mandated to serve for a 7 year term up to 2010, a term which expires in a few months time. The country is therefore preparing for Presidential elections which are scheduled for August 2010.
THE RPF TODAY
It is the contention of the RPP – IMVURA that the current RPF regime is repeating the same mistakes of the past regimes that caused state failure and so much suffering for Rwandan people and led to the genocide. It has not come up with effective economic and political policies to deal with the urgent tasks that faced Rwanda post-genocide and faces it today. It has also failed to bring about the most needed national reconciliation.
Today the gap between the poor and rich is widening on a daily basis. Rwanda is a police state where people live in extreme poverty and fear. The state is run like a family business; there is an irrational discrimination against Tutsi returnees based on their countries of past asylum. There is an unprecedented campaign to discriminate, blackmail, harass and persecute Rwanda Tutsi refugees who lived outside refugee camps in Uganda.
Increasingly, the IBUKA (genocide survivors) have no room in Rwanda while the Hutu community in Rwanda are equally marginalised.
Rwanda has over 1.7 million orphans, children born through rape during and after the genocide, and street children displaced by the 1994 genocide. These children have no future, no hopes, no dreams and no aspirations.
Rwandan orphan children and other vulnerable people are segregated from the rest of Rwandan community. Many are arrested and taken to prison and /or to the infamous IWAWA ISLAND Concentration Camp and others transported and dumped in rural areas away from Kigali where they cannot be seen by foreigners. The RPF has totally failed to solve the monumental problems the country faces, with mounting public discontent, poverty, unemployment and HIV/AIDS. The regime is also faced with an internal rebellion within its own army and party which threatens to throw the country back to violent civil war.
There is no contingency plan in place to address the needs of those who have experienced physical injuries through civil wars. And some of which have resulted into mental and physical disabilities. In Rwanda today, thousands of genocide survivors still face significant challenges in their efforts to rebuild their lives, including victims of sexual violence, orphans and widows. No trauma and psychological programmes established to promote effective safety nets for the protection of the most vulnerable groups. The country is also faced with the dilemma of the demand from the Rwandan refugees who are scattered around the world who are desperately in need to return to their homeland - Rwanda. These Rwandans have been living in difficult conditions some of these refugees have been stateless since 1959.
Today, Rwanda has more than 2.5 million refugees, some dating back from 1959. There are hundreds of Rwandans fleeing Kagame’s oppressive regime for sanctuaries in the neighbouring countries and other countries most of whom in Europe and US. Yet, the RPF inner cycle have accumulated enormous wealth at the expense of the common people. Billions of US dollars that are intended to support genocide survivors and improve social conditions of Rwandan people are being siphoned off and stashed in foreign bank accounts.
Political persecution has reached new heights, corruption is rampant, and the government is inept and unaccountable. A climate of paranoia has enveloped the country to an extent neighbours are encouraged to spy on each other, just like members of families are encouraged to do the same.
The media is today completely muzzled and freedom of expression, a fundamental human right is virtually non-existent. Presidential elections are scheduled to be held this year, but opposition parties have been prevented or obstructed from any meaningful participation.
Many have been arrested and it seems the government wants a situation where the current President stands un-opposed. This is causing deep anxiety in the country and may lead to violence and significant public dis-order, attested by recent unexplained bombings in Kigali and rumours of coups. These are the same conditions that created and led to the 1990 civil war and 1994 genocide and even previous genocides.
THE RPP – IMVURA
The RPP – IMVURA is a new political party born out of the Rwanda National Liberation Movement (RNLM) which was formed in Uganda in April 1986 to wage a political and military struggle against the Habyarimana regime in Rwanda. Since the overthrow of the Habyarimana regime, the RPP - IMVURA considers that the phase of using armed force to effect social and political change in Rwanda is now at an end and that new forms of political mobilisation and struggle need to be utilised hence the formation of the party.
The RPP-IMVURA has the following as its core principles:
The establishment of :
1. A regime of freedom, in which the people determine their own future and a democratic, representative and modern State, based on the people's aspirations and participation
2. A justice policy premised on the protection of human rights and the rule of law, with a fully vibrant, responsive and independent judiciary.
3. A national reconciliation policy that heals old wounds and unites all the ethnic groups of Rwanda in a common endeavour to rebuild our country and provide a platform on which foster enduring peace and prosperity for all our people.
4. An economic development model based on a mixed, modern and dynamic economy, serving the people and the country.
5. A social policy to provide better living conditions for the people and generally ensure their well-being.
6. A cultural policy that guarantees access to the creation and enjoyment of culture, mental and physical recreation.
7. An independent and sovereign country with a policy of peace, friendship and cooperation with all peoples that plays its full role in the community of nations.
Rwandan Opposition Parties Condemn Grenade Attacks.
The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda (CCP)
Press Release
The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda, which includes the United Democratic Forces (FDU–Inkingi), Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, and the Social Party-Imberakuri, is deeply concerned with the continuing grenade attacks. These barbaric acts are causing a serious security and political crisis for the people of Rwanda.
Our country has indeed suffered a lot, many people have died, we don't need any more war or killings. We strongly condemn all these violent acts being used to threaten the Rwandan people and make the upcoming presidential elections a nightmare.
We condemn in the strongest terms possible all use of violence and the authors of the continued grenade attacks in Kigali city and elsewhere in Rwanda. The opposition parties have always embraced non-violence as the way to change the political situation in Rwanda.
We also strongly condemn the arrest and intimidation of political opponents as well as the sabotage and denial of registration of opposition parties.
We believe that without holding discussions on creating a level playing field for the 2010 presidential election, the legitimacy of the results will be in question.
We strongly condemn the suspension of independent newspapers by the Rwandan High Media Council and its recent decision to ban the UMUSESO and UMUVUGIZI newspapers for good. Freedom of the press is a fundamental right extending from the democratic principle of the freedom of speech. The citizens of Rwanda have a right to hear opposing viewpoints.
The escalation of this crisis is no secret any more. We have witnessed the arrest and intimidation of political opponents; the sabotage and non-registration of opposition parties, the arbitrary detention and exile of many senior army officers; suspension of independent newspapers; the unexplained and repeated grenade blasts in Kigali city and “near-war” speeches from the President.
The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda urge:
- The Rwandan government to take all necessary measures to thoroughly investigate these barbaric killings and continued security threats, prosecute those responsible, ensure the physical and psychological integrity of all citizens and inform Rwandans about this the cause of these grenade acts of terrorism.
- The Rwandan government to immediately register the FDU-Inkingi and the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda.
- The Rwandan government to put an end to the harassment and intimidation of opposition parties and withdraw the politically-motivated trials of opposition party leaders.
- The Rwandan government to immediately release the new electoral code and set up a consensus-based National Electoral Commission.
We call upon the international community and all bilateral partners of Rwanda to take an active role in ensuring a peaceful process to achieve a lasting solution to the ongoing political crisis in Rwanda.
Issued in Kigali,
19th May 2010
Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson, United Democratic Forces
Mr. Frank Habineza
Chairman, Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
Me. Bernard Ntaganda
Chairman, Parti Social-Imberakuri
Press Release
The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda, which includes the United Democratic Forces (FDU–Inkingi), Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, and the Social Party-Imberakuri, is deeply concerned with the continuing grenade attacks. These barbaric acts are causing a serious security and political crisis for the people of Rwanda.
Our country has indeed suffered a lot, many people have died, we don't need any more war or killings. We strongly condemn all these violent acts being used to threaten the Rwandan people and make the upcoming presidential elections a nightmare.
We condemn in the strongest terms possible all use of violence and the authors of the continued grenade attacks in Kigali city and elsewhere in Rwanda. The opposition parties have always embraced non-violence as the way to change the political situation in Rwanda.
We also strongly condemn the arrest and intimidation of political opponents as well as the sabotage and denial of registration of opposition parties.
We believe that without holding discussions on creating a level playing field for the 2010 presidential election, the legitimacy of the results will be in question.
We strongly condemn the suspension of independent newspapers by the Rwandan High Media Council and its recent decision to ban the UMUSESO and UMUVUGIZI newspapers for good. Freedom of the press is a fundamental right extending from the democratic principle of the freedom of speech. The citizens of Rwanda have a right to hear opposing viewpoints.
The escalation of this crisis is no secret any more. We have witnessed the arrest and intimidation of political opponents; the sabotage and non-registration of opposition parties, the arbitrary detention and exile of many senior army officers; suspension of independent newspapers; the unexplained and repeated grenade blasts in Kigali city and “near-war” speeches from the President.
The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda urge:
- The Rwandan government to take all necessary measures to thoroughly investigate these barbaric killings and continued security threats, prosecute those responsible, ensure the physical and psychological integrity of all citizens and inform Rwandans about this the cause of these grenade acts of terrorism.
- The Rwandan government to immediately register the FDU-Inkingi and the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda.
- The Rwandan government to put an end to the harassment and intimidation of opposition parties and withdraw the politically-motivated trials of opposition party leaders.
- The Rwandan government to immediately release the new electoral code and set up a consensus-based National Electoral Commission.
We call upon the international community and all bilateral partners of Rwanda to take an active role in ensuring a peaceful process to achieve a lasting solution to the ongoing political crisis in Rwanda.
Issued in Kigali,
19th May 2010
Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson, United Democratic Forces
Mr. Frank Habineza
Chairman, Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
Me. Bernard Ntaganda
Chairman, Parti Social-Imberakuri
18 May, 2010
Iran to take part in Zimbabwe refinery project.
Mehr News
10 March 2010
Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkzemi discussed energy ties with Zimbabwean Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didmus Mutasa.
"Iran is ready to cooperate in the renovation of Feruka Refinery in Zimbabwe and supply it with feedstock," a report said. Based on a memorandum of understanding which was signed in 2006, Iran agreed to take part in the Feruka refinery's renovation project.
The Zimbabwean official, accompanied by a delegation, also expressed his country's interest to implement joint refining projects with Iran in other African nations. Mirkazemi declared Iran's readiness to export engineering services to Zimbabwe.
"Iran is one of the greatest oil exporters of the world and can play an important role in meeting Zimbabwe's oil demand," Didmus Mutasa said.
10 March 2010
Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkzemi discussed energy ties with Zimbabwean Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didmus Mutasa.
"Iran is ready to cooperate in the renovation of Feruka Refinery in Zimbabwe and supply it with feedstock," a report said. Based on a memorandum of understanding which was signed in 2006, Iran agreed to take part in the Feruka refinery's renovation project.
The Zimbabwean official, accompanied by a delegation, also expressed his country's interest to implement joint refining projects with Iran in other African nations. Mirkazemi declared Iran's readiness to export engineering services to Zimbabwe.
"Iran is one of the greatest oil exporters of the world and can play an important role in meeting Zimbabwe's oil demand," Didmus Mutasa said.
Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bars Embassies From Election Observation.
Addis Fortune
17 May 2010
By Eden Sahle
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) officially prohibited foreign embassies in Ethiopia and international organisations from observing the 2010 National Elections, the fourth since the overthrow of the Derg.
Election Observation Mission is specifically assigned to the European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) election observers, who have accepted the invitation and are officially conducting observation missions. No other foreign embassies or international organisations are allowed to observe the upcoming elections.
Some of the embassies and international organisations are requesting to observe the elections, according to a press release from the MoFA.
However, the request was denied because they have not been invited or allowed to observe. The government contacted both embassies and international organisations several times to clarify this issue, according to the statement.
They were denied from observing on the grounds of their lack of qualifications and on the difficulty of signing so many memoranda of understanding (MoU) with all embassies and international organisations in Ethiopia, the ministry said.
Having so many observers would only create unforeseen consequences in the election process, the statement read.
The ministry has also instructed these international bodies to get a letter of approval before any of their staff travel outside of Addis Abeba, which, it said, will only help them to perform their tasks without confusion occurring with the Election Observation Mission. This moratorium will remain effective from May 10, 2010, to June 30, 2010.
Based on the temporary order, embassies and international organisations will fill a form and take a support letter from the ministry.
"This is not to restrict the embassies and international organisations from movement [during] their daily work," Wahade Belay, spokesperson for the MoFA, told Fortune. "It only means that they are not allowed to observe election."
The US Embassy to Ethiopia requested to observe the 2010 National Elections. However, it was not given permission.
"We observed the 2005 and previous elections," said James Callahan, US Embassy Information Officer, to Fortune.
Another embassy, which did not want to be named, already received a letter with the new requirements about staff trips outside Addis Abeba, it said. It is expected to give details such as the names of the people travelling, the places they are travelling to, and the mode of transportation 24 hours ahead of time, this embassy said. It had also informally requested to observe the election.
The British Embassy did not apply to observe the election and is still considering what monitoring it may do, according to the embassy.
"We appreciate the Ethiopian Government's decision to invite the EU to observe the forthcoming elections, and this will provide a professional and objective assessment," Gavin Cook, spokesperson of the British Embassy, told Fortune.
The 2010 National Elections for the Parliament and the state council elections will be held on May 23, 2010. For this election, the invited election observers were the Carter Centre, the EU, and the AU. Only the EU and the AU came to Ethiopia to observe the election, after accepting the invitation of the Government of Ethiopia.
17 May 2010
By Eden Sahle
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) officially prohibited foreign embassies in Ethiopia and international organisations from observing the 2010 National Elections, the fourth since the overthrow of the Derg.
Election Observation Mission is specifically assigned to the European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) election observers, who have accepted the invitation and are officially conducting observation missions. No other foreign embassies or international organisations are allowed to observe the upcoming elections.
Some of the embassies and international organisations are requesting to observe the elections, according to a press release from the MoFA.
However, the request was denied because they have not been invited or allowed to observe. The government contacted both embassies and international organisations several times to clarify this issue, according to the statement.
They were denied from observing on the grounds of their lack of qualifications and on the difficulty of signing so many memoranda of understanding (MoU) with all embassies and international organisations in Ethiopia, the ministry said.
Having so many observers would only create unforeseen consequences in the election process, the statement read.
The ministry has also instructed these international bodies to get a letter of approval before any of their staff travel outside of Addis Abeba, which, it said, will only help them to perform their tasks without confusion occurring with the Election Observation Mission. This moratorium will remain effective from May 10, 2010, to June 30, 2010.
Based on the temporary order, embassies and international organisations will fill a form and take a support letter from the ministry.
"This is not to restrict the embassies and international organisations from movement [during] their daily work," Wahade Belay, spokesperson for the MoFA, told Fortune. "It only means that they are not allowed to observe election."
The US Embassy to Ethiopia requested to observe the 2010 National Elections. However, it was not given permission.
"We observed the 2005 and previous elections," said James Callahan, US Embassy Information Officer, to Fortune.
Another embassy, which did not want to be named, already received a letter with the new requirements about staff trips outside Addis Abeba, it said. It is expected to give details such as the names of the people travelling, the places they are travelling to, and the mode of transportation 24 hours ahead of time, this embassy said. It had also informally requested to observe the election.
The British Embassy did not apply to observe the election and is still considering what monitoring it may do, according to the embassy.
"We appreciate the Ethiopian Government's decision to invite the EU to observe the forthcoming elections, and this will provide a professional and objective assessment," Gavin Cook, spokesperson of the British Embassy, told Fortune.
The 2010 National Elections for the Parliament and the state council elections will be held on May 23, 2010. For this election, the invited election observers were the Carter Centre, the EU, and the AU. Only the EU and the AU came to Ethiopia to observe the election, after accepting the invitation of the Government of Ethiopia.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: OPPOSITION ASKS FOR POSTPONEMENT.
MISNA
18 May 2010
The presidential elections that are scheduled to take place in August should be postponed because the conditions for a ‘free and regular’ vote are lacking, said Victoire Ingabire and Bernard Ntaganda, who are leaders in the opposition to the government of Paul Kagame and his party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR). In a joint document, Ingabire and Ntaganda said that the leaders of the opposition parties were subjected, in several occasions, to arrests and involved in ‘politically motivated’ trials. The opposition leaders have also criticized the National Electoral Commission, which they accuse of being “a tool in the hands of the government party”. Ms. Ingabire is the leader of the United Democratic Forces, a party formed abroad after the genocide of 1994 and which was never registered in Rwanda. Ms. Ingabire has been arrested on several occasions after her return home a few months ago. Ntaganda has also had a difficult political life. He founded the “Imberakuri Social Party”. In the document the two leaders contest the closure of some publications critical of the government. The “New Times”, vehicle for the executive’s positions, featured a front-page article describing Paul Kagame’s visit to the wounded victims of an explosion that occurred last Saturday in Kigali. The latter remains a mysterious episode, which might be interpreted in the context of a difficult electoral context. On Saturday, the outgoing president, in power since 1994, announced that he would be running for another mandate as head of state.
18 May 2010
The presidential elections that are scheduled to take place in August should be postponed because the conditions for a ‘free and regular’ vote are lacking, said Victoire Ingabire and Bernard Ntaganda, who are leaders in the opposition to the government of Paul Kagame and his party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR). In a joint document, Ingabire and Ntaganda said that the leaders of the opposition parties were subjected, in several occasions, to arrests and involved in ‘politically motivated’ trials. The opposition leaders have also criticized the National Electoral Commission, which they accuse of being “a tool in the hands of the government party”. Ms. Ingabire is the leader of the United Democratic Forces, a party formed abroad after the genocide of 1994 and which was never registered in Rwanda. Ms. Ingabire has been arrested on several occasions after her return home a few months ago. Ntaganda has also had a difficult political life. He founded the “Imberakuri Social Party”. In the document the two leaders contest the closure of some publications critical of the government. The “New Times”, vehicle for the executive’s positions, featured a front-page article describing Paul Kagame’s visit to the wounded victims of an explosion that occurred last Saturday in Kigali. The latter remains a mysterious episode, which might be interpreted in the context of a difficult electoral context. On Saturday, the outgoing president, in power since 1994, announced that he would be running for another mandate as head of state.
Russia, Namibia to launch joint development of uranium deposits.
RIA Novosti
18 May 2010
Russia and Namibia plan to sign an agreement on cooperation in the development of uranium deposits in Namibia on May 20, Russian Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Yuri Trutnev said on Tuesday.
Russian State Atomic Energy corporation Rosatom representative added that an inter-governmental agreement between Rosatom and the Namibian Ministry of Mines was also planned.
Trutnev added that the two sides have discussed cooperation in energy, including Russian gas giant Gazprom's participation and building a railway line in Namibia.
18 May 2010
Russia and Namibia plan to sign an agreement on cooperation in the development of uranium deposits in Namibia on May 20, Russian Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Yuri Trutnev said on Tuesday.
Russian State Atomic Energy corporation Rosatom representative added that an inter-governmental agreement between Rosatom and the Namibian Ministry of Mines was also planned.
Trutnev added that the two sides have discussed cooperation in energy, including Russian gas giant Gazprom's participation and building a railway line in Namibia.
Burundi opposition death fuels election fears.
Reuters
14 May 2010
By Patrick Nduwimana
Burundi's security forces fired teargas on Friday to disperse about 200 people protesting against the death of an opposition activist as political tensions grow before elections starting next week.
A police spokesman, Pierre Ntarabaganyi, confirmed that a member of the Movement for Solidarity and Democracy party (MSD) had been shot dead and an investigation was underway.
Neighbours of the victim, 27-year-old Eddy Munezero, said he was killed by two gunmen as he returned home after campaigning for the party in Burundi's capital Bujumbura.
An international human rights organisation said political violence before local and national ballots which start next week risked jeopardising the central African nation's efforts to build a multiparty democracy after years of civil war.
"The violence, if left unchecked, could set back Burundi's notable strides toward peace and multiparty democracy after years of civil war," New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report on Friday.
Burundi, a coffee producer, has enjoyed relative peace since the last Hutu guerilla group, the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), agreed to lay down weapons and join the government.
The polls are now seen as a test of political stability in the country, which is a member of the five-nation East African Community trading bloc.
EXTREMELY TENSE
Burundi holds district elections on May 21, a presidential election on June 28, a parliamentary poll on July 23 and a vote for senators on July 28. The electoral process will conclude with local elections to be held separately in September.
Former rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza was elected president in 2005 after a long U.N.-backed peace process.
A local rights group, Ligue Iteka, said that earlier in the campaigning an FNL member was beaten to death in the country's north by youths aligned with the ruling CNDD-FDD party.
The MSD's leader is a former journalist called Alexis Sinduhije. He has been harsh critic of the way the government deals with dissent.
He said the police were holding 10 party members in different police stations across the country.
Human Rights Watch said the ruling party and FNL had a hand in most of the violence that it had observed and the police had failed to carry out proper investigations in many cases.
"The situation is already extremely tense, with a number of party militants armed and ready to resort to violence to intimidate their rivals," HRW said.
(Editing by Richard Lough and Angus MacSwan)
14 May 2010
By Patrick Nduwimana
Burundi's security forces fired teargas on Friday to disperse about 200 people protesting against the death of an opposition activist as political tensions grow before elections starting next week.
A police spokesman, Pierre Ntarabaganyi, confirmed that a member of the Movement for Solidarity and Democracy party (MSD) had been shot dead and an investigation was underway.
Neighbours of the victim, 27-year-old Eddy Munezero, said he was killed by two gunmen as he returned home after campaigning for the party in Burundi's capital Bujumbura.
An international human rights organisation said political violence before local and national ballots which start next week risked jeopardising the central African nation's efforts to build a multiparty democracy after years of civil war.
"The violence, if left unchecked, could set back Burundi's notable strides toward peace and multiparty democracy after years of civil war," New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report on Friday.
Burundi, a coffee producer, has enjoyed relative peace since the last Hutu guerilla group, the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), agreed to lay down weapons and join the government.
The polls are now seen as a test of political stability in the country, which is a member of the five-nation East African Community trading bloc.
EXTREMELY TENSE
Burundi holds district elections on May 21, a presidential election on June 28, a parliamentary poll on July 23 and a vote for senators on July 28. The electoral process will conclude with local elections to be held separately in September.
Former rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza was elected president in 2005 after a long U.N.-backed peace process.
A local rights group, Ligue Iteka, said that earlier in the campaigning an FNL member was beaten to death in the country's north by youths aligned with the ruling CNDD-FDD party.
The MSD's leader is a former journalist called Alexis Sinduhije. He has been harsh critic of the way the government deals with dissent.
He said the police were holding 10 party members in different police stations across the country.
Human Rights Watch said the ruling party and FNL had a hand in most of the violence that it had observed and the police had failed to carry out proper investigations in many cases.
"The situation is already extremely tense, with a number of party militants armed and ready to resort to violence to intimidate their rivals," HRW said.
(Editing by Richard Lough and Angus MacSwan)
Opposition Leaders ask for Rwandan Poll Delay.
AFP
18 May 2010
Two Rwandan opposition politicians have asked for the postponement of the country's August 9 presidential poll saying it would not be free and fair, a statement Tuesday said.
The two are Victoire Ingabire of the United Democratic Forces (FDU), which was formed in exile but is not yet registered in Rwanda, and Bernard Ntaganda, founder and disputed chairman of PS Imberakuri.
"We ask for the postponement of the election," the two said in a statement, arguing that nothing has been done "to ensure freedom and fairness".
"Opposition leaders are victims of politically motivated arrests and trials. The government has censored popular independent newspapers," Ingabire and Ntaganda, a Kigali lawyer, said.
The two signatories also said "the national electoral commission is not neutral: it?s a tool in the hands of the ruling party", the Rwandan Patriotic Front of Paul Kagame, officially designated Saturday as a candidate for his own succession.
All of the commission's members "are RPF militants", Ingabire and Ntaganda said.
In the runup to the start of the official campaign in July the capital, Kigali, has been shaken by a series of grenade attacks. Two blasts on Saturday left two people dead and 27 wounded.
18 May 2010
Two Rwandan opposition politicians have asked for the postponement of the country's August 9 presidential poll saying it would not be free and fair, a statement Tuesday said.
The two are Victoire Ingabire of the United Democratic Forces (FDU), which was formed in exile but is not yet registered in Rwanda, and Bernard Ntaganda, founder and disputed chairman of PS Imberakuri.
"We ask for the postponement of the election," the two said in a statement, arguing that nothing has been done "to ensure freedom and fairness".
"Opposition leaders are victims of politically motivated arrests and trials. The government has censored popular independent newspapers," Ingabire and Ntaganda, a Kigali lawyer, said.
The two signatories also said "the national electoral commission is not neutral: it?s a tool in the hands of the ruling party", the Rwandan Patriotic Front of Paul Kagame, officially designated Saturday as a candidate for his own succession.
All of the commission's members "are RPF militants", Ingabire and Ntaganda said.
In the runup to the start of the official campaign in July the capital, Kigali, has been shaken by a series of grenade attacks. Two blasts on Saturday left two people dead and 27 wounded.
Democratic Green Party of Rwanda Again Requests Permission to Hold Founding Congress.
Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
18th May, 2010
To: The Mayor of Gasabo District
C.C:
- Minister of Local Government
- Mayor of Kigali City
Kigali, Rwanda
RE: Requesting Permission to Hold the Founding Congress for the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda.
Dear Sir,
We humbly request you to allow us hold the founding congress of the Democratic
Green Party of Rwanda on 4th June 2010.
After several correspondences between the District of Gasabo and National Police, we
requested the Ministry of Local Government to intervene in our situation. We
held a peaceful meeting with them and they showed their interest in allowing us to hold a peaceful congress. We informed them of our new strategy to sign party documents in the Public Notary’s Office, without holding a congress but they stipulated that a congress was mandatory.
It is in that regard that we would like to once again request your permission to
hold the Party’s founding Congress on 4th June 2010, at CASABONITA Hall, Kimironko Sector, Gasabo District, Kigali City. We would also like to take this opportunity to request the presence of the district's Public Notary so they can witness the signing ceremony.
We recently re-organized our party and nominated new committee members and we don’t
have any internal problems. The police wrote to us and assured its commitment to protect us in case we recieved permission from the District. We are hopeful that we will not have any security problem. Since it’s within the government’s mandate and is an obligation to ensure security for all Rwandans, including ourselves, we are hopeful to have a peaceful and successful congress.
We look forward to recieving your quick response.
Yours Faithfully,
Frank HABINEZA
Founding President,
Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
18th May, 2010
To: The Mayor of Gasabo District
C.C:
- Minister of Local Government
- Mayor of Kigali City
Kigali, Rwanda
RE: Requesting Permission to Hold the Founding Congress for the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda.
Dear Sir,
We humbly request you to allow us hold the founding congress of the Democratic
Green Party of Rwanda on 4th June 2010.
After several correspondences between the District of Gasabo and National Police, we
requested the Ministry of Local Government to intervene in our situation. We
held a peaceful meeting with them and they showed their interest in allowing us to hold a peaceful congress. We informed them of our new strategy to sign party documents in the Public Notary’s Office, without holding a congress but they stipulated that a congress was mandatory.
It is in that regard that we would like to once again request your permission to
hold the Party’s founding Congress on 4th June 2010, at CASABONITA Hall, Kimironko Sector, Gasabo District, Kigali City. We would also like to take this opportunity to request the presence of the district's Public Notary so they can witness the signing ceremony.
We recently re-organized our party and nominated new committee members and we don’t
have any internal problems. The police wrote to us and assured its commitment to protect us in case we recieved permission from the District. We are hopeful that we will not have any security problem. Since it’s within the government’s mandate and is an obligation to ensure security for all Rwandans, including ourselves, we are hopeful to have a peaceful and successful congress.
We look forward to recieving your quick response.
Yours Faithfully,
Frank HABINEZA
Founding President,
Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
Indian firm produces indigenous UAVs.
Daily Times
18 May 2010
India has finally produced indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), with the Indian Air Force (IAF) getting its first lot recently.
The UAVs, however, have not been developed by the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which the Indian government provides billions of rupees to develop defence equipment. A technology firm in Ludhiana, Bhogal Hobby Tech, a sister concern of Bhogal Cycles Limited, has come up with the design, to be provided at Rs 0.6 million a piece. The firm is in the business of producing aero models and accessories. Experts have tested the UAVs that weigh 28 kilogrammes, have an 80 cc engine and a wingspan of 5.5 metres (18 feet). “We supplied UAVs to forces in March and we have made the defence self-reliant,” says Manjeev Bhogal, managing partner of the firm and the brain behind the project.
The IAF had approached the firm to develop the UAVs, as the Israeli-made ones were too expensive and Israel was not providing spare parts for repairs, Bhogal said. He said the firm developed the vehicles on its own, “as the Indian Air Force made it clear that it will not give any monetary help for the research and development”. The firm already supplies trainer aero models and target aero models to IAF and the Indian Army. It was five years ago that Bhogal was approached by the IAF for aero models and seeing his expertise, was asked to concentrate on producing UAVs.
18 May 2010
India has finally produced indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), with the Indian Air Force (IAF) getting its first lot recently.
The UAVs, however, have not been developed by the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which the Indian government provides billions of rupees to develop defence equipment. A technology firm in Ludhiana, Bhogal Hobby Tech, a sister concern of Bhogal Cycles Limited, has come up with the design, to be provided at Rs 0.6 million a piece. The firm is in the business of producing aero models and accessories. Experts have tested the UAVs that weigh 28 kilogrammes, have an 80 cc engine and a wingspan of 5.5 metres (18 feet). “We supplied UAVs to forces in March and we have made the defence self-reliant,” says Manjeev Bhogal, managing partner of the firm and the brain behind the project.
The IAF had approached the firm to develop the UAVs, as the Israeli-made ones were too expensive and Israel was not providing spare parts for repairs, Bhogal said. He said the firm developed the vehicles on its own, “as the Indian Air Force made it clear that it will not give any monetary help for the research and development”. The firm already supplies trainer aero models and target aero models to IAF and the Indian Army. It was five years ago that Bhogal was approached by the IAF for aero models and seeing his expertise, was asked to concentrate on producing UAVs.
NATO Gets More Assertive Interventionist Doctrine.
AFP
17 May 2010
NATO must be ready to intervene externally, experts said Monday, proposing a new doctrine for the alliance, as well as ensure the security of its 28 member states internally, as it has done since 1949.
“In the coming decade, NATO will have four central inter-related military missions,” the experts’ group said in its ‘New Strategic Concept’ for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Among these is to “deter, prevent and defend” against aggression so as to ensure the political independence and territorial integrity of all 28 NATO member states, conforming to the alliance’s original 60-year-old mission.
The experts also call for cooperation with partners to protect the treaty area against unconventional security challenges.
But the report also insists on the need to send out military missions beyond the treaty area “when required to prevent an attack on the treaty area or to protect the legal rights and other vital interests of Alliance members” - the sort of expedition already seen in Afghanistan, a mission provoked by the extraordinary September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001.
This point was addressed in the previous strategic plan in 1999, noted former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who chaired the latest expert group.
Finally, a more global goal is to “help to shape a more stable and peaceful international security environment” by providing military and police training, coordinating military assistance, and cooperating with the governments of key countries. The text was submitted to ambassadors of the NATO nations for consideration. The new concept will then be examined and amended before being submitted for adoption by allied leaders at a November summit in Lisbon.
17 May 2010
NATO must be ready to intervene externally, experts said Monday, proposing a new doctrine for the alliance, as well as ensure the security of its 28 member states internally, as it has done since 1949.
“In the coming decade, NATO will have four central inter-related military missions,” the experts’ group said in its ‘New Strategic Concept’ for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Among these is to “deter, prevent and defend” against aggression so as to ensure the political independence and territorial integrity of all 28 NATO member states, conforming to the alliance’s original 60-year-old mission.
The experts also call for cooperation with partners to protect the treaty area against unconventional security challenges.
But the report also insists on the need to send out military missions beyond the treaty area “when required to prevent an attack on the treaty area or to protect the legal rights and other vital interests of Alliance members” - the sort of expedition already seen in Afghanistan, a mission provoked by the extraordinary September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001.
This point was addressed in the previous strategic plan in 1999, noted former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who chaired the latest expert group.
Finally, a more global goal is to “help to shape a more stable and peaceful international security environment” by providing military and police training, coordinating military assistance, and cooperating with the governments of key countries. The text was submitted to ambassadors of the NATO nations for consideration. The new concept will then be examined and amended before being submitted for adoption by allied leaders at a November summit in Lisbon.
17 May, 2010
Democratic Green Party of Rwanda Intends to Field Presidential Candidate.
DEMOCRATIC GREEN PARTY OF RWANDA
B.P. 6334 KIGALI, RWANDA
http://rwandagreendemocrats.org/spip.php?article56
DECLARATION: INTENTION TO FIELD A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
After a lot of inquiries and speculation from different media houses in Rwanda and abroad, the Executive Committee of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda declares
its intentions to field an opposition presidential candidate in the upcoming August
2010 elections.
Our participation in the upcoming presidential elections is conditional on the party's registration before the end of June 2010. The party's flag bearer will be Mr. Frank Habineza, the founding President of the party.
The Democratic Green Party of Rwanda will once again submit a request to the Gasabo District and request the party be allowed to hold its founding congress on 4th June 2010, and also allow us participate in World Environmental Day cerebrations, which will be held at the international level in Rwanda. Once the Congress is successful, we will immediately submit our complete dossier and request registration from the Ministry of Local Government, which doesn’t delay in dealing with such matters. The Ministy is expected to register the party before the deadline of submitting nominations of presidential candidates between 24th June - 2nd July 2010.
We hope the District will give us a quick and positive response. We recently
re-organized our party and have new Executive Committee members, we don’t have
any internal problems. The police have written to us, assuring their commitment to protect us when we recieve permission from the District, we are hopeful that we will not have any security problem. Since it’s the Government’s role and obligation to ensure security for all Rwandans, including ourselves, we are hopeful to have a peaceful and successful congress.
We call upon the Rwandan Government to open up political space and allow
opposition parties to participate in the upcoming presidential elections.
Issued in Kigali, 17th May 2010
Signed by The National Executive Committee:
Mr. Andre RWISEREKA KAGWA,
First-Vice President
Ms. Jeanine UWINEZA,
Second-Vice President
Ms. Didacienne KANGEYO,
Secretary-General
Mr. Jean-Claude NTEZIMANA,
Deputy Secretary-General
Mr. Alexis MUGISHA,
Treasurer General
Ms. Carine MAOMBE,
Deputy Treasurer General
Ms. Diane MUYISENGE,
Communication Secretary
Mr. Frank HABINEZA,
Founding President, Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
President, African Greens Federation
Co-Africa Representative to Global Greens Coordination (GGC)
Mob: + 250 78 85 630 39
Email: fhabineza@africangreens.org
http://www.rwandagreendemocrats.org
http://www.africangreens.org
http://www.globalgreens.org
B.P. 6334 KIGALI, RWANDA
http://rwandagreendemocrats.org/spip.php?article56
DECLARATION: INTENTION TO FIELD A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
After a lot of inquiries and speculation from different media houses in Rwanda and abroad, the Executive Committee of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda declares
its intentions to field an opposition presidential candidate in the upcoming August
2010 elections.
Our participation in the upcoming presidential elections is conditional on the party's registration before the end of June 2010. The party's flag bearer will be Mr. Frank Habineza, the founding President of the party.
The Democratic Green Party of Rwanda will once again submit a request to the Gasabo District and request the party be allowed to hold its founding congress on 4th June 2010, and also allow us participate in World Environmental Day cerebrations, which will be held at the international level in Rwanda. Once the Congress is successful, we will immediately submit our complete dossier and request registration from the Ministry of Local Government, which doesn’t delay in dealing with such matters. The Ministy is expected to register the party before the deadline of submitting nominations of presidential candidates between 24th June - 2nd July 2010.
We hope the District will give us a quick and positive response. We recently
re-organized our party and have new Executive Committee members, we don’t have
any internal problems. The police have written to us, assuring their commitment to protect us when we recieve permission from the District, we are hopeful that we will not have any security problem. Since it’s the Government’s role and obligation to ensure security for all Rwandans, including ourselves, we are hopeful to have a peaceful and successful congress.
We call upon the Rwandan Government to open up political space and allow
opposition parties to participate in the upcoming presidential elections.
Issued in Kigali, 17th May 2010
Signed by The National Executive Committee:
Mr. Andre RWISEREKA KAGWA,
First-Vice President
Ms. Jeanine UWINEZA,
Second-Vice President
Ms. Didacienne KANGEYO,
Secretary-General
Mr. Jean-Claude NTEZIMANA,
Deputy Secretary-General
Mr. Alexis MUGISHA,
Treasurer General
Ms. Carine MAOMBE,
Deputy Treasurer General
Ms. Diane MUYISENGE,
Communication Secretary
Mr. Frank HABINEZA,
Founding President, Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
President, African Greens Federation
Co-Africa Representative to Global Greens Coordination (GGC)
Mob: + 250 78 85 630 39
Email: fhabineza@africangreens.org
http://www.rwandagreendemocrats.org
http://www.africangreens.org
http://www.globalgreens.org
Over 1,000,000 Rwandan refugees face forced repatriation from Uganda.
Rwandan News Agency
17 May 2010
Over one million Rwandan refugees face forced repatriation as the government of Uganda said Saturday that it will not grant asylum to Rwandans living in the country. This decision was made following discussions between Rwanda, the UNHCR, and Ugandan officials. President Kagame is scheduled to visit Uganda soon.
The development was communicated at a meeting between Ugandan officials led by Relief and Disaster Preparedness Minister, Professor Tarsis Kabwegyere and his Rwandan counterpart General Marcel Gatsinzi, in Mbarara, Western Uganda.
In a joint communiqué, the Rwandans in Uganda, who fled Rwanda due to population pressure and political reasons in recent years, are over 1 million in number. Most of them have mainly settled in Kiboga and Masindi regions of central and western Ugandan respectively.
Kabwegyere’s team complained to the Rwandan delegation that the Rwandans were involved in allegedly grabbing land from Ugandans and also trying to dominate the indigenous people politically and socially.
The Rwandan refugee crisis in Uganda has taken on political and military dimensions over the last decade. The Rwandan government has accused many of them of being insurgents while the Ugandan government considers some of them Rwandan spies.
Uganda’s High Commissioner to Rwanda Richard Kabonero claimed that conditions in Rwanda are good for everyone to return.
He cited a group of refugees, commonly referred to as the Kibati group, saying they returned to Rwanda in October 2007 and settled happily. Those still in Uganda, Kabonero said, should voluntarily go back or risk losing their refugee status.
Over 1,312 Rwandan refugees fled to Uganda between April and March this year, claiming political persecution. The refugees, most of whom hail from the Eastern Province, were however denied refugee status.
17 May 2010
Over one million Rwandan refugees face forced repatriation as the government of Uganda said Saturday that it will not grant asylum to Rwandans living in the country. This decision was made following discussions between Rwanda, the UNHCR, and Ugandan officials. President Kagame is scheduled to visit Uganda soon.
The development was communicated at a meeting between Ugandan officials led by Relief and Disaster Preparedness Minister, Professor Tarsis Kabwegyere and his Rwandan counterpart General Marcel Gatsinzi, in Mbarara, Western Uganda.
In a joint communiqué, the Rwandans in Uganda, who fled Rwanda due to population pressure and political reasons in recent years, are over 1 million in number. Most of them have mainly settled in Kiboga and Masindi regions of central and western Ugandan respectively.
Kabwegyere’s team complained to the Rwandan delegation that the Rwandans were involved in allegedly grabbing land from Ugandans and also trying to dominate the indigenous people politically and socially.
The Rwandan refugee crisis in Uganda has taken on political and military dimensions over the last decade. The Rwandan government has accused many of them of being insurgents while the Ugandan government considers some of them Rwandan spies.
Uganda’s High Commissioner to Rwanda Richard Kabonero claimed that conditions in Rwanda are good for everyone to return.
He cited a group of refugees, commonly referred to as the Kibati group, saying they returned to Rwanda in October 2007 and settled happily. Those still in Uganda, Kabonero said, should voluntarily go back or risk losing their refugee status.
Over 1,312 Rwandan refugees fled to Uganda between April and March this year, claiming political persecution. The refugees, most of whom hail from the Eastern Province, were however denied refugee status.
Trans Hex signs Angolan diamond contract.
Reuters
14 May 2010
Africa's biggest traded diamond producer, has partnered with Angolan state-owned diamond company Endiama and three other local companies to explore for diamonds at a new mine in Angola, Endiama said on Thursday.
Trans Hex owns 33 percent stake in the Luana mine while Endiama holds 39 percent. Privately owned Angolan firms Caxinji, Wenji and Za-Kufuna hold the remaining 28 percent, Endiama said in a statement.
Under the agreement, signed on May 12, Tans Hex has the right to appoint the general manager, financial manager and operations manager of the project, it said.
The Luana mining contract is the first to be signed in three years as diamond prices and exports recover from a sharp drop that began with the global economic downturn in 2008 and prompted many mines in Angola to halt production.
Endiama's newly appointed CEO Antonio Carlos Sumbula said the new project was the "first step in solving the unemployment problems in the diamond areas."
The alluvial mine is located in Angola's northeastern diamond-producing Lunda Norte province. Angola is the world's fifth biggest diamond producer, after Botswana, Russia, Canada and South Africa.
Angola's diamond exports reached around 9.8 million carats last year, the Ministry of Geology and Mines said in February.
(Reporting by Henrique Almeida; editing by James Jukwey)
14 May 2010
Africa's biggest traded diamond producer, has partnered with Angolan state-owned diamond company Endiama and three other local companies to explore for diamonds at a new mine in Angola, Endiama said on Thursday.
Trans Hex owns 33 percent stake in the Luana mine while Endiama holds 39 percent. Privately owned Angolan firms Caxinji, Wenji and Za-Kufuna hold the remaining 28 percent, Endiama said in a statement.
Under the agreement, signed on May 12, Tans Hex has the right to appoint the general manager, financial manager and operations manager of the project, it said.
The Luana mining contract is the first to be signed in three years as diamond prices and exports recover from a sharp drop that began with the global economic downturn in 2008 and prompted many mines in Angola to halt production.
Endiama's newly appointed CEO Antonio Carlos Sumbula said the new project was the "first step in solving the unemployment problems in the diamond areas."
The alluvial mine is located in Angola's northeastern diamond-producing Lunda Norte province. Angola is the world's fifth biggest diamond producer, after Botswana, Russia, Canada and South Africa.
Angola's diamond exports reached around 9.8 million carats last year, the Ministry of Geology and Mines said in February.
(Reporting by Henrique Almeida; editing by James Jukwey)
Iran, Congo Ink 4 Cooperation Agreements.
Fars News
16 May 2010
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his Congolese counterpart Alexis Tambwe Mwamba in a meeting here in Tehran last night signed four agreements on mutual cooperation.
The documents included agreements on setting up a joint cooperation commission, economic cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Democratic Republic of Congo, lifting visa requirements for diplomatic and service passports and launching political consultations between the foreign ministries of the two countries.
Mwamba, heading a delegation, arrived in Tehran on Wednesday and held meetings with a number of Iranian officials.
Earlier on Wednesday, the top diplomats of the two countries had held a meeting in which Mottaki had underlined that the two countries' presidents were determined to establish excellent, deep and strategic ties, adding, "Iran is ready to expand comprehensive ties with Congo."
He emphasized the need for identifying the two countries' potentials for mutual cooperation in economic, project implementation, and joint investments.
"Establishment of the joint economic commission, cooperation in mines field, agricultural activities, oil and gas exploration, manufacturing passenger cars and home appliances, setting up irrigation systems, dam construction and erecting cement factories are among the important fields of cooperation as an effort to consolidate bilateral ties," Mottaki added.
16 May 2010
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his Congolese counterpart Alexis Tambwe Mwamba in a meeting here in Tehran last night signed four agreements on mutual cooperation.
The documents included agreements on setting up a joint cooperation commission, economic cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Democratic Republic of Congo, lifting visa requirements for diplomatic and service passports and launching political consultations between the foreign ministries of the two countries.
Mwamba, heading a delegation, arrived in Tehran on Wednesday and held meetings with a number of Iranian officials.
Earlier on Wednesday, the top diplomats of the two countries had held a meeting in which Mottaki had underlined that the two countries' presidents were determined to establish excellent, deep and strategic ties, adding, "Iran is ready to expand comprehensive ties with Congo."
He emphasized the need for identifying the two countries' potentials for mutual cooperation in economic, project implementation, and joint investments.
"Establishment of the joint economic commission, cooperation in mines field, agricultural activities, oil and gas exploration, manufacturing passenger cars and home appliances, setting up irrigation systems, dam construction and erecting cement factories are among the important fields of cooperation as an effort to consolidate bilateral ties," Mottaki added.
US Spies Still in Pakistan.
Daily Times
17 May 2010
Despite official denials, a secret network of private spies set up by a US Defence Department official continues to operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, The New York Times reported late on Saturday.
Citing unnamed US officials and businessmen, the newspaper said the network was still operating, the paper reported.
Its reports on Taliban activities, especially in Pakistan, were submitted almost daily to top US commanders in the region.
The Times reported in March that Defence Department official Michael Furlong had set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected Taliban. He did this under the cover of a benign government information-gathering programme.
In the wake of those reports, US government officials said it was a rogue operation that had been shut down once an investigation had begun.
But interviews with more than a dozen current and former government officials and businessmen, and an examination of government documents, suggested otherwise, the paper said.
Over time, the operation had appeared to morph into traditional spying activities, the report noted.
And while Furlong was indeed under investigation, a review of the programme by The Times found that his operatives were still providing information using the same intelligence gathering methods as before.
17 May 2010
Despite official denials, a secret network of private spies set up by a US Defence Department official continues to operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, The New York Times reported late on Saturday.
Citing unnamed US officials and businessmen, the newspaper said the network was still operating, the paper reported.
Its reports on Taliban activities, especially in Pakistan, were submitted almost daily to top US commanders in the region.
The Times reported in March that Defence Department official Michael Furlong had set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected Taliban. He did this under the cover of a benign government information-gathering programme.
In the wake of those reports, US government officials said it was a rogue operation that had been shut down once an investigation had begun.
But interviews with more than a dozen current and former government officials and businessmen, and an examination of government documents, suggested otherwise, the paper said.
Over time, the operation had appeared to morph into traditional spying activities, the report noted.
And while Furlong was indeed under investigation, a review of the programme by The Times found that his operatives were still providing information using the same intelligence gathering methods as before.
16 May, 2010
Chad rebel groups unite to oust president.
Pretoria News
16 May 2010
Four rebel groups in Chad announced on Saturday that they had formed a new coalition with the aim of overturning President Idriss Deby Itno "by any means".
"We say that we must take power by any means, in a peaceful way or by taking up arms if the path of peace is closed, as is currently the case," General Nouri Mahamat told AFP.
The former defence minister turned rebel chief is heading the new coalition.
"Our goal is to chase Deby from Ndjamena and to establish a period of pre-transition... Currently there is no peace in Chad. It is Idriss Deby who has forced us to take up an armed fight," Mahamat said.
The coalition known as the National Alliance for Democratic Change (ANCD) issued a declaration signed by all four groups and sent to AFP in Libreville.
The alliance, created after seven months of discussions, is based in Moudeina, near Chad's frontier with Sudan, ANCD spokesman Mahadi Ali Mahamat told AFP from Libreville.
The coalition said that when it took power it planned to preside over a period of transition of a fixed duration, before holding a presidential election.
The four rebel groups in the alliance are the Democratic Revolutionary Council (CDR), the Front for the Salavation of the Republic (FSR), the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), and the Democratic Movement for Chadian Redevelopment (UFDD).
Three of the groups had previously formed part of another rebel coalition, the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR).
A UFR spokesman told AFP the UFR was not finished, saying the new alliance was formed by dissidents motivated by personal ambition.
Most Chadian rebel groups are based in the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan. In January, the two states agreed to deploy a joint force on their border in a move aimed at ending the presence of rebels on each other's territories and halting their activities, as part of normalisation efforts.
In February last year, Chadian rebels swept across the whole of south Chad to the capital Ndjamena in a week and were only defeated with French help.
Deby, who seized power in a 1990 military coup but has since been democratically elected, has called for rebels to return to the country and join the political process.
"Power is no longer at the barrel of a gun, but in the ballots. Conditions exist in Chad for peaceful competition in free, democratic and transparent elections," Deby said earlier this year.
A Chadian parliamentary election is scheduled for November and a presidential poll is take place in April 2011.
16 May 2010
Four rebel groups in Chad announced on Saturday that they had formed a new coalition with the aim of overturning President Idriss Deby Itno "by any means".
"We say that we must take power by any means, in a peaceful way or by taking up arms if the path of peace is closed, as is currently the case," General Nouri Mahamat told AFP.
The former defence minister turned rebel chief is heading the new coalition.
"Our goal is to chase Deby from Ndjamena and to establish a period of pre-transition... Currently there is no peace in Chad. It is Idriss Deby who has forced us to take up an armed fight," Mahamat said.
The coalition known as the National Alliance for Democratic Change (ANCD) issued a declaration signed by all four groups and sent to AFP in Libreville.
The alliance, created after seven months of discussions, is based in Moudeina, near Chad's frontier with Sudan, ANCD spokesman Mahadi Ali Mahamat told AFP from Libreville.
The coalition said that when it took power it planned to preside over a period of transition of a fixed duration, before holding a presidential election.
The four rebel groups in the alliance are the Democratic Revolutionary Council (CDR), the Front for the Salavation of the Republic (FSR), the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), and the Democratic Movement for Chadian Redevelopment (UFDD).
Three of the groups had previously formed part of another rebel coalition, the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR).
A UFR spokesman told AFP the UFR was not finished, saying the new alliance was formed by dissidents motivated by personal ambition.
Most Chadian rebel groups are based in the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan. In January, the two states agreed to deploy a joint force on their border in a move aimed at ending the presence of rebels on each other's territories and halting their activities, as part of normalisation efforts.
In February last year, Chadian rebels swept across the whole of south Chad to the capital Ndjamena in a week and were only defeated with French help.
Deby, who seized power in a 1990 military coup but has since been democratically elected, has called for rebels to return to the country and join the political process.
"Power is no longer at the barrel of a gun, but in the ballots. Conditions exist in Chad for peaceful competition in free, democratic and transparent elections," Deby said earlier this year.
A Chadian parliamentary election is scheduled for November and a presidential poll is take place in April 2011.
Rwandan Opposition Parties ask to Postpone Presidential Elections.
Press Release
Three months before the presidential elections in Rwanda, opposition candidates Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, Chairperson of the UDF-Inkingi, and Bernard Ntaganda, founding President of the Parti Sociale (PS)-Imberakuri, are deeply concerned about the lack of a level political playing field and excessive harassment of the opposition leaders. We strongly condemn the persistent interference by the ruling RPF party and its government designed to fuel conflicts within the opposition parties.
While all efforts have been utilized to split or destroy the only registered opposition party, the PS-Imberakuri, the government has also continuously refused to authorise the constitutional congress of two other opposition parties, the UDF-Inkingi and the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda. Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was subjected to inhuman treatment before her arrest and eventual release on bail. Mr. Bernard Ntaganda is permanently demonized while party renegades enjoy free press from the ruling party and its allies.
We ask for the postponement of the election because of the following reasons:
- Nothing has been done to ensure political freedom and fairness. There is no clear management of the elections that has levelled the political space and minimized election violence. Rig-induced post-election chaos seems unavoidable at this point.
- The government has failed to release their highly touted new electoral code.
- The national electoral commission is not neutral. It’s a tool in the hands of the ruling party. All its current members are RPF-militants.
- The government has derailed the registration process of the opposition parties. There is no impartial administration.
- Opposition leaders are the victims of politically-motivated arrests and show trials.
- The government has censored popular independent newspapers. There is no freedom of press.
- The incumbent is already utilizing all state resources for his electoral campaign and has monopolized the media.
We call upon the international community to come out of its lethargy state and speak out against harassment of the peaceful opposition party members and the ever shrinking political space in Rwanda.
Sincerely,
Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson, United Democratic Forces-Inkingi
Maitre Bernard Ntaganda
Chairman, Social Party-Imberakuri
Three months before the presidential elections in Rwanda, opposition candidates Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, Chairperson of the UDF-Inkingi, and Bernard Ntaganda, founding President of the Parti Sociale (PS)-Imberakuri, are deeply concerned about the lack of a level political playing field and excessive harassment of the opposition leaders. We strongly condemn the persistent interference by the ruling RPF party and its government designed to fuel conflicts within the opposition parties.
While all efforts have been utilized to split or destroy the only registered opposition party, the PS-Imberakuri, the government has also continuously refused to authorise the constitutional congress of two other opposition parties, the UDF-Inkingi and the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda. Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was subjected to inhuman treatment before her arrest and eventual release on bail. Mr. Bernard Ntaganda is permanently demonized while party renegades enjoy free press from the ruling party and its allies.
We ask for the postponement of the election because of the following reasons:
- Nothing has been done to ensure political freedom and fairness. There is no clear management of the elections that has levelled the political space and minimized election violence. Rig-induced post-election chaos seems unavoidable at this point.
- The government has failed to release their highly touted new electoral code.
- The national electoral commission is not neutral. It’s a tool in the hands of the ruling party. All its current members are RPF-militants.
- The government has derailed the registration process of the opposition parties. There is no impartial administration.
- Opposition leaders are the victims of politically-motivated arrests and show trials.
- The government has censored popular independent newspapers. There is no freedom of press.
- The incumbent is already utilizing all state resources for his electoral campaign and has monopolized the media.
We call upon the international community to come out of its lethargy state and speak out against harassment of the peaceful opposition party members and the ever shrinking political space in Rwanda.
Sincerely,
Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson, United Democratic Forces-Inkingi
Maitre Bernard Ntaganda
Chairman, Social Party-Imberakuri
Sudan opposition leader Turabi 'arrested.'
BBC News
15 May 2010
Sudanese authorities have arrested Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, his family and senior members of his party have said.
His wife told the BBC she thought he was arrested for repeating in a newspaper interview his allegation that elections last month were rigged.
President Omar al-Bashir was re-elected with 68% of the vote in Sudan's first multi-party vote in 24 years.
Mr Turabi's party was one of the few opposition groups that took part.
Sudanese officials have not confirmed the arrest.
15 May 2010
Sudanese authorities have arrested Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, his family and senior members of his party have said.
His wife told the BBC she thought he was arrested for repeating in a newspaper interview his allegation that elections last month were rigged.
President Omar al-Bashir was re-elected with 68% of the vote in Sudan's first multi-party vote in 24 years.
Mr Turabi's party was one of the few opposition groups that took part.
Sudanese officials have not confirmed the arrest.
Sudanese opposition leader al-Turabi arrested.
Al-Jazeera
15 May 2010
Sudanese authorities have arrested opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi at his home, a month after the country's first competitive elections in 24 years, his secretary has said.
"At around midnight (2100 GMT) [on Saturday], a group of security officers arriving in three cars, came and took Hassan al-Turabi from his home," Awad Babakir told AFP news agency.
Al-Turabi, once President Omar al-Bashir's close ally, now one of his fiercest critics, had denounced last month's elections as fraudulent and said his Popular Congress Party would not join a future government.
Al-Bashir was declared winner in Sudan's first multi-party election since 1986, a vote marred by an opposition boycott, logistical problems and accusations of fraud.
Al-Turabi, an iconic opposition leader, was last detained in January 2009, two days after he urged al-Bashir to surrender to the International Criminal Court. He has frequently been arrested by the authorities.
Al-Turabi did not run in the country's presidential race himself. The PCP was instead represented by Abdallah Deng Nial, a Muslim from the mainly Christian south.
"The voting and the counting process are fraudulent," said al-Turabi when votes were being counted.
"We will take the matter to court and if the judge does not rule in our favour, we may have to use other alternatives than the ballot boxes," he added.
15 May 2010
Sudanese authorities have arrested opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi at his home, a month after the country's first competitive elections in 24 years, his secretary has said.
"At around midnight (2100 GMT) [on Saturday], a group of security officers arriving in three cars, came and took Hassan al-Turabi from his home," Awad Babakir told AFP news agency.
Al-Turabi, once President Omar al-Bashir's close ally, now one of his fiercest critics, had denounced last month's elections as fraudulent and said his Popular Congress Party would not join a future government.
Al-Bashir was declared winner in Sudan's first multi-party election since 1986, a vote marred by an opposition boycott, logistical problems and accusations of fraud.
Al-Turabi, an iconic opposition leader, was last detained in January 2009, two days after he urged al-Bashir to surrender to the International Criminal Court. He has frequently been arrested by the authorities.
Al-Turabi did not run in the country's presidential race himself. The PCP was instead represented by Abdallah Deng Nial, a Muslim from the mainly Christian south.
"The voting and the counting process are fraudulent," said al-Turabi when votes were being counted.
"We will take the matter to court and if the judge does not rule in our favour, we may have to use other alternatives than the ballot boxes," he added.
Support Committee for UDF-INKINGI requests the postponement of the 2010 Presidential elections in Rwanda.
UDF/FDU-Inkingi
Press Release
The Support Committee for UDF-Inkingi walks hand in hand with the internal opposition to claim for the postponement of presidential elections scheduled for August 2010. It is convinced that organizing elections without the participation of the opposition political parties would simply suffer from credibility and legitimacy inasmuch as the regime is missing an opportunity to measure its real audience within the population by shying away meaningful competition.
So far, indeed, because of administrative hindrances and barricades present at every level of civil administration, UDF-Inkingi has neither been allowed to hold the constitutional congress nor to legally register as a political party. UDF-Inkingi Chairperson, Ms. Victoire INGABIRE UMUHOZA, designated candidate since last September 2009 to compete for the highest office cannot therefore stand in as a presidential candidate. Much worse, she is a prey of baseless judicial inquiries and politically motivated trials.
Two other parties, namely the Green party and the Ps-Imberakuri are also at a standstill. The first, in much the same way as UDF-INKINGI, could not hold its constitutional congress. The second, officially registered, is now torn up by internal divisions orchestrated by the regime in order to eject its natural leader Mr Bernard Ntaganda and outlaw his eligibility in the looming presidential elections.
The election postponement can also be accounted for in terms of the calculated delay in the promulgation of legal provisions and regulations to guarantee the political level playing field, the legality, equity and fairness of the poll. The infamous announced new electoral code bill disappeared in some government drawers. The single coloured national electoral commission is more the ruling party’s rigging body than anything national. Independent international observers in charge of insuring elections legality and transparency are not yet visible in Rwanda.
Consequently, due to visible non-preparedness of the elections as well as to excessive obstacles set forth by the regime to thwart the opposition, the Support Committee for UDF-INKINGI urges the President of Rwanda and his government :
1. to open up the political space and allow the opposition participation
2. to enact necessary measures to level the playing ground and guarantee legal, free and fair elections
3. to postpone August 2010 presidential polls
4. To set a consensus ground with the opposition and other national or international stakeholders for the sake of the legitimacy of the poll.
For the UDF-Inkingi Support Committee,
Eugene Ndahayo
President
Press Release
The Support Committee for UDF-Inkingi walks hand in hand with the internal opposition to claim for the postponement of presidential elections scheduled for August 2010. It is convinced that organizing elections without the participation of the opposition political parties would simply suffer from credibility and legitimacy inasmuch as the regime is missing an opportunity to measure its real audience within the population by shying away meaningful competition.
So far, indeed, because of administrative hindrances and barricades present at every level of civil administration, UDF-Inkingi has neither been allowed to hold the constitutional congress nor to legally register as a political party. UDF-Inkingi Chairperson, Ms. Victoire INGABIRE UMUHOZA, designated candidate since last September 2009 to compete for the highest office cannot therefore stand in as a presidential candidate. Much worse, she is a prey of baseless judicial inquiries and politically motivated trials.
Two other parties, namely the Green party and the Ps-Imberakuri are also at a standstill. The first, in much the same way as UDF-INKINGI, could not hold its constitutional congress. The second, officially registered, is now torn up by internal divisions orchestrated by the regime in order to eject its natural leader Mr Bernard Ntaganda and outlaw his eligibility in the looming presidential elections.
The election postponement can also be accounted for in terms of the calculated delay in the promulgation of legal provisions and regulations to guarantee the political level playing field, the legality, equity and fairness of the poll. The infamous announced new electoral code bill disappeared in some government drawers. The single coloured national electoral commission is more the ruling party’s rigging body than anything national. Independent international observers in charge of insuring elections legality and transparency are not yet visible in Rwanda.
Consequently, due to visible non-preparedness of the elections as well as to excessive obstacles set forth by the regime to thwart the opposition, the Support Committee for UDF-INKINGI urges the President of Rwanda and his government :
1. to open up the political space and allow the opposition participation
2. to enact necessary measures to level the playing ground and guarantee legal, free and fair elections
3. to postpone August 2010 presidential polls
4. To set a consensus ground with the opposition and other national or international stakeholders for the sake of the legitimacy of the poll.
For the UDF-Inkingi Support Committee,
Eugene Ndahayo
President
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