Afrol News
3 July 2010
Former PM Cellou Dalein Diallo and "eternal opposition leader" Alpha Condé received most votes in Guinea's 27 June presidential elections, it was confirmed today. The two will run in a second round on 18 July.
There were great expectations to Guinea's Independent Electoral Commission (CENI), which had organised the country's first-ever democratic polls and was to release provisional results two days ago. But "logistical, transport and security difficulties" led to a 48 hours delay, keeping Guineans to hold their breath in tension.
This night at 2 o'clock, the provisional results were finally presented by the Commission. None of the 24 candidates competing for president won a clean 50 percent victory. Rather, a second polling round will have to be organised on 18 July between the two candidates gathering most votes.
Surprisingly, Mr Diallo of the UFDG received most votes, reaching 39.72 percent according to the CENI. Mr Diallo was Prime Minister in Guinea 2004-06 and now leads the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG). He was renowned for trying to fight corruption while heading government. As an opposition leader, he was central to the mass protests in Conakry in September 2009, ending in a bloodbath.
Mr Diallo (58) thus gained more votes than Mr Condé (72), who had been widely seen as favourite to win the presidential election. Mr Condé however came second in the first round, receiving 20.67 percent of the votes.
Mr Condé is the leader of the Rally of the People of Guinea (RPG) opposition party, which for decades has stood up to Guinea's authoritarian regimes. He is widely be
Alpha Condé at rally in Conakry during Guinea's 2010 presidential election campaign
© RPG/afrol News
lieved to have won the stolen 1993 presidential elections and was seen to have led the most visited, popular and best financed electoral campaign.
Guinea is being congratulated from the international community for its organisation of the country's first free and fair polls despite enormous infrastructure challenges and a tight schedule. While some irregularities due to logistical problems were registered, observers have so far hailed the poll as fair. No serious security problems occurred.
A second poll round now will be organised on 18 July between the two candidates. This round is still very open, although Mr Diallo's good results seem to favour him.
Mr Condé, although only having less than 21 percent of the votes cast in the first round supporting him, is considered the most antiestablishment candidate in the race, possibly able to gather much of the votes given to other opposition candidates. The "establishment" in Guinea is by far credited by decades of poor government,
However, the age of Mr Condé - 72 years - is speaking against him as Guineans are tired of having an ailing President unable to run the country. Late President Lansana Conté for years was suffering from various diseases making him unable to participate in giving Guinea a steady course at times.
The race, to be decided later this month, still is open. But Mr Diallo has indeed taken a surprising lead.
02 July, 2010
FDU-Inkingi alleges torture of detained opposition party members.
UDF/FDU-Inkingi
Press Release
On 24th June 2010, a police crackdown arraigned hundreds of opposition members in Kigali. This is the tone of the upcoming presidential election as the mass arrests coincide with the opening of nominations of presidential candidates.
Since then, the victims are in handcuffs day and night in their jail cells.
Critical cases of torture have been recorded:
1. Ms. Alice MUHIRWA, the party's Treasurer, is still bleeding due to kicks to her stomach. She has been denied access to a medical doctor.
2. Mr. Sylvain SIBOMANA, the party's Secretary-General, needs an urgent x-ray as he was beaten several times while his legs and arms were tied behind his back.
3.Mr. Theoneste SIBOMANA (Party leader in Kigali) needs a concussion evaluation after sustaining a head injury from being banged against a wall many times during a torture session.
4.Maitre Theogene MUHAYEYEZU, the new defence lawyer of Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, has been tortured after arrest and detained incommunicado. Me Theogene is a lawyer who goes by "Barreau" in Kigali. He was by High Court at the time he was arrested to monitor the proceedings of a client. When the police arrested members of FDU who demonstrated in the courtyard of the Ministry of Justice, which is at the same place as the High Court, a police officer told his colleague this gentleman was working on the case of Mrs. Ingabire, which resulted in his arrest. Me Theogene is not to be confused with his clients. Under these conditions, the illegal nature of his detention is obvious.
5.The medical condition of party member Martin NTAVUKA is not known.
6.Other opposition leaders from the Parti Social-Imberakuri were arrested on the same day. All have symptoms of torture and cruel and degrading treatments as well. This includes Bernard NTAGANDA, his Secretary-General and other executive party members.
We call upon President Paul KAGAME and his government to immediately stop torturing and ensure that the opposition members are released and treated in public hospitals without delay. We also call upon the government to open impartial and effective investigations into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The victims should be awarded full reparation.
Done in Kigali,
2 July 2010
Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson,
FDU-Inkingi
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor's Note: The Democratic Green Party of Rwanda found out that their political prisoners made complaints to the prosecution and it is now included in their legal dossier. Both the prosecution and the detainees signed their respective dossiers. The lawyers would not have told anyone about these events if it was not in their dossiers. Said Green Party President Frank Habineza, "So the police spokesman should start solving the mentioned problems rather than harrasing us."
Press Release
On 24th June 2010, a police crackdown arraigned hundreds of opposition members in Kigali. This is the tone of the upcoming presidential election as the mass arrests coincide with the opening of nominations of presidential candidates.
Since then, the victims are in handcuffs day and night in their jail cells.
Critical cases of torture have been recorded:
1. Ms. Alice MUHIRWA, the party's Treasurer, is still bleeding due to kicks to her stomach. She has been denied access to a medical doctor.
2. Mr. Sylvain SIBOMANA, the party's Secretary-General, needs an urgent x-ray as he was beaten several times while his legs and arms were tied behind his back.
3.Mr. Theoneste SIBOMANA (Party leader in Kigali) needs a concussion evaluation after sustaining a head injury from being banged against a wall many times during a torture session.
4.Maitre Theogene MUHAYEYEZU, the new defence lawyer of Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, has been tortured after arrest and detained incommunicado. Me Theogene is a lawyer who goes by "Barreau" in Kigali. He was by High Court at the time he was arrested to monitor the proceedings of a client. When the police arrested members of FDU who demonstrated in the courtyard of the Ministry of Justice, which is at the same place as the High Court, a police officer told his colleague this gentleman was working on the case of Mrs. Ingabire, which resulted in his arrest. Me Theogene is not to be confused with his clients. Under these conditions, the illegal nature of his detention is obvious.
5.The medical condition of party member Martin NTAVUKA is not known.
6.Other opposition leaders from the Parti Social-Imberakuri were arrested on the same day. All have symptoms of torture and cruel and degrading treatments as well. This includes Bernard NTAGANDA, his Secretary-General and other executive party members.
We call upon President Paul KAGAME and his government to immediately stop torturing and ensure that the opposition members are released and treated in public hospitals without delay. We also call upon the government to open impartial and effective investigations into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The victims should be awarded full reparation.
Done in Kigali,
2 July 2010
Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson,
FDU-Inkingi
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor's Note: The Democratic Green Party of Rwanda found out that their political prisoners made complaints to the prosecution and it is now included in their legal dossier. Both the prosecution and the detainees signed their respective dossiers. The lawyers would not have told anyone about these events if it was not in their dossiers. Said Green Party President Frank Habineza, "So the police spokesman should start solving the mentioned problems rather than harrasing us."
RWANDA ASSURES IMMUNITY TO ICTR DEFENCE COUNSELS.
Hirondelle News Agency
30 June 2010
Rwandan Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga has assured the defence counsels working with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that no lawyer would be prosecuted in Rwanda for performing official duties as defence counsel before the Tribunal.
He was addressing the question surrounding the arraignment in Kigali of American Professor Peter Erlinder recently on genocide denial charges, the event which attracted criticism from defence counsels at ICTR, alleging fears of being prosecuted like their colleague.
"We understand that there is no fair trial where there is no representation," he said, comforting defence counsels at ICTR that their immunity in that respect was guaranteed.
In a press conference Wednesday, Ngoga said, "the relationship between Rwanda and ICTR is still intact. We are mindful of our obligations in that we have to facilitate activities of ICTR. We stick to provisions of Memorandum of Understanding we had signed."
"Rest assured that the case of Erlinder is an isolated event. It is a case of Erlinder alone. Erlinder has been provoking the history of our country by making several statements saying there was no genocide in Rwanda. This is a criminal offence and is against our law. As a country, Rwanda has the obligation to punish those who breach our laws," he said.
ICTR sent to Rwanda a note, asking immediate release of Erlinder after observing that there was a link between the nature of accusations and his mandate with Tribunal. The American Professor was released on bail on medical and humanitarian grounds. Mr. Erlinder is lead counsel for Major Aloys Ntabakuze, who is currently waiting for the hearing on his appeal against his conviction.
The ICTR Spokesperson Roland Amoussouga took the opportunity to dispel any misunderstanding on the matter, particularly from the defence counsels, saying Rwanda and Tribunal would continue to respect their mutual relationship signed by the parties.
30 June 2010
Rwandan Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga has assured the defence counsels working with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that no lawyer would be prosecuted in Rwanda for performing official duties as defence counsel before the Tribunal.
He was addressing the question surrounding the arraignment in Kigali of American Professor Peter Erlinder recently on genocide denial charges, the event which attracted criticism from defence counsels at ICTR, alleging fears of being prosecuted like their colleague.
"We understand that there is no fair trial where there is no representation," he said, comforting defence counsels at ICTR that their immunity in that respect was guaranteed.
In a press conference Wednesday, Ngoga said, "the relationship between Rwanda and ICTR is still intact. We are mindful of our obligations in that we have to facilitate activities of ICTR. We stick to provisions of Memorandum of Understanding we had signed."
"Rest assured that the case of Erlinder is an isolated event. It is a case of Erlinder alone. Erlinder has been provoking the history of our country by making several statements saying there was no genocide in Rwanda. This is a criminal offence and is against our law. As a country, Rwanda has the obligation to punish those who breach our laws," he said.
ICTR sent to Rwanda a note, asking immediate release of Erlinder after observing that there was a link between the nature of accusations and his mandate with Tribunal. The American Professor was released on bail on medical and humanitarian grounds. Mr. Erlinder is lead counsel for Major Aloys Ntabakuze, who is currently waiting for the hearing on his appeal against his conviction.
The ICTR Spokesperson Roland Amoussouga took the opportunity to dispel any misunderstanding on the matter, particularly from the defence counsels, saying Rwanda and Tribunal would continue to respect their mutual relationship signed by the parties.
ICTR CLEARS AMERICAN LAWYER OF CONTEMPT OF COURT.
Hirondelle News Agency
1 July 2010
Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Wednesday cleared of contempt proceedings it had initiated against American lawyer Peter Robinson, counsel for genocide-accused Joseph Nzirorera, for refusing to conduct examination of defence witnesses.
Robinson had refused to lead witnesses called to defend Nzirorera for fear of being subjected to prosecution like his colleague, American Professor Peter Erlinder, who was arrested in Rwanda recently and subsequently charged with genocide denial.
"The Chamber has been satisfied that there are no conducts of obstructing court proceedings. Since there are no further actions of possible contempt that will be taken against Robinson, the matter is closed," Presiding Judge Dennis Byron said.
Asked about his comments on the ruling, Peter Robison said; ‘' I am relieved that I will not be tried for contempt. It was a big distraction from my work of representing my client, Joseph Nzirorera.''
However, Joseph Nzirorera died a few hours later "from sudden complication of a long illness", according to an ICTR press release.
1 July 2010
Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Wednesday cleared of contempt proceedings it had initiated against American lawyer Peter Robinson, counsel for genocide-accused Joseph Nzirorera, for refusing to conduct examination of defence witnesses.
Robinson had refused to lead witnesses called to defend Nzirorera for fear of being subjected to prosecution like his colleague, American Professor Peter Erlinder, who was arrested in Rwanda recently and subsequently charged with genocide denial.
"The Chamber has been satisfied that there are no conducts of obstructing court proceedings. Since there are no further actions of possible contempt that will be taken against Robinson, the matter is closed," Presiding Judge Dennis Byron said.
Asked about his comments on the ruling, Peter Robison said; ‘' I am relieved that I will not be tried for contempt. It was a big distraction from my work of representing my client, Joseph Nzirorera.''
However, Joseph Nzirorera died a few hours later "from sudden complication of a long illness", according to an ICTR press release.
Joseph Nzirorera Dies.
ICTR News
1 July 2010
ICTR/INFO-9-2-646.EN
Joseph Nzirorera, age 59, an accused in the ongoing trial of former leaders of the Mouvement Républicain pour la Démocratie et le Développement (MRND), passed away in Arusha on 1 July 2010, following sudden complications of a longstanding illness. The case of Mr. Nzirorera was before Trial Chamber III. His Defence was at the final stage of the presentation of its case, with his last witness undergoing cross-examination. His lead counsel was American lawyer Peter Robinson.
Mr. Nzirorera was former President of the National Assembly and Secretary-General of the MRND. He was jointly tried with Edouard Karemera, former Minister of Interior and Vice-President of the MRND and Mathieu Ngirumpatse former Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Karemera et al. case.
The three were jointly charged with seven counts of conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, genocide, complicity in genocide (as an alternative to genocide), crimes against humanity (rape, extermination) and serious violations of Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II.
The family and his lawyers have been informed and the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda extends its condolences to the family of Joseph Nzirorera.
1 July 2010
ICTR/INFO-9-2-646.EN
Joseph Nzirorera, age 59, an accused in the ongoing trial of former leaders of the Mouvement Républicain pour la Démocratie et le Développement (MRND), passed away in Arusha on 1 July 2010, following sudden complications of a longstanding illness. The case of Mr. Nzirorera was before Trial Chamber III. His Defence was at the final stage of the presentation of its case, with his last witness undergoing cross-examination. His lead counsel was American lawyer Peter Robinson.
Mr. Nzirorera was former President of the National Assembly and Secretary-General of the MRND. He was jointly tried with Edouard Karemera, former Minister of Interior and Vice-President of the MRND and Mathieu Ngirumpatse former Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Karemera et al. case.
The three were jointly charged with seven counts of conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, genocide, complicity in genocide (as an alternative to genocide), crimes against humanity (rape, extermination) and serious violations of Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II.
The family and his lawyers have been informed and the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda extends its condolences to the family of Joseph Nzirorera.
GUATAMALAN GOVERNMENT DENOUNCES “CONSPIRACY."
MISNA
2 July 2010
In a statement released by the media, Guatemala’s government denounced “groups of businessmen, politicians, mafias and criminals that have joined in a common strategy to erode and wear down the government” and destabilise the country. “The string of events of the past weeks, such as attacks against civil security forces and reportage and reports with partial analyses constitute a grave threat to state institutions”, says the statement issued by the administration of President Alvaro Colom. According to the government, “the recent practices are common to those of the times of the civil war”, which tore Guatemala between 1960 and 1996, “by groups that aim to perpetuate corruption and impunity that for years characterised the institutions”. Since he took office in January 2008, Colom has drawn strong criticism of various sectors for not doing enough to combat insecurity. The President has over the years repeatedly spoken of conspiracy plots against his government, but had never denounced them formally. The ruling ‘Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza’ (UNE) party called on the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to conduct a thorough investigation: “Some radical sectors and political parties promoted a break in institutional order, as occurred in Honduras (with the ousting of president Manuel Zelaya on 28 June 2009), using a media campaign to influence the public opinion”, said the UNE in a separate statement. The CICIG, created in 2007 under UN aegis, was once again called to investigate illegal security bodies and groups in the country. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday named as the new head of CICIG the attorney general of Costa Rica Francisco Dall’Anese Ruiz, in place of the Spanish jurist Carlos Castresana who resigned over the alleged lack of collaboration of the state in the fight against impunity.
2 July 2010
In a statement released by the media, Guatemala’s government denounced “groups of businessmen, politicians, mafias and criminals that have joined in a common strategy to erode and wear down the government” and destabilise the country. “The string of events of the past weeks, such as attacks against civil security forces and reportage and reports with partial analyses constitute a grave threat to state institutions”, says the statement issued by the administration of President Alvaro Colom. According to the government, “the recent practices are common to those of the times of the civil war”, which tore Guatemala between 1960 and 1996, “by groups that aim to perpetuate corruption and impunity that for years characterised the institutions”. Since he took office in January 2008, Colom has drawn strong criticism of various sectors for not doing enough to combat insecurity. The President has over the years repeatedly spoken of conspiracy plots against his government, but had never denounced them formally. The ruling ‘Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza’ (UNE) party called on the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to conduct a thorough investigation: “Some radical sectors and political parties promoted a break in institutional order, as occurred in Honduras (with the ousting of president Manuel Zelaya on 28 June 2009), using a media campaign to influence the public opinion”, said the UNE in a separate statement. The CICIG, created in 2007 under UN aegis, was once again called to investigate illegal security bodies and groups in the country. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday named as the new head of CICIG the attorney general of Costa Rica Francisco Dall’Anese Ruiz, in place of the Spanish jurist Carlos Castresana who resigned over the alleged lack of collaboration of the state in the fight against impunity.
South Africa 'Unlikely' to Repatriate General.
Business Day
By Wilson Johwa
2 July 2010
The fugitive Rwandan general granted refugee status in SA was unlikely to be repatriated unless there were special circumstances requiring the government to override protections contained in the Refugees Act, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said yesterday.
Rights groups in SA questioned the government's decision to give refuge to Lt-Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa - who is accused of war crimes - saying the move could compromise the integrity of the country's asylum system.
Mr Gigaba said SA was a sovereign country with its own policies and would implement provisions of the law guaranteeing that a refugee should not be sent back from where he had fled.
"We will implement the Refugees Act until such time as either the Presidency or the Department of International Relations and Co-operation advise us on whether the Rwandan general needs to be handed back to Rwanda," said Mr Gigaba at a media briefing in Pretoria.
Lt-Gen Nyamwasa's presence in SA came to light last month after he was shot and injured in an apparent assassination attempt while he was returning home to an upmarket Johannesburg suburb after a shopping trip.
Rwanda has requested that he be sent home to face charges over alleged grenade attacks this year. But SA does not have an extradition agreement with Rwanda.
Spain, along with France, sought Lt-Gen Nyamwasa's extradition to face prosecution for war crimes. But deputy head of the Spanish mission in Pretoria Juan Saenz de Heredia yesterday could not say if Spain would push SA for the extradition. A Spanish judge issued an arrest warrant against the former Rwandan army chief and 40 others in 2008.
"The Spanish government respects judicial decisions ... this is a decision taken by a judicial power," Mr de Heredia said.
By Wilson Johwa
2 July 2010
The fugitive Rwandan general granted refugee status in SA was unlikely to be repatriated unless there were special circumstances requiring the government to override protections contained in the Refugees Act, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said yesterday.
Rights groups in SA questioned the government's decision to give refuge to Lt-Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa - who is accused of war crimes - saying the move could compromise the integrity of the country's asylum system.
Mr Gigaba said SA was a sovereign country with its own policies and would implement provisions of the law guaranteeing that a refugee should not be sent back from where he had fled.
"We will implement the Refugees Act until such time as either the Presidency or the Department of International Relations and Co-operation advise us on whether the Rwandan general needs to be handed back to Rwanda," said Mr Gigaba at a media briefing in Pretoria.
Lt-Gen Nyamwasa's presence in SA came to light last month after he was shot and injured in an apparent assassination attempt while he was returning home to an upmarket Johannesburg suburb after a shopping trip.
Rwanda has requested that he be sent home to face charges over alleged grenade attacks this year. But SA does not have an extradition agreement with Rwanda.
Spain, along with France, sought Lt-Gen Nyamwasa's extradition to face prosecution for war crimes. But deputy head of the Spanish mission in Pretoria Juan Saenz de Heredia yesterday could not say if Spain would push SA for the extradition. A Spanish judge issued an arrest warrant against the former Rwandan army chief and 40 others in 2008.
"The Spanish government respects judicial decisions ... this is a decision taken by a judicial power," Mr de Heredia said.
Detained victims of the last police crackdown of opposition members are in agony and need urgent medical care.
The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda (PCC)
C/O. B.P. 6334
Kigali, Rwanda
Tel: +250 788563039, +250 728636000, +250 788307145
Press Release
The National Electoral Commission (NEC) is wrapping up collecting nominations for Presidential Candidates today while opposition politicians arrested last week when it started receiving nominations are still imprisoned, enduring torture and suffering inhumane torment. The victims are in agony and have been denied medical care.
The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda (PCC) is deeply concerned with this inhumane treatment from state institutions. They are persecuted because they peacefully oppose the ruling party and were demonstrating for their civil and constitutional rights since the NEC, in complicity with other government institutions, have blocked all genuine opposition from participating in the upcoming August presidential elections.
The planned demonstration on 24th June 2010, was sabotaged by the government when Maitre Bernard NTAGANDA, founding president of PS-Imberakuri, was violently grabbed from his home by agents of the National Police. Since then, he has been in in different prisons. The party's Secretary-General, Theobald MUTARAMBIRWA, and several other PS-Imberakuri members are still held up.
The same day several members of FDU-Inkingi were arrested. Though some have been released, others are submitted to severe tortures and denied medical attention. Ms. Alice MUHIRWA, the party treasurer, is still bleeding from kicks to her stomach. Mr. Sylvain SIBOMANA, the party secretary-general, needs an urgent x-ray as he was beaten several times while his legs and arms were tied behind his back. Mr. Theoneste SIBOMANA (party leader in Kigali) needs a concussion evaluation after a head injury he sustained when his head was smashed against a wall many times while being torture. The full medical condition of the following prisoners is not known, including party lawyer Maitre Theogene MUHAYEYEZU and party member Martin NTAVUKA. However, they all have symptoms of torture and degrading treatment.
How can the incumbent President Paul KAGAME, his regime and the state police explain the arbitrary arrests, torture, inhuman and cruel treatment of opposition leaders?
We call upon the Rwandan Government to immediately release these political prisoners without any further delay and investigate the reported cases of torture and barbaric martyrdom.
Issued in Kigali,
2nd July 2010
Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson, United Democratic Forces
Mr. Frank Habineza
Chairman, Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
C/O. B.P. 6334
Kigali, Rwanda
Tel: +250 788563039, +250 728636000, +250 788307145
Press Release
The National Electoral Commission (NEC) is wrapping up collecting nominations for Presidential Candidates today while opposition politicians arrested last week when it started receiving nominations are still imprisoned, enduring torture and suffering inhumane torment. The victims are in agony and have been denied medical care.
The Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda (PCC) is deeply concerned with this inhumane treatment from state institutions. They are persecuted because they peacefully oppose the ruling party and were demonstrating for their civil and constitutional rights since the NEC, in complicity with other government institutions, have blocked all genuine opposition from participating in the upcoming August presidential elections.
The planned demonstration on 24th June 2010, was sabotaged by the government when Maitre Bernard NTAGANDA, founding president of PS-Imberakuri, was violently grabbed from his home by agents of the National Police. Since then, he has been in in different prisons. The party's Secretary-General, Theobald MUTARAMBIRWA, and several other PS-Imberakuri members are still held up.
The same day several members of FDU-Inkingi were arrested. Though some have been released, others are submitted to severe tortures and denied medical attention. Ms. Alice MUHIRWA, the party treasurer, is still bleeding from kicks to her stomach. Mr. Sylvain SIBOMANA, the party secretary-general, needs an urgent x-ray as he was beaten several times while his legs and arms were tied behind his back. Mr. Theoneste SIBOMANA (party leader in Kigali) needs a concussion evaluation after a head injury he sustained when his head was smashed against a wall many times while being torture. The full medical condition of the following prisoners is not known, including party lawyer Maitre Theogene MUHAYEYEZU and party member Martin NTAVUKA. However, they all have symptoms of torture and degrading treatment.
How can the incumbent President Paul KAGAME, his regime and the state police explain the arbitrary arrests, torture, inhuman and cruel treatment of opposition leaders?
We call upon the Rwandan Government to immediately release these political prisoners without any further delay and investigate the reported cases of torture and barbaric martyrdom.
Issued in Kigali,
2nd July 2010
Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Chairperson, United Democratic Forces
Mr. Frank Habineza
Chairman, Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
Iran leader to visit Nigeria as it takes UN post.
JON GAMBRELL
AP News
July 01, 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Nigeria this weekend as the West African nation assumes the rotating presidency of the United Nations' security council, an Iranian diplomat said Thursday.
Ahmadinejad's visit to Nigeria comes after the leader made similar visits to Uganda and Zimbabwe in April, as the pariah Middle Eastern nation tries to build alliances against stronger U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program.
Khosrow Rezazadeh, Iran's ambassador to Nigeria, on Thursday confirmed Ahmadinejad's planned visit, but declined to offer further details. Nigeria's foreign ministry also declined to tell reporters about Ahmadinejad's plans, though his arrival comes as Nigeria's capital, Abuja, is scheduled to host a conference for a group of developing countries known as the D-8.
Nigeria took over the presidency of the U.N. security council on Thursday. As president, Nigeria's U.N. Ambassador Joy Ogwu will serve as the ceremonial head of the 15-member body. She also will be able to set the council's schedule and lead mediation on any crisis during Nigeria's monthlong tenure.
Nigeria last served on the security council in 1994-95.
The U.N. put new sanctions in place against Iran in June over its nuclear program. Among the new restrictions, the sanctions freeze assets of new organizations linked to Iran's government, bans the nation from pursuing "any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons" and bars it from investing in uranium mining.
Ahmadinejad responded by vowing retaliation if Iran's ships are searched over suspicions that the cargo may violate the new sanctions. responded by vowing Iranian retaliation if its ships are searched over suspicions that the cargo may violate the new sanctions.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom criticized Nigeria on Thursday for taking over the security council presidency while religious violence continues to plague the nation. Nigeria, a nation of 150 million, is split between the Christian-dominated south and Muslim north. Hundreds have died in central Nigeria this year alone in sectarian fighting.
The bipartisan U.S. government commission asked other members of the security council to pressure Nigeria into addressing the violence.
"Nigeria's own security and stability is put at risk by a culture of unchecked and unpunished sectarian violence that gives rise to divisiveness along religious lines and repeated reprisal attacks," commission chairman Leonard Leo said in a statement. "Nigeria has the ability to prosecute perpetrators of sectarian violence, but so far lacks political will and determination to actually do so."
AP News
July 01, 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Nigeria this weekend as the West African nation assumes the rotating presidency of the United Nations' security council, an Iranian diplomat said Thursday.
Ahmadinejad's visit to Nigeria comes after the leader made similar visits to Uganda and Zimbabwe in April, as the pariah Middle Eastern nation tries to build alliances against stronger U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program.
Khosrow Rezazadeh, Iran's ambassador to Nigeria, on Thursday confirmed Ahmadinejad's planned visit, but declined to offer further details. Nigeria's foreign ministry also declined to tell reporters about Ahmadinejad's plans, though his arrival comes as Nigeria's capital, Abuja, is scheduled to host a conference for a group of developing countries known as the D-8.
Nigeria took over the presidency of the U.N. security council on Thursday. As president, Nigeria's U.N. Ambassador Joy Ogwu will serve as the ceremonial head of the 15-member body. She also will be able to set the council's schedule and lead mediation on any crisis during Nigeria's monthlong tenure.
Nigeria last served on the security council in 1994-95.
The U.N. put new sanctions in place against Iran in June over its nuclear program. Among the new restrictions, the sanctions freeze assets of new organizations linked to Iran's government, bans the nation from pursuing "any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons" and bars it from investing in uranium mining.
Ahmadinejad responded by vowing retaliation if Iran's ships are searched over suspicions that the cargo may violate the new sanctions. responded by vowing Iranian retaliation if its ships are searched over suspicions that the cargo may violate the new sanctions.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom criticized Nigeria on Thursday for taking over the security council presidency while religious violence continues to plague the nation. Nigeria, a nation of 150 million, is split between the Christian-dominated south and Muslim north. Hundreds have died in central Nigeria this year alone in sectarian fighting.
The bipartisan U.S. government commission asked other members of the security council to pressure Nigeria into addressing the violence.
"Nigeria's own security and stability is put at risk by a culture of unchecked and unpunished sectarian violence that gives rise to divisiveness along religious lines and repeated reprisal attacks," commission chairman Leonard Leo said in a statement. "Nigeria has the ability to prosecute perpetrators of sectarian violence, but so far lacks political will and determination to actually do so."
PS-Imberakuri Splinter Party Will Not Run in Elections.
The New Times
2 July 2010
By Charles Kwizera
PS–Imberakuri, an opposition political party, has announced that it will not field a candidate in the August presidential polls.
The move was announced yesterday by party president Christine Mukabunani, during a meeting that brought together all national committee members of the party at its headquarters in Kimironko, Gasabo District.
According to Mukabunani, the party took the decision due to internal problems, which they want to solve before thinking of fielding a candidate to contest in the August polls.
“Our party is still undergoing a re-building process after being nearly destroyed by its former president. We therefore want to concentrate on revamping it and bringing back the confidence among the members,” said Mukabunani.
The party’s general assembly in March announced that Bernard Ntaganda the founding president had been relieved of his duties on grounds of spreading the Genocide ideology and divisionism.
He however, continued claiming to be the official president, hence forming a break-away faction.
“PS – Imberakuri is an opposition political party which openly speaks out on what is not going well in the country, but we insist that this has to be done through the right channels contrary to how Ntaganda was doing it,” Mukabunani explained.
Mukabunani, however, did not declare which candidate they were going to support during elections.
“We shall have to wait and see those who will be approved by the electoral commission, read their manifestos before choosing the one with good ideas that we can support.”
So far, four candidates have declared their intentions to vie for the presidency in August.
They include incumbent Paul Kagame (RPF), Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo (PSD), Prosper Higiro (PL) and Alivera Mukabaramba (PPC).
2 July 2010
By Charles Kwizera
PS–Imberakuri, an opposition political party, has announced that it will not field a candidate in the August presidential polls.
The move was announced yesterday by party president Christine Mukabunani, during a meeting that brought together all national committee members of the party at its headquarters in Kimironko, Gasabo District.
According to Mukabunani, the party took the decision due to internal problems, which they want to solve before thinking of fielding a candidate to contest in the August polls.
“Our party is still undergoing a re-building process after being nearly destroyed by its former president. We therefore want to concentrate on revamping it and bringing back the confidence among the members,” said Mukabunani.
The party’s general assembly in March announced that Bernard Ntaganda the founding president had been relieved of his duties on grounds of spreading the Genocide ideology and divisionism.
He however, continued claiming to be the official president, hence forming a break-away faction.
“PS – Imberakuri is an opposition political party which openly speaks out on what is not going well in the country, but we insist that this has to be done through the right channels contrary to how Ntaganda was doing it,” Mukabunani explained.
Mukabunani, however, did not declare which candidate they were going to support during elections.
“We shall have to wait and see those who will be approved by the electoral commission, read their manifestos before choosing the one with good ideas that we can support.”
So far, four candidates have declared their intentions to vie for the presidency in August.
They include incumbent Paul Kagame (RPF), Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo (PSD), Prosper Higiro (PL) and Alivera Mukabaramba (PPC).
Rwandan deputy editor's murder 'approved by Rwandan President.'
The Independent
2 July 2010
Jean Bosco Gasasira is in hiding. Instead of running a newspaper in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, reporting on the political assassinations that have plagued the country of late, he spends his time moving between safe houses in neighbouring Uganda, trying to avoid the same fate himself.
According to police in Kampala he was the victim of an attempted assassination last week; in the same week, his friend and co-editor of the banned newspaper, Umuvugizi, Jean Leonard Rugambage, was shot dead in Kigali.
Now Mr Gasasira believes that agents working for Rwanda's government are trying to kill him. Speaking from a safe house near Kampala, Mr Gasasira told The Independent that Rwandan intelligence services were on a killing spree, and alleged it was with the knowledge of President Paul Kagame himself. "I know it, I don't doubt it. The explanations are just Kagame's excuses," he said. Speaking of the recent attempt to abduct him in Uganda, he added: "I know it was his people."
"He owns the opposition and now he wants his own media," Mr Gasasira said of the president. He says the president is using "the sword and the gun" against his opponents in the media and elsewhere and that Rwanda was on its way to becoming a "one man state". Rwanda's ambassador in Kampala said the allegations were "nonsense" and Rwandan officials described accusations that the government had ordered the killing as "baseless".
Before his death, Mr Rugambage was investigating the shooting of a dissident Rwandan general in Johannesburg. On 19 June Lieutenant General Kayumba Nyamwasa was targeted by a gunman in the South African city, but survived the attack. Rwandan officials described allegations that they had commissioned the killer as "preposterous". But someone is out to kill Rwandan dissidents.
Events as far apart as Johannesburg, Kampala and Kigali have revealed increasing political tensions within one of Africa's most enigmatic emerging democracies. To many outsiders, Rwanda, under Mr Kagame's presidency, has become one of the more dynamic and hopeful countries in the region.
Sixteen years on from the genocide that seared the landlocked central African nation into the world's collective consciousness, Kigali is talked of as a future IT hub for Africa, economic growth is strong, and peace, for the most part, is holding. As reward for this, Rwanda was welcomed into the Commonwealth of nations this year despite its Francophone background.
To its critics, though, Rwanda has become an "army with a state" – an authoritarian government led by a cabal of soldiers from the former rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front. With little more than a month to go before the second elections are held since the end of the 1994 genocide, the calm surface of Rwanda's stability and progress has been broken and a violent struggle for control of the country has been revealed.
A number of former ministers have been forced into asylum, while many other former colleagues of Mr Kagame were now under official and unofficial house arrest inside Rwanda, Mr Gasasira claims. "He has ministers in jail, the former speaker from parliament has gone into asylum," he said.
Rosette Kayumba, the dissident general's wife, has described how a lone gunman approached their car in broad daylight in Johannesburg 12 days ago and fired at her husband. She says she is certain that the killer was sent by Paul Kagame's government. Formerly a close aide to the Rwandan leader, Lt-Gen Kayumba fled into exile in February after falling out with him.
The Rwandan government has strongly denied any role in the attack. Umuvugizi, an opposition newspaper in Rwanda, was investigating possible government links to the killing when its editor in exile was tracked down in neigbouring Uganda.
On 22 June Mr Gasasira was confronted by six men in Kampala. He managed to flee to his house, from where he called police. Ugandan authorities described their response as a rescue. Two days later his co-editor, Mr Rugambage, was shot dead in Kigali by two men who then fled the scene in a car.
Speaking this week, Mr Kagame said he had ordered his police, intelligence services and army to find the journalist's killers. "We will not rest until we get to the bottom of this and make it clear to everyone," he said. Two arrests have since been made and police said they believed the suspects' motive had been connected to genocide charges against Mr Rugambage. He was tried and acquitted and authorities said the killing was likely a revenge attack.
But the murder is being investigated by its perpetrators, according to Mr Gasasira. "I'm 100 per cent certain this was done by the Rwandan intelligence service," he said.
In South Africa, three men appeared in court this week charged with the attempted murder of Lt-Gen Kayumba. None of the accused is Rwandan and they each have previous records for handling stolen goods. Two more men, one of them thought to be Rwandan, have been released and there are fears that the incident, which created tension between South Africa and Rwanda, may be written off as an attempted robbery. The dissident general was a long-time confidante who served as the army chief of staff.
Mr Gasasira says that conflicts within Rwanda's all powerful army are behind the dissident attacks. With Mr Kagame in absolute control of the democratic process, the only threat would come from the military, he states.
The relationship between Lt-Gen Kayumba and the president deteriorated as Mr Kagame became more autocratic. Mr Gasasira decided to leave Rwanda after his newspaper was banned in April as part of a crackdown on dissent. In February 2007 he was brutally assaulted in Kigali by three men armed with iron bars. The attack, which put him in a coma and left him with permanent health problems, followed articles in Umuvugizi critical of the ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front.
2 July 2010
Jean Bosco Gasasira is in hiding. Instead of running a newspaper in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, reporting on the political assassinations that have plagued the country of late, he spends his time moving between safe houses in neighbouring Uganda, trying to avoid the same fate himself.
According to police in Kampala he was the victim of an attempted assassination last week; in the same week, his friend and co-editor of the banned newspaper, Umuvugizi, Jean Leonard Rugambage, was shot dead in Kigali.
Now Mr Gasasira believes that agents working for Rwanda's government are trying to kill him. Speaking from a safe house near Kampala, Mr Gasasira told The Independent that Rwandan intelligence services were on a killing spree, and alleged it was with the knowledge of President Paul Kagame himself. "I know it, I don't doubt it. The explanations are just Kagame's excuses," he said. Speaking of the recent attempt to abduct him in Uganda, he added: "I know it was his people."
"He owns the opposition and now he wants his own media," Mr Gasasira said of the president. He says the president is using "the sword and the gun" against his opponents in the media and elsewhere and that Rwanda was on its way to becoming a "one man state". Rwanda's ambassador in Kampala said the allegations were "nonsense" and Rwandan officials described accusations that the government had ordered the killing as "baseless".
Before his death, Mr Rugambage was investigating the shooting of a dissident Rwandan general in Johannesburg. On 19 June Lieutenant General Kayumba Nyamwasa was targeted by a gunman in the South African city, but survived the attack. Rwandan officials described allegations that they had commissioned the killer as "preposterous". But someone is out to kill Rwandan dissidents.
Events as far apart as Johannesburg, Kampala and Kigali have revealed increasing political tensions within one of Africa's most enigmatic emerging democracies. To many outsiders, Rwanda, under Mr Kagame's presidency, has become one of the more dynamic and hopeful countries in the region.
Sixteen years on from the genocide that seared the landlocked central African nation into the world's collective consciousness, Kigali is talked of as a future IT hub for Africa, economic growth is strong, and peace, for the most part, is holding. As reward for this, Rwanda was welcomed into the Commonwealth of nations this year despite its Francophone background.
To its critics, though, Rwanda has become an "army with a state" – an authoritarian government led by a cabal of soldiers from the former rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front. With little more than a month to go before the second elections are held since the end of the 1994 genocide, the calm surface of Rwanda's stability and progress has been broken and a violent struggle for control of the country has been revealed.
A number of former ministers have been forced into asylum, while many other former colleagues of Mr Kagame were now under official and unofficial house arrest inside Rwanda, Mr Gasasira claims. "He has ministers in jail, the former speaker from parliament has gone into asylum," he said.
Rosette Kayumba, the dissident general's wife, has described how a lone gunman approached their car in broad daylight in Johannesburg 12 days ago and fired at her husband. She says she is certain that the killer was sent by Paul Kagame's government. Formerly a close aide to the Rwandan leader, Lt-Gen Kayumba fled into exile in February after falling out with him.
The Rwandan government has strongly denied any role in the attack. Umuvugizi, an opposition newspaper in Rwanda, was investigating possible government links to the killing when its editor in exile was tracked down in neigbouring Uganda.
On 22 June Mr Gasasira was confronted by six men in Kampala. He managed to flee to his house, from where he called police. Ugandan authorities described their response as a rescue. Two days later his co-editor, Mr Rugambage, was shot dead in Kigali by two men who then fled the scene in a car.
Speaking this week, Mr Kagame said he had ordered his police, intelligence services and army to find the journalist's killers. "We will not rest until we get to the bottom of this and make it clear to everyone," he said. Two arrests have since been made and police said they believed the suspects' motive had been connected to genocide charges against Mr Rugambage. He was tried and acquitted and authorities said the killing was likely a revenge attack.
But the murder is being investigated by its perpetrators, according to Mr Gasasira. "I'm 100 per cent certain this was done by the Rwandan intelligence service," he said.
In South Africa, three men appeared in court this week charged with the attempted murder of Lt-Gen Kayumba. None of the accused is Rwandan and they each have previous records for handling stolen goods. Two more men, one of them thought to be Rwandan, have been released and there are fears that the incident, which created tension between South Africa and Rwanda, may be written off as an attempted robbery. The dissident general was a long-time confidante who served as the army chief of staff.
Mr Gasasira says that conflicts within Rwanda's all powerful army are behind the dissident attacks. With Mr Kagame in absolute control of the democratic process, the only threat would come from the military, he states.
The relationship between Lt-Gen Kayumba and the president deteriorated as Mr Kagame became more autocratic. Mr Gasasira decided to leave Rwanda after his newspaper was banned in April as part of a crackdown on dissent. In February 2007 he was brutally assaulted in Kigali by three men armed with iron bars. The attack, which put him in a coma and left him with permanent health problems, followed articles in Umuvugizi critical of the ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front.
Opposition wins Somaliland election.
SAPA
1 July 2010
By Mohamed Olad Hassan
Election officials say an opposition candidate won the presidential vote held in the self-declared republic of Somaliland last weekend.
The winner, Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo, has said he hopes the presidential election will help win Somaliland international recognition. The National Electoral Commission declared Silanyo the winner with 49.6 percent of the vote.
The region's outgoing president, Dahir Riyale Kahin, came in second out of three candidates. Kahin said he would honor a pre-vote pledge to accept the results even if he lost.
1 July 2010
By Mohamed Olad Hassan
Election officials say an opposition candidate won the presidential vote held in the self-declared republic of Somaliland last weekend.
The winner, Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo, has said he hopes the presidential election will help win Somaliland international recognition. The National Electoral Commission declared Silanyo the winner with 49.6 percent of the vote.
The region's outgoing president, Dahir Riyale Kahin, came in second out of three candidates. Kahin said he would honor a pre-vote pledge to accept the results even if he lost.
01 July, 2010
US aid to Rwanda not transparent– says Oxfam.
Rwandan News Agency
1 July 2010
Government, recipient organizations and individuals which get US aid do not always have enough information about it to plan ahead and make the most of the assistance, says advocacy group Oxfam.
1 July 2010
Government, recipient organizations and individuals which get US aid do not always have enough information about it to plan ahead and make the most of the assistance, says advocacy group Oxfam.
South Africa Admits Professional Foreign Operatives Tried to Kill Nyamwasa.
AFP
1 July 2010
Foreign "security operatives" were involved in the shooting of a Rwanda general who was living in exile in Johannesburg, South Africa's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
General Faustin Nyamwasa was shot and wounded outside his Johannesburg home on June 19, four months after he came to South Africa seeking asylum.
Four people have been arrested, but police have declined to comment on their motive.
"This matter involves security operatives, and an attack on a person who has gone through the correct legal channels to seek asylum in South Africa," said Ayanda Ntsaluba, the foreign ministry's director general.
"It also involves a country with which we have good and strong diplomatic relations," he said. "This why we will not make a determination about where the suspected attackers of General Nyamwasa come from."
Nyamwasa's wife Rosette, who was in the car with him during the shooting, believes the attack was a political assassination attempt. Nothing was stolen during the incident, she said.
Rwanda has denied any role in the shooting.
"We want to be cautious and we are not pointing an accusing finger at any country," Ntsaluba said.
"It is accepted practice that the foreign missions of any country has fully declared intelligence and security operatives," he said. "If people from another country operate clandestinely, that is an entirely different dimension."
"They must not get caught because that compounds relations between countries," he added. "It cannot be taken lightly because that is subverting the stability of a country."
1 July 2010
Foreign "security operatives" were involved in the shooting of a Rwanda general who was living in exile in Johannesburg, South Africa's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
General Faustin Nyamwasa was shot and wounded outside his Johannesburg home on June 19, four months after he came to South Africa seeking asylum.
Four people have been arrested, but police have declined to comment on their motive.
"This matter involves security operatives, and an attack on a person who has gone through the correct legal channels to seek asylum in South Africa," said Ayanda Ntsaluba, the foreign ministry's director general.
"It also involves a country with which we have good and strong diplomatic relations," he said. "This why we will not make a determination about where the suspected attackers of General Nyamwasa come from."
Nyamwasa's wife Rosette, who was in the car with him during the shooting, believes the attack was a political assassination attempt. Nothing was stolen during the incident, she said.
Rwanda has denied any role in the shooting.
"We want to be cautious and we are not pointing an accusing finger at any country," Ntsaluba said.
"It is accepted practice that the foreign missions of any country has fully declared intelligence and security operatives," he said. "If people from another country operate clandestinely, that is an entirely different dimension."
"They must not get caught because that compounds relations between countries," he added. "It cannot be taken lightly because that is subverting the stability of a country."
What are Colombian DAS agents doing in the EU?
Press Europ
28 June 2010
EUobserver has revealed details of an alleged covert operation by Colombia’s secret service (DAS) to undermine the EU. According to documents seized by the Colombian Attorney General’s office, a DAS mission known as “Operation Europe” sought “to neutralise the influence of the European judicial system, the European Parliament's human rights sub-committee, and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights”. News of the operation, which included wire-taps and email intercepts, first broke in Colombia in 2009, after which the then president Alvaro Uribe introduced legislation to investigate and overhaul the agency. While the European Commission has expressed faith in the current inquiry, several MEPs, NGOs and Brussels insiders critical of Colombia’s human rights record are concerned that the campaign to thwart Bogota’s critics in Europe is far from over. Paul Emile Dupret, a Belgian political advisor to the European Parliament’s United European Left group, aims to take a case against the Colombian agency this July along with victims of DAS wire taps and intimidation.
28 June 2010
EUobserver has revealed details of an alleged covert operation by Colombia’s secret service (DAS) to undermine the EU. According to documents seized by the Colombian Attorney General’s office, a DAS mission known as “Operation Europe” sought “to neutralise the influence of the European judicial system, the European Parliament's human rights sub-committee, and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights”. News of the operation, which included wire-taps and email intercepts, first broke in Colombia in 2009, after which the then president Alvaro Uribe introduced legislation to investigate and overhaul the agency. While the European Commission has expressed faith in the current inquiry, several MEPs, NGOs and Brussels insiders critical of Colombia’s human rights record are concerned that the campaign to thwart Bogota’s critics in Europe is far from over. Paul Emile Dupret, a Belgian political advisor to the European Parliament’s United European Left group, aims to take a case against the Colombian agency this July along with victims of DAS wire taps and intimidation.
New Evidence Discredits Hutton Inquiry into Kelly Death.
The New American
by Alex Newman
30 June 2010
New revelations in the alleged “suicide” of whistle-blower Dr. David Kelly point even more strongly to the possibility of murder and a subsequent cover-up, according to an explosive investigation by the British newspaper Daily Mail.
Dr. David Kelly served as a United Nations weapons-of-mass-destruction inspector in Iraq and as a scientist for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense. He was widely considered the world’s foremost expert in chemical and biological weapons, even serving as a proof reader on the British government’s intelligence report about Iraqi WMDs. He disagreed with some of the claims and told his superiors, but was ignored.
Seven years ago, a strange saga began when Kelly sparked a massive scandal. He leaked details of the government’s WMD lies — used to justify invading Iraq — to various journalists. His identity was eventually revealed as the source, and Parliament called him to testify for an investigation it was conducting into the explosive allegations. Then, before he could reveal even more devastating secrets, he turned up dead.
The government, led by Prime Minister Tony Blair, immediately quashed the regular coroner’s inquest — a legal requirement in cases like this. Instead, it set up a much weaker “inquiry,” headed by Lord Hutton, into the untimely death.
But as soon as the "investigation" concluded that Kelly’s demise was a “suicide” caused by a self-inflicted knife wound, the media began picking the story apart, pointing out inconsistencies and asking tough questions that still have not been answered satisfactorily — if they were addressed at all. The inquiry has been labeled a “whitewash” and a “cover-up” by numerous media outlets, investigators, doctors, and researchers.
The two paramedics who were at the scene of Kelly’s body went public with their belief that a severed artery was not the cause of death, as the official report had claimed. "I just think it is incredibly unlikely that he died from the wrist wound we saw," paramedic Vanessa Hunt told the British press. “There just wasn't a lot of blood. When someone cuts an artery, whether accidentally or intentionally, the blood pumps everywhere." The other paramedic offered a similar analysis.
A team of concerned scientists and doctors also banded together to form the “Kelly Investigation Group.” They, too, believed there were serious deficiencies in the inquiry, saying the official conclusion was “highly improbable.”
“Arteries in the wrist are of matchstick thickness and severing them does not lead to life-threatening blood loss,” three members of the group, all medical specialists, wrote in a letter to the Guardian newspaper calling for the inquest to be re-opened. “To have died from haemorrhage [sic], Dr Kelly would have had to lose about five pints of blood — it is unlikely that he would have lost more than a pint.”
The team also noted that the alleged amount of pain pills Kelly was said to have ingested would not have contributed to his death. Only a part of one tablet was actually found in his stomach.
Adding more doubt to the official story, documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request showed there were no finger prints on the knife Kelly supposedly used to kill himself.
"Someone who wanted to kill themselves wouldn't go to the lengths of wiping the knife clean of fingerprints,” said British Minister of Parliament and current Transportation Secretary Norman Baker, who wrote a book about Kelly claiming he was killed because he might reveal more about the lies used in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. "It is just very suspicious. It is one of the things that makes me think Dr. Kelly was murdered. The case should be re-opened."
A police spokesperson acknowledged the lack of fingerprints, but said it “does not change the official explanation.”
Suspicions in the case grew even more after it was revealed earlier this year that documents in the official investigation had been secretly classified by the British government for an astonishing 70 years, an unprecedented move that fanned the flames of skepticism. All medical, scientific, and photographic records were totally sealed by Lord Hutton, including the post mortem.
“This inexplicable secrecy can excite only suspicion that the authorities have something very bad indeed to hide,” noted Melanie Phillips in a report for the Daily Mail. “I myself have met people familiar with the shadowy world in which Dr Kelly moved who are certain he was murdered.” Another Daily Mail article reported that the legal basis for the gag order “has baffled experts accustomed to such matters.”
Researchers have raised countless problems with the “official” story — too many to go over in detail in one article. But some of the new information collected by the Daily Mail in a more recent article entitled “Dr David Kelly: The damning new evidence that points to a cover-up by Tony Blair's government” is worth recounting.
“Our new revelations include the ambiguous nature of the wording on Dr Kelly’s death certificate; the existence of an anonymous letter which says his colleagues were warned to stay away from his funeral; and an extraordinary claim that the wallpaper at Dr Kelly’s home was stripped by police in the hours after he was reported missing - but before his body was found,” the paper reported, noting that its “rigorous and thorough investigation” had “turned up evidence which raises still more disturbing questions.”
The death certificate, only recently obtained, used peculiar wording in the box meant for entering the place of death. Instead of naming it, the certificate said Kelly was “found dead” at Harrowdown Hill. Experts say the wording alone is enough to open another investigation, especially since there are numerous other irregularities involving the location of Kelly’s body (like heat-sensing helicopters that, based on the official story, should have found the body when flying over).
The death certificate also states that a coroner’s inquest was performed. But it wasn’t. It also lacks a doctor’s or coroner’s signature, something all death certificates in the U.K. are required to have.
"This death certificate is evidence of a failure properly to examine the cause of Dr Kelly’s death. It is evidence of a pre-judgment of the issue. In a coroner’s inquest the cause of death would not be registered until the whole inquiry had been completed. As we see here, the cause of death was registered before the Hutton Inquiry had finished,” said former coroner and law expert Dr. Michael Powers QC, who aims to have a thorough investigation conducted.
“This is remarkable,” he told the paper. “To my mind it is evidence that the inquiry into Dr Kelly’s death was window-dressing because the conclusion had already been determined.”
On top of the Hutton Inquiry’s many obvious shortcomings, a letter received last month by one of the doctors involved in the Kelly Investigation Group claims Kelly’s colleagues were warned not to attend his funeral. Kelly’s widow also said police came to the house and tore off wallpaper, possibly searching for listening devices, shortly after Kelly was reported missing, but prior to the discovery of his body. Authorities refuse to comment on the allegation.
The doctors investigating the suspicious death said “concern about Dr Kelly’s death will continue to deepen until a full coroner’s inquest is heard,” the Daily Mail reported, adding that if such an inquest is performed, Tony Blair might well be expected to testify about why he “went to such lengths to avoid the normal, rigorous and respected course of this country’s law.”
Concluding, the paper noted that Blair’s reputation, as well as the reputation of the British legal system, will continue to suffer until a proper investigation is conducted, which “is the only way the whole truth about the Kelly affair, however uncomfortable, will emerge.”
Now, after all these years, there are hints that the truth may finally come out. The new British Attorney General announced earlier this month that he is considering re-opening the investigation. Meanwhile, the new Justice Secretary is reportedly contemplating releasing some of the records in the case that currently remain classified. Whether it will happen has been a matter of intense speculation in the British press, but if these crucial questions are ever to be resolved, a proper investigation is a must.
by Alex Newman
30 June 2010
New revelations in the alleged “suicide” of whistle-blower Dr. David Kelly point even more strongly to the possibility of murder and a subsequent cover-up, according to an explosive investigation by the British newspaper Daily Mail.
Dr. David Kelly served as a United Nations weapons-of-mass-destruction inspector in Iraq and as a scientist for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense. He was widely considered the world’s foremost expert in chemical and biological weapons, even serving as a proof reader on the British government’s intelligence report about Iraqi WMDs. He disagreed with some of the claims and told his superiors, but was ignored.
Seven years ago, a strange saga began when Kelly sparked a massive scandal. He leaked details of the government’s WMD lies — used to justify invading Iraq — to various journalists. His identity was eventually revealed as the source, and Parliament called him to testify for an investigation it was conducting into the explosive allegations. Then, before he could reveal even more devastating secrets, he turned up dead.
The government, led by Prime Minister Tony Blair, immediately quashed the regular coroner’s inquest — a legal requirement in cases like this. Instead, it set up a much weaker “inquiry,” headed by Lord Hutton, into the untimely death.
But as soon as the "investigation" concluded that Kelly’s demise was a “suicide” caused by a self-inflicted knife wound, the media began picking the story apart, pointing out inconsistencies and asking tough questions that still have not been answered satisfactorily — if they were addressed at all. The inquiry has been labeled a “whitewash” and a “cover-up” by numerous media outlets, investigators, doctors, and researchers.
The two paramedics who were at the scene of Kelly’s body went public with their belief that a severed artery was not the cause of death, as the official report had claimed. "I just think it is incredibly unlikely that he died from the wrist wound we saw," paramedic Vanessa Hunt told the British press. “There just wasn't a lot of blood. When someone cuts an artery, whether accidentally or intentionally, the blood pumps everywhere." The other paramedic offered a similar analysis.
A team of concerned scientists and doctors also banded together to form the “Kelly Investigation Group.” They, too, believed there were serious deficiencies in the inquiry, saying the official conclusion was “highly improbable.”
“Arteries in the wrist are of matchstick thickness and severing them does not lead to life-threatening blood loss,” three members of the group, all medical specialists, wrote in a letter to the Guardian newspaper calling for the inquest to be re-opened. “To have died from haemorrhage [sic], Dr Kelly would have had to lose about five pints of blood — it is unlikely that he would have lost more than a pint.”
The team also noted that the alleged amount of pain pills Kelly was said to have ingested would not have contributed to his death. Only a part of one tablet was actually found in his stomach.
Adding more doubt to the official story, documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request showed there were no finger prints on the knife Kelly supposedly used to kill himself.
"Someone who wanted to kill themselves wouldn't go to the lengths of wiping the knife clean of fingerprints,” said British Minister of Parliament and current Transportation Secretary Norman Baker, who wrote a book about Kelly claiming he was killed because he might reveal more about the lies used in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. "It is just very suspicious. It is one of the things that makes me think Dr. Kelly was murdered. The case should be re-opened."
A police spokesperson acknowledged the lack of fingerprints, but said it “does not change the official explanation.”
Suspicions in the case grew even more after it was revealed earlier this year that documents in the official investigation had been secretly classified by the British government for an astonishing 70 years, an unprecedented move that fanned the flames of skepticism. All medical, scientific, and photographic records were totally sealed by Lord Hutton, including the post mortem.
“This inexplicable secrecy can excite only suspicion that the authorities have something very bad indeed to hide,” noted Melanie Phillips in a report for the Daily Mail. “I myself have met people familiar with the shadowy world in which Dr Kelly moved who are certain he was murdered.” Another Daily Mail article reported that the legal basis for the gag order “has baffled experts accustomed to such matters.”
Researchers have raised countless problems with the “official” story — too many to go over in detail in one article. But some of the new information collected by the Daily Mail in a more recent article entitled “Dr David Kelly: The damning new evidence that points to a cover-up by Tony Blair's government” is worth recounting.
“Our new revelations include the ambiguous nature of the wording on Dr Kelly’s death certificate; the existence of an anonymous letter which says his colleagues were warned to stay away from his funeral; and an extraordinary claim that the wallpaper at Dr Kelly’s home was stripped by police in the hours after he was reported missing - but before his body was found,” the paper reported, noting that its “rigorous and thorough investigation” had “turned up evidence which raises still more disturbing questions.”
The death certificate, only recently obtained, used peculiar wording in the box meant for entering the place of death. Instead of naming it, the certificate said Kelly was “found dead” at Harrowdown Hill. Experts say the wording alone is enough to open another investigation, especially since there are numerous other irregularities involving the location of Kelly’s body (like heat-sensing helicopters that, based on the official story, should have found the body when flying over).
The death certificate also states that a coroner’s inquest was performed. But it wasn’t. It also lacks a doctor’s or coroner’s signature, something all death certificates in the U.K. are required to have.
"This death certificate is evidence of a failure properly to examine the cause of Dr Kelly’s death. It is evidence of a pre-judgment of the issue. In a coroner’s inquest the cause of death would not be registered until the whole inquiry had been completed. As we see here, the cause of death was registered before the Hutton Inquiry had finished,” said former coroner and law expert Dr. Michael Powers QC, who aims to have a thorough investigation conducted.
“This is remarkable,” he told the paper. “To my mind it is evidence that the inquiry into Dr Kelly’s death was window-dressing because the conclusion had already been determined.”
On top of the Hutton Inquiry’s many obvious shortcomings, a letter received last month by one of the doctors involved in the Kelly Investigation Group claims Kelly’s colleagues were warned not to attend his funeral. Kelly’s widow also said police came to the house and tore off wallpaper, possibly searching for listening devices, shortly after Kelly was reported missing, but prior to the discovery of his body. Authorities refuse to comment on the allegation.
The doctors investigating the suspicious death said “concern about Dr Kelly’s death will continue to deepen until a full coroner’s inquest is heard,” the Daily Mail reported, adding that if such an inquest is performed, Tony Blair might well be expected to testify about why he “went to such lengths to avoid the normal, rigorous and respected course of this country’s law.”
Concluding, the paper noted that Blair’s reputation, as well as the reputation of the British legal system, will continue to suffer until a proper investigation is conducted, which “is the only way the whole truth about the Kelly affair, however uncomfortable, will emerge.”
Now, after all these years, there are hints that the truth may finally come out. The new British Attorney General announced earlier this month that he is considering re-opening the investigation. Meanwhile, the new Justice Secretary is reportedly contemplating releasing some of the records in the case that currently remain classified. Whether it will happen has been a matter of intense speculation in the British press, but if these crucial questions are ever to be resolved, a proper investigation is a must.
Turabi Released From Prison.
BBC News
30 June 2010
Sudan has released Islamist fundamentalist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, his secretary has said.
Mr Turabi has spent a month and a half in detention after authorities arrested him in May and closed his party's newspaper.
His wife alleged he had been apprehended after he repeated an allegation that the country's elections had been rigged.
President Omar al-Bashir was re-elected in April.
"Turabi has arrived at his home... We do not know why he has been released," secretary Awad Babiker told Reuters.
Mr Turabi, a former ally of the president, has been detained on numerous occasions since he began his Popular Congress Party. He is alleged to have ties to a Darfur militia that has refused to join peace talks.
30 June 2010
Sudan has released Islamist fundamentalist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, his secretary has said.
Mr Turabi has spent a month and a half in detention after authorities arrested him in May and closed his party's newspaper.
His wife alleged he had been apprehended after he repeated an allegation that the country's elections had been rigged.
President Omar al-Bashir was re-elected in April.
"Turabi has arrived at his home... We do not know why he has been released," secretary Awad Babiker told Reuters.
Mr Turabi, a former ally of the president, has been detained on numerous occasions since he began his Popular Congress Party. He is alleged to have ties to a Darfur militia that has refused to join peace talks.
30 June, 2010
Ecuador threatens to cut Colombia ties over spy plot.
Reuters
29 June 2010
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa threatened to break off diplomatic ties again with Colombia on Tuesday over accusations that its agents wiretapped top Ecuadorean officials, including the leftist leader.
Difficult relations between Colombia and its neighbors are one of the top foreign policy challenges facing Juan Manual Santos, Colombia's incoming president-elect. A diplomatic spat with Venezuela is also affecting billions of dollars of trade.
Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia in 2008 after a Colombian bombing raid on a FARC guerrilla camp on the Ecuadorean side of the border. Relations were partially restored in November, but not to the level of ambassador.
Agents of Colombia's DAS intelligence service tapped telephone conversations of Correa and his top officials after the 2008 raid, an Ecuadorean newspaper reported on Monday.
"It would not only be an obstacle to the re-establishment of bilateral relations. We would have to go back and break relations. This is extremely serious," Correa told reporters.
Colombia had no immediate comment on Correa's statement.
The two countries currently have lower level diplomats or charges d'affaires in place and had held encouraging talks in recent months about restoring full relations.
Colombia's Administrative Security Department, known by its Spanish initials DAS, denies the accusation of spying. The charge is being investigated by Correa's government.
The DAS has been hit by a string of scandals, including allegations of illegal wiretapping of judges, journalists and opposition politicians in Colombia.
The United States cut off aid to the agency amid charges that Uribe's advisers directed some of the abuses from the presidential palace. Uribe has said his government will disband the DAS and create a smaller, better-controlled agency.
(Reporting by Santiago Silva, editing by Anthony Boadle)
Editor's Note: US Special Forces and private military contractors have trained the DAS in the past.
29 June 2010
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa threatened to break off diplomatic ties again with Colombia on Tuesday over accusations that its agents wiretapped top Ecuadorean officials, including the leftist leader.
Difficult relations between Colombia and its neighbors are one of the top foreign policy challenges facing Juan Manual Santos, Colombia's incoming president-elect. A diplomatic spat with Venezuela is also affecting billions of dollars of trade.
Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia in 2008 after a Colombian bombing raid on a FARC guerrilla camp on the Ecuadorean side of the border. Relations were partially restored in November, but not to the level of ambassador.
Agents of Colombia's DAS intelligence service tapped telephone conversations of Correa and his top officials after the 2008 raid, an Ecuadorean newspaper reported on Monday.
"It would not only be an obstacle to the re-establishment of bilateral relations. We would have to go back and break relations. This is extremely serious," Correa told reporters.
Colombia had no immediate comment on Correa's statement.
The two countries currently have lower level diplomats or charges d'affaires in place and had held encouraging talks in recent months about restoring full relations.
Colombia's Administrative Security Department, known by its Spanish initials DAS, denies the accusation of spying. The charge is being investigated by Correa's government.
The DAS has been hit by a string of scandals, including allegations of illegal wiretapping of judges, journalists and opposition politicians in Colombia.
The United States cut off aid to the agency amid charges that Uribe's advisers directed some of the abuses from the presidential palace. Uribe has said his government will disband the DAS and create a smaller, better-controlled agency.
(Reporting by Santiago Silva, editing by Anthony Boadle)
Editor's Note: US Special Forces and private military contractors have trained the DAS in the past.
Noriega claims French laundering trial a conspiracy.
AP
29 June 2010
By JENNY BARCHFIELD
Editor's Note: Be sure to read the testimony of Ramon Milian-Rodriguez given before a the Senate Committee on Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy chaired by Senator John F. Kerry on June 26, 1987 and Senator Kerry's response to the testimony for good background on this issue.
Relishing the chance to defend himself in court, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega declared Tuesday that French money laundering charges against him are trumped up and part of the same "conspiracy" that kept him in U.S. custody for 20 years.
An animated Noriega spoke for an hour as he described how he came to power in 1983, and his long, friendly relationship with the U.S. government — including the CIA.
Then he gave his take on why the relationship soured.
Noriega was deposed after a 1989 U.S. invasion and went on to spend two decades behind bars in Florida for drug trafficking. In April, he was extradited to France to face charges that he laundered profits from cocaine trafficking through French banks in the 1980s.
Those charges, he said Tuesday, were nothing more than "an imaginary financial setup."
"I am a victim of the same conspiracy that the United States brought against me," he said.
He faces up to 10 years in prison in France if convicted.
Noriega has maintained that he fought against drug trafficking and that the money in French banks came from other sources, including payments from the CIA. He had been considered a valued CIA asset for years before he joined forces with drug traffickers and was implicated in the death of a political opponent.
Given the stand Tuesday, he gave a long speech, starting with his own biography and including geopolitical comment and talk of Panama's colonial history and the Panama Canal. He described missions in which he interceded as mediator in conflicts with Cuba, Nicaragua and Iran.
After rising through the ranks to the head of Panamanian Armed Forces, Noriega said, "I set about fighting against drug trafficking with much zeal and was warmly praised by the United States, from Interpol."
Noriega said the United States turned against him when he refused to participate in a U.S. plan aimed at ousting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The leftist Sandinistas fought U.S.-backed Contra rebels in the 1980s.
His vigorous testimony contrasted with his feeble appearance at the start of the trial Monday, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably as he addressed the three-judge panel.
On Tuesday, Noriega spoke in a booming voice and gesticulated broadly. He wore a black suit with checkered tie. He is not permitted to wear his military uniform in France since he is not being treated as a prisoner of war here — an issue hotly contested by his lawyers.
Panama is seeking Noriega's extradition, bringing hope to his countrymen who want to see the former military strongman face justice at home for alleged torture and killings of opponents.
France already convicted Noriega and his wife in absentia in 1999 for laundering several million dollars in cocaine profits through three major French banks and using drug cash to invest in three luxurious Paris apartments on the Left Bank.
France agreed to give him a new trial if he was extradited. Noriega's wife, Felicidad Sieiro de Noriega, is living in Panama and faces no charges there.
29 June 2010
By JENNY BARCHFIELD
Editor's Note: Be sure to read the testimony of Ramon Milian-Rodriguez given before a the Senate Committee on Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy chaired by Senator John F. Kerry on June 26, 1987 and Senator Kerry's response to the testimony for good background on this issue.
Relishing the chance to defend himself in court, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega declared Tuesday that French money laundering charges against him are trumped up and part of the same "conspiracy" that kept him in U.S. custody for 20 years.
An animated Noriega spoke for an hour as he described how he came to power in 1983, and his long, friendly relationship with the U.S. government — including the CIA.
Then he gave his take on why the relationship soured.
Noriega was deposed after a 1989 U.S. invasion and went on to spend two decades behind bars in Florida for drug trafficking. In April, he was extradited to France to face charges that he laundered profits from cocaine trafficking through French banks in the 1980s.
Those charges, he said Tuesday, were nothing more than "an imaginary financial setup."
"I am a victim of the same conspiracy that the United States brought against me," he said.
He faces up to 10 years in prison in France if convicted.
Noriega has maintained that he fought against drug trafficking and that the money in French banks came from other sources, including payments from the CIA. He had been considered a valued CIA asset for years before he joined forces with drug traffickers and was implicated in the death of a political opponent.
Given the stand Tuesday, he gave a long speech, starting with his own biography and including geopolitical comment and talk of Panama's colonial history and the Panama Canal. He described missions in which he interceded as mediator in conflicts with Cuba, Nicaragua and Iran.
After rising through the ranks to the head of Panamanian Armed Forces, Noriega said, "I set about fighting against drug trafficking with much zeal and was warmly praised by the United States, from Interpol."
Noriega said the United States turned against him when he refused to participate in a U.S. plan aimed at ousting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The leftist Sandinistas fought U.S.-backed Contra rebels in the 1980s.
His vigorous testimony contrasted with his feeble appearance at the start of the trial Monday, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably as he addressed the three-judge panel.
On Tuesday, Noriega spoke in a booming voice and gesticulated broadly. He wore a black suit with checkered tie. He is not permitted to wear his military uniform in France since he is not being treated as a prisoner of war here — an issue hotly contested by his lawyers.
Panama is seeking Noriega's extradition, bringing hope to his countrymen who want to see the former military strongman face justice at home for alleged torture and killings of opponents.
France already convicted Noriega and his wife in absentia in 1999 for laundering several million dollars in cocaine profits through three major French banks and using drug cash to invest in three luxurious Paris apartments on the Left Bank.
France agreed to give him a new trial if he was extradited. Noriega's wife, Felicidad Sieiro de Noriega, is living in Panama and faces no charges there.
East African Editors Forum, the Kenya Editors’ Guild and The Media Institute Slam Rwanda over Journalist's Murder
THE MEDIA INSTITUTE
PO Box 46356, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (+254) 20 222 9822
Fax: (+254) 20 253 373
email: mediainst@wananchi.com
www.eatafricapress.com
East African Editors Protest Assassination of Rwandan Editor Jean-Léonard Rugambage
Editors in East Africa join the colleagues in Rwanda in mourning the cold-blooded murder of journalist and press freedom activist Leonard Jean Cherif Rugambage.
On the night of Thursday 24, 2010, around 11.00pm, Mr Rugambage, was returning to his home in Nyamirambo suburb of Kigali in Rwanda.
Just as he was about to enter the house, unknown gunmen who had been lying in wait opened fire. He was shot four times at close range. He died on the spot.
Mr Rugambage was an investigative journalist and editor of Umuvugizi newspaper, which was suspended in April for six months by the Media High Council. The day he was assassinated, he had just published online an article that linked the Rwanda government to the June 19, 2010 assassination attempt on Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, the former Rwanda army chief of staff now exiled in South Africa.
Mr Rugambage had also complained to his colleagues that he was being trailed and threatened by security agents.
We cannot divorce his assassination from these circumstances.
The East African Editors Forum, the Kenya Editors’ Guild and The Media Institute jointly deplore this heinous crime and the sustained and continuing assaults on press freedom in Rwanda.
The killing of Mr Rugambage follows a pattern of repression in which the state has had a direct hand.
The past four months have been a nightmare for independent journalism in Rwanda. The private media have been intimidated through judicial lynching and punitive administrative actions.
While we cannot support unprofessional conduct, we strongly believe current threats to press freedom now require external intervention.
We are calling on the East African Community, the Africa Union, the AU Rapporteur on Human Rights, and the United Nations to hold the Rwanda government to account for the deteriorating state of human rights.
As the country goes to the elections in August, we believe the right to freedom of expression and access to information of all Rwandese is fundamental for democratic elections and peace to prevail.
We particularly call on the leaders of East African Community member-states to uphold the principle that respect for human rights is a condition for membership; and to intercede with a view to persuading President Kagame to allow democracy and freedom of expression to thrive in Rwanda.
As the East African Community launches the Common Market on Thursday, we do recall that the Charter establishing the Community states clearly that respect for human rights is a pre-requisite for membership.
We call for a speedy and impartial investigation into the assassination of Mr Rugambage and the lifting of stringent measures being instituted by the Media Council against independent media.
Issued in Nairobi
29th June 2010
Signed,
DAVID MAKALI,
Chairman, East African Editors Guild & Director, The Media Institute
MACHARIA GAITHO,
Chairman, The Kenya Editors’ Guild
BACKGROUND
Leonard Jean "Cherif" Rugambage was previsouly a member of the Rwanda Army prior to the genocide. He also served briefly in the Rwanda Patriotic Army after the Paul Kagame-led RPF took power in 1994. After leaving the army he began working as a journalist for the defunct Umuco newspaper, which was critical of the new administration. In September 2005, he was arrested and charged in a Gacaca court with promoting genocide a week after he had published an article criticizing the informal Gacaca court in his home town of incompetence and corruption. The trial never proceeded to conclusion after heated exchange with the presiding judge, whom he accused of being biased. The seven trial judges deferred the trial and sentenced him to one year imprisonment for contempt of court.
Later, the judges however denied imprisoning the journalist for contempt and said the order had been issued by Police. After he was released, Rugambage was not tried for the genocide. But an accusation was leveled against him that while he served in the army he had killed a banker. Although he had been tried for the murder and cleared after spending six months in custody soon after the genocide, the judges claimed that new evidence had come up linking him to the killing. Before the trial was suspended and he was sentenced for contempt, Rugambage had brought two genocide suspects to the court had confessed to killing the banker to prove his innocence.
No case was ever filed against Rugambage after he was released. Nor had any threats been made to his life related to the murder.
The East African Community Treaty provides for the following:
ARTICLE 3: Membership of the Community
3. Subject to paragraph 4 of this Article, the matters to be taken into account by the Partner States in considering the application by a foreign country to become a member of, be associated with, or participate in any of the activities of the Community, shall include that foreign country’s:
(b) adherence to universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, observance of human rights and social justice;
ARTICLE 6: Fundamental Principles of the Community
The fundamental principles that shall govern the achievement of the objectives of the Community by the Partner States shall include:
(d) good governance including adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, accountability, transparency, social justice, equal opportunities, gender equality, as well as the recognition, promotion and protect ion of human and peoples rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights;
ARTICLE 7: Operational Principles of the Community
2. The Partner States undertake to abide by the principles of good governance, including adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, social justice and the maintenance of universally accepted standards of human rights.
ARTICLE 123: Political Affairs
3. The objectives of the common foreign and security policies shall be to:
(c) develop and consolidate democracy and the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
NOTE: The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights recognises a wide range of universally accepted civil and political rights. These includes the right to freedom from discrimination (Article 2 and 18(3)), equality (Article 3), life and personal integrity (Article 4), dignity (Article 5), freedom from slavery (Article 5), freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 5), rights to due process concerning arrest and detention (Article 6), the right to a fair trial (Article 7 and 25), freedom of religion (Article 8), freedom of information and expression (Article 9), freedom of association (Article 10), freedom to assembly (Article 11), freedom of movement (Article 12), freedom to political participation (Article 13), and the right to property (Article 14).
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was adopted by the Organisation of African Unity (Now African Union – AU) 18th Assembly of Heads of State and Government meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, in June 1981.
PO Box 46356, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (+254) 20 222 9822
Fax: (+254) 20 253 373
email: mediainst@wananchi.com
www.eatafricapress.com
East African Editors Protest Assassination of Rwandan Editor Jean-Léonard Rugambage
Editors in East Africa join the colleagues in Rwanda in mourning the cold-blooded murder of journalist and press freedom activist Leonard Jean Cherif Rugambage.
On the night of Thursday 24, 2010, around 11.00pm, Mr Rugambage, was returning to his home in Nyamirambo suburb of Kigali in Rwanda.
Just as he was about to enter the house, unknown gunmen who had been lying in wait opened fire. He was shot four times at close range. He died on the spot.
Mr Rugambage was an investigative journalist and editor of Umuvugizi newspaper, which was suspended in April for six months by the Media High Council. The day he was assassinated, he had just published online an article that linked the Rwanda government to the June 19, 2010 assassination attempt on Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, the former Rwanda army chief of staff now exiled in South Africa.
Mr Rugambage had also complained to his colleagues that he was being trailed and threatened by security agents.
We cannot divorce his assassination from these circumstances.
The East African Editors Forum, the Kenya Editors’ Guild and The Media Institute jointly deplore this heinous crime and the sustained and continuing assaults on press freedom in Rwanda.
The killing of Mr Rugambage follows a pattern of repression in which the state has had a direct hand.
The past four months have been a nightmare for independent journalism in Rwanda. The private media have been intimidated through judicial lynching and punitive administrative actions.
While we cannot support unprofessional conduct, we strongly believe current threats to press freedom now require external intervention.
We are calling on the East African Community, the Africa Union, the AU Rapporteur on Human Rights, and the United Nations to hold the Rwanda government to account for the deteriorating state of human rights.
As the country goes to the elections in August, we believe the right to freedom of expression and access to information of all Rwandese is fundamental for democratic elections and peace to prevail.
We particularly call on the leaders of East African Community member-states to uphold the principle that respect for human rights is a condition for membership; and to intercede with a view to persuading President Kagame to allow democracy and freedom of expression to thrive in Rwanda.
As the East African Community launches the Common Market on Thursday, we do recall that the Charter establishing the Community states clearly that respect for human rights is a pre-requisite for membership.
We call for a speedy and impartial investigation into the assassination of Mr Rugambage and the lifting of stringent measures being instituted by the Media Council against independent media.
Issued in Nairobi
29th June 2010
Signed,
DAVID MAKALI,
Chairman, East African Editors Guild & Director, The Media Institute
MACHARIA GAITHO,
Chairman, The Kenya Editors’ Guild
BACKGROUND
Leonard Jean "Cherif" Rugambage was previsouly a member of the Rwanda Army prior to the genocide. He also served briefly in the Rwanda Patriotic Army after the Paul Kagame-led RPF took power in 1994. After leaving the army he began working as a journalist for the defunct Umuco newspaper, which was critical of the new administration. In September 2005, he was arrested and charged in a Gacaca court with promoting genocide a week after he had published an article criticizing the informal Gacaca court in his home town of incompetence and corruption. The trial never proceeded to conclusion after heated exchange with the presiding judge, whom he accused of being biased. The seven trial judges deferred the trial and sentenced him to one year imprisonment for contempt of court.
Later, the judges however denied imprisoning the journalist for contempt and said the order had been issued by Police. After he was released, Rugambage was not tried for the genocide. But an accusation was leveled against him that while he served in the army he had killed a banker. Although he had been tried for the murder and cleared after spending six months in custody soon after the genocide, the judges claimed that new evidence had come up linking him to the killing. Before the trial was suspended and he was sentenced for contempt, Rugambage had brought two genocide suspects to the court had confessed to killing the banker to prove his innocence.
No case was ever filed against Rugambage after he was released. Nor had any threats been made to his life related to the murder.
The East African Community Treaty provides for the following:
ARTICLE 3: Membership of the Community
3. Subject to paragraph 4 of this Article, the matters to be taken into account by the Partner States in considering the application by a foreign country to become a member of, be associated with, or participate in any of the activities of the Community, shall include that foreign country’s:
(b) adherence to universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, observance of human rights and social justice;
ARTICLE 6: Fundamental Principles of the Community
The fundamental principles that shall govern the achievement of the objectives of the Community by the Partner States shall include:
(d) good governance including adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, accountability, transparency, social justice, equal opportunities, gender equality, as well as the recognition, promotion and protect ion of human and peoples rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights;
ARTICLE 7: Operational Principles of the Community
2. The Partner States undertake to abide by the principles of good governance, including adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, social justice and the maintenance of universally accepted standards of human rights.
ARTICLE 123: Political Affairs
3. The objectives of the common foreign and security policies shall be to:
(c) develop and consolidate democracy and the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
NOTE: The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights recognises a wide range of universally accepted civil and political rights. These includes the right to freedom from discrimination (Article 2 and 18(3)), equality (Article 3), life and personal integrity (Article 4), dignity (Article 5), freedom from slavery (Article 5), freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 5), rights to due process concerning arrest and detention (Article 6), the right to a fair trial (Article 7 and 25), freedom of religion (Article 8), freedom of information and expression (Article 9), freedom of association (Article 10), freedom to assembly (Article 11), freedom of movement (Article 12), freedom to political participation (Article 13), and the right to property (Article 14).
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was adopted by the Organisation of African Unity (Now African Union – AU) 18th Assembly of Heads of State and Government meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, in June 1981.
East African Editors and a Media Organization Condemn Murder of Rwandan Journalist.
Expression Today
30 June 2010
African editors and a regional media freedom organization have condemned the murder of Rwandan journalist Leonard Jean Rugambage on June 24.
Unknown gunmen attacked the Acting Editor of Umuvugizi newspaper as he arrived home at night in a Kigali suburb, killing him on the spot. He was shot four times at close range.
East African editors said they were joining their colleagues in Rwanda in mourning the cold-blooded murder of the journalist and press freedom activist.
Mr Rugambage was an investigative journalist and editor of Umuvugizi newspaper, which was suspended in April for six months by the Media High Council. The day he was assassinated, he had just published online an article that linked the Rwanda government to the June 19, 2010 assassination attempt on Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, the former Rwanda army chief of staff now exiled in South Africa.
Mr Rugambage had also complained to his colleagues that he was being trailed and threatened by security agents.
“We cannot divorce his assassination from these circumstances,” said the media organizations said.
In a joint statement signed by David Makali, Chairman of East African Editors Guild and Director of The Media Institute, and Macharia Gaitho, Chairman of The Kenya Editors’ Guild, the editors’ groups further said they deplored the “heinous crime and the sustained and continuing assaults on press freedom in Rwanda.”
The killing of Mr Rugambage follows a pattern of repression in which the state has had a direct hand, the organizations said, pointing out that the past four months have been a nightmare for independent journalism in Rwanda.
“The private media have been intimidated through judicial lynching and punitive administrative actions. While we cannot support unprofessional conduct, we strongly believe current threats to press freedom now require external intervention.”
The East African editors called on the East African Community, the Africa Union, the AU Rapporteur on Human Rights, and the United Nations to hold the Rwanda government to account for the deteriorating state of human rights.
“As the country goes to the elections in August, we believe the right to freedom of expression and access to information of all Rwandese is fundamental for democratic elections and peace to prevail.”
Separately, The African Editors' Forum (AEF) expressed shock, dismay and sadness at the killing of one of its members, whom they described as a brilliant investigative journalist.
“The African Editors' Forum protests against repression as instruments to silence journalists and newspapers, whose only crime is to exercise their right to freedom of expression and practice their profession freely,” TEAF chair, Mathatha Tsedu, said in a statement.
“[TAEF] calls upon the Rwandan authorities to shed full light on the murder and to expose and severely punish the perpetrators of this cowardly act and their sponsors. TAEF also calls for the inclusion of independent investigators to allay the fears that the government of President Paul Kagame, which has been implicated in the murder, is not accused of white-washing the investigation.”
Meanwhile, the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said it was joining The African Editors’ Forum in condemning the assassination of Mr. Ruambage, Rwanda saying he was a champion of and activist for freedom of speech and freedom of the media and that his death leaves a tragic void in the African media landscape.
“Sanef urges the Rwandan authorities to speedily investigate the circumstances of Jean-Léonard’s violent death and bring the perpetrators to book. It is particularly disconcerting that Jean-Léonard's death came on the same day he published an article implicating senior Rwandan government officials in the attempted assassination of former Rwandan general Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa in South Africa on June 19, 2010.”
30 June 2010
African editors and a regional media freedom organization have condemned the murder of Rwandan journalist Leonard Jean Rugambage on June 24.
Unknown gunmen attacked the Acting Editor of Umuvugizi newspaper as he arrived home at night in a Kigali suburb, killing him on the spot. He was shot four times at close range.
East African editors said they were joining their colleagues in Rwanda in mourning the cold-blooded murder of the journalist and press freedom activist.
Mr Rugambage was an investigative journalist and editor of Umuvugizi newspaper, which was suspended in April for six months by the Media High Council. The day he was assassinated, he had just published online an article that linked the Rwanda government to the June 19, 2010 assassination attempt on Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, the former Rwanda army chief of staff now exiled in South Africa.
Mr Rugambage had also complained to his colleagues that he was being trailed and threatened by security agents.
“We cannot divorce his assassination from these circumstances,” said the media organizations said.
In a joint statement signed by David Makali, Chairman of East African Editors Guild and Director of The Media Institute, and Macharia Gaitho, Chairman of The Kenya Editors’ Guild, the editors’ groups further said they deplored the “heinous crime and the sustained and continuing assaults on press freedom in Rwanda.”
The killing of Mr Rugambage follows a pattern of repression in which the state has had a direct hand, the organizations said, pointing out that the past four months have been a nightmare for independent journalism in Rwanda.
“The private media have been intimidated through judicial lynching and punitive administrative actions. While we cannot support unprofessional conduct, we strongly believe current threats to press freedom now require external intervention.”
The East African editors called on the East African Community, the Africa Union, the AU Rapporteur on Human Rights, and the United Nations to hold the Rwanda government to account for the deteriorating state of human rights.
“As the country goes to the elections in August, we believe the right to freedom of expression and access to information of all Rwandese is fundamental for democratic elections and peace to prevail.”
Separately, The African Editors' Forum (AEF) expressed shock, dismay and sadness at the killing of one of its members, whom they described as a brilliant investigative journalist.
“The African Editors' Forum protests against repression as instruments to silence journalists and newspapers, whose only crime is to exercise their right to freedom of expression and practice their profession freely,” TEAF chair, Mathatha Tsedu, said in a statement.
“[TAEF] calls upon the Rwandan authorities to shed full light on the murder and to expose and severely punish the perpetrators of this cowardly act and their sponsors. TAEF also calls for the inclusion of independent investigators to allay the fears that the government of President Paul Kagame, which has been implicated in the murder, is not accused of white-washing the investigation.”
Meanwhile, the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said it was joining The African Editors’ Forum in condemning the assassination of Mr. Ruambage, Rwanda saying he was a champion of and activist for freedom of speech and freedom of the media and that his death leaves a tragic void in the African media landscape.
“Sanef urges the Rwandan authorities to speedily investigate the circumstances of Jean-Léonard’s violent death and bring the perpetrators to book. It is particularly disconcerting that Jean-Léonard's death came on the same day he published an article implicating senior Rwandan government officials in the attempted assassination of former Rwandan general Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa in South Africa on June 19, 2010.”
Peter Erlinder and his attorneys to speak tonight in Minnesota on his arrest and their work at the ICTR.
Professor Peter Erlinder and his Kenyan attorneys, Mr. Gershom Otachi Bw’Omanwa, and Mr. Kennedy Ogeto will hold a special briefing on current events in Rwanda.
Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010.
Time: 3:00 p.m. Central Standard Time
Place: Blue Moon Coffee Shop
Location: 3822 East Lake Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Phone Number: +1-612-721-9230.
The event is cohosted by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Women Against Military Madness, the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010.
Time: 3:00 p.m. Central Standard Time
Place: Blue Moon Coffee Shop
Location: 3822 East Lake Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Phone Number: +1-612-721-9230.
The event is cohosted by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Women Against Military Madness, the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Peter Erlinder's arrest a major blow to international law.
The Guardian
30 June 2010
By Amanda Pinto
Peter Erlinder, the lead defence counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda arrested and detained by the Rwandan authorities, has now been released on bail. But the damage to the integrity of international criminal courts remains a very real problem.
Erlinder was arrested in Rwanda, accused of genocide denial, genocide ideology and of being a threat to national security. He had gone to Kigali to help in the defence of Victoire Ingabire, a Hutu expatriate who had recently returned to Rwanda to stand as an opposition candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections. Ingabire had herself been arrested and charged with offences of association with a terrorist group, propagating genocide ideology, negation of genocide and ethnic divisionism, all domestic crimes in Rwanda.
After an enormous amount of international pressure and the personal intervention of Hillary Clinton, Erlinder was eventually released on "humanitarian" grounds on appeal on 18th June. But the case against him continues.
Despite numerous requests, including from the Registrar of the ICTR asking for the proceedings to be dropped, the prosecution refused, stating that his release "… will not deter the prosecution as we finalise the case against Mr Erlinder. He will soon be called to defend his record of genocide denial that insults the people of Rwanda and inflames those who seek to harm us."
It is worth noting that all defendants in that ICTR trial have been acquitted of charges of conspiracy to commit genocide prior to 1994 when the then Rwandan president Habyarimana, a Hutu, and Burundi's president Ntaryamira were killed when their plane was shot down. Despite this judicial finding, and indeed the signature of Rwanda to the UN convention asserting immunity of counsel, the prosecutor emphasised that proceedings would be vigorously pursued. No charges have yet been brought.
The deluge of international support arose not only for Erlinder's personal fate, but also for the wider issue of genuine recognition of immunity of counsel. As an open letter by three legal associations including the International Criminal Bar to the secretary-general of the UN articulated it: "The arrest, by the Rwandan government, of an internationally respected criminal defense lawyer, while acting in that role, subverts orderly reconciliation and undermines the mission of the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda, which has been making fundamental contributions to international peace and justice."
Inevitably, if counsel is at risk of prosecution for proper representation of a client in court, the interests of justice generally and international justice itself are severely, if not fatally, undermined.
In principle, lawyers who undertake the difficult job of representing those accused of the most serious crimes are protected from being identified with the submissions they put forward on behalf of their clients by UN and other conventions; but, in practice, this case has shown that where a country has domestic laws which criminalise deviation from the official line, lawyers are at considerable and unacceptable personal risk.
It is of further concern that Erlinder articulated the statements which form the foundation of the allegations against him outside Rwanda – and yet the Rwandan prosecutor asserts, and the court has accepted, jurisdiction.
Those now acting before the ICTR are understandably concerned about their own positions. Peter Robinson, another defence advocate, was until Friday threatened with contempt of court proceedings before the ICTR, having refused to examine a witness on behalf of his client following Erlinder's arrest. (Although they appeared from transcripts to have been instigated by Judge Byron at the ICTR, last week the judge indicated that no such proceedings had in fact been commenced).
Events had intervened. Firstly, Erlinder, although still subject to proceedings despite the calls from the ICTR itself to terminate proceedings immediately on the basis of his immunity, had been granted bail and returned to the US. Secondly, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (an NGO with consultative status with Ecosoc and Unicef) had, with other organisations, protested at the issue of contempt proceedings in respect of lawyers appearing before the ICTR. And thirdly, it was apparent that the ongoing trials at the ICTR were going to be significantly disrupted by ongoing threats of contempt proceedings against counsel appearing before them.
Where an accused's defence requires that his counsel visits a country to seek further witnesses but he fears being arrested himself as a result of submissions made during proceedings (even if based on evidence and accepted by the tribunal), the balance and fairness of an international court is disrupted.
It is not merely the security and immunity of defence counsel that are at stake: the strength of an international court comes from equality of arms between the parties and a fair hearing by an independent judge. The loss of any one of these is detrimental to the integrity and credibility of all international tribunals and consequently to international justice.
Amanda Pinto QC is the UK's representative on the Council of the International Criminal Bar.
30 June 2010
By Amanda Pinto
Peter Erlinder, the lead defence counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda arrested and detained by the Rwandan authorities, has now been released on bail. But the damage to the integrity of international criminal courts remains a very real problem.
Erlinder was arrested in Rwanda, accused of genocide denial, genocide ideology and of being a threat to national security. He had gone to Kigali to help in the defence of Victoire Ingabire, a Hutu expatriate who had recently returned to Rwanda to stand as an opposition candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections. Ingabire had herself been arrested and charged with offences of association with a terrorist group, propagating genocide ideology, negation of genocide and ethnic divisionism, all domestic crimes in Rwanda.
After an enormous amount of international pressure and the personal intervention of Hillary Clinton, Erlinder was eventually released on "humanitarian" grounds on appeal on 18th June. But the case against him continues.
Despite numerous requests, including from the Registrar of the ICTR asking for the proceedings to be dropped, the prosecution refused, stating that his release "… will not deter the prosecution as we finalise the case against Mr Erlinder. He will soon be called to defend his record of genocide denial that insults the people of Rwanda and inflames those who seek to harm us."
It is worth noting that all defendants in that ICTR trial have been acquitted of charges of conspiracy to commit genocide prior to 1994 when the then Rwandan president Habyarimana, a Hutu, and Burundi's president Ntaryamira were killed when their plane was shot down. Despite this judicial finding, and indeed the signature of Rwanda to the UN convention asserting immunity of counsel, the prosecutor emphasised that proceedings would be vigorously pursued. No charges have yet been brought.
The deluge of international support arose not only for Erlinder's personal fate, but also for the wider issue of genuine recognition of immunity of counsel. As an open letter by three legal associations including the International Criminal Bar to the secretary-general of the UN articulated it: "The arrest, by the Rwandan government, of an internationally respected criminal defense lawyer, while acting in that role, subverts orderly reconciliation and undermines the mission of the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda, which has been making fundamental contributions to international peace and justice."
Inevitably, if counsel is at risk of prosecution for proper representation of a client in court, the interests of justice generally and international justice itself are severely, if not fatally, undermined.
In principle, lawyers who undertake the difficult job of representing those accused of the most serious crimes are protected from being identified with the submissions they put forward on behalf of their clients by UN and other conventions; but, in practice, this case has shown that where a country has domestic laws which criminalise deviation from the official line, lawyers are at considerable and unacceptable personal risk.
It is of further concern that Erlinder articulated the statements which form the foundation of the allegations against him outside Rwanda – and yet the Rwandan prosecutor asserts, and the court has accepted, jurisdiction.
Those now acting before the ICTR are understandably concerned about their own positions. Peter Robinson, another defence advocate, was until Friday threatened with contempt of court proceedings before the ICTR, having refused to examine a witness on behalf of his client following Erlinder's arrest. (Although they appeared from transcripts to have been instigated by Judge Byron at the ICTR, last week the judge indicated that no such proceedings had in fact been commenced).
Events had intervened. Firstly, Erlinder, although still subject to proceedings despite the calls from the ICTR itself to terminate proceedings immediately on the basis of his immunity, had been granted bail and returned to the US. Secondly, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (an NGO with consultative status with Ecosoc and Unicef) had, with other organisations, protested at the issue of contempt proceedings in respect of lawyers appearing before the ICTR. And thirdly, it was apparent that the ongoing trials at the ICTR were going to be significantly disrupted by ongoing threats of contempt proceedings against counsel appearing before them.
Where an accused's defence requires that his counsel visits a country to seek further witnesses but he fears being arrested himself as a result of submissions made during proceedings (even if based on evidence and accepted by the tribunal), the balance and fairness of an international court is disrupted.
It is not merely the security and immunity of defence counsel that are at stake: the strength of an international court comes from equality of arms between the parties and a fair hearing by an independent judge. The loss of any one of these is detrimental to the integrity and credibility of all international tribunals and consequently to international justice.
Amanda Pinto QC is the UK's representative on the Council of the International Criminal Bar.
Election observers claim flaws in Guinean presidential poll.
Reuters
30 June 2010
By Saliou Samb and Daniel Magnowski
Doubts have emerged Tuesday over the credibility of Guinea's presidential election, billed as its first free poll since independence, after leading candidates and a US observer team claimed there where flaws.
It was the first hint of possible wrangling over the outcome of Sunday's first-round poll, which attracted a turnout of 80 percent and won international praise for avoiding violence and raising hopes of an end to military rule in the West African state.
A smooth election is seen as vital to boosting investment in Guinea, the world's top exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite, unlocking aid to combat widespread poverty and easing the threat of ethnic strife that could set alight an unstable region.
"Confusion about several important aspects of voting and counting procedures, delay in allocation of polling stations, and late delivery of essential voting materials negatively affected the quality of polling," the Carter Centre human rights group said in a statement.
The faults had the "potential to undermine the principles of universal and equal suffrage", added the Centre, which had an observation team of more than 30 members alongside European and African observers.
Guinea's National Council of Civil Society Organisations (CNOSC) said its observers saw "attempts at fraud" in some polling stations, citing an attempt at multiple voting in one, and a member of a political party who was expelled from another for trying to spread propaganda.
"These attempts were stopped thanks to the vigilance of observers and the population," spokesperson Taran Diallo said.
Preliminary results are due by Wednesday. Local media have published results from a few individual polling stations but no reliable trend has yet emerged.
30 June 2010
By Saliou Samb and Daniel Magnowski
Doubts have emerged Tuesday over the credibility of Guinea's presidential election, billed as its first free poll since independence, after leading candidates and a US observer team claimed there where flaws.
It was the first hint of possible wrangling over the outcome of Sunday's first-round poll, which attracted a turnout of 80 percent and won international praise for avoiding violence and raising hopes of an end to military rule in the West African state.
A smooth election is seen as vital to boosting investment in Guinea, the world's top exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite, unlocking aid to combat widespread poverty and easing the threat of ethnic strife that could set alight an unstable region.
"Confusion about several important aspects of voting and counting procedures, delay in allocation of polling stations, and late delivery of essential voting materials negatively affected the quality of polling," the Carter Centre human rights group said in a statement.
The faults had the "potential to undermine the principles of universal and equal suffrage", added the Centre, which had an observation team of more than 30 members alongside European and African observers.
Guinea's National Council of Civil Society Organisations (CNOSC) said its observers saw "attempts at fraud" in some polling stations, citing an attempt at multiple voting in one, and a member of a political party who was expelled from another for trying to spread propaganda.
"These attempts were stopped thanks to the vigilance of observers and the population," spokesperson Taran Diallo said.
Preliminary results are due by Wednesday. Local media have published results from a few individual polling stations but no reliable trend has yet emerged.
Independent Ethiopian newspaper reports tampering of its mail.
Committee to Protect Journalists
30 June 2010
Ethiopia’s postal service should a conduct thorough and transparent investigation into the tampering of mail addressed to the country’s leading critical newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Awramba Times Editor-in-Chief Dawit Kebede said the paper has complained to the Ethiopian Postal Service at least three times since June 6 after finding opened and destroyed envelopes in its mailbox inside Teklay Posta Bet, the national postal headquarters in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Amharic-language weekly quoted local postal manager Bezabih Asfaw as saying that the “quality of the paper” of the envelopes may be to blame for the tearing.
The Awramba Times has been harassed for its critical coverage of the government, with the government-controlled media airing programs in December 2009 that lambasted the paper, according to news reports.
“The tampering of Awramba Times’ mail potentially impacts sources and readers,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “Mail tampering is a criminal offense and we call on the Ethiopian Postal Service to take these reports seriously by conducting a thorough investigation and ensuring that all of the newspaper’s mail arrives intact and undisturbed.”
Asfaw told CPJ today that he is “unaware of this problem.” He said he would look into the reports, but said “this did not happen in the post office.” Under Ethiopia’s penal code, “violation of the privacy of correspondence or consignments” is punishable by up to six months in prison, according to CPJ research.
30 June 2010
Ethiopia’s postal service should a conduct thorough and transparent investigation into the tampering of mail addressed to the country’s leading critical newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Awramba Times Editor-in-Chief Dawit Kebede said the paper has complained to the Ethiopian Postal Service at least three times since June 6 after finding opened and destroyed envelopes in its mailbox inside Teklay Posta Bet, the national postal headquarters in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Amharic-language weekly quoted local postal manager Bezabih Asfaw as saying that the “quality of the paper” of the envelopes may be to blame for the tearing.
The Awramba Times has been harassed for its critical coverage of the government, with the government-controlled media airing programs in December 2009 that lambasted the paper, according to news reports.
“The tampering of Awramba Times’ mail potentially impacts sources and readers,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “Mail tampering is a criminal offense and we call on the Ethiopian Postal Service to take these reports seriously by conducting a thorough investigation and ensuring that all of the newspaper’s mail arrives intact and undisturbed.”
Asfaw told CPJ today that he is “unaware of this problem.” He said he would look into the reports, but said “this did not happen in the post office.” Under Ethiopia’s penal code, “violation of the privacy of correspondence or consignments” is punishable by up to six months in prison, according to CPJ research.
Censorship and Murder in Rwanda - Strong Skepticism About Arrests in Rwandan Journalist’s Murder.
Committee to Protect Journalists
30 June 2010
Authorities in Rwanda announced on Monday the arrest of two individuals in the murder of journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage, who was shot late Thursday as he drove through the gate to his home in Kigali, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed skepticism about the arrests and called on authorities to disclose details of their investigation.
“The burden is on the Rwandan government to conduct a thorough, transparent investigation and to produce credible results,” CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita said. “We call on Rwandan authorities to heed the words of President Kagame who pledged during his monthly press briefing on Monday that the government would ‘get to the bottom’ of this matter.”
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Rwandan Internal Security Minister Moussa Fazil Harelimana said one of the suspects “has admitted guilt," Agence France-Presse reported. "He told the police he committed the act to take revenge against this journalist, who killed his brother in the 1994 Tutsi genocide," according to the same source.
Authorities have not disclosed the identities of the two suspects. In 2007, a traditional “gacaca” court had cleared Rugambage of any involvement in the genocide, according to local journalists.
Rugambage has been the target of official persecution over several years because of his critical coverage of the government, CPJ research shows. While working as a reporter for the now-defunct independent tabloid Umuco, Rugambage was imprisoned for 11 months in 2005-06 over a story alleging mismanagement and witness tampering in Rwanda's traditional courts.
At the time of his murder, Rugambage was acting editor of Umuvugizi, a leading independent news outlet and one of the very few critical voices in Rwanda. In April, the government banned the weekly newspaper from publication during the run-up to the August presidential election. After the newspaper moved online this spring, domestic access to its Web site was blocked.
Shortly before his murder, CPJ research shows, Rugambage had written a story accusing Rwandan intelligence officers of involvement in the failed assassination of a former general in South Africa. Rugambage had reported to friends and colleagues that he was being followed and had received phone threats, local journalists told CPJ.
Rwandan authorities have moved quickly and assertively to deny any government involvement in Rugambage’s murder. Police issued a statement on Sunday condemning “fictional accounts” that suggested government agents could have been involved, the pro-government daily New Times reported. On Saturday, government spokeswoman Louise Mushikiwabo called suggestions of government involvement “outrageous,” New Times said.
30 June 2010
Authorities in Rwanda announced on Monday the arrest of two individuals in the murder of journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage, who was shot late Thursday as he drove through the gate to his home in Kigali, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed skepticism about the arrests and called on authorities to disclose details of their investigation.
“The burden is on the Rwandan government to conduct a thorough, transparent investigation and to produce credible results,” CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita said. “We call on Rwandan authorities to heed the words of President Kagame who pledged during his monthly press briefing on Monday that the government would ‘get to the bottom’ of this matter.”
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Rwandan Internal Security Minister Moussa Fazil Harelimana said one of the suspects “has admitted guilt," Agence France-Presse reported. "He told the police he committed the act to take revenge against this journalist, who killed his brother in the 1994 Tutsi genocide," according to the same source.
Authorities have not disclosed the identities of the two suspects. In 2007, a traditional “gacaca” court had cleared Rugambage of any involvement in the genocide, according to local journalists.
Rugambage has been the target of official persecution over several years because of his critical coverage of the government, CPJ research shows. While working as a reporter for the now-defunct independent tabloid Umuco, Rugambage was imprisoned for 11 months in 2005-06 over a story alleging mismanagement and witness tampering in Rwanda's traditional courts.
At the time of his murder, Rugambage was acting editor of Umuvugizi, a leading independent news outlet and one of the very few critical voices in Rwanda. In April, the government banned the weekly newspaper from publication during the run-up to the August presidential election. After the newspaper moved online this spring, domestic access to its Web site was blocked.
Shortly before his murder, CPJ research shows, Rugambage had written a story accusing Rwandan intelligence officers of involvement in the failed assassination of a former general in South Africa. Rugambage had reported to friends and colleagues that he was being followed and had received phone threats, local journalists told CPJ.
Rwandan authorities have moved quickly and assertively to deny any government involvement in Rugambage’s murder. Police issued a statement on Sunday condemning “fictional accounts” that suggested government agents could have been involved, the pro-government daily New Times reported. On Saturday, government spokeswoman Louise Mushikiwabo called suggestions of government involvement “outrageous,” New Times said.
Burundi opposition party leader Rwasa admits he fled the country.
BBC News
30 June 2010
Burundi's main opposition leader and former rebel leader Agathon Rwasa has confirmed that he has gone into hiding.
In a taped message sent to a local radio station, Mr Rwasa said he had fled because he feared for his safety.
He went missing a week ago, ahead of presidential elections which took place on Monday with incumbent Pierre Nkurunziza as the only candidate.
The election was the second major vote since the end of the country's brutal 12-year ethnic-based civil war.
Diplomats have warned that the country is still in danger of slipping back into conflict.
Continue reading the main story
They're looking for me because I told the truth, because I said publicly that I don't accept the results of the local elections,
FNL leader Agathon Rwasa
Correspondents say turnout was low in Monday's poll compared to local elections last month.
Five opposition parties claimed those polls were rigged and pulled out of the presidential ballot.
Mr Rwasa, who signed a peace deal last year to lay down his arms, did not say where he was, although he is reported to be in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
When he first went missing, his party said he was "on holiday".
"They're looking for me because I told the truth, because I said publicly that I don't accept the results of the local elections," AFP news agency quotes Mr Rwasa saying in the radio broadcast.
"[Last] Wednesday they wanted to arrest me again. I got wind of it and I disappeared from circulation," he said.
30 June 2010
Burundi's main opposition leader and former rebel leader Agathon Rwasa has confirmed that he has gone into hiding.
In a taped message sent to a local radio station, Mr Rwasa said he had fled because he feared for his safety.
He went missing a week ago, ahead of presidential elections which took place on Monday with incumbent Pierre Nkurunziza as the only candidate.
The election was the second major vote since the end of the country's brutal 12-year ethnic-based civil war.
Diplomats have warned that the country is still in danger of slipping back into conflict.
Continue reading the main story
They're looking for me because I told the truth, because I said publicly that I don't accept the results of the local elections,
FNL leader Agathon Rwasa
Correspondents say turnout was low in Monday's poll compared to local elections last month.
Five opposition parties claimed those polls were rigged and pulled out of the presidential ballot.
Mr Rwasa, who signed a peace deal last year to lay down his arms, did not say where he was, although he is reported to be in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
When he first went missing, his party said he was "on holiday".
"They're looking for me because I told the truth, because I said publicly that I don't accept the results of the local elections," AFP news agency quotes Mr Rwasa saying in the radio broadcast.
"[Last] Wednesday they wanted to arrest me again. I got wind of it and I disappeared from circulation," he said.
Kenya PM recovering well after skull operation, says doctor.
AP
30 June 2010
Kenyan premier Raila Odinga is responding well to treatment after a head operation, but needs four days in hospital and home rest before resuming his duties, a doctor said on Wednesday.
"The PM had a good night last night, woke up this morning brighter ... everything has been removed and he is not in any pain," neurosurgeon Oluoch Olunya said.
"We have taken off all the drips and all his medication now will be oral; he has had the opportunity to do exercises this morning and as far as we are concerned he is moving according to plan," the physician added.
He said the prime minister was suffering from a chronic subdural haematoma, which he said was a blood clot on the surface of the brain.
Olunya said Odinga will spend the next four days in Nairobi Hospital and will require further home rest after being discharged.
Odinga (65) checked himself into Nairobi hospital on Monday evening complaining of exhaustion and headaches.
30 June 2010
Kenyan premier Raila Odinga is responding well to treatment after a head operation, but needs four days in hospital and home rest before resuming his duties, a doctor said on Wednesday.
"The PM had a good night last night, woke up this morning brighter ... everything has been removed and he is not in any pain," neurosurgeon Oluoch Olunya said.
"We have taken off all the drips and all his medication now will be oral; he has had the opportunity to do exercises this morning and as far as we are concerned he is moving according to plan," the physician added.
He said the prime minister was suffering from a chronic subdural haematoma, which he said was a blood clot on the surface of the brain.
Olunya said Odinga will spend the next four days in Nairobi Hospital and will require further home rest after being discharged.
Odinga (65) checked himself into Nairobi hospital on Monday evening complaining of exhaustion and headaches.
UN working for release of Pak-bound ship.
Daily Times
30 June 2010
Efforts are underway for the release of a United Nations-contracted cargo ship, which was detained by India last week as it sailed towards Pakistan with decommissioned weaponry from a UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia, a UN official said on Monday. The MV Aegean Glory, a 500-foot-long Panama-registered ship, was seized by the Indian customs authorities, claiming suspicion of “military cargo” on Friday, 50 kilometers south of Kolkata. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) “is working closely with Indian authorities to ensure the release of the cargo and to review the procedures that caused the confusion”, the official said. “All cargo on board has UN markings and is being shipped under the authority of the United Nations,” he added.
30 June 2010
Efforts are underway for the release of a United Nations-contracted cargo ship, which was detained by India last week as it sailed towards Pakistan with decommissioned weaponry from a UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia, a UN official said on Monday. The MV Aegean Glory, a 500-foot-long Panama-registered ship, was seized by the Indian customs authorities, claiming suspicion of “military cargo” on Friday, 50 kilometers south of Kolkata. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) “is working closely with Indian authorities to ensure the release of the cargo and to review the procedures that caused the confusion”, the official said. “All cargo on board has UN markings and is being shipped under the authority of the United Nations,” he added.
Peter Erlinder to Speak in Chicago.
The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, in conjunction with the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and Loyola University, will host a Special Briefing with Professor Peter Erlinder and his Kenyan attorneys, Mr. Gershom Otachi Bw’Omanwa and Mr. Kennedy Ogeto.
The Special Briefing, which is open to the press, will be held on Thursday, July 1, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. (Central Standard Time) at Loyola University, Water Tower Campus in Kasbeer Hall (15th Floor) of the Corboy Law Center (CLC) located at 25 E. Pearson in Chicago, Illinois.
The Special Briefing is free and is also open to the public. To RSVP, e-mail info@hrrfoundation.org or call us at +1-312-498-9279.
For those who cannot make, the event will be live webcast here: http://hrrfoundation.org/livestream/
The Special Briefing, which is open to the press, will be held on Thursday, July 1, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. (Central Standard Time) at Loyola University, Water Tower Campus in Kasbeer Hall (15th Floor) of the Corboy Law Center (CLC) located at 25 E. Pearson in Chicago, Illinois.
The Special Briefing is free and is also open to the public. To RSVP, e-mail info@hrrfoundation.org or call us at +1-312-498-9279.
For those who cannot make, the event will be live webcast here: http://hrrfoundation.org/livestream/
Sudanese minister and French Total discuss oil exploration in Jonglei.
Sudan Tribune
30 June 2010
Sudan’s Oil minister discussed with an official from Total SA (TOT) the exploration of block (B) in Jonglei state and difficulties encountering the French company which did not yet resume its activities there since the singing of the 2005 peace agreement.
The newly appointed minister Lual Deng, on Tuesday met with the manager of Total Sudan, Serge Montesquieu, to discuss the plans of the oil company in Block B, the official SUNA reported today.
The meeting attended by the state minister Ali Ahmed Osman, listened to the programs and plans of the oil company and the obstacles that hinder the workflow.
The Minister promised to solve these problems with the competent organs of the national and southern Sudan governments. He also directed the concerned bodies in the ministry to intensify efforts to remove all the technical obstacles that delay the progress of Total activities.
Total, which set foot in Sudan in 1980, had a legal row with UK White Nile Ltd (WNL.LN) as the later claimed rights on a large part of the block in 2005. But the Sudanese government confirmed the French firm in 2008.
The withdrawal of the third partner in the consortium, Marathon Oil Corp.’s (MRO), pushed the French operator to seek a new partner: Abu Dhabi-owned fund Mubadala Development Co. But the Southern Sudan government did not accede to the request of Total oil company.
Unconfirmed reports also say that Juba proposed another partner that Total declined to work with.
"The parties agreed to attract investors from some firms that had partnership with Total," SUNA reported.
Total has operating rights for the block with a 32.5 percent stake, Kuwaiti Kufpec Sudan Ltd 27.5 percent. The state-owned Sudapet maintains its 10 percent, the southern Sudan government owned Nilepet 10%. The remaining 20% should be offered in a public bid.
Total shot 1,600 kilometers of seismic survey but had to leave the country in 1985 because of the outbreak of violence between the north and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army of the south.
30 June 2010
Sudan’s Oil minister discussed with an official from Total SA (TOT) the exploration of block (B) in Jonglei state and difficulties encountering the French company which did not yet resume its activities there since the singing of the 2005 peace agreement.
The newly appointed minister Lual Deng, on Tuesday met with the manager of Total Sudan, Serge Montesquieu, to discuss the plans of the oil company in Block B, the official SUNA reported today.
The meeting attended by the state minister Ali Ahmed Osman, listened to the programs and plans of the oil company and the obstacles that hinder the workflow.
The Minister promised to solve these problems with the competent organs of the national and southern Sudan governments. He also directed the concerned bodies in the ministry to intensify efforts to remove all the technical obstacles that delay the progress of Total activities.
Total, which set foot in Sudan in 1980, had a legal row with UK White Nile Ltd (WNL.LN) as the later claimed rights on a large part of the block in 2005. But the Sudanese government confirmed the French firm in 2008.
The withdrawal of the third partner in the consortium, Marathon Oil Corp.’s (MRO), pushed the French operator to seek a new partner: Abu Dhabi-owned fund Mubadala Development Co. But the Southern Sudan government did not accede to the request of Total oil company.
Unconfirmed reports also say that Juba proposed another partner that Total declined to work with.
"The parties agreed to attract investors from some firms that had partnership with Total," SUNA reported.
Total has operating rights for the block with a 32.5 percent stake, Kuwaiti Kufpec Sudan Ltd 27.5 percent. The state-owned Sudapet maintains its 10 percent, the southern Sudan government owned Nilepet 10%. The remaining 20% should be offered in a public bid.
Total shot 1,600 kilometers of seismic survey but had to leave the country in 1985 because of the outbreak of violence between the north and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army of the south.
Ethiopia, China vow to build closer military links.
Sudan Tribune
30 June 2010
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
Ethiopia and China on Monday pledged to set up closer military ties between the two nation’s armed forces.
Senior Chinese and Ethiopian military officials on Monday met in Beijing where the two sides conferred on bolstering joint military cooperation based on their long standing ties.
"The Chinese armed forces attaches great importance to relations with the Ethiopian armed forces," said Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, while meeting with Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ethiopia, Samora Yenus.
Chen hailed the long friendship between the two armed forces, saying the PLA hopes to work with the Ethiopian armed forces to further cement the traditional friendship and expand pragmatic cooperation.
Ethiopia defense forces chief Samora Yenus on his side said that his country is dedicated to building sustainable and solid bilateral relations with China based on friendly cooperation.
"Ethiopia is satisfied with the friendly cooperative relationship between the two armed forces," he said adding "The Ethiopian armed forces hope to foster closer links with the PLA in the new century to benefit both armed forces".
Mean while, Ethiopia Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum Mesfin is on a 4-day official visit in China.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during his stay in china, Seyoum would confer with Chinese officials on various issues of common concern.
He is also expected to discuss with officials of Chinese financial and trade institutions on ways of enhancing cooperation.
30 June 2010
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
Ethiopia and China on Monday pledged to set up closer military ties between the two nation’s armed forces.
Senior Chinese and Ethiopian military officials on Monday met in Beijing where the two sides conferred on bolstering joint military cooperation based on their long standing ties.
"The Chinese armed forces attaches great importance to relations with the Ethiopian armed forces," said Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, while meeting with Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ethiopia, Samora Yenus.
Chen hailed the long friendship between the two armed forces, saying the PLA hopes to work with the Ethiopian armed forces to further cement the traditional friendship and expand pragmatic cooperation.
Ethiopia defense forces chief Samora Yenus on his side said that his country is dedicated to building sustainable and solid bilateral relations with China based on friendly cooperation.
"Ethiopia is satisfied with the friendly cooperative relationship between the two armed forces," he said adding "The Ethiopian armed forces hope to foster closer links with the PLA in the new century to benefit both armed forces".
Mean while, Ethiopia Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum Mesfin is on a 4-day official visit in China.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during his stay in china, Seyoum would confer with Chinese officials on various issues of common concern.
He is also expected to discuss with officials of Chinese financial and trade institutions on ways of enhancing cooperation.
Ugandan Government to take 80% of oil profits.
The New Vision
29 June 2010
By Joyce Namutebi and Catherine Bekunda
The Ugandan Government will take up to 80% of the oil revenue if the production levels are high, according to details of the petroleum production sharing agreements released to Parliament yesterday.
After almost two years of persistent demands by the legislators, energy and mineral development minster Hillary Onek finally tabled the agreements, but kept the details confidential.
On average, Onek said the country will take 70% of the proceeds. The contracts, called the Production Sharing Agreements, have been signed with various companies.
Onek stressed that the agreements compare well with those of oil and gas producing countries, which normally have good agreements due to reduced geological risks.
“The total take for the country is on average 70% and yet these agreements were negotiated at a time when Uganda was not among countries known to have oil resources,” he said.
Platform, a UK company, last year reviewed confidential oil contracts and audit reports for British companies Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil’s operations in Uganda and raised serious concerns about how oil will be extracted.
Platform, in a report, said the deals guaranteed huge profits for the companies, while placing risks and responsibilities on the Government. It said there was lack of transparency over bonus payments to the Government and complete absence of penalties for environmental damage caused by the companies.
Explaining the matter yesterday, Onek said the Government had signed agreements with seven companies: Fina Exploration, Heritage, Hardman Resources, Heritage Oil and Gas and Energy, Neptune Petroleum and Dominion Uganda.
He said the terms and conditions of the agreements have improved over time in favour of the Government. “Compared with the earlier agreements (1997 and 2001) terms in later agreements (2004 to 2007 have notable improvements.”
He cited the introduction of signature and production bonuses. The bonus system is common in oil-producing countries, that is, a payment made upfront to the host country for the right to develop a block before work begins.
Onek also said there would be a rise in trainee fee to $150,000 from $50,000 during exploration and to $300,000 from $150,000 during production.
He explained that the state participation had also gone up to 20%. Onek, however, only read part of his statement after deputy speaker Rebecca Kadaga advised him not to give details of the agreements.
Onek called for protection of the rights of the parties and confidentiality, citing intellectual property and heavy risk capital investment.
After his address, the MPs were not allowed to debate the issue, prompting them to wonder why Onek made the statement in the first place. They also questioned why he said the documents were not public yet he had laid them on the table. They wondered how they, as the representatives of the people, would keep quiet about the matter.
Kadaga sent the agreements to the committee on natural resources and promised to issue guidelines on how to proceed today.
29 June 2010
By Joyce Namutebi and Catherine Bekunda
The Ugandan Government will take up to 80% of the oil revenue if the production levels are high, according to details of the petroleum production sharing agreements released to Parliament yesterday.
After almost two years of persistent demands by the legislators, energy and mineral development minster Hillary Onek finally tabled the agreements, but kept the details confidential.
On average, Onek said the country will take 70% of the proceeds. The contracts, called the Production Sharing Agreements, have been signed with various companies.
Onek stressed that the agreements compare well with those of oil and gas producing countries, which normally have good agreements due to reduced geological risks.
“The total take for the country is on average 70% and yet these agreements were negotiated at a time when Uganda was not among countries known to have oil resources,” he said.
Platform, a UK company, last year reviewed confidential oil contracts and audit reports for British companies Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil’s operations in Uganda and raised serious concerns about how oil will be extracted.
Platform, in a report, said the deals guaranteed huge profits for the companies, while placing risks and responsibilities on the Government. It said there was lack of transparency over bonus payments to the Government and complete absence of penalties for environmental damage caused by the companies.
Explaining the matter yesterday, Onek said the Government had signed agreements with seven companies: Fina Exploration, Heritage, Hardman Resources, Heritage Oil and Gas and Energy, Neptune Petroleum and Dominion Uganda.
He said the terms and conditions of the agreements have improved over time in favour of the Government. “Compared with the earlier agreements (1997 and 2001) terms in later agreements (2004 to 2007 have notable improvements.”
He cited the introduction of signature and production bonuses. The bonus system is common in oil-producing countries, that is, a payment made upfront to the host country for the right to develop a block before work begins.
Onek also said there would be a rise in trainee fee to $150,000 from $50,000 during exploration and to $300,000 from $150,000 during production.
He explained that the state participation had also gone up to 20%. Onek, however, only read part of his statement after deputy speaker Rebecca Kadaga advised him not to give details of the agreements.
Onek called for protection of the rights of the parties and confidentiality, citing intellectual property and heavy risk capital investment.
After his address, the MPs were not allowed to debate the issue, prompting them to wonder why Onek made the statement in the first place. They also questioned why he said the documents were not public yet he had laid them on the table. They wondered how they, as the representatives of the people, would keep quiet about the matter.
Kadaga sent the agreements to the committee on natural resources and promised to issue guidelines on how to proceed today.
Iraq approves gas deal with Shell.
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
AP News
June 29, 2010
Iraq has approved a $17 billion joint venture project with Royal Dutch Shell PLC to tap associated natural gas in four southern oil fields, the government announced Tuesday in its latest push to develop an oil sector battered by years of neglect and war.
The deal is expected to be a key part of the government's strategy to alleviate its power generation woes as chronic power outages have led to sometimes violent protests over the past few weeks.
Under the deal, Iraq will hold a 51 percent stake in the new Basra Gas Company while Shell will hold a 44 percent share. Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. will hold the remaining five percent stake in the company, according to a government statement. It did not say when the final signing will be.
Iraq, which is home to the world's third largest proven reserves of conventional crude oil, sits on an estimated 112 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. Of the 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas it produces, almost half is burned off at the wells.
The deal, which is Shell's third in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, was designed to tap all the associated gas in Iraq's oil rich southern province of Basra. It was later amended, however, to include the four oil fields that were among the 11 fields awarded to foreign oil companies in two bidding rounds last year.
Thamir al-Ghadhban, the Iraqi prime minister's chief adviser on energy, said the latest deal is worth about $17 billion, including $5 billion of existing infrastructure assets.
The project also marks a major step in Iraq's effort to capture and put to use for generating electricity the natural gas that has routinely been burned off — or flared — at the fields because the country lacks the necessary infrastructure to bring the gas to market.
Officials see the capture of the gas as an important step in dealing with chronic power cuts that have recently led to protests, including one that left two dead in Basra and forced the electricity minister to resign.
Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the government has spent billions working to rebuild Iraq's national electrical grid, which was in poor shape because of various wars over the past decades. Most Iraqis only receive between five to seven hours of power a day.
Last May, with an eye on boosting gas output, Iraq invited international energy companies to bid to develop three untapped gas fields in an auction set for Sept. 1.
Once these fields are brought online, the production will be used to meet Iraq's growing energy needs as well as possibly exporting to neighboring countries or the European Union.
Iraq's latest five-year plan, approved in April, forecasts crude oil output growing to 4.5 million barrels per day by 2014, from the current 2.4 million barrels per day. Oil exports are forecast to grow to 3.1 million by the same year, compared to roughly 2 million barrels per day now.
It also plans to produce 2.75 billion cubic feet a day of gas by 2014, with the increase coming mainly from the fields to be auctioned.
AP News
June 29, 2010
Iraq has approved a $17 billion joint venture project with Royal Dutch Shell PLC to tap associated natural gas in four southern oil fields, the government announced Tuesday in its latest push to develop an oil sector battered by years of neglect and war.
The deal is expected to be a key part of the government's strategy to alleviate its power generation woes as chronic power outages have led to sometimes violent protests over the past few weeks.
Under the deal, Iraq will hold a 51 percent stake in the new Basra Gas Company while Shell will hold a 44 percent share. Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. will hold the remaining five percent stake in the company, according to a government statement. It did not say when the final signing will be.
Iraq, which is home to the world's third largest proven reserves of conventional crude oil, sits on an estimated 112 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. Of the 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas it produces, almost half is burned off at the wells.
The deal, which is Shell's third in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, was designed to tap all the associated gas in Iraq's oil rich southern province of Basra. It was later amended, however, to include the four oil fields that were among the 11 fields awarded to foreign oil companies in two bidding rounds last year.
Thamir al-Ghadhban, the Iraqi prime minister's chief adviser on energy, said the latest deal is worth about $17 billion, including $5 billion of existing infrastructure assets.
The project also marks a major step in Iraq's effort to capture and put to use for generating electricity the natural gas that has routinely been burned off — or flared — at the fields because the country lacks the necessary infrastructure to bring the gas to market.
Officials see the capture of the gas as an important step in dealing with chronic power cuts that have recently led to protests, including one that left two dead in Basra and forced the electricity minister to resign.
Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the government has spent billions working to rebuild Iraq's national electrical grid, which was in poor shape because of various wars over the past decades. Most Iraqis only receive between five to seven hours of power a day.
Last May, with an eye on boosting gas output, Iraq invited international energy companies to bid to develop three untapped gas fields in an auction set for Sept. 1.
Once these fields are brought online, the production will be used to meet Iraq's growing energy needs as well as possibly exporting to neighboring countries or the European Union.
Iraq's latest five-year plan, approved in April, forecasts crude oil output growing to 4.5 million barrels per day by 2014, from the current 2.4 million barrels per day. Oil exports are forecast to grow to 3.1 million by the same year, compared to roughly 2 million barrels per day now.
It also plans to produce 2.75 billion cubic feet a day of gas by 2014, with the increase coming mainly from the fields to be auctioned.
Rwanda's Hutu live in fear of attacks, assassination, arbitrary imprisonment, and repression.
AP
29 June 2010
By Godfrey Olukya And Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writers
The Rwandan refugee was walking home one night when four men jumped him and put him in a stranglehold. He lay still, pretending to be dead as one attacker made a phone call and announced the hit had been carried out.
With his assailants just yards away, Mani Uwimana jumped up and fled, startling the attackers and becoming a survivor of what appears to be an assassination campaign targeting Rwandan dissidents at home and abroad.
International rights groups have condemned Rwanda in recent weeks for clamping down on dissent, curbing freedoms and silencing opponents in advance of the country's August presidential election.
Among the apparent victims was a former senior Rwandan military commander who had a falling out with President Paul Kagame. Lt. Gen. Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa was shot in the stomach outside his home in South Africa, and his wife blamed Kagame — an accusation the president denied. Nyamwasa survived the June 19 shooting.
A human rights report released this week said Rwanda's Tutsi-led government is oppressing Hutus in neighboring Uganda and the ethnic divisions that sparked Rwanda's 1994 genocide have re-emerged. At least 500,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the Hutu-led slaughter — violence that ended when a Tutsi-dominated militia headed by Kagame entered the country, causing droves of Hutus to flee.
Rwanda's government has denied involvement in the recent attacks. Kagame, who is running for a second seven-year term, bristled at a news conference Monday over the allegations of repression and said the country is not experiencing any ethnic tension.
Uwimana, a Hutu who fled Rwanda two years ago, says he caught the attention of Rwandan authorities after criticizing them over human rights abuses.
On May 15, the 27-year-old said he was walking home from the roadside kiosk he operates selling soap and other toiletries outside Uganda's capital, when he was jumped by four men who wrestled him to the ground.
"They squeezed my neck attempting to strangle me. I pretended that I was dead," he said. "They moved a short distance from me and one of them made a phone call."
Speaking in Rwanda's Kinyarwanda language, the attacker reported that Uwimana was dead, and "they should send a vehicle to take away my dead body."
That's when Uwimana jumped up and ran for his life.
Other Hutu Rwandan refugees in Uganda say they live in fear of Kagame's Tutsi-led government.
"Our lives are in danger," said Hope Semukanya, one of some 18,000 Rwandans who live in Uganda. "We fear that we can be killed anytime by Rwandan spies."
Police in Uganda told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the editor of an opposition Rwandan newspaper escaped an attack last week on the outskirts of the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
Uganda police spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba said police officers rescued Jean-Bosco Gasasira, who is now reportedly in hiding.
Six men confronted Gasasira, editor of the opposition Umuvugizi newspaper, on June 22, according to Timothy Mugabi, a friend of the victim. Gasasira ran to his house and called police, Mugabi said.
Rwanda's ambassador to Uganda, Maj. Gen. Frank Mugambage, said it is "nonsense" to believe Rwandan authorities were behind the assault.
Two days after the attack on Gasasira, the deputy editor of Umuvugizi, Jean-Leonard Rugambage, was shot dead in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.
Kagame said Monday he has ordered Rwanda's police, intelligence agents and army to find the journalist's killers. "We will not rest until we get to the bottom of this and make it clear to everyone," he said.
Though Kagame faces little real opposition in the August election, Carina Tertsakian, a researcher at Human Rights Watch who specializes in Rwanda, said she believes it is possible the government was behind Rugambage's slaying.
In a report released Monday, the International Refugee Rights Initiative and the Refugee Law Project said Rwanda is using the legacy of the genocide to repress Hutus. Refugees in Uganda are afraid to return home and some reported that Rwandan authorities were torturing, imprisoning and even killing Hutus, the report said.
"This situation threatens to shatter Rwanda's outward peace and prosperity as the cycles of violence" based on ethnicity continue, it said.
Mugambage, the ambassador, dismissed the report as "hopeless and fabricated." He said the research is not credible and is based on only a few interviews. The reports' authors say they interviewed 102 refugees.
___
Straziuso reported from Nairobi, Kenya. Associated Press reporter Edmund Kagire contributed from Kigali, Rwanda.
29 June 2010
By Godfrey Olukya And Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writers
The Rwandan refugee was walking home one night when four men jumped him and put him in a stranglehold. He lay still, pretending to be dead as one attacker made a phone call and announced the hit had been carried out.
With his assailants just yards away, Mani Uwimana jumped up and fled, startling the attackers and becoming a survivor of what appears to be an assassination campaign targeting Rwandan dissidents at home and abroad.
International rights groups have condemned Rwanda in recent weeks for clamping down on dissent, curbing freedoms and silencing opponents in advance of the country's August presidential election.
Among the apparent victims was a former senior Rwandan military commander who had a falling out with President Paul Kagame. Lt. Gen. Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa was shot in the stomach outside his home in South Africa, and his wife blamed Kagame — an accusation the president denied. Nyamwasa survived the June 19 shooting.
A human rights report released this week said Rwanda's Tutsi-led government is oppressing Hutus in neighboring Uganda and the ethnic divisions that sparked Rwanda's 1994 genocide have re-emerged. At least 500,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the Hutu-led slaughter — violence that ended when a Tutsi-dominated militia headed by Kagame entered the country, causing droves of Hutus to flee.
Rwanda's government has denied involvement in the recent attacks. Kagame, who is running for a second seven-year term, bristled at a news conference Monday over the allegations of repression and said the country is not experiencing any ethnic tension.
Uwimana, a Hutu who fled Rwanda two years ago, says he caught the attention of Rwandan authorities after criticizing them over human rights abuses.
On May 15, the 27-year-old said he was walking home from the roadside kiosk he operates selling soap and other toiletries outside Uganda's capital, when he was jumped by four men who wrestled him to the ground.
"They squeezed my neck attempting to strangle me. I pretended that I was dead," he said. "They moved a short distance from me and one of them made a phone call."
Speaking in Rwanda's Kinyarwanda language, the attacker reported that Uwimana was dead, and "they should send a vehicle to take away my dead body."
That's when Uwimana jumped up and ran for his life.
Other Hutu Rwandan refugees in Uganda say they live in fear of Kagame's Tutsi-led government.
"Our lives are in danger," said Hope Semukanya, one of some 18,000 Rwandans who live in Uganda. "We fear that we can be killed anytime by Rwandan spies."
Police in Uganda told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the editor of an opposition Rwandan newspaper escaped an attack last week on the outskirts of the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
Uganda police spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba said police officers rescued Jean-Bosco Gasasira, who is now reportedly in hiding.
Six men confronted Gasasira, editor of the opposition Umuvugizi newspaper, on June 22, according to Timothy Mugabi, a friend of the victim. Gasasira ran to his house and called police, Mugabi said.
Rwanda's ambassador to Uganda, Maj. Gen. Frank Mugambage, said it is "nonsense" to believe Rwandan authorities were behind the assault.
Two days after the attack on Gasasira, the deputy editor of Umuvugizi, Jean-Leonard Rugambage, was shot dead in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.
Kagame said Monday he has ordered Rwanda's police, intelligence agents and army to find the journalist's killers. "We will not rest until we get to the bottom of this and make it clear to everyone," he said.
Though Kagame faces little real opposition in the August election, Carina Tertsakian, a researcher at Human Rights Watch who specializes in Rwanda, said she believes it is possible the government was behind Rugambage's slaying.
In a report released Monday, the International Refugee Rights Initiative and the Refugee Law Project said Rwanda is using the legacy of the genocide to repress Hutus. Refugees in Uganda are afraid to return home and some reported that Rwandan authorities were torturing, imprisoning and even killing Hutus, the report said.
"This situation threatens to shatter Rwanda's outward peace and prosperity as the cycles of violence" based on ethnicity continue, it said.
Mugambage, the ambassador, dismissed the report as "hopeless and fabricated." He said the research is not credible and is based on only a few interviews. The reports' authors say they interviewed 102 refugees.
___
Straziuso reported from Nairobi, Kenya. Associated Press reporter Edmund Kagire contributed from Kigali, Rwanda.
29 June, 2010
Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga 'has brain surgery'.
BBC News
29 June 2010
Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga has had brain surgery, doctors say, after initial reports he had been hospitalised for exhaustion.
Neurosurgeon Oluoch Olunya, who carried out the operation, said he was recuperating.
The prime minister's spokesman had earlier said Mr Odinga, 65, was fit to work but had been advised to rest.
The BBC's Peter Greste in Nairobi says Mr Odinga has been one of Kenya's most energetic politicians.
In recent months, he has been campaigning particularly hard to win support for a new constitution, with no questions about his physical fitness.
So our correspondent says Tuesday's statement from his press spokesman came as something of a surprise.
He went to the Nairobi Hospital on Monday after a political rally.
Mr Olunya said some fluid had been removed from the prime minister's brain.
He said it might have been caused by him hitting his head while in a car some time ago.
Shaky coalition
Until now, most of the questions about the health of Kenya's political leaders have been directed at President Mwai Kibaki, our correspondent says.
He disappeared from public view shortly after he was first elected in 2002, and rumours persisted that he had suffered a stroke.
His staff, however, consistently denied he had suffered anything beyond minor health issues.
29 June 2010
Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga has had brain surgery, doctors say, after initial reports he had been hospitalised for exhaustion.
Neurosurgeon Oluoch Olunya, who carried out the operation, said he was recuperating.
The prime minister's spokesman had earlier said Mr Odinga, 65, was fit to work but had been advised to rest.
The BBC's Peter Greste in Nairobi says Mr Odinga has been one of Kenya's most energetic politicians.
In recent months, he has been campaigning particularly hard to win support for a new constitution, with no questions about his physical fitness.
So our correspondent says Tuesday's statement from his press spokesman came as something of a surprise.
He went to the Nairobi Hospital on Monday after a political rally.
Mr Olunya said some fluid had been removed from the prime minister's brain.
He said it might have been caused by him hitting his head while in a car some time ago.
Shaky coalition
Until now, most of the questions about the health of Kenya's political leaders have been directed at President Mwai Kibaki, our correspondent says.
He disappeared from public view shortly after he was first elected in 2002, and rumours persisted that he had suffered a stroke.
His staff, however, consistently denied he had suffered anything beyond minor health issues.
Shooting of Rwandan general: Case postponed.
SAPA
29 June 2010
The four men arrested for the attempted murder of a former Rwandan general had their case postponed by the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
Juma Huseni, Ahmed Ali, George Francis and Shafiri Bakari briefly appeared in court where it was also established that they had previous convictions related to possession of stolen goods.
Their status in South Africa was questioned during their appearance.
The men who were allegedly behind the shooting of Lieutenant-General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, who is exiled in South Africa, had their case postponed to allow verification of their status in the country.
They would remain in custody until their next appearance on July 14.
29 June 2010
The four men arrested for the attempted murder of a former Rwandan general had their case postponed by the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
Juma Huseni, Ahmed Ali, George Francis and Shafiri Bakari briefly appeared in court where it was also established that they had previous convictions related to possession of stolen goods.
Their status in South Africa was questioned during their appearance.
The men who were allegedly behind the shooting of Lieutenant-General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, who is exiled in South Africa, had their case postponed to allow verification of their status in the country.
They would remain in custody until their next appearance on July 14.
Israeli indicted in U.S. for smuggling arms to Somalia.
Haaretz
29 June 2010
Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry sources adamantly denied yesterday that they were in any way involved in arms shipments to Somalia.
Spokesmen for both ministries were responding to news of the arrest in the U.S. of Hanoch Miller, an Israeli arms merchant, for allegedly illegal arms sales to Somalia, forging documents, money laundering and violating the UN arms embargo on Somalia.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said there is a ban on arms sales to Somalia and Miller did not have permission to sell arms there, and even if he had asked in Israel he would not have received such permission.
According to the charges brought against Miller at a Florida district court, he was arrested with an unnamed American partner for alleged involvement in the sale of hundreds of AK-47s to the government of Somaliland, a breakaway district in Somalia since 1991. Miller and his American partner allegedly organized arms shipments, which apparently included arms bought in Bosnia, and had planned to fly them from there in cargo planes to Somalia. The indictment also mentions a shipment that was sent from Panama.
The suspect allegedly presented "end user" documents of the defense ministry of Chad. Arms shipments to that African country are not forbidden.
The two were arrested in a sting operation of the U.S. Customs, when one of their contact persons, whose help they sought in organizing the air shipments, turned out to be an undercover Customs agent.
Miller, 53, is an aerospace engineer who served in the Israel Air Force in a unit that designed aircraft. He left the military with the rank of major and worked for a short while in the Israel Aircraft Industries. With two partners he set up Radom Aviation Systems, a company that dealt with the upgrading of aircraft, mostly in the installation of avionics. The company functioned in line with licenses issued by the Defense Ministry, and at times served as a subcontractor for IAI.
One of the last deals of Radom in which Miller was involved was with Chad. The company upgraded Soviet-made Mi-17 helicopters as well as Swiss-made, propeller-driven Pilatus aircraft, used for training but also as combat aircraft against rebels in the country. The deal was valued at $10 million.
Three years ago Miller left Radom and established an independent firm in Yehud, which he said worked on electronic warfare and night vision equipment, but it now appears that he was also involved in firearms.
Even though the indictment does not mention him by name, Joseph O'Toole, a former colonel in the U.S. Army who was arrested in the 1980s for allegedly illegally selling arms to Iran along with Israeli Ari Ben-Menashe, is mentioned in the case. In 1991, O'Toole was exonerated of suspicions against him. Ben-Menashe left Israel and now lives in Canada, having falsely claimed for years that he was a secret adviser of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.
Attempts to get a response for this article from Miller failed, and his office assistant disconnected the telephone and refuses to give details on his whereabouts.
The strategic location of the breakaway territory, which borders on the Gulf of Aden and the sea routes of the Indian Ocean from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and through the Red Sea, have always been important for Israel's geo-strategic interests. In the past, Israel has shown great interest in the countries of the Horn of Africa, and the Mossad had secret links with some countries there and maintained listening stations in the area.
The significance of the region has become all the more important because of the growing presence of Islamic fundamentalists there, and because it is allegedly used as a transit point for the shipments of arms to the Gaza Strip, as well as for the training of trans-border militants.
29 June 2010
Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry sources adamantly denied yesterday that they were in any way involved in arms shipments to Somalia.
Spokesmen for both ministries were responding to news of the arrest in the U.S. of Hanoch Miller, an Israeli arms merchant, for allegedly illegal arms sales to Somalia, forging documents, money laundering and violating the UN arms embargo on Somalia.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said there is a ban on arms sales to Somalia and Miller did not have permission to sell arms there, and even if he had asked in Israel he would not have received such permission.
According to the charges brought against Miller at a Florida district court, he was arrested with an unnamed American partner for alleged involvement in the sale of hundreds of AK-47s to the government of Somaliland, a breakaway district in Somalia since 1991. Miller and his American partner allegedly organized arms shipments, which apparently included arms bought in Bosnia, and had planned to fly them from there in cargo planes to Somalia. The indictment also mentions a shipment that was sent from Panama.
The suspect allegedly presented "end user" documents of the defense ministry of Chad. Arms shipments to that African country are not forbidden.
The two were arrested in a sting operation of the U.S. Customs, when one of their contact persons, whose help they sought in organizing the air shipments, turned out to be an undercover Customs agent.
Miller, 53, is an aerospace engineer who served in the Israel Air Force in a unit that designed aircraft. He left the military with the rank of major and worked for a short while in the Israel Aircraft Industries. With two partners he set up Radom Aviation Systems, a company that dealt with the upgrading of aircraft, mostly in the installation of avionics. The company functioned in line with licenses issued by the Defense Ministry, and at times served as a subcontractor for IAI.
One of the last deals of Radom in which Miller was involved was with Chad. The company upgraded Soviet-made Mi-17 helicopters as well as Swiss-made, propeller-driven Pilatus aircraft, used for training but also as combat aircraft against rebels in the country. The deal was valued at $10 million.
Three years ago Miller left Radom and established an independent firm in Yehud, which he said worked on electronic warfare and night vision equipment, but it now appears that he was also involved in firearms.
Even though the indictment does not mention him by name, Joseph O'Toole, a former colonel in the U.S. Army who was arrested in the 1980s for allegedly illegally selling arms to Iran along with Israeli Ari Ben-Menashe, is mentioned in the case. In 1991, O'Toole was exonerated of suspicions against him. Ben-Menashe left Israel and now lives in Canada, having falsely claimed for years that he was a secret adviser of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.
Attempts to get a response for this article from Miller failed, and his office assistant disconnected the telephone and refuses to give details on his whereabouts.
The strategic location of the breakaway territory, which borders on the Gulf of Aden and the sea routes of the Indian Ocean from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and through the Red Sea, have always been important for Israel's geo-strategic interests. In the past, Israel has shown great interest in the countries of the Horn of Africa, and the Mossad had secret links with some countries there and maintained listening stations in the area.
The significance of the region has become all the more important because of the growing presence of Islamic fundamentalists there, and because it is allegedly used as a transit point for the shipments of arms to the Gaza Strip, as well as for the training of trans-border militants.
Rwandan General Nyamwasa shooting suspects in SA court.
BBC News
29 June 2010
Four men have appeared in court in South Africa accused of the attempted murder of former Rwandan army chief of staff Lt Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa.
Prosecutors said the accused were from Tanzania, Somalia and Mozambique, AP news agency reports.
The case has been postponed until next month so their legal status in the country can be confirmed.
Lt Gen Nyamwasa, who was shot in the stomach earlier this month in Johannesburg, is said to be recovering well.
Rwanda has denied accusations it tried to assassinate Lt Gen Nyamwasa, a former ally of Rwandan President Paul Kagame who fled to South Africa earlier this year.
According to the South Africa Press Association, it was established in court that the defendants had previous convictions related to possession of stolen goods.
Last week, South Africa police dropped attempted murder charges against two other people arrested after the shooting.
29 June 2010
Four men have appeared in court in South Africa accused of the attempted murder of former Rwandan army chief of staff Lt Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa.
Prosecutors said the accused were from Tanzania, Somalia and Mozambique, AP news agency reports.
The case has been postponed until next month so their legal status in the country can be confirmed.
Lt Gen Nyamwasa, who was shot in the stomach earlier this month in Johannesburg, is said to be recovering well.
Rwanda has denied accusations it tried to assassinate Lt Gen Nyamwasa, a former ally of Rwandan President Paul Kagame who fled to South Africa earlier this year.
According to the South Africa Press Association, it was established in court that the defendants had previous convictions related to possession of stolen goods.
Last week, South Africa police dropped attempted murder charges against two other people arrested after the shooting.
Twenty Six Americans Arrive to Train Ex-Militants.
Leadership
27 June 2010
By Taiwo Ogunmola
Lagos — The Federal Government has concluded arrangements to commence the training of more than 20,000 ex-militants in the Niger Delta on June 28 under its post-amnesty programme.
The Special Adviser to the President on the Post-Amnesty Programme, Mr Timi Alaibe, made the announcement in Lagos on Friday while receiving the 26-member team of trainers from the United States.
He said the ex-militants would be trained in batches of 2,000 each. The trainers arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, aboard Delta airline.
Alaibe said: "The arrival of the team will mark the rehabilitation and integration of the ex-militants. They will undergo various training programmes that will change their former ways of life."
He said the programme would resolve the problems of unemployment and poverty among the ex-militants.
The team, led by Dr Bernard Lafayette, came from the Centre for Non-Violence and Peace Studies, University of Rhodes Island, U.S.A..
Lafayette commended the government for its commitment to the post-amnesty programme, and described the trainers as the best of experts for the ex-militants.
Mr Allen Onyema, Chairman, Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN), the NGO that facilitated the programme, also commended the government for its commitment to the exercise.
27 June 2010
By Taiwo Ogunmola
Lagos — The Federal Government has concluded arrangements to commence the training of more than 20,000 ex-militants in the Niger Delta on June 28 under its post-amnesty programme.
The Special Adviser to the President on the Post-Amnesty Programme, Mr Timi Alaibe, made the announcement in Lagos on Friday while receiving the 26-member team of trainers from the United States.
He said the ex-militants would be trained in batches of 2,000 each. The trainers arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, aboard Delta airline.
Alaibe said: "The arrival of the team will mark the rehabilitation and integration of the ex-militants. They will undergo various training programmes that will change their former ways of life."
He said the programme would resolve the problems of unemployment and poverty among the ex-militants.
The team, led by Dr Bernard Lafayette, came from the Centre for Non-Violence and Peace Studies, University of Rhodes Island, U.S.A..
Lafayette commended the government for its commitment to the post-amnesty programme, and described the trainers as the best of experts for the ex-militants.
Mr Allen Onyema, Chairman, Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN), the NGO that facilitated the programme, also commended the government for its commitment to the exercise.
Rwandan Refugees to lose Status in 2011 but Their Safety in Rwanda is Questionable.
Refugee Law Project
20 June 2010
As we celebrate World Refugee Day, Rwandan refugees in Uganda are uncertain of
what will happen to them after 31 December 2011. At a tripartite meeting held on 8
May 2010, the Governments of Rwanda and Uganda together with the UNHCR
agreed among other things that all Rwandan refugees should return to Rwanda
because the country is now regarded as safe. They agreed that the cessation clause
should be invoked by December 2011 based on change of circumstances in the
country of origin, Rwanda. If this step is indeed taken, it will mean the end of refugee status and the accompanying international protection for some 12,000 Rwandans
currently residing in this country.
While we appreciate the need to find solutions especially for protracted refugee
situations worldwide and Africa in particular, in the case of Rwanda it remains
questionable whether the pre-conditions for invoking the cessation clause will be
fulfilled by the end of 2011. The mis-application of the clause for any group of
refugees risks exposing them to serious human rights violations, and itself constitutes a breach of international protection. Accordingly the decision to invoke the cessation clause on any group of refugees must not be done in haste and should be considered very carefully.
Blanket application of the cessation clause
The decision to work towards ensuring all Rwandan refugees voluntarily repatriate
treats them as a homogeneous group. Yet Rwandans have sought asylum in Uganda at
different times and for different reasons. The first mass influx was in 1959 when close to 80,000 Rwandese fled civil war between Tutsis and Hutus. Following the 1994
Rwandan Genocide, it is estimated that 60,000 refugees fled to Uganda, and since
1994 many individuals have sought asylum in Uganda mostly based on political
persecution, and indeed have gone through individual status determination processes.
Even in 2010 new asylum claims are being made. Given these very different histories,
it is unlikely that refugee status can be withdrawn in a blanket fashion.
“Change of circumstances” as the basis for cessation.
International refugee law recognizes invoking the cessation clause based on change of
circumstances or ceased circumstances in the country of origin, in this case Rwanda.
The change must be fundamental, effective and durable. Fundamental change refers to
developments that completely transform the political and social structure of the
country of origin as well as its human rights situation. Change of government for
political asylum seekers is a well recognized criterion for “change of circumstances”
warranting the application of the cessation clause in many situations. However in the
case of Rwanda, while political circumstances have changed for those who came to
Uganda prior to 1994, the same cannot be said for those who sought asylum in 1994
onwards, because the same RPF government from which they fled remains in power.
Considerable caution therefore has to be taken before the latter case-load are stripped of their protection based on change of circumstances in the country of origin.
While Rwanda has been praised worldwide for its post-genocide economic recovery
and development, its human rights record remains of concern; earlier this year, a work permit was denied to a Human Rights Watch researcher. It should also be noted that even the high economic growth rate has failed to attract back many refugees, despite claims that Rwandan refugees were only in Uganda for economic reasons. The real reasons for their continued unwillingness to return should be considered carefully before invoking the cessation clause.
What options are available?
International refugee law recognizes three durable solutions; voluntary repatriation,
local integration and resettlement to a third country. Rwanda however prefers to have
all its citizens returned to the country and has asked the government of Uganda and
UNHCR to facilitate this process. This raises a lot of concern, especially given that
the meeting did not even mention the other options for the many refugees who may
not wish to return to Rwanda. Available statistics shows that since the repatriation of Rwandese refugees began in 2009, less than a third has opted to return to Rwanda.
While we commend the parties at the tripartite meeting for resolving to ensure that
repatriations to Rwanda are sustainable and that the reintegration process of returnees is strengthened, we believe that the decision not to allow Rwandese refugees access to cultivation land creates to a “push” factor that is tantamount to forcing returns.
International refugee law demands that all repatriation should be voluntary and that
return must be in safety and dignity. It should also be followed by proper reintegration.
This last condition is particularly important given that we have already witnessed
repatriated Rwandans making their way back to Uganda owing to lack of proper
reintegration in their country of origin.
Recommendations:
All parties should:
- Consider the decision to invoke the cessation clause carefully to ensure that the
human rights of the returnees are guaranteed;
- Prioritise international protection ahead of politics in dealing with Rwandese
refugees.
- Measure the diplomatic assurances by Rwanda that the country is safe for return
against other objective country of origin information before a definite decision is
made to invoke the cessation clause.
- Ensure that where repatriation does take place it is purely voluntary and that
refugees are returned in physical, legal and material safety and with dignity.
The Government of Uganda should:
- Be able to unequivocally answer in the affirmative the question as to whether there
has indeed been a change of circumstances in Rwanda to justify the invocation of the
cessation clause. Consultations must be made with all stakeholders including human
rights groups and the refugees themselves in this regard.
- Be satisfied that all returnees are guaranteed protection back in Rwanda and that its actions will not amount to refoulement.
-Make necessary arrangements to facilitate applications for citizenship by the refugees who qualify.
- Review the decision to deny Rwandese refugee the same access to cultivation land
granted to other refugees as this may have the effect of forcing repatriation.
- Objectively and impartially continue to allow Rwandese asylum seekers full access
to the asylum process in Uganda as guaranteed by Uganda’s international obligations
and the Refugee Act 2006.
The Government of Rwanda should:
- Satisfy the international community and especially the Government of Uganda that
the protection of returnees are guaranteed and that the reintegration process will
carried out fairly and in a manner devoid of stigmatization and which guarantees the
human rights of the returnees
- Address the concerns of the refugees especially in regards to restitution of property, victimization through the Gacaca process, freedom of conscience and political opinion.
- Facilitate the option of naturalization for qualifying refugees.
The UNHCR should:
- Provide current and accurate country information on Rwanda to enable returnees
make informed decisions on repatriation.
- Intensify efforts to identify cases of Rwandan refugees that meet the criteria for
third-country resettlement.
- Sustain its mandate for international protection for all refugees.
- Collaborate with other partners such as World Food Programme to ensure adequate
material assistance to Rwandese refugees in view of the decision to prevent them
from cultivating land for sustenance.
Signed,
Dr. Chris Dolan,
Director - Refugee Law Project
20 June 2010
As we celebrate World Refugee Day, Rwandan refugees in Uganda are uncertain of
what will happen to them after 31 December 2011. At a tripartite meeting held on 8
May 2010, the Governments of Rwanda and Uganda together with the UNHCR
agreed among other things that all Rwandan refugees should return to Rwanda
because the country is now regarded as safe. They agreed that the cessation clause
should be invoked by December 2011 based on change of circumstances in the
country of origin, Rwanda. If this step is indeed taken, it will mean the end of refugee status and the accompanying international protection for some 12,000 Rwandans
currently residing in this country.
While we appreciate the need to find solutions especially for protracted refugee
situations worldwide and Africa in particular, in the case of Rwanda it remains
questionable whether the pre-conditions for invoking the cessation clause will be
fulfilled by the end of 2011. The mis-application of the clause for any group of
refugees risks exposing them to serious human rights violations, and itself constitutes a breach of international protection. Accordingly the decision to invoke the cessation clause on any group of refugees must not be done in haste and should be considered very carefully.
Blanket application of the cessation clause
The decision to work towards ensuring all Rwandan refugees voluntarily repatriate
treats them as a homogeneous group. Yet Rwandans have sought asylum in Uganda at
different times and for different reasons. The first mass influx was in 1959 when close to 80,000 Rwandese fled civil war between Tutsis and Hutus. Following the 1994
Rwandan Genocide, it is estimated that 60,000 refugees fled to Uganda, and since
1994 many individuals have sought asylum in Uganda mostly based on political
persecution, and indeed have gone through individual status determination processes.
Even in 2010 new asylum claims are being made. Given these very different histories,
it is unlikely that refugee status can be withdrawn in a blanket fashion.
“Change of circumstances” as the basis for cessation.
International refugee law recognizes invoking the cessation clause based on change of
circumstances or ceased circumstances in the country of origin, in this case Rwanda.
The change must be fundamental, effective and durable. Fundamental change refers to
developments that completely transform the political and social structure of the
country of origin as well as its human rights situation. Change of government for
political asylum seekers is a well recognized criterion for “change of circumstances”
warranting the application of the cessation clause in many situations. However in the
case of Rwanda, while political circumstances have changed for those who came to
Uganda prior to 1994, the same cannot be said for those who sought asylum in 1994
onwards, because the same RPF government from which they fled remains in power.
Considerable caution therefore has to be taken before the latter case-load are stripped of their protection based on change of circumstances in the country of origin.
While Rwanda has been praised worldwide for its post-genocide economic recovery
and development, its human rights record remains of concern; earlier this year, a work permit was denied to a Human Rights Watch researcher. It should also be noted that even the high economic growth rate has failed to attract back many refugees, despite claims that Rwandan refugees were only in Uganda for economic reasons. The real reasons for their continued unwillingness to return should be considered carefully before invoking the cessation clause.
What options are available?
International refugee law recognizes three durable solutions; voluntary repatriation,
local integration and resettlement to a third country. Rwanda however prefers to have
all its citizens returned to the country and has asked the government of Uganda and
UNHCR to facilitate this process. This raises a lot of concern, especially given that
the meeting did not even mention the other options for the many refugees who may
not wish to return to Rwanda. Available statistics shows that since the repatriation of Rwandese refugees began in 2009, less than a third has opted to return to Rwanda.
While we commend the parties at the tripartite meeting for resolving to ensure that
repatriations to Rwanda are sustainable and that the reintegration process of returnees is strengthened, we believe that the decision not to allow Rwandese refugees access to cultivation land creates to a “push” factor that is tantamount to forcing returns.
International refugee law demands that all repatriation should be voluntary and that
return must be in safety and dignity. It should also be followed by proper reintegration.
This last condition is particularly important given that we have already witnessed
repatriated Rwandans making their way back to Uganda owing to lack of proper
reintegration in their country of origin.
Recommendations:
All parties should:
- Consider the decision to invoke the cessation clause carefully to ensure that the
human rights of the returnees are guaranteed;
- Prioritise international protection ahead of politics in dealing with Rwandese
refugees.
- Measure the diplomatic assurances by Rwanda that the country is safe for return
against other objective country of origin information before a definite decision is
made to invoke the cessation clause.
- Ensure that where repatriation does take place it is purely voluntary and that
refugees are returned in physical, legal and material safety and with dignity.
The Government of Uganda should:
- Be able to unequivocally answer in the affirmative the question as to whether there
has indeed been a change of circumstances in Rwanda to justify the invocation of the
cessation clause. Consultations must be made with all stakeholders including human
rights groups and the refugees themselves in this regard.
- Be satisfied that all returnees are guaranteed protection back in Rwanda and that its actions will not amount to refoulement.
-Make necessary arrangements to facilitate applications for citizenship by the refugees who qualify.
- Review the decision to deny Rwandese refugee the same access to cultivation land
granted to other refugees as this may have the effect of forcing repatriation.
- Objectively and impartially continue to allow Rwandese asylum seekers full access
to the asylum process in Uganda as guaranteed by Uganda’s international obligations
and the Refugee Act 2006.
The Government of Rwanda should:
- Satisfy the international community and especially the Government of Uganda that
the protection of returnees are guaranteed and that the reintegration process will
carried out fairly and in a manner devoid of stigmatization and which guarantees the
human rights of the returnees
- Address the concerns of the refugees especially in regards to restitution of property, victimization through the Gacaca process, freedom of conscience and political opinion.
- Facilitate the option of naturalization for qualifying refugees.
The UNHCR should:
- Provide current and accurate country information on Rwanda to enable returnees
make informed decisions on repatriation.
- Intensify efforts to identify cases of Rwandan refugees that meet the criteria for
third-country resettlement.
- Sustain its mandate for international protection for all refugees.
- Collaborate with other partners such as World Food Programme to ensure adequate
material assistance to Rwandese refugees in view of the decision to prevent them
from cultivating land for sustenance.
Signed,
Dr. Chris Dolan,
Director - Refugee Law Project
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