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Posts from — March 2011

Kagame not ready to clear his name over Hutus genocide in DR Congo

Kagame Bloody Hands

Introducing General Paul Kagame on his programme Have-Your-Say on Tuesday 22 March, BBC journalist Alex Jakana said:
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of voices criticising him and his government. Most of the accusations are along the lines that he is a despot who doesn’t tolerate any form of opposition; that under his leadership, Rwanda has become a dangerous place for those who publicly disagree with him or his ruling party.
During that live broadcast, a question was put to General Kagame about the genocide against Hutus and other crimes against humanity committed by himself and his troops in the DR Congo.

James, a Rwandan living in the US, asked the question in these terms:

My question is about the Recent UN Mapping exercise report documenting the crimes committed in Congo between 1993 and 2003 where your troops were accused committing systematic killings against ethnic Hutus.
Given the overwhelming evidence in the report, are you willing to stand in court with your troops and clear your name and prove your innocence on these charges?

Listen to despot Kagame himself:
[wpaudio url=”http://rwandinfo.com/audio/20110322-kagame-on-un-mapping-bbc.mp3″ text=”Kagame is not ready to appear in court on Hutus’ genocide trial” dl=”0″]

The answer of General Kagame, whose actions and orders have already claimed more than 6 millions of people in Rwanda and DR Congo, seems to imply that he has assurance that he will not be prosecuted. He says:

“First of all, the UN mapping report was not anything new. It was a recycling of another report that had been made many years earlier by some of the human rights organisations.
We have adequately disprove some of the things talked about in the report� and I think the matter has been led open to the UN and UN different institutions and I think there was a clear understanding of what must have gone wrong and that is how we have left it behind and are moving forward. So, if you decide to go back to that problem, then it is your business.”

This revelation and assurance from Kagame corroborates what was written by ICTR defence lawyer Christopher Black (see Rwanda: UN double standards regarding genocide against Tutsis and genocide against Hutus):
�They�re never going to charge the RPF, because it would be too dangerous. If you start charging the RPF, RPF officers, to save their necks, are going to start talking about others. And then you�re going to get up to the Americans and the British and the Canadians and the Belgians. The whole thing would fall apart. They don�t dare do that� said ICTR defence lawyer Christopher Black

March 31, 2011   1 Comment

General Kagame dismisses claims of inequalities between Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda

General Kagame: despot who doesn't tolerate any form of opposition

General Kagame: despot who doesn’t tolerate any form of opposition

General Kagame appeared live on BBC Have-Your-Say and answered questions from the public on Tuesday 22 March.
Presenting General Paul Kagame, BBC journalist Alex Jakana says:

In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of voices criticising him and his government. Most of the accusations are along the lines that he is a despot who doesn’t tolerate any form of opposition; that under his leadership, Rwanda has become a dangerous place for those who publicly disagree with him or his ruling party.

A question was put to him about the inequalities between Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda.
One Rwandan citizen said:

To be a Tutsi in this country is to have a definite advantage. It gives you access to schools, to work, government jobs, to get grants to study abroad, so it’s a plus to be a Tutsi. In a way, I would like to say, it’s a kind of racism.

As usual Kagame answered: “That’s nonsense”. And he even turned against the journalist who accepts to istens to such ‘nonsense’.
Listen to him:
[wpaudio url=”http://rwandinfo.com/audio/20110322-kagame-on-inequalities-hutu-tutsi-in-Rwanda-bbc.mp3″ text=”Kagame denies inequalities between Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda” dl=”0″]
General Kagame knows the truth but chooses to be in denial.
As wrote A. Nzeyimana of Organizing for Africa in his article Rwanda: half truth is worse than a complete lie, “Tutsis have today monopolized political, military and economic powers in the country. Hutus are excluded from interesting education opportunities since they are not officially seen as survivors of the genocide. Though they are indeed, as Gersony and Garreton or UN Mapping reports can prove. Any politician who voices concerns about ongoing inequalities and Kagame�s oppressive practices is either killed, prosecuted and or imprisoned“.

March 30, 2011   No Comments

General Kagame supports western military attacks on Libya

On Tuesday 22 March, General Kagame appeared live on BBC Have-Your-Say and answered questions from the public. He praised the UN and countries which took the initiative to launch a military intervention in Libya.
Listen to him:
[wpaudio url=”http://rwandinfo.com/audio/20110322-kagame-about-Libya-military-intervention-bbc.mp3″ text=”Kagame explains why he supports the military intervention in Libya” dl=”0″]

One wonders why if the West really cared about humanitarian needs that they have virtually ignored the situation in La Cote D’Ivoire, no oil perhaps and even another scenario, that the lives of Black Afrikans are not as important as those north of the sahara � food for thought.”
Dr. Kwame Osei in The attacks on Libya – Western double standards?

On this issue, General Kagame contrasts with his mentor and neighbour Yoweri Museveni who, two days before, (New Vision 21th March) had attacked the Western countries for their military action in Libya and accused them of double standards. Many commentators still wonder why those countries full of blatant and arrogant hypocrisy have done nothing to intervene and protect the civilians in the African Great Lakes region, where more than six millions have already been slaughtered by the same Kagame, his army and his allies since 1990.

March 28, 2011   No Comments

Democracy wind from North Africa can not hit Rwanda, assures General Kagame

According to General Kagame, what happens in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries in North Africa can not happen in Rwanda. His best argument: he has been elected by 93% of the Rwandan voting population. Mr Mugenzi from London reminded him that other dictators like Mubarak had also ‘won’ the elections in their countries, but Kagame knows his people and he knows no-one in Rwanda would try to do what young people and political opponents have done elsewhere in Africa. Is he right or is he in denial?
Listen to his answer given during the live interview broadcast on BBC on Tuesday 22 March.
[wpaudio url=”http://rwandinfo.com/audio/20110322-kagame-democracy-wind-from-north-africa-cannot-reach-rwanda-bbc.mp3″ text=”Kagame assures the world that the democracy wind from North Africa can not reach Rwanda” dl=”0″]

March 27, 2011   5 Comments

Kagame dismisses the nightmare of deprived university students

University students are living a real nightmare after Rwandan governement’s decision to cut the students’ loan. In the live interview broadcast by BBC on Tuesday, Kagame shows clearly that he doesn’t listen to the students’ plea. He doesn’t care. He says that students loan is not a right.
[wpaudio url=”http://rwandinfo.com/audio/20110322-kagame-on-students-loans-bbc.mp3″ text=”Kagame’s position on the suffering of university students deprived of resources” dl=”0″]

Related:

March 25, 2011   2 Comments

Ask questions live to genocide-suspect General Kagame today on BBC

In a special edition of Africa Have Your Say, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame will be answering your questions live on BBC World Service, today Tuesday 22 March at 1600 GMT.

Paul Kagame has been in control of Rwanda since the end of the genocide in 1994 triggered by his rebel army.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) has published in October 2010 the official �Report of the Mapping Exercise� in which General Kagame and his army are accused of genocide against Hutus. His political opponents, including Ms Victoire Ingabire, Deo Mushayidi, Bernard Ntaganda and many others, are locked in jail. To his admirers he is an economic visionary but his critics say he has put development before democracy and political freedom.
Who do you agree with? What are his views on what is happening in Rwanda, in Congo, in Ivory Coast, in Libya and elsewhere? This is an opportunity to ask your questions directly to the General Kagame?

Visit to Africa Have Your Say.

March 22, 2011   2 Comments

Ingabire exhorts Rwandans from Kigali prison: “Time is nothing when there is determination”

by Boniface Twagirimana

Kigali, 18th March 2011 – Today is the 155th day in captivity for the opposition leader�Ms. Victoire Ingabire, FDU-INKINGI chair.�The Kigali maximum security accepted only 20 persons from the list submitted by the party Secretary General for the visit of Ms. Victoire Ingabire and other opposition leaders including Bernard Ntaganda, President of Parti Social Imberakuri; Deo Mushayidi, leader of PDP Imanzi and Charles Ntakirutinka, leader of PDR Ubuyanja.� Against the wish of the visiting members, the prison staff imposed on the list a non-invited visitor, pretending to be a party representative, with a clear role to sabotage the event.

The visitors congratulated her for the� international� prize named “Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza for Democracy and Peace” that was inaugurated on Saturday, March 12, 2011 in Montreal , Canada by the International Network of Women for Democracy and Peace (known by its French acronym, RIFPD) on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the International Women�s Day. The trophy was awarded to her in absentia. “From now on, this award will honour each year everyone who will thrive as part of the struggle for democracy and peace in Africa ” said the presiding RIFPD representative in Montreal, before announcing the imminent setting up of a jury.

Gratefully, Ms. Ingabire� compared the struggle for democracy to the water gathering around barricades of walls, calmly infiltrating, steadily pressing until they disintegrate and give way. Time is nothing when there is� determination and courage. �Send them my deepest thanks and appreciation�for solidarity and support�, she said before being escorted back to her cell.

FDU-INKINGI
Boniface Twagirimana
Interim Vice President.

March 21, 2011   No Comments

Irony of an anniversary: 17 years since April 1994 genocide in Rwanda

by Ambrose Nzeyimana,
Organizing for Africa.

On April 6th, 2011, we will be remembering 17 years since the Rwandan genocide was triggered. It is appalling and almost ironic that high profile survivors like Deo Mushayidi, politician and activist, will be purging a life sentence for genocide revisionism, one of his many official offences being that all the victims should be honored without discrimination. This is so utterly wrong. All Rwandans who survived Paul Kagame�s regrets of seeing them alive because they managed to escape him have a responsibility to highlight Mushayidi unjust sentence. Because his imprisonment shows the RPF government which masquerades as a champion of genocide survivors is nothing but, when it comes to anyone who champions for human rights or democracy.

With all the respect due to Tutsis who died during the genocide, it is regrettable from RPF extremist ranks to disrespect Hutus who died during the same period at the hands of Paul Kagame�s rebel forces or Interahamwe. Such discrimination between dead Rwandans has already caused real anguish among the victims and continues to postpone possible reconciliation indefinitely. The ugly truth about April of each year has since 94 been that the genocide anniversary has been monopolized by the RPF regime to remind to the world its failure to stop the genocide. I periodically uses it to oppress any dissent voice or ransom the international community.

Victoire Ingabire, leader of FDU-Inkingi also presently imprisoned, said that, �The genocide has become a kind of blackmail to be used against everyone.� Today there is plenty of evidence including from Abdul Ruzibiza testimony in his book �Rwanda: Secret War,� which demonstrates that RPF could have stopped the genocide if it wanted to, but this wouldn�t have served its interests as it has done so far. We know now that RPF had infiltrated Interahamwe at the point that his top leadership consisted of its men who until today have not been prosecuted for any wrong doing. This is one of the many ironies of the sad past of the country.

On Wednesday 7/4/10 a public protest was organized by Rwandans living in UK. It was held at BBC World Service � London. The aim was then to break the silence over the millions dying in the Great Lakes region and those particularly oppressed under Paul Kagame�s rule. Many people had told the organizers that it would be like blaspheming the Memorial Day RPF has set for the Genocide. They replied it was the only day the world could probably notice there was another side to the current narrative of the story.

Let�s imagine that Victoire Ingabire hadn�t said what she declared at the Genocide Memorial when she arrived to Kigali on January 16th, 2010. She highlighted the importance for the Rwandan government to honor Hutus who died during the genocide the same way it does for Tutsis. There is no doubt that her public statement has now helped to bring up in the open the fact that there were crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by RPF during the genocide. Before she announced that historic fact, the topic was taboo in Paul Kagame�s Rwanda. Taboos need to be broken if Rwandans want to change what has been going on in their country in the last 20 years and continue occurring today.

When Deo Mushayidi was last year kidnapped in Burundi and sent to Kigali to Kagame�s henchmen, Charles Onana, Cameroonian investigative journalist wrote about his case questioning the attitude of those supporting the Rwandan regime. �Who will stop the criminal cartel that is currently running wild in Kigali? Who will bring an end to the grisly martyrdom of the Tutsi, Hutu and Congolese? Who will find justice for the French, Spanish and Canadians felled by the bullets and missiles of the assassins who seized state power in Rwanda by force of arms in 1994?� he wondered.

As L�andre Karangwa and Olivier Niyibizi in Jambo News rightly highlight that point, it does not appear that sponsors of Paul Kagame are keen on human rights issues, as long as he can demonstrate them he is caring for their geostrategic interests in the region. �As the increasingly authoritarian and despotic nature of President Paul Kagame�s regime continues to go unchecked, it is becoming obvious that Rwanda is an exception to the generally accepted notion that democracy goes hand in hand with progress.�

In the face of such attitude of Rwandan partners who seem careless of the real plight of Rwandans, what can those who really have their compatriots at heart do? They shouldn�t continue to be fearful when they could change situations by being fearless. The millions who are today accounted as dead in the Great Lakes region, with a significant fraction in Rwanda, those who are in prisons, oppressed, silenced, did they or do they deserve what happened or has been happening to them? If not, survivors who can do something about their conditions, for how long will this carries on if they persist to demonstrate constant fear in any of their endeavors? Tunisia and Egypt should become their models of transforming for good the future of their country.

[The Rising Continent]

March 21, 2011   No Comments

Rwanda: A molotov coctail hurled over Ms. Ingabire’s residence in Kigali

by Boniface Twagirimana,
Interim Vice-President of FDU-Inkingi.

This Wednesday 16th March at around 19.50, a Molotov cocktail was hurled inside the residence of the jailed FDU-Inkingi chairperson, Ms. Victoire INGABIRE, in Kigali, by unknown assailants. None was injured in the night attack.

The police was immediately informed. First the Gasabo district DPC visited the scene and ordered an overnight police patrol. Later on other police officers came, to find out what happened. After a cosmetic fact finding exercise, one of the officers ironically suggested that the cocktail might have been thrown by the house residents, in order to draw the attention of the media.

According to the watchman, a few minutes before the attack a suspect scouted first the area around the compound and was spotted glimpsing a sight over the compound. A female local journalist who interviewed the watchman got into a short argument with another police officer who wanted to smooth and preview her report before the broadcast.

The leadership of FDU-Inkingi condemns this coward attack and calls for a thorough investigation, in order to bring to book the culprits. Every government is duty – bound to ensure security for its citizens, irrespective of their political orientation.

[FDU-INKINGI]

March 17, 2011   No Comments

South Korea opens elementary school in Kamonyi, Rwanda

An elementary school built by South Korea opened in Rwanda last week, ready to provide education to hundreds of young students, a state-run institute here said Tuesday.

A ceremony was held on March 10 to celebrate the opening of the Wimana Elementary School in the city of Kamonyi, the Korea International Cooperation Agency said in a press release.

KOICA helped build the school together with KT Corp., South Korea�s biggest fixed-line telephone and broadband Internet operator.

�We are so grateful to the South Korean government for providing the children of the Musambira region with the chance to receive proper elementary school education,� Uwera Alice, the vice mayor of Kamoyi was quoted as saying during the ceremony.

Before the opening of Wimana, students in Musambira had to walk some 10 kilometers through dangerous mountains to attend schools in other regions, according to KOICA.

Streetlights and roads leading to the school were also built for the safety of the children, it said.

Last week�s ceremony was also attended by Kim Sang-chul, head of the KOICA Rwanda bureau, Song Ho-chan, representing KT, Uwera and Bienvenue, head of education in the Musambira region. Some 300 students, parents and other related officials also attended, KOICA said.

The Korea Herald

March 16, 2011   1 Comment