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Here is an open letter that Paul Rusesabagina sent to President Clinton regarding his recent comments about Rwanda on CNBC.

Paul Rusesabagina, honoured by US President Bush

Office of President Clinton
55 West 125th Street
New York, NY 10027

March 22, 2013

Dear President Clinton:

I am writing you an open letter again about a topic that means much to us both, Rwanda and the Rwandan Genocide. I was very moved to read the recent interview with CNBC where you talked about what might have been in 1994.

During 1994, while I was at the Hotel des Mille Collines trying to shelter the people under my roof, and I tried to reach you and the rest of the international community. �I tried by every means to reach the outside world and to ask them to help rescue my countrymen from the Hell that we were living in. I could not get any one to listen

then. I especially tried to reach you and your staff at the White House, to get you to hear our calls for help. I called and faxed and wrote on behalf of all Rwandans asking you to help stop the Genocide.

Neither of us could stop the horrors of 1994, but we each did our part. �I protected the 1,268 people who came for shelter at the Hotel Mille Collines. You did what you thought you could do at the time. I know that the world outside Rwanda did not completely understand what was happening to us.

Today, we can do more. �There are people dying in Rwanda and the Congo everyday. The Rwanda government signs peace deals with one hand and waves their militias in to the Congo to kill innocent victims with the other hand. You can talk to President Kagame and reason with him. �There is almost no one else in the world who he WILL listen to, but he will listen to you.

I would like to ask you again to meet with me to talk about how we can work together to lead the way to a sustainable peace for Rwanda and the Great Lakes region of Africa. I am concerned that societal forces and the human rights violations and the closing of political space by President Kagame. He is creating an increasingly dangerous situation for the region. �It is like a dormant volcano beginning to smoke. �This is your opportunity to help make up for the international community sitting on their hands in 1994.

If we look at the economy and healthcare of Rwanda today it is easy to see a the seed of a turmoil being sown.

While there are economic gains being made by a few of the people, the many are suffering. I have attached a link to a �study done which shows that unfortunately, the people in rural areas continue to get poorer, while the people in Kigali get richer. (See Rwanda Today When Foreign Aid Hurts More Than it Helps (http://hrrfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Rwand…))

The story of healthcare in Rwanda is the same. �Kigali is good, the countryside is horrible. �This is one of the reasons that I was so happy that your Foundation opened a clinic in a rural area. We have heard of terrible health care problems in the rural areas, and, worse, nurses in Kigali being told to kill one out of every three Hutu mothers and children. These issues are examined in another report, Rwandan Healthcare Corruption and Inequality (http://hrrfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Healt…).

President Clinton, it is a rare opportunity that you have with Rwanda. �You could not be our savior in 1994, but you can be now.

My Foundation is small but our voice is big. We are working to create a stable, healthy society in Rwanda. �A really free society where people can vote for who they want to vote for, people can write what they want to write and say what they want to say. We can not do this alone. We need to your help.

We will continue trying to convince the world that they can help to create an internationally sanctioned Truth and Reconciliation Commission and to create a real sustainable peace for the region. Don�t you want to join us in this historic endeavor? �Please let us work together on the right side of history for Rwanda and the Great Lakes region of Africa, and for the world.

Let us meet and talk. We can not change the past, but we can change the future.

Peace, truth and justice,

Paul Rusesabagina

There has been a lot of conjecture and speculation surrounding Bosco’s “surrender” to the US embassy on Tuesday morning. In recent weeks, various parties to the conflict have been purposely spreading false information, which has made it difficult to parse the facts. Here are my own thoughts on some of these points.

Why did Bosco surrender?

His time was up. On February 24, an internal battle had broken out among the M23, pitting Bosco’s wing against that of Sultani Makenga (for more information about Bosco’s career and the divisions within the M23 see Strongman of Eastern DRC – A Profile of General Bosco Ntaganda published by Rift Valley Institute – Usalama Project on 12 March 2013.

While Bosco led a large group of soldiers��at least 500 were reported to have crossed the border on 14 March��he was short on ammunition. After weeks of fighting, he decided to run.

The larger and perhaps more important question is: Why did the M23 implode? Divisions existed since the group’s creation in April 2012, driven by ethnic considerations (Bosco is from the Gogwe sub-ethnic group, many of Makenga’s officers are Banyajomba), historical differences (Makenga was close to Laurent Nkunda, whom Bosco replaced in January 2009), and struggles over money and power (each carried out promotions behind the other’s back and set up separate tax structures).

The final straw, however, appears to have been the looming possibility of a peace deal, or at least Bosco’s perception that one might take place. With an international arrest warrant looming over his head, and declarations by the Congolese government concerning his arrest, he knew that he would have no chance of re-integrating the Congolese army.

Nonetheless, important questions persist. Allegations abound, for example, that President Kabila exacerbated the divisions with bribes. But which side did he bribe��each accuses the other for having received blood money.

Rwanda’s role is also curious. Reliable reports point to Rwandan backing for the M23 up until the capture of Goma on November 20, 2012. Since then, however, support appears to have declined (perhaps also because there has been a de facto truce with the Congolese army during the Kampala negotiations). However, if the Rwandan army had wanted to prevent the implosion, they most likely could have. Also, if they had wanted to solve Bosco’s ammo problem, they could have easily sent bullets and mortar rounds across the border. So why didn’t it? Had the aid cuts affected its view of the conflict, and the M23 squabbles looked like a way out?

How did Bosco get to the US embassy?

Again, there appear to be more questions than answers. It is obvious that Bosco thought his choice was the ICC or probable death��but at the hands of whom? And was it his choice to make?

The first version, supported by many current and former M23 soldiers, has Bosco crossing the border along with the rest of his troops, probably on 14 or 15 March, being arrested by the Rwandan army and debriefed. They then decided that they didn’t want yet another Congolese rebel under house arrest in Rwanda��Laurent Nkunda and Jules Mutebutsi are enough of a headache, and Bosco’s ICC warrant would certainly make him a more difficult case.

But why would the Rwandan government hand Bosco over to the US embassy, where he immediately asked to be transferred to the ICC? The Rwandan government opposes the ICC, and is probably concerned by some of the revelations that Bosco could make on the stand. After all, Kigali backed the UPC armed group for whose crimes Bosco is now answering, as well as the CNDP and M23. If this version is correct, it may be that Rwanda was not left any good options and preferred Bosco being sent to the ICC than having him sit around under house arrest in Rwanda (or worse). After all, Bosco’s former UPC boss Thomas Lubanga stood trial for 5 years without any revelations being made about outside support to his group.

The second version, supported by ex-CNDP officers, diplomats and Congolese and Rwandan intelligence agents, suggests that Bosco slipped across the border, evading detection and eventually arriving at the US embassy in downtown Kigali. According to this version, he took advantage of his contacts in the Rwandan army, as well as his ethnic kin and family in Ruhengeri, to escape arrest. There have even been reports of Rwandan intelligence agents being arrested for failing in their duties to detect him.

True? Hard to say��Bosco does have friends and family in Rwanda, as well as a lot of money. But if he wanted to hand himself over to the ICC, why not just go to the MONUSCO base in Kibati (just north of Goma), which was under his control up until the last minute? It would probably have been safer for him. And could he really escape detection by Rwandan security services, who have extensive contacts with M23 members and good control over their own country?

Will he be transferred to the ICC?

Yes. There has been a lot of conjecture about the fact that the US is not signatory of the Rome Statute; Congolese analysts have also been suggesting that since the US is an ally to Rwanda, they might not want to transfer him, or that he will have to get from the US embassy to the airport, going through Rwandan territory.

At the end, none of this matters or is accurate. The Obama administration has not signed the ICC (it thinks it would be difficult to push it through domestically), but it backs the court. The expansion of the Rewards for Justice program last year to include individuals indicted by the ICC was an expression of that support��and it put a $ 5 million reward on Bosco’s head (no one is thought to have picked it up, however). And President Kagame has now said that it will not block Bosco’s extradition. So it’s just a matter of time.

What will the impact be of his transfer to the ICC?

In part, it strengthens Makenga’s hand��he is now rid of a large faction of his officers and political leaders who had been a thorn in his side. While he has probably lost over a third of his troops to death or defection, he has rationalized his military chain of command and now has more reliable politicians to represent him in Kampala. While he is now rid of all of the officers with serious legal problems (except himself), it is unclear whether this will result in a peace deal in Kampala. M23 delegates say that they can’t accept the terms proposed by Kabila, which amount to integration with almost nothing in return. In particular, they insist on good ranks, political positions, the return of refugees, and a generous amnesty. As one of Makenga’s officers told me today, just before a meeting of the officer corps, “Alituambia: vita ingali. Kungali njia mrefu.” (He told us: there is still war. The road is still long).

On the other hand, Rwanda emerges with a boost to its reputation. While it isn’t clear what role it played in Bosco’s surrender, at the very least they signed off on the implosion of the M23, which makes it look like their are more part of the solution than the problem. In recent weeks, the World Bank has disbursed $ 50 million of the cut aid, and other donors may soon follow suit.

What will happen at the ICC? Bosco is reportedly more of a slam dunk that other cases currently being tried. Given his direct involvement in military operations, there is strong evidence against him for the Ituri crimes (rape, recruitment of child soldiers, murder, pillage). In addition, the prosecutor will seek to add charges related to his time as chief of staff of the CNDP (2006-2009).

So, in sum, Bosco’s arrest won’t bring peace to the eastern Congo, but Bosco’s arrest does spell a victory in the battle against impunity and the dismantling to one of the barriers to a peace process in the country.

Source: Congo Siasa.

A Rwandan man who faces charges of genocide allegedly carried out during the country’s 1994 massacre lost his appeal Friday against extradition from Denmark.

The Copenhagen court of appeal upheld a lower court’s November ruling that found a justice ministry decision to extradite the man was legal.

The 50-year-old schoolteacher, whose name was not released but is referred to in court documents as “A”, failed to prove that he would not receive a fair trial in Rwanda, the court said in a statement.

“The extradition of A would not represent an infringement of the minimum standard outlined by the�European�Convention on Human Rights,” the court added.

The suspect, a Hutu who claims he is innocent, has lived in Denmark for the past 12 years and has a wife and four children in the Scandinavian country.

In 2008, Rwandan authorities asked Copenhagen to either extradite the man or prosecute him in Denmark.

Danish authorities decided to prosecute him, but discovered they could not press charges for genocide under Danish law. Instead they indicted him for murder.

The Danish law has since changed to allow acts of genocide committed abroad to be prosecuted in Denmark, but the law cannot be applied retroactively.

In February 2012, Rwandan authorities demanded the man’s extradition.

According to the Danish murder indictment, the man gave orders to kill hundreds of ethnic Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.

He has fought both the extradition request from Rwanda and the Danish indictment.

The Danish murder case has been postponed until June 2013, pending the outcome of the extradition case.

Since the man is now expected to be extradited, that case will likely not go ahead but it will ultimately be up to the prosecution to decide.

While the suspect is not normally allowed to appeal Friday’s ruling, he can seek special permission to take his case to the Supreme Court.

Approximately 800,000 Tutsis were killed in the Rwanda genocide.

Source: Global Post

Fugitive Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda

A Congolese warlord who faces war crimes charges flew out of Rwanda on Friday after he had surrendered to the U.S. Embassy there this week, requesting that he be transferred to the International Criminal Court, a diplomatic source said.

Asked whether Bosco Ntaganda had left, the diplomatic source said: “He is wheels up now.”

The source did not give any further details but a top U.S. official had said this week that they were working for a swift transfer to the ICC in The Hague from the U.S. embassy.

Source: Reuters

Remembering the victims of the Rwandan genocide is undoubtedly a noble action.
Every year, in April, the Rwandan Government invites everybody to remember the genocide against Tutsis. It is on purpose that Kagame’s government emphasizes the “genocide against Tutsis” as it is labelled in this invitation of the Rwandan High Commissioner in the UK, ignoring that there was at the same time a “genocide against Hutus”.

It beggars belief that until now, the Dean of Southwark who conducts the commemoration service in London every year, continues playing a such divisive and dangerous game and doesn’t ask relevant question about the Hutu victims of the Rwandan genocide which, as evidence shows, started in october 1990 and went far beyond 1994.
At this occasion, I urge Kagame’s Western supporters to think again and cease the double standard game. What interest do they really have in playing the game of Kagame’s RPF whose actions in Rwanda and Congo have claimed lives of more than those claimed by Hitler’s Nazi?

This year’s commemoration service should be used to remember ALL THE VICTIMS of the Rwandan tragedy, without frustrating one ethnic group in the Rwandan community. Those advocating for reconciliation know very well that reconciliation won’t be possible unless the whole truth is said and dealt with. This year’s commemoration events should be another opportunity for individuals, states and institutions to push Kagame to recognise and respect the value of life and humanity and to make significant steps towards the protection and upholding of the fundamental human rights in Rwanda.

Bosco Ntaganda – “The Smiling Terminator”

Situation:�Democratic Republic of the Congo
Case:�The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda

Today, Friday, 22 March 2013, Bosco Ntaganda, against whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued two arrest warrants, surrendered himself voluntarily and is now in the ICC�s custody. Bosco Ntaganda is currently escorted by an ICC delegation that has left Kigali (Rwanda) heading to the ICC detention centre in The Hague (Netherlands).

Upon arrival, Mr Ntaganda will receive a medical visit and will appear, as soon as possible, before the Judges in the presence of a Defence Lawyer. The date of the initial appearance hearing will be announced soon. During the initial appearance hearing, the Judges of Pre-Trial Chamber II will verify the identity of the suspect and the language in which he is able to follow the proceedings. Mr Ntaganda will be informed of the charges against him. The Judges will also schedule a date for the opening of the confirmation of charges hearing, a preliminary step to decide whether the case will be referred to a trial or not.

This is the first time that a suspect has surrendered himself voluntarily to be in the ICC�s custody. On behalf of the Court, the ICC Registrar Silvana Arbia is grateful for the support and cooperation of the Dutch and American authorities, both in Kigali (Rwanda) and in the Netherlands. This operation would not have been possible without the support of the Rwandese authorities.

The cooperation of the Congolese State has been essential for the ICC investigations in Ituri and in the Kivus (Democratic Republic of the Congo). The ICC issued two warrants of arrest for Bosco Ntaganda on 22 August 2006 and on 13 July 2012. As the former alleged Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the�Forces Patriotiques pour la Lib�ration du Congo�[Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo] (FPLC), Mr Ntaganda is suspected of seven counts of war crimes (enlistment of children under the age of 15, conscription of children under the age of 15, using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities; murder, attacks against the civilian population, rape and sexual slavery, and pillaging) and three counts of crimes against humanity (murder, rape and sexual slavery, and persecution) allegedly committed in Ituri (Democratic Republic of the Congo) between 1 September 2002 and the end of September 2003.

Source: ICC.