RWANDA-DRC:Les parrains de Kigali dos au mur

Adapte de Le Potentiel 

L’oral passé devant le Comité des sanctions des Nations unies par la délégation rwandaise n’a convaincu personne. Face à des preuves indémontables, la ruse de Kigali n’a pas trouvé preneur. Les parrains viennent de prendre la mesure des égarements du régime Kagame. Face à ces évidences, les USA et la Grande-Bretagne sont soumis à une épreuve de choix entre un soutien aveugle aux conséquences humanitaires dramatiques et des sanctions plus coercitives contre Kigali.

Echec et mât ! La ligne défensive adoptée par Kigali au Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies n’a pas convaincu. La détermination de la délégation congolaise, conduite à New York par Raymond Tshibanda, ministre des Affaires étrangères et Coopération internationale, porte d’autant plus que les membres du Conseil n’ont pu disculper Kigali sur son soutien au M23.

Les envoyés de Paul Kagame ont eu du mal à démonter les preuves accablantes apportées par Kinshasa, leur laissant une seule issue : la compréhension des membres du Conseil de sécurité afin d’échapper aux sanctions et à des poursuites. Un exercice qui n’est pas gagné d’avance.

Kinshasa engrange des points

Le vent a tourné en faveur de Kinshasa. Kigali se trouve du mauvais côté du tableau, la roue de l’histoire ayant changé de cap. Les déboires diplomatiques qu’enregistre le régime de Paul Kagame démontrent que la communauté internationale n’est plus disposée à prendre comme de l’argent comptant les ruses de Kigali sur tout ce qui se produit depuis les années 1990 dans la partie Est de la RDC.

Devant le Conseil de sécurité, les ministres rwandais et congolais des Affaires étrangères ont passé séparément un oral en rapport avec la situation d’instabilité qui règne dans l’Est de la RDC. Une étape préalable avant la publication de la version finale du rapport de l’ONU qui a dénoncé le soutien du Rwanda aux rebelles du M23.

Premier à rendre la parole, Louise Mishikiwabo s’est évertuée à démontrer que son pays n’est pas impliqué directement ou indirectement dans la guerre qui sévit en RDC. Dans sa plaidoirie, la ministre rwandaise des Affaires étrangères a estimé que les preuves contre son pays relèvent d’«une imagination créatrice» des autorités congolaises. Les experts onusiens sont également passés à la trappe.

Pour la délégation rwandaise, ces experts onusiens ont rendu un rapport soumis à la manipulation de la partie congolaise : «Quant au groupe d’experts de l’ONU, ces jeunes hommes et femmes qui ont rédigé le rapport, comme Steven Hege, qui prône la négociation avec les FDLR, il a aussi été manipulé par le gouvernement congolais». La sentence de Kigali contre les experts onusiens ne s’arrête pas en si bon chemin : «Comment les Nations unies peuvent-elles désigner comme experts des gens aussi jeunes, aussi peu expérimentés, qui se perdent même dans les acronymes. Même leur intégrité est sujette à caution… Ils n’ont pas le niveau de compréhension minimum nécessaire dans cette région», déclare James Kabarebe dans le blog de Colette Braeckman, journaliste belge au quotidien Le soir, spécialiste des Grands Lacs.

L’embarras

Le caractère subjectif avéré de cette ligne de défense rwandaise a visiblement agacé les parrains de Kigali.
Déjà, des sanctions symboliques avaient été prises contre Kigali. Les Etats-Unis, partenaire privilégié du Rwanda, ont gelé une assistance militaire de 200 000 Usd. D’autres bailleurs de fonds ont suivi la même voie, notamment la Suède, les Pays-Bas, la Grande-Bretagne et l’Allemagne. Ces Etats qui disposent de «grandes ambassades» dans la sous-région, ne peuvent pas se mouvoir sans avoir obtenu des informations objectivement vérifiées leur permettant de prendre des sanctions appropriées.

Par le passé, il aurait suffi que le Rwanda embouche la trompette du génocide pour que les éternels parrains se montrent insensibles aux justifications venant d’ailleurs. Il se faisait même que la partie congolaise soit privée de tribune après tout passage des émissaires de Kigali.

Dépourvu de moyens de défense devant un auditoire presque acquis à la cause de Kigali, il était apparu que la cause congolaise ne pouvait trouver un écho favorable. Plus de dix années passées, les parrains du Rwanda sont revenus à la raison. Le génocide, fonds de commerce maintes fois présenté, ne fait plus recette au sein de la communauté internationale. Les parrains de Kigali ont maintenant compris que cette ruse servait les intérêts d’une bande d’affairistes déterminées à se servir des richesses congolaises au détriment de la paix et de la cohabitation pacifique entre les deux peuples.

Vivant grâce à la perfusion permanente de la communauté internationale, le Rwanda ne pourrait pas soutenir encore plus longtemps une guerre sur le territoire congolais. Cette manière de couper les vivres à un filleul belliciste est de nature à tempérer ses ardeurs ainsi que sa propension à tout régler par la violence.
Dans une interview récente, le président Kagame n’avait-il pas déclaré avoir reçu mission de «faire partir Joseph Kabila par tous les moyens» ? Les Etats-Unis et la France étaient nommément cités.

A ce jour, l’un des plus proches collaborateurs du président rwandais, le ministre de la Défense James Kabarebe s’est déclaré, se confiant à Colette Braeckman, que «la frustration de l’Occident qui voulait arrêter Bosco Ntaganda et poussait le président Kabila à le faire» est la cause du désamour avec l’Occident.

A en croire cette même personnalité rwandaise, qui passe pour le n°2 du régime de Kigali, les parrains voulaient que cette arrestation se fasse avec le concours du Rwanda. Ce camouflet justifie-t-il un changement aussi radical du traitement réservé à Kigali ? Difficile de le prendre sans l’avoir préalablement passé à une analyse rigoureuse.
En réalité, les faits sont tellement flagrants, voire évidents, que devant leurs opinions publiques respectives, les parrains de Kigali ne pouvaient valablement pas présenter des justifications plausibles.

Dos au mur, les parrains de Kigali ont devant eux un choix cornélien à opérer : soit poursuivre le soutien et sombrer dans les travers d’une prédation contraire aux pratiques généralement admises entre Etats civilisés, pour ne pas être soumis au même traitement que ces dirigeants en cas de procès. Soit lâcher tout soutien à Kigali.
Les neuf millions de morts enregistrés à ce jour dans l’Est de la RDC appellent réparation, d’une part. D’autre part, cette communauté internationale, si prompte à donner des leçons sur les valeurs morales, fera porter le chapeau, tôt ou tard à des exécutants de cette sale besogne.

Chantres de l’impunité, les maîtres du monde ne pourront pas effacer allègrement les traces de la disparition de plusieurs millions de personne sans émouvoir leurs populations respectives. Kigali n’a pas compris que ce jeu malsain ne pouvait pas durer indéfiniment. Par devoir de moralité, les parrains de Kigali ne sont plus disposés à porter cette responsabilité en public. L’exécutant – le Rwanda -  qui a pris goût à la prédation sans prendre des précautions d’usage, voit ainsi sa responsabilité pénale être agitée comme un épouvantail.

Le coin de voile levé au Comité des sanctions des Nations unies démontre à suffisance que l’épée de Damoclès est suspendue sur la tête des dirigeants rwandais impliqués dans le drame de l‘Est de la RDC.
Le mystère qui reste à élucider serait celui de savoir si les exécutants de la sous-région seront seuls au box des accusés lorsqu’il s’agira de rendre compte par rapport à tout ce qui se passe dans l’Est de la RDC. Agaçant !

RWANDA:Les sanctions des Nations unies attendues

Goma, le 28-08-2012

La ligne de défense de Kigali n’a convaincu personne au Conseil de sécurité. La réplique de 130 pages présentée par la ministre rwandaise Mishikiwabo n’a pas pu distraire la lucidité des membres du Conseil qui ont réservé une fin de non recevoir à cette argumentation cousue d’un tissu de contre-vérités. Les violations documentées par les experts onusiens sont donc indémontables. Les sanctions diplomatiques et les poursuites pénales sont attendues dans les tout prochains jours.
La débauche d’énergie déployée par Kigali pour nier l’évidence de son implication dans la déstabilisation de la République démocratique du Congo, en agissant à travers le M23, n’a pas payé. N’étant pas dupes, les membres du Conseil de sécurité sont restés circonspects vis-à-vis de l’argumentaire développé par Kigali. Le rapport des experts onusiens sur la violation de l’embargo sur les armes décrété contre les groupes armés dans l’Est de la RDC ne laisse aucune issue de dérobade pour Kigali. Pris la main dans le sac, le soutien de Kigali au M23 est suffisamment documenté par des preuves variées, des témoignages des déserteurs …
Une unanimité jamais réussie auparavant s’est dégagée pour démonter la stratégie du régime de Kagame contre la RDC. Journalistes, défenseurs des droits de l’Homme, experts des Nations unies tout comme les Casques bleus et les populations s’évertuent, tous, à apporter des preuves irréfutables du soutien avéré des autorités rwandaises aux rebelles du M23. Plus rien ne laisse transparaitre l’ombre d’un doute sur l’implication totale du régime de Kigali dans la préparation et le renforcement de la rébellion du M23 en territoire congolais.
Les éléments de défense, qui consistent à soutenir mordicus que la cause de l’instabilité en RDC serait interne à la RDC, sont d’une autre époque. La recette ne paie plus dans la mesure où la forfaiture suit un modus operandi mémorisé par plus d’un membre de la communauté internationale. Colette Braeckman, journaliste belge très au fait de l’évolution de la situation dans la sous-région des Grands Lacs africains partage le même avis sur la contre-attaque du Rwanda au Conseil de sécurité : «Répondant point par point aux accusations de l’ONU, le Rwanda a produit un rapport de 130 pages mais sur place nul n’a été convaincu».
Selon notre consœur, «le seul argument convaincant produit par le Rwanda est que cette guerre lui est nuisible : elle ternit la réputation du président Kagame, célébré pour ses succès économiques et sa lutte contre la corruption, elle retarde des investissements prévus dans les régions voisines du Congo (la forêt de Nyungwe entre autres), elle bloque l’intégration régionale, elle ravive les rancœurs au Congo, elle détruit un équilibre régional relatif, injuste, mais qui avait stabilisé la région depuis 2009, elle suscite des sanctions internationales et risque de replonger la région dans une nouvelle guerre et de rendre du tonus aux groupes de combattants hutu qui étaient en passe d’être défaits par des opérations militaires conjointes rwando-congolaises».
Les sanctions
La conséquence logique, qui se dégage de cette reprise de conscience de la réalité de la situation, est que des sanctions diplomatiques doivent tomber. Plusieurs hypothèses en présence sont envisageables. D’abord, de la part du Conseil de sécurité qui peut prendre une résolution condamnant explicitement le Rwanda de violation de l’embargo sur les armes en direction des groupes armés opérant en RDC. Dans ce cas, la rupture de toute forme de coopération militaire avec Kigali doit être envisagée.
Les premiers pas posés par les USA, la Suède et les Pays-Bas, à travers des suspensions symboliques de leur assistance au Rwanda, doivent monter en intensité pour prendre une ampleur plus étendue.
L’arrêt instantané de la coopération de différents bailleurs de fonds avec Kigali serait un signal fort pouvant mettre un terme définitif à cette instabilité permanente. Le régime rwandais, qui vit des perfusions de la communauté internationale, ne supportera pas longtemps la poursuite d’une guerre «nuisible».
Une autre hypothèse, non négligeable, serait des poursuites pénales contre le réseau d’élites qui peaufinent des scénarii sur le territoire rwandais contre la RDC. La justice internationale a démontré qu’elle n’est plus disposée à verser les crimes imprescriptibles dans la corbeille des «charges et pertes diverses». Depuis un temps, les criminels internationaux sont traqués, permettant aux victimes de trouver réparation tôt ou tard.
Quelqu’un répondra du sang de près de 9 million de Congolais tombés pour assouvir la cupidité de certains dirigeants aux commandes des affaires au Rwanda. L’ampleur de cette comptabilité macabre crée l’émoi face à l’indifférence qui a toujours caractérisé des puissances du monde.
Le dernier mot à Kinshasa
Pour actionner cette procédure, la tâche de la procureure près la Cour pénale internationale est facilitée par le travail des experts onusiens et des ONG. Il ne reste plus qu’à Kinshasa de la mettre en branle, en saisissant officiellement la justice pénale internationale afin que les crimes commis sur les Congolais ne restent pas impunis. Une plainte en bonne et due forme doit être déposée contre tous ceux qui sont impliqués dans cette triste entreprise ayant causé la mort des millions de Congolais et des millions de déplacés internes et de réfugiés, en plus de la déstabilisation du pays entier.

RWANDA:Rwanda - États-Unis (et alliés): le divorce, c'est maintenant!

Blaise Ndala From Huffington post

Juriste des droits de l’Homme

RECEVEZ LES INFOS DE Blaise Ndala

 

Publication: 28/08/2012 06:22

Le bal a été ouvert le 22 juillet par nul autre que le Département d'État américain, lequel a annoncé dans un communiqué "ne plus pouvoir fournir au Rwanda de financement militaire" en 2012, soit une enveloppe plutôt modeste de 200.000 dollars. Mais plus que l'impact budgétaire, c'et bien le symbole politique qu'il faille retenir. Symbole émanant d'un pays qui, depuis la prise de pouvoir par Paul Kagamé à la fin du génocide de 1994, a fait du Rwanda son "chouchou", devenant son premier pourvoyeur d'aide bilatérale. Ce n'est point un secret : à l'égard de ceux que le sort, sous notre indifférence coupable, a laissés aussi déterminés que hargneux, il n'est pas rare que notre sympathie à rebours s'avère sans bornes. Pour le meilleur et pour le pire.
Les temps changent
La marche du temps, pourtant, bouscule les états d'âme. Et les États. Derrière les mots des diplomates américains, une menace qui ne saurait laisser indifférent Kagamé, hier persona grata de l'Amérique et de ses alliés occidentaux, aujourd'hui dans l'eau bouillante. Au quotidien britannique The Guardian, c'est Stephen Rapp, le patron du bureau de la Justice criminelle internationale au Département d'État, qui dévoile jusqu'où l'ancien parrain serait prêt à aller. Son pays, nous fait-il comprendre, pourrait sceller ce qui se décline désormais comme la chronique d'un divorce que nul n'a prévu, que nul n'a vu venir. Selon ses dires, Kagamé pourrait être un jour poursuivi pour "complicité des crimes de guerre" commis dans un pays voisin. On n'avait jamais entendu un officiel américain tenir de tels propos, pas même en 1998, lorsque des soldats rwandais de l'APR appuyant le RCD-Goma, mouvement politico-militaire créé à Kigali et dirigé par des comparses congolais, étaient aux portes de Kinshasa. C'est donc à une inflexion, mieux, à un virage à 180 degrés que procède l'administration Obama. Même si ce n'est pas demain que Kagamé se retrouvera devant un juge.
Rapport accablant et mesures de coercition en cascades
Tout est parti du rapport de l'ONU publié en juin et confirmant les allégations des ONG selon lesquelles la rébellion du M23 qui sévit dans le Nord-Kivu congolais bénéficierait de l'aide directe des dignitaires rwandais, pourvoyeurs d'armes et de recrues aux insurgés. Une vérité de la Palice pour quiconque s'intéresse un tant soit peu aux crises à répétition de l'Est du Congo. On parle du Kivu, une région riche en minerais, sur laquelle Kigali a toujours voulu garder une mainmise et que le pouvoir de Kinshasa, dont l'armée et les services de renseignement furent naguère réorganisés avec l'aide du même Rwanda, peine à administrer efficacement.
Dans un billet antérieur, alors que l'on nous annonçait la "mutinerie" des éléments fidèles au criminel de guerre présumé Bosco Ntaganda et qui allaient s'organiser plus tard en "mouvement politico-militaire", je rappelais ce qui a toujours semblé à bien d'observateurs comme une évidence. La stabilisation du Kivu restera un leurre tant que nul ne contraindra Paul Kagamé à vouloir la paix au moins autant que ses voisins congolais.
Après près de vingt ans d'une idylle qui a succédée à celle, tridécennale qui l'avait liée au dictateur de l'ex-Zaïre le maréchal Mobutu, l'Amérique tape donc du poing sur la table et rappelle à l'ordre son "petit soldat". Un geste aussitôt imité par les alliés traditionnels de Washington, en commençant par l'Allemagne qui a suspendu quelque 21 millions d'euros d'aide à Kigali, dans le cadre d'un plan courant de 2012 à 2015. Une mesure visant à lancer "un signal sans ambiguïté au gouvernement rwandais", selon Dirk Niebel, ministre de la coopération économique et du développement. Puis, ce fut le tour des Pays-Bas d'annoncer qu'ils suspendaient une partie de leur aide, évaluée à 5 millions d'euros, initialement destinés à améliorer le fonctionnement de la justice rwandaise. Le pays a par ailleurs invité ses partenaires européens à adopter une position commune de fermeté. Pour l'instant, cet appel a été entendu par les Suédois qui ont à leur tour coupé les vivres à Kigali, tant que le régime n'aura pas été blanchi des accusations de violation du droit international portées contre lui.
Dans la capitale congolaise où l'on se félicite de ces désaveux en série attendus depuis des lustres, on espère que d'autres grands joueurs de l'aide bilatérale en faveur du Rwanda, sortent de l'expectative. On pense avant tout à la Grande Bretagne, autre soutien important du Rwanda et dont l'ancien Premier ministre, Tony Blair, est à la fois le Conseiller spécial et l'ami de Paul Kagamé. On pense à l'ancienne puissance coloniale belge, dont le ministre des Affaires étrangères, Didier Reynders, vient de boucler un périple dans la région pour "écouter, comprendre, proposer l'aide de la Belgique". On pense aussi à la France, dont le volume d'aide bilatérale est certes modeste, mais qui demeure un acteur de premier rang sur le continent. Mais si François Hollande vient de faire savoir qu'il se rendra bel et bien au Sommet de la Francophonie abrité par Kinshasa en octobre prochain, il ne faut pas être fin analyste pour parier que Paris se trouvera toutes les excuses possibles pour ne pas énerver davantage Kagamé. Surtout après que ce dernier eut refusé de donner son agrément à la nomination d'Hélène Le Gal comme ambassadeur à Kigali.
L'arbre du génocide ne cache plus la forêt des crimes présumés du régime FPR
Quelle qu'en soit l'ampleur, ce que l'on peut observer avec ce grand virage dans les relations bilatérales entre les capitales occidentales et le Rwanda, c'est que les (anciens) parrains du régime de Kigali semblent de moins en moins hantés par la culpabilité post-génocide de 1994. Continuer à faire semblant que la bonne santé économique du Rwanda et ses réels efforts de lutte contre la corruption suffisent à lui garantir un permis de déstabiliser la région est une recette qui semble avoir fait date. Même si, faut-il également le mentionner, l'exploitation illégale des ressources minières du Kivu, en particulier le coltan, a longtemps fait le bonheur des places boursières du Nord.
S'il est difficile de cerner tous les tenants et aboutissants de la volte-face occidentale à l'égard de Kagamé, on peut néanmoins noter qu'elle s'inscrit dans une longue tradition des relations Nord-Sud, dont les faux visionnaires parmi les dirigeants africains ne tirent, hélas, aucune leçon. Les grandes puissances ont-elles un agenda politique à réaliser dans une région de l'Afrique (ou ailleurs) ? Elles se fabriquent un homme lige qu'elles aident à se hisser, puis à se maintenir au pouvoir. Ce comparse séduit l'opinion internationale pendant X temps - aidé en cela par les médias du Nord qui lui trouvent toutes les vertus qui auraient manquées à ses prédécesseurs - et lorsque l'agenda change et que l'enfant gâté se gâte vraiment, les maîtres changent leur fusil d'épaule. On se met alors à parler de lui comme d'un monstre que l'on vient tout juste de découvrir. Bokassa, Hussein Habré, Mobutu, Charles Taylor, longue est la liste de ces tristes sires qui se sont réveillés trop tard.
Les diasporas, nouveaux foyers du conflit rwando-congolais
Dans l'entre-temps, Kigali continue à clamer son "innocence", agaçant nombre de gouvernements africains. Quant à l'armée congolaise soutenue par la plus grosse mission des casques bleus jamais créée par l'ONU (la MONUSCO), elle étale son incapacité à protéger les populations civiles exposées aux violences. Mal réélu, fort critiqué, y compris par d'anciens proches de son défunt père Laurent-Désiré Kabila qui l'accusent de manquer de cran face à un régime qui n'aurait que trop humilié les Congolais, le président Joseph Kabila continue à privilégier la carte diplomatique. À défaut d'engranger des victoires militaires. Dans son camp, l'on se félicite de la mise au ban de "l'ennemi". L'on mise sur la création prochaine de la "force internationale neutre" à déployer le long de la frontière rwando-congolaise afin de stopper les infiltrations rwandaises. L'opposition politique, elle, se gausse devant tant d'optimisme tendant à faire croire qu'une solution pourrait venir d'une énième force étrangère. Et de pointer du doigt la MONUSCO dont l'impressionnant arsenal militaire déployé sur le terrain est moqué par des rebelles pourtant faibles en nombre et à la puissance de feu limitée.
Et voilà que le conflit a traversé les mers pour jeter ses tentacules dans la galaxie des diasporas des deux pays voisins. Il ne s'agit plus seulement des marches de protestation et autres sit-in des Congolais devant les ambassades rwandaises outre-Atlantique. À Bruxelles, il est arrivé que des membres de l'aile dure de la mouvance dite des "Combattants" de la cause congolaise, s'attaquent physiquement à des sujets d'origine rwandaise. Au point que les autorités de la région Bruxelles-Capitale ont décidé de se pencher sérieusement sur la question, des cas d'agression ayant été signalés récemment dans le métro bruxellois et à Matonge, la place emblématique des Congolais, dans la commune d'Ixelles. Une association des Rwandais de Belgique, "Jambo asbl", a pour sa part mis en ligne une vidéo dans laquelle elle lance un appel à la raison en direction des deux communautés et dénonce le régime "criminel" de Paul Kagamé. Un régime dont, selon elle, les Rwandais seraient également des victimes.
Reste à savoir si ces différents messages lancés de façon plus ou moins contraignante à Paul Kagamé, sont de nature à contribuer à faire taire les armes et à pacifier les relations entre deux peuples que l'Histoire et la géographie condamnent au dialogue. Si l'optimisme reste un impératif, il est encore tôt pour lancer les paris, s'agissant d'un conflit qui a vu beaucoup de lendemains déchanter

RWANDA-KAGAME:The end of the west's humiliating affair with Paul Kagame

The US has belatedly woken up to the warts-and-all reality of the Rwandan president. When will Britain acknowledge that its development darling may have feet of clay?

Paul Kagame meets the former US president Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, in Rwanda. Photograph: Cyril Ndegeya/AP

A "visionary leader," said Tony Blair; "one of the greatest leaders of our time," echoed Bill Clinton. Such hero worship is usually reserved for South Africa's Nelson Mandela. But Blair and Clinton were describing the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.
The UK and US have staked their pride, reputations and ability to judge character, not to mention hundreds of millions of pounds in aid, on Kagame's powers of post-genocide healing and reconciliation matching those of Mandela after apartheid.
That is why the US decision to cut aid, and now to warn Kagame that he could even face criminal prosecution over meddling in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, is a humiliating but long overdue reversal.
It piles the pressure on Britain to make a similar admission that its long-time darling, revered as a success story that underpins an entire ideology around donor development aid, could have feet of clay.
There are two main reasons why Kagame's Rwanda has been bulletproof for so long. One is western guilt over doing nothing to stop the 1994 genocide, in which 800,000 people perished. Clinton, whose most recent visit was last week, has described it as "my personal failure".
The UK, US and others rushed to embrace the east African state's new leadership and support the rebuilding of the country: Rwanda was a special case, and would be given more leeway than most. The aid taps were turned on and the money flowed, with tangible results: great gains in education and health and in the reduction of crime and poverty.
Secondly, then, Rwanda has come to symbolise what donor aid can do. It has been a trump card for the defence of the Department for International Development (DfID) when the Treasury attempts to turn the screws.
Britain is the country's biggest bilateral donor, with an average of £83m a year.
"When Clare Short was secretary of state, she was Kagame's number-one fan," says Carina Tertsakian, Human Rights Watch's senior researcher on Rwanda. "In her eyes, he could do no wrong. We're still living with the legacy of that now. Tony Blair was also taken in."
Blair was, and remains, one of Kagame's most ardent cheerleaders, and an unpaid adviser. His charity, the Africa Governance Initiative, places young interns in Rwandan government offices. Eighteen months ago, he told the Guardian: "I'm a believer in, and a supporter of, Paul Kagame. I don't ignore all those criticisms, having said that. But I do think you've got to recognise that Rwanda is an immensely special case because of the genocide.
"Secondly, you can't argue with the fact that Rwanda has gone on a remarkable path of development. Every time I visit Kigali and the surrounding areas, you can just see the changes being made in the country."
David Cameron appears almost equally enamoured, and the current development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, visited Rwanda only last week. He said he had delivered "frank messages" to both Rwanda and Congo about the current instability and violence.
Diplomatic language apart, however, Britain has been painfully silent about Rwanda's pernicious influence in its war-torn neighbour. The recent UN group of experts' report named names in the Rwandan government and military who are in contact with Congolese rebels, feeding from the trough of its mineral resources and supplying weapons and uniforms.
Yet Kagame categorically denies it , and Britain apparently believes him, or can't bear to disbelieve, lest it suffer buyer's remorse.
"Kagame was here last week and told a barefaced lie to David Cameron and other British officials," says one UK-based analyst. "He denied Rwandan meddling in Congo even though the evidence is overwhelming."
Britain and others have turned a similarly blind eye to Rwanda's domestic affairs. The state has been accused of murder and intimidation; political opponents and journalists have been jailed.
In 2008, the Economist said of Kagame: "Although he vigorously pursues his admirers in western democracies, he allows less political space and press freedom at home than Robert Mugabe does in Zimbabwe."
The warts-and-all reality has been dawning on the US for some time. In 2010 it sounded warnings that "the political environment ahead of the election has been riddled by a series of worrying actions taken by the government of Rwanda, which appear to be attempts to restrict the freedom of expression". Kagame was re-elected with 93% of the vote.
None of this fits the development darling narrative, however. Instead, it is much less unpleasant for visiting diplomatics to admire the transformation of the capital, Kigali, with its safety, orderliness and cleanliness (there is a ban on plastic bags).
Rwanda has a flourishing economy and well-oiled PR machine, and the affable Kagame uses that most democratic of media, Twitter.
In decades past, the west has been criticised for applying selective vision to the sins of leaders such as Mugabe and Idi Amin until late in the day. America, it seems, is reluctantly removing the scales from its eyes regarding Paul Kagame. For Washington it may merely represent the end of a beautiful friendship; for London, it will feel more like a broken heart.

RWANDA:Trial exposes Rwandan opposition crackdown

August 28 2012 at 12:12pm
By Sapa-AFP from DAILY NEWS

---

AP

Kayumba Nyamwasa

Fearing assassination, Rwanda's ex-army boss Kayumba Nyamwasa said in an interview how he swam across a river and fled for safety halfway around Africa, only to be shot in the stomach four months later.

Now the trial of six men accused of trying to kill him in South Africa has put the spotlight on politics in his home country 2 600km away with assassination attempts, arbitrary detentions, and murky court cases.

Infamous for its 1994 genocide, Rwanda now is often touted as an African success: the economy grew 8.8 percent last year, while poverty and infant mortality rates have plunged over the past five years.

But Nyamwasa, who lives in exile in South Africa, said authorities' crackdown on opposition casts a shadow over the fairy tale.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame told parliament in April 2010 he would deal with the former general - his former adviser and army chief - like a hammer crushes a fly.

“Within two months I was shot,” Nyamwasa said in an interview in Johannesburg.

So far no evidence links Rwanda's government to the shooting, but Kigali has hired a lawyer to attend the hearings, as a observer.

The Rwandan government could not be reached for comment.

Nyamwasa described the shooting as part of a systematic “targeting” of Kagame's opponents.

“He kills, he imprisons, he fires any time any day, and nobody will go to court or any situation to challenge any decision.”

“Why is Rwanda so unique that you've got prime ministers in exile, you've got foreign ministers in exile, you've got former parliament members in exile, we've got journalists in exile, we've got armed officers in exile?”

Three Rwandans and three Tanzanians are accused of attempting to murder Nyamwasa in Johannesburg. He was shot in the stomach outside his home on June 19, 2010, four months after receiving political asylum in South Africa having fled a murder plot in Rwanda.

Nyamwasa said he was targeted because of his claims that Kagame ordered the shooting of a plane that carried president Juvenal Habyarimana in 1994. This set off a genocide during which members of the Hutu ethnic majority killed around 800 000 of the Tutsi minority in three months.

Nyamwasa himself is wanted by France for his alleged involvement in Habyarimana's death and by Spain for the deaths of Spanish citizens during the genocide.

The Nyamwasa case fits a larger picture in Rwanda, said Human Rights Watch researcher Carina Tertsakian.

“There's a very very clear pattern of repression of opposition and criticism more generally which even extends to human rights organisations and others.”

“If you take a case like the assassination attempt on Kayumba Nyamwasa that seems to very much fit into that pattern.”

A journalist accused the Rwandan government of involvement in the botched assassination. A week later he was shot dead in the Rwandan capital Kigali. Authorities later said a man had confessed to killing the journalist as revenge for murdering his brother in the 1994 genocide.

Nyamwasa's younger brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Rugigana Ngabo, was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment in July by a military court for threatening state security.

“Rwandans have been witch-hunted in reference to myself even in reference to my friends,” said Nyamwasa.

He's not alone.

A former opposition leader was jailed for four years in April, while another will hear her fate in September on similar charges.

All the cases have dragged on since 2010, which prevented the politicians from running in the polls that year. Puppet opposition parties competed instead against Kagame's RPF, which won 93 percent of the vote.

Months before the polls another opposition leader was decapitated.

Former president Pasteur Bizimungu was jailed in 2004 for embezzlement. He was released in 2007.

“It's one of the rare cases in Africa... where you can point to achievement, so the human rights problems are somewhat quite inconvenient because they spoil the good news story,” said Tertsakian. - Sapa-AFP

RWANDA:Friday 17.08.12: FDU-Inkingi and PS-Imberakuri public protest in Rwanda

Posted on August 17, 2012 adapted from the RISING CONTINENT

This Friday 17^th August, Rwandan and Congolese political opposition parties and civil society organisations introduced at the International Criminal Court at The Hague an official request to investigate Paul Kagame’s crimes against humanity and other atrocities with a genocide nature that his forces committed in Democratic Republic of Congo. 

At the same time, while this event unfolded in The Netherlands, members of Rwandan opposition parties inside Rwanda associated themselves with their colleagues in Europe and marched towards the central prison ‘1930’ of Kigali where their respective political leaders Victoire Ingabire, Chairperson of FDU-Inkingi, Bernard Ntaganda, Chairman of PS-Imberakuri, Deo Mushayidi, Chairman of PDP-Imanzi are held.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza facebook pages published the following message with pictures on the protest and explained that there have been as well some arrests.
FDU-Inkingi and PS-Imberakuri members marching towards the central prison of Kigali.
Members of the opposition in Kigali, FDU-Inkingi and PS Imberakuri, have demonstrated in Kigali as well. Supporting the action taken to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands against President Kagame and his accomplices, for war crimes, crimes against humanity committed in the DRC. Those crimes have been fully documented by UN reports, Mapping reports and the reports on M23 rebellion. In Kigali, 13 protesters have been arrested and held incommunicado. 
While the world and Rwandans particularly should salute the courage of these young people, the regime of Paul Kagame must be taken accountable for any harm that those arrested will be victims of under its control. It is important that names of those arrested be known to the general public, so they don’t disappear in the maze of the RPF system.
Donor countries that stopped or delayed aid to Rwanda because of Paul

Kagame illegal support of the Congolese rebel movement M23 should care more and more about Rwandan citizens who are victims of RPF persistent oppressive policies. Unfortunately, this has not been the case so far.  Freedom of speech and association are fundamental rights that should be guaranteed everywhere.
Members of Rwandan opposition political parties FDU-Inkingi and PS-Imberakuri

RWANDA-ICC:Groups: Investigate Rwanda's Kagame for War Crimes

From the Associated Press
Rwandan and Congolese groups opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame's rule asked the International Criminal Court on Friday to investigate him for war crimes for allegedly backing rebel groups in eastern Congo.
A small group gathered outside the court in The Hague, Netherlands, with banners reading "Kagame Assassin," and "Freedom for Congo."
The gesture is mostly symbolic, as it is up to Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to investigate Kagame. She is already probing members of the M23 rebel group in eastern Congo that formed this April with alleged ties to his regime across the border. Kagame denies involvement.
Christopher Black, a lawyer for the groups that want Kagame investigated, said Friday that Bensouda need only turn to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to launch a case against Kagame, asserting it has a "mountain" of evidence against him in its archives. Kagame has been an important military leader in Rwanda since 1990 and its president since 2000.
The U.N.-backed Rwanda tribunal, based in Tanzania, never pressed charges against Kagame, long seen as key ally for Western powers in central Africa.
But Friday's demand for action follows a report issued by the U.N. in July that accused high-ranking Rwandan officials of helping to create, arm and support the current M23 rebellion within Congo.

AP

FILE - In this July 11, 2012 file photo... View Full Caption

A bipartisan group of U.S. legislators on Aug. 3 also sent a strongly worded letter to Kagame saying they are "absolutely convinced that Rwanda is involved in supporting the unrest" in eastern Congo.
Several Western countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, have suspended some aid to Rwanda as a result.
Kagame, an ethnic Tutsi, has a history of intervention in eastern Congo. Rwanda first invaded its neighbor to the west in 1996, pursuing Rwandan Hutus who fled after committing the 1994 Rwandan genocide of some 800,000 Tutsis. It took Kagame a year to admit that his troops had invaded eastern Congo.
The move was in part self-defense as U.N. and Western powers failed to act while the "genocidaires" used the cover of massive refugee camps to arm themselves and make incursions into Rwanda.
Remnants of the genociders in Congo formed the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, which has become part of a never-ending cycle of violence in eastern Congo. Kagame's government fears they could one day invade Rwanda.
In response, Kagame first orchestrated a rebellion of Congolese Tutsis led by Rwandan soldiers that toppled Congo's longtime dictatorship and precipitated back-to-back civil wars that drew in the armies of eight African nations in a scramble for Congo's massive mineral resources. Some 5 million people died before the war ended in 2003.
After Rwandan troops withdrew under international pressure, Kagame turned to proxies, supporting a Congolese Tutsi-led rebellion that engulfed east Congo in 2008. To end that insurgency, Congo's President Joseph Kabila signed a pact allowing the rebels to integrate into the army and for Rwandan troops to come into Congo for three months to again hunt down the FDLR.
The mutinying soldiers who began this year's insurgency were once part of the 2008 rebellion.
Protestors outside the International Criminal Court Friday seemed most concerned with Kagame's possible involvement in events of the 1990s, especially leading up to and after the 1994 genocide. But the ICC would only have jurisdiction over any war crimes he committed after the court came into being in 2002.

RWANDA-ICC:ICC asked to prosecute Rwanda’s Kagame

Posted by AFP on August 17, 2012

Kigali has denied the charge/FILE

THE HAGUE, Aug 17 – Opponents of Rwanda’s long-time President Paul Kagame asked the International Criminal Court on Friday to pursue him over war crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. UN experts in a June report accused Kagame of supporting with arms and ammunition the rebels of the March 23 (M23) movement, which is fighting in the DR Congo’s volatile east. Kigali has denied the charge.
M23 has been fighting the Congolese army since April after a mutiny spurred by Tutsi army general Bosco Ntaganda, nicknamed “The Terminator”, against whom the ICC issued a fresh arrest warrant last month.
“We are asking the prosecutor to indict Paul Kagame,” said Nkiko Nsengimana, a coordinator of Rwanda’s United Democratic Forces (FDU) party. The FDU is the party of opposition leader Victoire Ingabire and is not recognised by Kigali.
Close to 100 protesters gathered outside the ICC’s heavily-fortified building in The Hague where they chanted slogans such as “Kagame, assassin!” and “Kagame under arrest”.
Lawyer Christopher Black said the request to prosecute Kagame for war crimes committed since March was filed on behalf of the FDU and a second opposition group, the Rwandan National Congress.
Florence Olara, spokeswoman for Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s office, acknowledged receipt of the Rwandan request, saying “we will analyse the information received as we do with all… communications to the Prosecutor.”
But she added: “We receive hundreds of such communications every year from all types of sources relating to the situations we investigate as well as others and we treat all of them equally.”

RWANDA-USA-ICC:ICC’s credibility hangs on indicting Paul Kagame

Adapted on August 15, 2012 from the Rising Continent

The Rome Statute which created the International Criminal Court entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 countries. The Court was established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. 
Many governments, including US and Rwanda, considering the unlawfulness of some of their foreign policies, have however opted out from the Statute, fearing that their citizens [soldiers and other professionals] while on official missions could fall under the jurisdiction of the Court.
Since its inception, ICC has mainly focused its work on African warlords and dictators. But surprisingly, its selective justice has targeted so far only alleged criminal leaders who don’t serve Western interests on the continent.
This attitude has made many African leaders and analysts see in ICC an international judicial instrument aimed at protecting only capitalist interests, as do other similar institutions such as ICTR, WB, IMF, WTO, and many others.
Friday 17^th August
In May 2012, in The Hague, ICC condemned former Liberian president Charles Taylor to 50 years of imprisonment for his role in the Sierra Leonean war and plundering of mineral resources.
On Friday 17^th August, almost for similar crimes, but with acute atrocities committed at unprecedented scale on the African continent, the case of the Rwandan president Paul Kagame is to be presented to ICC by representatives of Congolese and Rwandan opposition political parties and organisations of civil society. The group of representatives explains that, “Among the allegations against Kagame, there are all crimes committed between 1993 and 2003, his wars of expansion aimed at making Kivu province of Eastern Congo part of Rwanda, looting different minerals in the DRC as well as various violations of human rights that the Rwandan president and his affiliates are responsible of.” [Translation]
International criminal lawyer Christopher Black who will be advising the group legally explained to Ann Garrison the meaning of their action.“…they’ve taken that action because it gives the ICC temporal and territorial jurisdiction over Kagame and his forces. The prosecutor so far has only charged Congolese who seemed to stand in the way of Western interests in the Congo, and the FDU and the others are fed up with that, like everybody else is, and want the ICC to stop their policy of selective prosecution and charge people equally. So, since Museveni and Kagame have been the ones who’ve instigated all these wars and so-called rebellions in the eastern Congo, they should be charged. And that’s the object of the exercise.”
The Guardian on its part reveals that, “The demand to bring charges against Kagame has support among Congolese as well as opposition Rwandan politicians. “The politicians in Kinshasa are aware of these charges and they support them, although there have been no official statements as yet,” said Nzangi Butondo, a Congolese MP representing Goma. “We think now is the right time to [go to The Hague]. It is certainly something to raise publicity, but there is also the hope that the ICC will, as a result, at least launch an investigation into this affair.”
What has changed?
The Rwandan government has far too long built its internal and foreign policies on lies, so much so that even when they may be displaying some truth, it may fall in the overall picture of their usual lies.
Somewhere and somehow, among Kagame’s many Western backers, there are officials who consider him having caused too much suffering to the Great Lakes region populations.
Kagame’s RPF invaded Rwanda on October 1^st 1990 claiming to bring democracy and development in that country.
Today Rwanda has more political prisoners, exiled journalists, or overall abused human rights than at any time of its recent history.
The majority of Rwandans have been dispossessed and are starving because they are not allowed to plant their usual food of subsistence.
Kagame forces with affiliated armies of Uganda and Burundi invaded DRC twice [1996 and 1998] under the pretext of protecting Rwandan frontiers.
Instead, the Rwandan president and Yoweri Museveni, president of Uganda, exploited and stole DRC mineral resources worth millions of $ and continue until today.
Let’s not forget that these minerals end up in all today electronic devices [computers, mobiles, etc] that the world is so fond in its insatiable search for comfort.
Millions of Congolese and Rwandan refugees have died as a consequence.
The case which triggered an official demand for the mentioned group for Paul Kagame’s indictment is strong enough to get him effectively investigated.
It is supported by solid evidence. He has been massively supplying recruits and arms to M23, Congolese rebel movement which is active in North Kivu province since April 2012, fighting against DRC governmental forces.
Can this time humanity prevail against greed? The outcome of the complaint that these Congolese and Rwandan organisations present to ICC this Friday 17^th August will answer that question.
The request for Kagame’s indictment seems to be a test for ICC’s credibility in the eyes of the majority of Africans. It will confirm for them if that institution has not been another tool of imperialism against African interests.

RWANDA-UGAMDA:Col .Karegeya’s Daughter Stranded in Uganda With No Passport

By Martha Nakimuli
The daughter of Col. Patrick Karegeya, the  former Rwandan spymaster  who is exiled in South Africa is stranded in Uganda following the cancellation of her citizenship by Rwanda.
Portia Mbabazi Karegeya’s alternative Rwandan passport was withdrawn following the cancellation of her citizenship by Rwanda.
According to close sources, Mbabazi  said that her passport was confiscated by  Ugandan Immigration officials at Entebbe airport when she came into the country on June 5.

Mbabazi Karegeya

She said that the officials told him that Rwanda had cancelled her passport and it was invalid for travel. She suspects that her fate is surrounding her father’s political life who is currently wanted in Kigali over crimes he committed.
“I am stranded here; I know it is because of politics,” she said. “All I want is to be allowed to go and study.”
It is alleged that Mbabazi applied for a refugee status in South Africa at the same time holding a Rwandan passport.
It is said that after the cancellation of her Rwanda passport, Ugandan authorities issued  Mbabazi a passport on June 20, but seized it again at Entebbe airport on July 2, as she attempted to fly out using it by South African airways to Johannesburg.
Mbabazi has come to visit her  paternal grandmother lives in Mbarara, which the Karegeyas consider their second home.
Mbabazi was planning to head to Canada from South Africa where she was to commence her masters degree in law at McGill University in Quebec a course which is starting in September.

RWANDA-DRC:AP Exclusive: Captured fighter says he was recruited, trained in Rwanda to fight in Congo war

By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, August 12, 12:42 PMAP

GOMA, Congo — Ibrahim Nsanzimana says he can no longer return to his home in Rwanda for fear of death. The 28-year-old recounted the tortured history of his Rwandan family’s entanglement with neighboring Congo, and his latest recruitment by Rwanda to fight in eastern Congo.

When the bitter memories and bleak prospects for his future confronted him, his eyes glazed and a tear ran down his cheek.

 

“They’ll kill me,” he said bluntly, referring to Rwandan officials and their vigorous denials that he is among many men trained in Rwanda and brought to Congo to fight alongside the M23 rebel movement. Out of work and desperate to make a living, he said he agreed to join the Rwandan army in early July.

“Our area chief called a youth meeting, I think it was July 1, and there were about 300 of us young men at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali (Rwanda’s capital). Military police in red berets told us we were all going to become soldiers, and they promised us a salary” equivalent to $60 a month, he said.

They were crowded into five Rwandan Defense Forces trucks and driven at night to Gaviro military camp, home to Rwanda’s School of Infantry near the border with Uganda, where they spent a week learning how to shoot with AK-47 assault rifles.

“Only then did they tell us that we had come here to fight to take North Kivu province (of eastern Congo) and to make it part of Rwanda,” Nsanzimana said. He said the announcement came from Rwandan army Capt. Francois Mugabo.

“When I woke up the next morning, we were in the volcano area in Congo,” he said, brought to fight a war led by the Tutsi tribe that he considers a mortal enemy of his Hutu people.

Terrified that he was going to be killed, Nsanzimana fled into the forest and wandered for days before he was captured three weeks ago by Congolese soldiers. He is being held in an overcrowded holding cell of the military intelligence agency in Goma, Congo’s eastern provincial capital. There, he gave The Associated Press details of Rwanda’s alleged complicity in the latest rebellion in eastern Congo.

Similar stories have been told to officials in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo by fighters who have been captured or turned themselves in to Congolese troops. Some said they were trained at Kanombe military barracks just outside Kigali; others said they received training only once in Congo, near its borders with Uganda and Rwanda.

Eleven Rwandans who surrendered in May said they were recruited as early as February — three months before the rebellion started, according to Patrick Garba, head of the U.N. demobilization office in Goma.

That testimony helped form the backbone of a controversial July report by a U.N. Group of Experts that accuses high-ranking Rwandan officials, including the minister of defense, of helping to create, arm and support the M23 rebellion and some Congolese militias. Their fighting over the past three months has brought some of the worst violence in years to eastern Congo, forcing some 280,000 people to abandon their homes as the rebels have seized a huge swathe of eastern Congo.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ap-exclusive-captured-fighter-says-he-was-recruited-trained-in-rwanda-to-fight-in-congo-war/2012/08/12/83f73660-e494-11e1-9739-eef99c5fb285_story.html
 

RWANDA-AFRICA:Rwanda steps up fear for communication into its citizens

Posted on August 10, 2012 |adapted  from the Rising Continent

The recent Rwandan laws limiting the use of internet in the country and having to pay for receiving telephone calls have scaled up the level of oppression that Paul Kagame regime is inflicting to his citizens since the day his forces invaded Rwanda from Uganda back in October 1990.
As in Egypt of Mubarak, says Horace Campbell in the book titled African Awakening: the emerging revolutions  “the closing down of the internet and shutting down of cell-phone services and non-government media were only the more modern manifestations of a long tradition of repression that had placed conservative militarists at the top of the political ladder…”
Thus the measures that were voted and made public by the Rwandan minister of Interior this week are another worrying step that the Rwandan Patriotic Front government has taken to alienate itself against the population, particularly the users of new technologies in the country.  I reproduce hereafter the reaction of Jambonews under the name of Jean Mitari. The original text was in French. I took the freedom of translating it for English readers.  
On Tuesday, August 6, 2012, Mussa Fazil Harelimana, Rwandan Interior Minister, announced that Kigali had adopted a new law to monitor phone calls, e-mails and website visits made from Rwanda.
Divisionism or genocide ideology, were far the most significant arguments put forward by the RPF regime to discredit any form of criticism or opposition and restrict civil liberties. Presently, in a context of intense international pressure following the UN report accusing Rwanda of supporting the rebellion of the M23, the regime steps up one extra level in censuring information.
“From now on, it will be punishable in Rwanda to read information not approved by the authority and such offense [Editor: consultation of this type of information] will be regarded as complicity” [itegeko rizajya rinahana umuntu usoma inyandiko zitemewe na  Leta kandi iryo kosa rizafatwa nk'ubufatanyacyaha.], announced Interior Minister Mussa Fazil Harerimana in pro-government newspaper Kigali Today. The minister added that “the security services are from the publication of the law allowed to listen to all phone calls and read emails between private individuals, [editor: even without the authorization of the judiciary] and prosecute anyone who violates the law through their conversations. ” What is surprising is that the law does not specify the type of offenses that the adoption of this new law is intended to address. On the question of whether this law will not affect  many innocent victims following the fact that people borrow and lend their computers and mobile phones, the minister said “it is for each concerned to ensure their communication devices are in the right hands.”

Hence internet censorship has increased sensibly in Rwanda where it was found that in recent times, some sites especially those from opposition parties and most critical of the regime, are inaccessible, or are the subject of computer repeated attacks from government hackers.
With this new law establishing government’s monitoring of what people write on the internet and exchange on the phone, Rwanda joins the club of Internet predators. On top of such list of countries are China and Iran, which are considered the most advanced in terms of Internet filtering and monitoring users. This new law is in addition to many other draconian laws adopted by the Rwandan government in recent years, and represents a serious threat to freedom of information, where citizens can not freely express themselves online, knowing that they are being listened to and their messages read. This law also violates Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Citizen of which Rwanda is somehow a signatory and which stipulates that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; which implies the right not to be intimidated for held opinions, search, receive and spread, without any limitation in terms of boundaries, information and ideas, using any media and regardless.”
From around the world, in 2011, Reporters Without Borders has recorded almost 200 arrests of bloggers and net-citizens; with Rwanda adopting these laws  aimed at monitoring and filtering the Internet, the list of offenders will certainly increase.

Among accompanying measures to enforce these laws, Rwanda decided to charge all incoming calls from abroad, this starting from July 1^st, 2012. This measure came into force, after all users of mobiles were requested to get them registered by the police. From now on anyone receiving a call from abroad will have to pay $0.35 [232.5 Rwf] per minute, explains the online pro-government outlet igihe.com. However, according to information received by Jambonews, it appears that such fee for incoming calls from abroad had been underestimated, and communication providers in Rwanda find the exact charge could rise up to $0.50 per minute. Before July 1^st, all incoming calls either from abroad, national or local were completely free. [Ironically, that may be the worth of celebrating 50 years of Rwandan independence]
According to the 2011 UNDP report, 76.8% of Rwandans live on less than $1.25 a day, which means that from now on it will become more and more difficult for most people to answer any incoming call from abroad, knowing that for many citizens with several family members living outside the country, the only way to stay in contact is the telephone.
According to several observers, charging for incoming calls is a way for the Kigali regime of strengthening censorship by preventing citizens to have information from their relatives living abroad. After all the independent press was muzzled, many Rwandans inside received information on what is happening in and about their country, through their families settled outside where information circulates freely. Depriving further more economically and financially the basket of already poor families proves the regime’s determination to censor information.
This intensification of censorship in Rwanda is adopted at a time when the country is affected by a negative image from the international community for its support of the M23 rebels who are committing atrocities in Eastern DRC.
Several Rwandan citizens living in Belgium and having families in Rwanda, particularly from Gisenyi have confirmed to Jambonews that the new fee on incoming calls from abroad was somehow related to the mutiny of the M23. According to these people, inhabitants of Gisenyi often witness trucks transporting injured or dead soldiers killed on the battle fields.
The decision of the Rwandan authorities to charge inexplicably phone calls to the outside and control activities taking place on the internet would be aimed at [among many other sinister objectives for the population] preventing that information about the repatriation of dead or injured does not leak to the outside.
It appears that the time may be approaching for the ultimate change that Rwandans of all walks of life and from all ethnic groups [Tutsis, Hutus, and Twas] have been longing for. For those desperate for it, the clock is certainly not ticking fast enough. Hassan El Ghayesh, also in African Awakening: The emerging revolutions, recalls the euphoria he experienced when the Egyptian youth ended 30 years of Hosni Mubarak’s regime.
“My phone doesn’t stop ringing for 30 minutes and I don’t stop calling all those who had been at Tahrir with me for another hour. We made it! Congratulations, we made it! Most of Egypt is in the street celebrating. I can’t remember the number of smiles and hugs exchanged. I do remember, though, how the older generation looked at us with absolute admiration and gratitude. We did something of which they never dreamed. The flame of youthful demonstrations hasn’t been ignited since the early 1970s. And then all of a sudden, we hit so strongly that we shake the foundation of this regime. I will forever remember the first day, the first morning I wake up to the smell of freshly baked freedom, the first shower that rinses away all the corruption and stench of the former regime.”
Such day of relief for Rwandans may not be too far. One can oppress a people for a certain period of time. Eighteen years of Kagame’s rule have been exceedingly traumatic for the majority of Rwandans who have so far managed to survive his atrocities. It can take some time to remove the foundations of the system of oppression he has developed. But he cannot oppress all the people everlastingly.

RWANDA-DRC:Former president Laurent-Desire Kabila and ongoing instability in DRC

Posted on August 12, 2012 from the Rising Continent

The following is an extract from a UN Report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, submitted to the Security Council on 12 April 2001 by the Secretary General Kofi A. Annan. The reference points at some significant responsibility of the late president in the ineffective and inappropriate ways of handling Congolese mineral resources, of which consequences have found hard to fade away.
207.    The late President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. His role in the continuation of the war has survived his death. On three levels, he bears part of the responsibility for the current situation. First, as the chief of AFDL, he created a precedent in giving a character of “legality” or legitimacy to otherwise illegal operations. During his advance on Kinshasa, he granted concessions even though he did not have authority to do so. These are the same methods being used by some armed groups to fight for power.
208.    Second, he allowed and tolerated some unlawful ventures as a way of rewarding allies. He also initiated the barter system in order to defend his territory. This is gradually becoming the normal practice for the rebel groups.
209.    Third, he offered a good excuse and a pretext to those who had carefully planned the redrawing of the regional map to redistribute wealth. Many sources have told the Panel how they were approached and asked to think about the distribution of wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in terms of their personal enrichment.

the pivotal roles of the Ugandan and Rwandan leaders reside in the way in which they diverted the primary mission of their armies from protection of their territory and made them armies of business

210.    According to the facts, accounts and information gathered, the pivotal roles of the Ugandan and Rwandan leaders reside in the way in which they diverted the primary mission of their armies from protection of their territory and made them armies of business. By the same token, they indirectly created within their armies conditions for top officers to put in place networks that they controlled. These networks are becoming cartels, which will take over the war for natural resources.
211.    Presidents Kagame and Museveni are on the verge of becoming the godfathers of the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the continuation of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They have indirectly given criminal cartels a unique opportunity to organize and operate in this fragile and sensitive region. Finally, the attitude of the late President has possibly planted the seeds for another round of war for resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Politicians such as Jean-Pierre Bemba, Mwenze Kongolo, Victor Mpoyo, Adolphe Onusumba, Jean-Pierre Ondekane and Emmanuel Kamanzi are ready to make any deal for the sake of power or for personal enrichment. Companies such as IDI and Sengamines some of which reportedly have ties with arms dealers, are likely to create a more troubling situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Equally, joint ventures and concessions given to some allies as rewards may cause some problems given the nature of the shareholders who are either armed forces or powerful and influential politicians. The situation is now deeply embedded and the regional power structures are consequently not stable.

joint ventures and concessions given to some allies as rewards may cause some problems given the nature of the shareholders who are either armed forces or powerful and influential politicians.

212.    The link between the exploitation of natural resources and the continuation of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo does exist, and it is based on five factors which are not mutually exclusive. First, the capacity of countries to use their own resources to sustain the war up to a certain stage, as in the case of Angola. Second, the ability of countries to take resources from enemies and use it to fight the so-called “self-sustaining” war, as in the case of Rwanda. Third, the intent of some Governments to take advantage of the war situation and use it to transfer wealth from one country to their national economy, as is the case with Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Fourth, the will of private citizens and businesses who endeavour to sustain the war for political, financial or other gains; for example, generals and other top officers in the Ugandan and Zimbabwean army and other top officials and unsavoury politicians (Victor Mpoyo, Gaëtan Kakudji, Mwenze Kongolo) in the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Fifth, the capacity of one of the warring parties to give incentives (mineral and others) to its allies and soldiers, for example the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

That the late president Laurent-Desire Kabila made mistakes during his time in office does not explain everything which went and continues to go wrong which DRC. The fact that more than a decade later, the central government in Kinshasa has been almost incapable of rectifying them finds answers in other areas. Understandably, countries and global multinationals with acute interests in DRC minerals have continued playing their part in ensuring that they don’t loose out from any fundamental change of the status quo they have so far benefited from.