Posted August 31, 2010


PRESS RELEASE


Rwanda : Vague laws used to criminalise criticism of government


Rwanda’s new government must urgently review vague ‘genocide ideology’ and ‘sectarianism’ laws that are being used to suppress political dissent and stifle freedom of speech, Amnesty International said in a report released today.

Safer to Stay Silent: The Chilling Effect of Rwanda’s Laws on ‘Genocide Ideology’ and ‘Sectarianism’ details how the vague wording of these laws is misused to criminalize criticism of the government and legitimate dissent by opposition politicians, human rights activists and journalists.

“The ambiguity of the ‘genocide ideology’ and ‘sectarianism’ law means Rwandans live in fear of being punished for saying the wrong thing,” said Erwin van der Borght, Africa Program director at Amnesty International. “Most take the safe option of staying silent.”

Amnesty International found that many Rwandans, even those with specialist knowledge of Rwandan law including lawyers and human rights workers, were unable to precisely define ‘genocide ideology’. Even judges, the professionals charged with applying the law, noted that the law was broad and abstract.

In the lead-up to the August 9 presidential elections two opposition candidates were arrested and charged, among other things, with ‘genocide ideology’. A newspaper editor was also arrested on the same charge.

The BBC and VOA have both been accused of disseminating ‘genocide ideology’ by the government. These accusations led to the suspension of the BBC Kinyarwanda service for two months from April 2009.

At a local level individuals appear to use ‘genocide ideology’ accusations to settle personal disputes. These laws allow for the criminal punishment even of young children under 12, as well as parents, guardians or teachers convicted of “inoculating” a child with “genocide ideology”. Sentences for convicted adults range from 10 to 25 years imprisonment.

The ‘genocide ideology’ and ‘sectarianism’ laws were introduced to restrict speech that could promote hatred in the decade following the 1994 genocide. Up to 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the genocide, mostly ethnic Tutsi, but also Hutu who opposed the organized killing. Prohibiting hate speech is a legitimate aim, but the approach used by the Rwandan Government has violated international law.

The Rwandan government announced a review of the ‘genocide ideology’ law in April 2010. The government should also launch a review of the ‘sectarianism’ law and demonstrate a new approach to freedom of expression in order to stem the chilling effect of past legislation.

The Rwandan government must significantly amend the laws, publicly express a commitment to freedom of expression, review past convictions and train police and prosecutors on how to investigate accusations.

“We hope that the government review will result in a meaningful revision of the ‘genocide ideology’ and ‘sectarianism’ laws so that freedom of expression is protected both on paper and in practice,” said Erwin van der Borght.

Notes to Editors

• Rwanda’s ‘genocide ideology’ law was promulgated in 2008.
• Rwanda’s ‘sectarianism’ law was promulgated in 2001.
• According to government figures, there were 1034 trials related to ‘genocide ideology’ in 2007-2008. These were prosecuted under charges ranging from assassination and poisoning to threats and damage to cattle.
• According to government figures, 435 ‘genocide ideology’ cases were tried at first instance in 2009

Public Document

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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org

International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK

http://www.amnesty.org/



AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE
31 août 2010

Rwanda : Le gouvernement se sert de lois formulées en termes vagues pour ériger toute critique en infraction

Le nouveau gouvernement du Rwanda doit de toute urgence réviser les lois relatives à l’« idéologie du génocide » et au « sectarisme », rédigées en termes vagues, dont il se sert pour éradiquer toute dissidence politique et museler la liberté de parole, a dénoncé Amnesty International dans le rapport qu’elle publie ce mardi 31 août 2010.

Intitulé Safer to Stay Silent: The Chilling Effect of Rwanda‘s Laws on ‘Genocide Ideology’ and ‘Sectarianism’, ce document montre que ces textes de loi, formulés en termes vagues, sont détournés pour ériger en infractions les critiques visant le gouvernement et la dissidence légitime qu’exercent les politiciens de l’opposition, les défenseurs des droits humains et les journalistes.

« En raison de l’ambiguïté des lois sur l’" idéologie du génocide " et le " sectarisme ", les Rwandais vivent dans la peur d’être punis pour avoir dit ce qu’il ne fallait pas, a expliqué Erwin van der Borght, directeur du programme Afrique d’Amnesty International. La plupart choisissent la sécurité et préfèrent se taire. »

Amnesty International a constaté que de nombreux Rwandais, y compris des spécialistes de la législation rwandaise, notamment des avocats et des défenseurs des droits humains, se montraient incapables de définir précisément la notion d’« idéologie du génocide ». Même les juges, professionnels chargés d’appliquer la loi, ont noté le caractère vague et abstrait de ce texte.
À l’approche de l’élection présidentielle du 9 août, deux candidats de l’opposition ont été arrêtés et inculpés, entre autres chefs, d’« idéologie du génocide ». Le rédacteur en chef d’une publication a également été interpellé pour les mêmes motifs.

En outre, le gouvernement a accusé la BBC et Voice of America de diffuser l’« idéologie du génocide », ce qui a débouché sur la suspension des émissions de la BBC en langue kinyarwanda pendant deux mois à compter d’avril 2009.


Au niveau local, des personnes se seraient servies d’accusations d’« idéologie du génocide » pour régler des différends personnels. Aux termes de ces lois, il est possible de sanctionner pénalement des enfants âgés de moins de 12 ans, ainsi que leurs parents, tuteurs ou enseignants si ceux-ci sont reconnus coupables de leur avoir « inoculé » l’« idéologie du génocide ». Ces adultes encourent des peines d’emprisonnement comprises entre 10 et 25 ans.
Les lois relatives à l’« idéologie du génocide » et au « sectarisme » ont été adoptées afin de faire barrage aux discours incitant à la haine au cours de la décennie qui a suivi le génocide de 1994. Quelque 800 000 Rwandais ont péri lors du génocide, pour la plupart des Tutsis, mais aussi des Hutus opposés à ce massacre organisé. Prohiber les discours de haine est un objectif légitime, mais l’approche retenue par le gouvernement rwandais bafoue le droit international.
Il a annoncé la révision de la loi sur l’« idéologie du génocide » en avril 2010. Il lui faut entreprendre de réviser la loi relative au « sectarisme » et adopter une nouvelle politique en matière de liberté d'expression, en vue de juguler les effets dévastateurs de ces textes de loi.
Il doit remanier ces lois, s’engager publiquement en faveur de la liberté d’expression, réexaminer les condamnations prononcées par le passé et former les policiers et les procureurs s’agissant des enquêtes menées sur ces accusations.

« Nous espérons que la politique du gouvernement débouchera sur une réelle modification des lois relatives à l’" idéologie du génocide " et au " sectarisme ", afin que la liberté d’expression soit protégée, sur le papier comme dans la réalité », a conclu Erwin van der Borght.

Note aux rédacteurs

• La loi relative à l’« idéologie du génocide » a été promulguée au Rwanda en 2008.
• La loi relative au « sectarisme » a été promulguée au Rwanda en 2001.
• D’après les chiffres officiels, quelque 1 034 procès ayant trait à l’« idéologie du génocide » ont eu lieu en 2007-2008. Les chefs d’inculpation allaient de l’assassinat à l’empoissonnement, en passant par les menaces et les dégâts causés sur du bétail.
• Selon les chiffres fournis par le gouvernement, 435 affaires liées à l’« idéologie du génocide » ont été jugées en première instance en 2009.
  

The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

Sur près de 600 pages, ce document, dont Le Monde a obtenu une version quasi définitive, décrit les "violations les plus graves des droits de l'homme et du droit international humanitaire commises entre mars 1993 et juin 2003 en RDC".
***

In November 1996, as a by-product of the genocidein Rwanda two years earlier, a major humanitarian crisis erupted in Central Africa on the border between Zaïre and Rwanda.Redoutée par les principaux acteurs régionaux de l'interminable drame humain dans la région des Grands Lacs, la radiographie sans précédent des crimes jalonnant dix ans de guerre en République démocratique du Congo (RDC, ex-Zaïre) que vient d'établir le Haut-Commissariat des Nations unies aux droits de l'homme (HCDH) est accablante, principalement pour le Rwanda voisin.
Derrière l'intitulé se cache une décennie de meurtres, viols, pillages auxquels prirent part plusieurs pays de la région. Des conflits qui firent un nombre indéterminé de morts, mais qui se chiffrent au bas mot en centaines de milliers.

La compilation des rapports existants et la collecte de nouveaux témoignages menée par le HCDH fournissent une base pour des poursuites judiciaires à venir contre les auteurs de ce que le HCDH qualifie de "crimes contre l'humanité, crimes de guerre, voire de génocide" après des années d'impunité.
Tony Blair, Kagame's first counselor

"CRIMES DE GÉNOCIDE"

Depuis des semaines, le Rwanda déploie ses réseaux et son énergie pour tenter d'étouffer ce rapport qui risque d'atteindre le cœur du régime du président Paul Kagamé, l'homme fort du Rwanda depuis 1994.

Le document estime en effet que "les attaques systématiques et généralisées [contre des Hutu réfugiés en RDC] révèlent plusieurs éléments accablants qui, s'ils sont prouvés devant un tribunal compétent, pourraient être qualifiés de crimes de génocide".
Il reste à savoir quel tribunal se chargera de cette œuvre de justice alors que la plupart des crimes sortent du champ de compétence de la Cour pénale internationale.


Face aux insuffisances de la justice congolaise, le HCDH insiste sur la nécessité d'imaginer de nouveaux mécanismes judiciaires pour mettre fin au cycle de l'impunité dans la région.

© Christophe Châtelot




The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

THE United Nations has accused Rwanda of wholesale war crimes, including possibly genocide, during years of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
An unprecedented 600-page investigation by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights catalogues years of murder, rape and looting in a conflict in which hundreds of thousands were slaughtered.



More than one million Rwandans fled into DR Congo, then Zaire, in 1994. The political cost of standing with Rwandan President Paul Kagame mounts by the hour.
Here's a partial list, as of 08.28.2010, of world press reporting the leaked UNHCR report mapping atrocities committed in D.R. Congo, which points to crimes which might be labeled genocide against Rwandan Hutu refugees and Congolese Hutus, committed by Kagame's Rwandan Army between 1996 and 2003:
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

Find out more Here

Répression permanente, Crimes de guerre et Implication des Etats-Unis

Traduction du Texte de Keith Harmon Snow, journaliste américain "Apocalypse in Central Africa"
*
"Nous sommes très heureux de travailler avec les forces de défense rwandaises comme partenaire clé alors qu'elles cherchent à améliorer leur capacité à effectuer diverses missions de maintien de la paix et à contribuer par d'autres moyens à apporter la paix dans cette région. Et dans le cadre de cette visite, nous démontrons à nos amis rwandais que nous sommes un partenaire déterminé.. et qu'ainsi, la stabilité se fait sentir dans le monde entier...."

Général William E. Ward, ( commandement américain pour l'Afrique) (AFRICOM)

Conférence de presse, Kigali, Rwanda, 22 avril 2010
La "guerre contre le terrorisme" menée par les États-Unis déstabilise les gouvernement populaires, les communautés et les sociétés indigènes à travers le monde . Cela est vrai plus qu'ailleurs dans la région des Grands Lacs africains où les populations font face à un terrorisme absolu et à des atrocités inouïes ainsi qu'à la destruction complète de tout ce qu'ils connaissent, ce que l'on appelle un génocide.

Mais le génocide au Congo n'est pas à l'ordre du jour, conformément aux prérogatives des intérêts privés, des grosses entreprises occidentales, de la suprématie blanche et des politique génocidaires.[0]

Les Etats-Unis sont intervenus pendant des années dans la région - la multinationale américaine Union Carbide par exemple contrôlait les mines SOMIKIVU dans la province du Kivu au Congo au début des années soixante, mais par le biais d'un partenariat militaire croissant avec les agents clés en Afrique centrale depuis 1980, les interventions américaines ont provoqué des pertes humaines sans précédent, favorisées par les politiques gouvernementales directes des Etats-Unis, les opérations clandestines militaires et de guérilla menées sous couvert de "maintien de la paix", de politique "humanitaire" et de "développement".

First let us recall the definition of genocide. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948. The Convention entered into force on January 12, 1951.

Article II of the Convention states “In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;


(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;


(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group


(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group (Human Rights Volume I (Second Part) Universal Instruments United Nations 2002).

The targeted killing or genocide of moderate Hutu and Tutsi that took place in Rwanda in 1994 shocked the world. There is ‘guilt of omission’ to act. The international community did nothing to prevent the genocide when sufficient advance warning had been made available (Mary Robinson A Voice for Human Rights 2006: 222).
Understandably – and without pausing to reflect on the extenuating historical circumstances, the immediate trigger or the real genocidaires and who abetted them – the entire international community descended on Hutu people (whether they participated directly or indirectly, opposed or even protected the targeted groups), dubbed them barbaric, bad people or dangerous wild beasts that should be hunted down and killed. Hutus were massacred inside Rwanda and with satellite surveillance were chased in the DRC forest, murdered and buried in mass graves (Debra Liang-Fenton 2004: 41 & Robert B. Edgerton 2002:229).
The RPF government took full advantage of this sense of guilt, forced apologies and pushed the international community to remove arms embargo, pass generous resolutions, admit Rwanda into the Commonwealth club without meeting the requirements according to experts report, obtain sophisticated military training, equipment, advisers and defenders, remove moderate officials from government, strengthen the hand of hardliners, assassinate dissenters and jail others, prevent people from mentioning their ethnic identity, ban strong opposition parties, force Hutu into subsistence economy and birth control practices (as reported by Hutu) in order to keep them down permanently and pave the way for genocide of Hutu hence the term of ‘double genocide’.

In order to pin down Hutu permanently, the government has even decided that only Tutsi were targeted for genocide and not Hutu moderates. In an interview with New York Times reporter Josh Kron, published on April 28, 2010 the Foreign Minister and Government Spokesperson for Rwanda, Louise Mushikiwabo stated “… the reality is that the genocide was committed by the Hutu against the Tutsi, and the reality is also true that some Hutu were victims of the genocide, not because they were targeted, but because they did not want to go along with the plan [of genocide]”. The government also uses as appropriate the term genocide to all Hutu whether or not they participated in the genocide or were even born after 1994, implying that Hutu have no rights in Rwanda!

To repeat, Rwanda government has so far benefited from the “genocide guilt credit” to commit atrocities with impunity. At the UN in New York the Security Council and General Assembly members are constrained to criticize Rwanda because of a feeling of guilt. And the Rwanda government knows it and is perhaps encouraged to take advantage of it and settle scores while it lasts. The UN Secretary-General once expressed fear that Tutsi invasion of eastern DRC was aimed at revenge (Gerard Prunier Africa’s World War 2009: 57, 117, 293 & Stephen Kinser A Thousand Hills 2008:335).

The International Forum for Truth and Justice in the Great Lakes Region, among other organizations, is involved in a lawsuit charging massive crimes against humanity and acts of genocide committed by the RPF government of Rwanda (Peter Phillips Censored 2007, 2006:54).
For illustrative purposes, here are a few cases and sources for further reading as and when necessary.


1.In early September 1994 Robert Gersony prepared and delivered a comprehensive report of RPA (Rwanda Patriotic Army) massacres (of Hutu) to the RPF government of Rwanda and United Nations representatives in Kigali. Afraid of the impact of revelations in the report, it was suppressed by the UN Secretary General (Debra Liang-Fenton Implementing U.S. Human Rights Policy 2004: 39-40).

2.In April 1995 internally displaced persons (IDP) camp at Kibeho that accommodated about 150,000 Hutu was attacked by RPA and massacred them (Gerard Prunier. Africa’s World War 2009:40). There were too many foreign witnesses for RPF government to deny the genocide (Debra Liang-Fenton 2004:40). In its manifesto the Resistance Forces for Democracy (RDF) claimed that Paul Kagame, the leader of RPA and other Tutsi ministers had planned the massacre at Kibeho (IDP) in April 1995 and recommended that those involved should be brought before an international criminal court (NewAfrican May 1996:17).

3.The attacks on Rwanda in 1995 and 1996 by former FAR (former Rwanda army) caused disproportionate violent bouts of Rwanda army (RPA) repression targeting Hutu peasants (Current History Africa May 1997: 196).


4.On April 22, 2010 Lusoke Willy sent a detailed message to Ugandans-at-Heart in which he disclosed the locations of Hutu mass graves in Rwanda (Ugandans-at-heart@googlegroups.com).


5.Professors Allan Stam and Christian Davenport of University of Michigan and University of Notre Dame respectively reported that “the vast majority of people who died in the 1994 Rwanda Genocide were Hutus. Prof. Stam presented his findings at the University of Michigan in 2009 in a speech titled “Coming to a New Understanding of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide” (Ann Garrison. Rwanda Genocide: Some Inconvenient Truths. Blackstarnews.com April 11, 2010).


6.Several countries have adopted laws allowing judges to investigate human rights abuses anywhere in the world. In 2008, a judge in Spain issued a stunning indictment of 40 Rwandan officials, including the military chief of staff, General James Kabarebe, for atrocities they allegedly committed after the RPF seized power in 1994. Although President Kagame is immune from prosecution because he is a sitting head of state, the judge ruled there was damning evidence against him (Stephen Kinser 2008: 334).


7.In 1996, with Western support, the Rwandan army crossed the border into eastern DRC and forced hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees back into Rwanda. Those who refused to return were dubbed genocidaires that qualified to be hunted down and killed. Despite protests from the UNHCR and numerous NGOs, the Rwandan army with some Western backing massacred whole groups of unarmed Hutus (Richard Dowden Africa 2009:249-50).


8.Oxfam, a British NGO claimed that up to 1,000,000 (Hutu) people in eastern DRC were dying from starvation and disease. The press added its voice by calling the situation “Catastrophe! Disaster! Apocalypse!” The UN Secretary-General also described the situation as “genocide by starvation” (Martin Meredith. The Fate of Africa 2005:533-4).


9.In 1998 a UN Commission visited DRC to investigate reports of mass graves of thousands of Hutu that had been massacred by Kabila Tutsi-led rebel army (Robert B. Edgerton 2002:229).


10.During hearings of AU mission to DRC in January/February 2010 reports of intentional massacre of Hutu from Rwanda and DRC were reported as Rwanda army chased Hutu rebels indistinguishable from civilians.

1. The idea behind these examples is to give the public information about Hutu genocide committed in Rwanda and DRC by Tutsi, information that was not available before or was suppressed. For the sake of justice the law should apply to all perpetrators of this double genocide.
2. Those suspected of genocide against Tutsi and Hutu must be tried in an international criminal court. The time for guilt by omission is over. Western governments that cherish strict observance of human rights and justice for all must act now to save their credibility. There is sufficient evidence to take on genocide committed by Tutsi against Hutu in Rwanda and DRC.

The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

Un rapport du Haut commissariat de l'ONU aux droits de l'Homme, révélé jeudi par le journal français 'Le Monde', estime que des faits de "génocide" ont pu être commis en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) en 1996-1998 par des militaires rwandais ou soutenus par le Rwanda.

Un rapport du Haut commissariat de l'ONU aux droits de l'Homme, révélé jeudi par le journal français 'Le Monde', estime que des faits de "génocide" ont pu être commis en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) en 1996-1998 par des militaires rwandais ou soutenus par le Rwanda.
Dans ce document dont le quotidien dit s'être procuré une version quasi-définitive, les enquêteurs des nations unies estiment que "les attaques systématiques et généralisées - contre des Hutus réfugiés en RDC après le génocide de 1994 contre les Tutsis - révèlent plusieurs éléments accablants qui, s'ils sont prouvés devant un tribunal compétent, pourraient être qualifiés de crimes de génocide".
Interrogé à Genève, le porte-parole du Haut commissariat de l'ONU, Rupert Colville, a affirmé que 'Le Monde' avait "une mauvaise version du rapport", tout en refusant de se prononcer sur le fond de l'article. "Il s'agit d'un projet datant de deux mois et la version définitive sera prête très prochainement", a-t-il dit.

Radiographie des crimes

Ce rapport de 600 pages, qui présente une radiographie des crimes commis durant la décennie 1993-2003, se réfère en l'espèce aux faits imputés à l'Armée patriotique rwandaise (APR) durant la première guerre dans l'ex-Zaïre (1996-1998) et à son alliée l'Alliance des Forces démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo (AFDL), coalition soutenue par Kigali et menée par Laurent-Désiré Kabila (père de l'actuel président congolais) qui a pris le pouvoir à Kinshasa en mai 1997.
 

Le rapport décrit "la nature systématique, méthodologique et préméditée des attaques contre les Hutus (qui) se sont déroulées dans chaque localité où des réfugiés ont été dépistés par l'AFDL/APR sur une très vaste étendue du territoire".

Nombre important de victimes

"L'ampleur des crimes et le nombre important de victimes, probablement plusieurs dizaines de milliers, sont démontrés par les nombreux incidents répertoriés dans le rapport. L'usage extensif d'armes blanches (principalement des marteaux) et les massacres systématiques de survivants après la prise des camps démontrent que les nombreux décès ne sont pas imputables aux aléas de la guerre", est-il aussi écrit, selon 'Le Monde'.

Plus d'un million de Hutus du Rwanda s'étaient réfugiés dans l'ex-Zaïre (devenu RDC), craignant des représailles du Front patriotique rwandais (FPR, dominé par les Tutsis) arrivé au pouvoir à Kigali à l'été 1994, après le génocide qui avait visé la minorité tutsi et certains Hutus.
L'objectif de l'APR, outre son soutien à l'AFDL qui devait libérer Kinshasa de 32 ans de règne de Mobutu Sese Seko, était de démanteler les camps de réfugiés hutu rwandais où se cachaient, parmi les civils, d'ex-militaires et miliciens ayant activement participé au génocide.

Kagame a tenté d'empêcher la publication du rapport

'Le Monde' affirme que le président rwandais Paul Kagame a tenté d'empêcher la publication de ce rapport et menacé de retirer les troupes rwandaises des opérations de l'ONU.
Dans une lettre au secrétaire général, Ban Ki-moon, citée par le quotidien, la ministre rwandaise des Affaires étrangères, Louise Mushikiwabo, reprend cette menace "de revenir sur ses divers engagements auprès des Nations unies" dans le cas où le rapport "serait publié ou ferait l'objet de fuites dans la presse".
'Le Monde' précise par ailleurs que le rapport n'incrimine pas que le Rwanda. Entre 1998 et 2003, au moins 8 armées nationales et 21 groupes armés irréguliers ont pris part à "la deuxième guerre" de RDC, parfois qualifiée de "première guerre mondiale africaine".


The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

L’alerte a été donnée par Thomas D’acquin Mwiti, le président intérimaire de la société civile du Nord-Kivu. Selon lui, des hommes venus à bord d’une jeep ont enlevé le président de la société civile du territoire de Masisi à Goma le mercredi 25 août. L’opération se serait déroulée vers 13 heures locales, non loin du quartier Ndosho, précise la source.
Le président de la société civile de Masisi, Sylvestre Bwira recevait depuis trois semaines des menaces téléphoniques et vivait dans la clandestinité, selon Thomas D’acquin Bwiti son collaborateur.Sylvestre Bwira venait d’adresser une lettre ouverte au président de la République dans laquelle il dénonçait l’insécurité, les violations des droits de l’homme commises par des militaires, mais également l’administration parallèle qui prévaut dans le territoire de Masisi, a renchéri la source.


La société civile du Nord-Kivu ainsi que les organisations locales de droits de l’Homme se disent ainsi préoccupées par cet enlèvement et lancent un appel à la solidarité.


Thomas D’ acquin Mwiti a exprimé cette préoccupation à Radio Okapi:

G.Lutonadio


The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

Contacts::
Kitty Kurth, Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation 312-617-7288
Friends of the Congo 202-584-6512
Africa Faith and Justice Network 202-884-9780
Email: rwandaelections@gmail.com









WASHINGTON DC (Wednesday, August 25, 2010): A nation-wide coalition of US activists is calling on President Barack Obama to go beyond recent White House criticism and intensify pressure on the government of newly re-elected Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

On Friday, August 13, a White House spokesperson, the National Security Council’s Mike Hammer, expressed the Obama Administration’s unhappiness about events in Rwanda. Hammer focused his ire on the repressive circumstances and the less-than-credible results of Rwanda's presidential elections on August 9.

The NSC statement made clear the White House view that today’s Rwanda is not a democracy and then went further to dismiss the “development first, democracy later” argument often used to excuse Mr. Kagame’s iron-fisted rule. “Rwanda’s stability and growing prosperity, however, will be difficult to sustain in the absence of broad political debate and open political participation,” Hammer said.

While welcoming Friday’s NSC statement, the advocacy coalition is demanding much tougher action against the Kagame government.

Several members specified the tougher policies they want to see in Obama's policy toward Rwanda.
Claude Gatebuke, a Rwandan genocide survivor and a leader in the coalition, linked American aid to improved democratization in Rwanda. He said the group wants President Obama to immediately terminate all military assistance and cooperation and also to freeze the $240 million that the US is scheduled to soon give Mr. Kagame.
"American aid to Rwanda must be nonmilitary. And that nonmilitary American taxpayer money should be unfrozen if, and only if, Mr. Kagame meets two conditions," Gatebuke said.
He outlined the first condition as "immediately widening Rwanda's democratic space which includes: completely freeing all political opponents, critics and the media; scrapping repressive laws; and engaging in good-faith discussions with all stakeholders about the way forward in Rwanda."
Rwanda’s behavior inside the Congo emerged as the coalition’s second condition. Kambale Musavuli, spokesperson for Friends of the Congo, outlined that condition, "In addition to allowing democracy inside Rwanda, General Kagame must be held accountable for his destabilization and looting of the Congo. President Obama must implement the bill he passed as Senator into law, PL 109-456 The Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act. That law clearly requires the US government to withhold aid to neighboring countries that destabilize the Congo."


Jacques Bahati of Africa Faith and Justice Network questions Washington’s cozy relations with President Kagame, "It is both mind-boggling and inexplicable how much The Congress and The Obama Administration have coddled the dictatorship in Kigali. Real American interests in Africa are hurt by this embarrassing relationship."
Experts in Washington say past actions by the coalition on behalf of the Rwandan people have seen results. They point to two taken earlier this year.

On April 30, group members organized demonstrations against President Kagame during his Oklahoma Christian University visit. Some reports claimed that the president was forced to use a side entrance.

And three weeks ago, on August 3, the activists organized a packed press briefing at the prestigious National Press Club, a mere stone’s throw from the White House. Unconvinced after hearing out Rwandan Ambassador James Kimonyo, the activists called on President Obama to denounce the August 9 Rwanda elections as sham.
The experts say that the NSC statement is therefore a shot in the arm for the Rwandan people and their struggle for democracy.

Observers also find it significant that both President Obama personally and the NSC statement have pointedly failed to congratulate Mr. Kagame on his electoral victory--something done routinely when Washington is pleased with an ally.
Still some coalition members remain skeptical. They question if the NSC criticism means President Obama is finally moving to add substance to his 2009 Ghana speech when he pledged to support strong institutions in Africa, not strongmen.


Maurice Carney, Executive Director of Friends of the Congo is among the unconvinced. He notes “There is no better litmus test for President Obama keeping his word than how he responds to the quintessential strongman of Central Africa, Paul Kagame. Will the president continue the carte blanche support for Paul Kagame despite his own 2009 rhetoric in Ghana? Or will Mr. Obama engineer a bold shift, from a half century of US support for strongmen, dictators and despots, to assisting and encouraging non-violent, pro-democratic forces and strong institutions?”

The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine

A leaked report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), details massacres, rapes and looting by forces from various countries in two wars that rocked the former Zaire between 1993 and 2003, Le Monde said.
The most serious claims target Rwanda, whose forces along with Congolese troops allegedly shot, clubbed and axed to death vast numbers of ethnic Hutu refugees in Congo, including women, children and the elderly from 1996 to 1998.
The UN investigated massacres by these forces as long ago as 1997, according to a report received by AFP in 2005, but its efforts were disrupted by the subsequent outbreak of war and that report was never officially published.
The total number of victims of war crimes by various forces operating in the country, known since 1997 as the Democratic Republic of Congo, is "probably several tens of thousands," the UNHCR report said, according to the newspaper.

[ Impunity for RPF/RPA/RDF perpetrators of mass rape and mass-murder in Rwanda is itself the real cause and incentive for Kagame's proxy armies & RDF further crimes in Congo.
We do hope the UN investigators about the DRC mass rape will watch this video to realize :  what's happening now in Eastern of Congo is the result of RPF/RPA/RDF impunity during the mega massacres and mass rape of 1996-1998. => ASI] 

RPF crimes against Hutu refugees in Congo

After the genocide of minority Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994, about a million Hutus fearing reprisals fled across the western border to Congo. Rwandan Tutsi forces raided refugee camps there in search of Hutu genocide leaders.
Le Monde quoted the UNHCR report as saying that "the systematic and generalised attacks (against Hutus in Congo) have several damning aspects which, if proved by a competent court, could qualify as crimes of genocide."

The UN alleged in the unpublished 1997 report seen by AFP that its investigations at that time were obstructed by the administration of Laurent-Desire Kabila -- father of the current President Joseph Kabila.


After the elder Kabila toppled Mobutu, a second war raged from 1998 to 2003.

The genocide allegations were among some of "the most serious violations of human rights and international law" according to the report, which accuses forces from several other neighbouring countries of crimes over the 10 years.

Citing unnamed sources, Le Monde said Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who led the APR in its successful campaign to oust the Hutu administration in Kigali after the 1994 genocide, had fought to cover up the report, threatening to withdraw Rwandan troops from UN peacekeeping missions.

The daily cited unnamed Rwandan sources dismissing the allegations as "absurd".

The UN report is due to be published in September, the newspaper said.

The UNHCR spokesman in Geneva, Rupert Colville, said the newspaper had "the wrong version of the report," having obtained an early draft which "has gone through changes." He would not comment on the details reported by Le Monde.

"It's only a draft from about two months ago and the proper final version will come up very soon," Colville said.
Le Monde cited unnamed Congolese sources as saying that some of the people involved in the alleged abuses still held positions of power in the country.

Copyright © 2010 Agence France-Presse





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The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine