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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Le temps de l'action est venu

“CHER PERE, Muraho murakomeye?Nizere ko mumeze neza nkuko mpora mbibifuriza kandi mbibasabira ku Mana.Ubu nanjye ndaho ndakomeye n'amasomo arimo aragenda buretse ko hatabura utubazo mu buzima ariko nkoresha uko nshoboye ngo ndwane nabyo.

Nagize Imana mbona Lettre yanyu ifunguye mwandikiye Perezida Kagame nayisanze kuri iwacu1.com nubwo ntasomye iyambere ariko najyaga nyumva nkabura aho nayikura.

Nukuri ibyo mwanditse byose niko bimeze ahubwo wagira ngo muri mu Rwanda. Nkanjye nk'umuntu wiga kandi ndumva maze gukura kuko ntari umwana ibiba byose ndabibona ndetse nkagerageza gukora analyse yabyo.

Akarengane mu Rwanda karahari ku buryo bugaragara kandi utakabona niko abyirengagiza cyangwa afitemo izindi nyungu.Abo akaba ari ba bandi banga kugira icyo bavuga kugira ngo batiteranya aho kuvuga ukuri bakaguhakishwa. Njyewe rero sinshobora guhisha ukuri nkubona kandi ngira ngo nibyo mwantoje ibindi mbibigiraho.

Nkubu hano ku ishuri ndabibona ku buryo bugaragara ubu hari igihe duhagarikirwa kwiga ngo tujye mu manama ya FPR kandi nzi ko kujya mu ishyaka ari ubushake bwa buri muntu atari itegeko ariko nk'ubu twe tutaba twagiyeyo dufatwa nk'abafite ingengabitekerezo. .

Ibyo kandi biradukurikirana mu buzima bwacu buzaza kuko kugira ngo ubone akazi mu gihe kizaza nta kizere.

Ubu nubwo ndimo niga nta kizere mfite cyo kubona akazi mu minsi iri imbere kuko kugira ngo ubone akazi nibwo ugomba kuba muri FPR kandi kandi uzwi hari n'ikindi cyo kuba waraturutse hanze muri Ouganda babita abasajya niba nta mwene wanyu ufite mu buyobozi nta kizere uba ufite.Niyo mpamvu nkanjye ubu mba ndimo niga ntekereza n'uburyo bwo kwihangira imirimo nta gutegereza akazi.

Ubu nta ruvugiro uvuga ibintu bitajyanye nibyo bifuza bakagushinja ibyaha bitabaho,umutungo w'igihugu ugengwa n'agatsiko k'abantu bamwe birirwa bikwizaho ibintu mu gihe mu giturage ari catastrophique niyo mpamvu muzumva ngo I Kigali hirirwa hazamurwa imiturirwa nyamara iwacu aho duturuka ubkene buranuma. Ni ukuri ni byinshi mfite byo kubabwira ikibazo niko ntizeye ko mubona uko musoma message yanjye sinzi niba mwarahinduye adresse cg ari ukutabona umwanya kuko iyo maze iminsi nta makuru yanyu bimbabaza (…)”

Ainsi m'écrivait récemment un de mes anciens élèves du petit séminaire. L'extrait de son message traduit déjà les inquiétudes de l'actuel étudiant d'université au Rwanda. Dix années plutôt, je vois un petit garçon à l'air jovial, un peu naïf, je dirais et qui s'assayait tranquillement sur son pupitre de classe, puis qui n'aimait pas visiblement poser des questions, mais un garçon bien studieux.

Actuellement le petit garçon est devenu est un homme accompli, qui n'a plus envie de rester indifférent face à la situation qu'il observe au Rwanda. Bientôt notre universitaire va terminer ses études supérieures et il se prépare déjà à affronter la vie, selon les conditions qu'il partage avec ses semblables. Il se prépare à faire face à la situation créée par un état qui ne se soucie pas du bien-être de ses citoyens, tant les injustices sont criantes. Il prétend vouloir entreprendre de manière privée pour se créer un emploi, et il espère peut-être pouvoir un jour s'en sortir, même si toutes les circonstances concourent pour le décourager. La jeunesse rwandaise ressemble actuellement à cet homme qui se prépare à escalader une haute montagne, mais qui ne croit pas fermement dans ses capacités pour pouvoir atteindre les sommets. Évidemment ma réponse à mon ancien protégé sera clair: Va s'y mon fils. Tu vas y arriver. Tu n'es pas seul, nous allons t'encourager. Que les injustices que tu remarques aujourd'hui ne te fassent jamais obstacle. Lève -toi, élève-toi, marche. Tu es sur la meilleure voie, puisque tu prétends ne pas vouloir rester indifférent indéfiniment.

Se lever, s'élever…

Quand nous fêtons l'ascension, nous réfléchissons effectivement à nos capacités de pouvoir vaincre les forces de la nature, même si nous restons aussi en admiration des lois physiques de gravité. Toutefois nous avons même les capacités de surmonter l'attraction universelle et la pesanteur terrestre, afin de pouvoir voler de nos propres ailes.. Pouvoir dire un jour: “Je ne m'en vais pas, je vole!” N'est-il pas dit dans un psaume: “Le juste fleurira comme palmier; il grandira comme un cèdre du Liban. Ceux qui sont plantés dans la maison du Seigneur,…ils fleuriront”?

Il est certain que pour les dirigeants au Rwanda comme partout ailleurs où règnent les dictatures, les lois qui oppriment davantage les citoyens sont les plus privilégiées. Dans les discours, le mot d'ordre qui revient souvent est de faire entendre aux gens qu'il n' y a rien à faire, que leur oppression est comme une loi naturelle. Ils s'efforcent toujours à décourager les dirigés et les contraindre à se soumettre à la fatalité. Ils osent même affirmer que les moyens de coercition sont disponibles même en quantité insoupçonnée pour forcer tout le monde à accepter le statu quo.

Mais ils oublient que le peuple est bien capable de se lever quand il en a assez des forces d'oppression qui lui sont appliquées. L'homme est capable de se lever et braver les lois qui l'opprime. Il est capable de rendre meilleur le monde dans lequel il vit. Aucun parti, si d'origine divine soit-il, n'a de légitimité à opprimer les capacités des citoyens qui éprouvent l'envie d'améliorer les situations est les conditions de vie.

S'elever et partir…

L'histoire et la préhistoire nous ont appris que l'homme est capable de se lever, et trouver la force nécessaire pour pouvoir faire évoluer les choses. De l'homo sapiens qui pouvait fabriquer des ustensiles à partir de la pierre taillée, nous apprenons que personne n'a le droit de contraindre les autres à ne pas chercher tout les moyens d'améliorer les conditions vitales. Un enfant qui naît se caractérise dès son enfance par la volonté de se lever de terre et marcher. Il peut tâtonner et souvent tomber, mais fin des fins il finit par se tenir debout et faire un pas sûr.

La force de changement se cache au plus profond de nous, mais nous ne l'utilisons pas. Pourtent, nul n'est censé vouloir opprimer cette force. La liberté c'est pouvoir se déployer pour sortir des situations fâcheuses. Rester sous l'oppression n'est pas le propre des hommes. Quand ils ont assez de rester sur place, dans cette situation qui leur est imposée par d'autres hommes, c'est que les circonstances appellent au réveil pour recouvrer les libertés bafouées. L'homme libre est celui qui se décide à se lever et se débarrasser des forces qui l'oppriment.

Vivre élevé…

La situation d'oppression au Rwanda impose les gens à vivre rabaissés. Beaucoup de mesures sont prises pour empêcher les personnes de marcher tête haute. Les accusations gratuites et fréquentes, à partir des idéologies inventées, mènent tout toute personne de bonne volonté de se sentir toujours coupable de quelque chose! Seule une catégorie de gens sélectionnés sont censés connaître ce qui convient pour le peuple entier. L'abus du pouvoir est devenu monnaie courante, et la vie tranquille dans son pays n'est pas assurée pour les citoyens. Il règne partout la peur et l'angoisse. C'est comme si tout le monde s'attendait à l'effondrement d'un monde.

Pourtant, au dedans de nous se cachent les forces insoupçonnées de pouvoir vaincre les forces du mal qui nous assaillent de tous cotés. Le peuple rwandais pourra s'en sortir s'il le veut. Quand les gens expriment de partout leur inquiétude, c'est que le vent du changement souffre, et ce changement aura lieu, quoique fasse l'oppresseur. Nous devrons un jour opérer coûte que coûte les changements dans notre pays, puisque nous en sommes capables. Quand le peuple se lèvera comme un seul homme, nous aurons raison de l'oppression. Oui, nous le pouvons. Yes, we can.

Murengerantwali Théophile.

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

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Paul Kagame and his RPF have planed the Rwanda Genocide. They are also accountable for mass atrocities in Congo

Judgments in the Military-I trial completely rejected the Prosecution theory of long-term planning and conspiracy to commit genocide by members of the former Rwandan military leadership.

All four defendants were found “not guilty” of all counts charging conspiracy to commit genocide, based on the Chambers ruling that their actions prior to April 6, 1994 were based on war-time conditions, not planning to kill civilians or to carry out a genocide against Tutsi Rwandans.

I have bolded, italicized, and underlined that which was found, and which has ripped Kagame from his comfy dictatorial throne in Rwanda and thrown him into the war torn Congo scrambling, where he is desperately trying to influence some positive coverage on his behalf as the cushy world he built around himself with pervasive propaganda slowly but progressively falls to dust and pieces on the ground.

Because if no one planned the genocide, or the people originally believed to have planned the genocide are found innocent of such a plan, then where does that leave Kagame? It leaves him in a pickle I would say,

This raises the more profound question: if there was no conspiracy and no planning to kill ethnic civilians, can the tragedy that engulfed Rwanda properly be called “a genocide” at all? Or, was it closer to a case of civilians being caught up in war-time violence, like the Eastern Front in WWII, rather than the planned behind-the-lines killings in Nazi death camps? The ICTR judgment found the former.

The Court specifically found that the actions of Rwandan military leaders, both before any after the April 6, 1994 assassination of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarima, were consistent with war-time conditions and the massive chaos brought about by the four-year war of invasion from Uganda by Gen. Paul Kagame’s RPF army, which seized power in July 1994.

Although the Chamber did not specifically mention more recent events, it is worth noting that this is the same government that was named in a UN Security Council commissioned report on December 12, 2008 as having invaded the eastern Congo (with Uganda) in 1996 and again in 1998 and have occupied an area 15-times the size of Rwanda since that time. Similar UN Security Council reports in 2001, 2002 and 2003, make clear that Rwanda and Uganda’s economic rape of the eastern Congo, and the resulting 6 million-plus civilian deaths, have long been an “open secret.”

It’s no secret that in recent times Kagame was having trouble with some of his former supporters, such as Human Rights Watch’s Alison Des Forge, as she sought to hold him accountable for the atrocities he was committing in the Congo. Instead of just.stopping., Kagame BANNED Alison Des Forge from Rwanda. Yeah…he did.

Not just for crimes in the Co

ngo, but Human Rights Watch was also demanding that the ICTR start prosecuting the RPF and their involvement in the Rwandan Genocide; an act so radical it took 14 years to accomplish.

So what would happen if the ICTR investigated the RPF and prosecuted them for their involvement in the Genocide? What would the world learn from this? If they saved everyone from Genocide, wouldn’t that mean that they would get minimal prosecution for the supposed “reprisal killings” they carried out? Or is there something more awaiting them?

Well simply put, if Kagame were to be investigated, indicted, and prosecuted, the world would learn that he initiated a major war crime and crime against humanity towards Rwanda; attacking a peaceful country and throwing it into a war. It would also be discovered that during that whole period, Kagame and the RPF committed massacre after massacre, and multiple crimes against humanity. The RPF shot down Rwanda’s President Habyarimana’s plane, an act believed to have sparked the carnage that occurred in 1994.

And remember this carnage was not planned since many were responding to war time conditions and defenses as was found by the ICTR. It would be discovered that Kagame and the RPF chased Rwandan citizens from their country and into the Congo. Kagame and the RPF continued their aggression thereby committing another crime against humanity by attacking the Congo, another peaceful country. It would be discovered that in the RPF’s attempts to exterminate the Refugees, about six million Congolese citizens were caught in the crossfire. (And this list is hardly exhaustive!). Street hutu children. Most of THEM joined the FDLR in Congo. They had no choice but FIGHTING TO SURVIVE .

Because it was found that genocide was not planned from inside Rwanda itself, Kagame and the RPF’s insistence that they are after “planners” of the Rwandan genocide by going into the Congo is problematic. In fact it allows Kagame and the RPF to continue committing massacres and killing millions of people with impunity.

IF these people did not plan a genocide, and the ICTR prosecutions say they did not, and there was a war initiated and carried out by the RPF against them going on, then what grounds does Kagame have to go after them? Either by removing them or by exterminating them?

True, RPF propaganda is pervasive, and major western media outlets supp

ort this propaganda. Which is why many people believe that the FDLR is composed of savage killers who terrorize Congolese citizens. But now, the world must question why these people who fled from a war they were defending themselves against, are now believed to be random and senseless killers for no reason.

It does not match. What would lead them to commit massacres against the Congolese people, if they were fleeing from an enemy that ousted them from their homes? They wouldn’t, unless they were blood thirsty murderers who commit murder just to see blood shed. And while Kagame and the RPF would like to you to believe that, it simply is not true.

Kagame can no longer comfortably hold his immunity. Nor can the RPF. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the RPF is responsible for the murders in the Congo, even with the help of western media that insists Kagame is a hero. People still know and see through the painted veils through which he is presented. Kagame’s major lackey, Laurent Nkunda started receiving unprecedented negative media attention, and compounded with everything else that was happening, he needed to be beheaded, figuratively speaking. So, he was arrested. Try as they might, Kagame will have a very difficult time distancing himself from Nkunda.

As his world crumbles, and as the world learns, and increasingly pressure involved parties to hold Kagame and the RPF accountable for their crimes in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Kagame strikes a very shady deal with Kabila, to once again, oust the FDLR. These are people who are part of the same refugees that Kagame ousted when he invaded Rwanda and killed its president. They desire nothing more than to go back to their own formerly democratic country.

Does it strike anyone in “the international community” as odd that Kagame and the RPF, indicted by two countries, France and Spain, whose top aid was arrest per the said arrest warrants in Germany, is the peace keeping force in the Congo? How does, Rwanda’s 10+, 15+ years occupation in the Congo resulting in more than 8 million deaths, conveniently blamed on the FDLR who are part of refugees from Rwanda, qualify Rwanda to REMOVE that which they have not managed in 10 years? Does it make sense?

Put all the pieces together and you will see, that Kagame and the RPF, war criminals, genocide perpetrators are attempting to distract the world away from their bloodshed, while simultaneously continuing the same dirty, and criminal bloodshed.

This has got to stop!

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

President Obama will go after leaders who oppress their people, violate human rights and prevent them Democracy

***

*.*President Obama's admonishment of those leaders "who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent" during his inaugural address has been widely interpreted in Africa to mean that, unlike previous US administrations, the Obama administration will go after leaders who oppress their people, violate human rights and prevent the growth of genuine democracy *.*

Dibussi Tande

This is the reason behind the widespread belief that the "new Kennedy" whose entire campaign was based on the need for "change" will change things for the better.

What about Hope for Change for Rwandans in regardless to the American interests? We are not about Bushes or Clintons interests.

With all the foreign policy failures and blunders that undermine his creditability, due to many of

fomer Clintons adminstration members, PRESIDENT OBAMA, the President's African heritage should take courage to show he's the ONE WHO DETERMINES THE US foreign policy instead of policy initiatives coming intiatives out of the US State Department.

In the coming months, Obama will be expected to address Africa’s most pressing crises: Among the big issues comes at the first place Rwanda and the institutionalized impunity of Paul Kagame, RPF leadership and around 40 RPF military high ranking officers accused for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide;

President Obama's duty: Allow Paul Kagame's prosecution.

Sudan’s six-year conflict in Darfur continues unabated with U.N. forces being woefully understaffed and underfunded, despite former president Bush labelling it as “genocide”;

Somalia has now been without a central government for 18 years and has lost more than one million people to civil conflict and famine; and the Democrat Republic of Congo is struggling to end a five-year conflict with a death toll deemed the world’s highest since World War II.

**
Plz Sign the Petition/Signez la pétition SVP/Ndakwinginze Sinya iyo petisiyo.

http://www.petition.fm/petitions/survivorsnetworks/

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

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Qui se cache derrière les la lutte contre les Interahamwe ou contre les discriminations visant les Banayamurenge?

"Les voleurs et les receleurs des matières premières stratégiques du Congo se cachent derrière la lutte contre les Interahamwe ou contre les discriminations visant les «Banyamulenge ».

D’où la protection des extrémistes tutsi dans les pays des receleurs. « J’ai découvert, écrit Charles Onana, que même dans un pays comme l’Allemagne, Laurent Nkunda et son mouvement ont bénéficié d’un soutien majeur. » (p. 154) Cette découverte n’est pas le fruit de l’imagination de Charles Onana.

« C’est à un ancien fonctionnaire allemand au Rwanda, Helmut Strizek, que j’ai demandé d’expliquer ce qu’il a vécu avec les soutiens des extrémistes Tutsi dans son pays », note Charles Onana. Et « voici son témoignage : « L’institut POLE a été créé et installé par des protestants européens pour les encourager à coopérer avec les envahisseurs rwandais. Les différentes églises protestantes allemandes –comme celles de la France- ont soutenu, dès le début le règne de Paul Kagame en 1994 au Rwanda.

L’institut POLE dispose d’un staff de 12 personnes africaines par Aloys Tegera. Ce qui est plus significatif c’est que le comité directeur composé de 21 personnes est piloté par trois ressortissants européens.» (p.154-155) Qui sont ces européens ? « Christiane Kayser, luxembourgeoise travaille dans la région des Grands Lacs comme représentante régionale du EED. Dominic Johnson, originaire de la Grande-Bretagne, est rédacteur pour le Rwanda et la RDC du petit quotidien allemand Tageszeitung (Berlin) proche du parti ‘Bündnis 90/Grünen’ et de l’aile gauche du parti social-démocrate. Ce quotidien est très lu par beaucoup de pasteurs protestants ‘gauchissants’ »

Pour dire les choses simplement, pour disposer du Congo comme simple réservoir des matières premières où les vies humaines sont insignifiantes, il faut gagner les têtes et les esprits en vendant des messages mensongers à l’opinion publique des pays dits de vielle démocratie et faire participer les habitants des pays des Grands Lacs à ce boulot de bas étage. Et cela doit être financé. Et « le Tageszeitung n’étant pas en mesure de s’offrir un rédacteur uniquement pour le Rwanda et le Congo, il fallait trouver un moyen de financer au moins partiellement les activités pro-Kagame de Johnson.

La solution était apparemment l’institut POLE qui fut dès sa création une sorte de succursale rwandaise au Nord-Kivu. » (p. 155) Pour que ce travail porte du fruit, « Christiane Kayser et Dominic Johnson ont toujours relayé dans le monde germanophone le message du ‘danger FDLR et Interahamwe » pour la sécurité du Rwanda et même quand le Rwanda occupait par le biais du RCD une grande partie de l’Est du Congo de 1998-2002.

A partir de 2004 ils ont présenté les rebelles Laurent Nkunda et Jules Mutebusi comme défenseurs des tutsi qui seraient menacés dans les provinces du Kivu. Kayser et Johnson ont attribué presque la totalité des viols commis dans les deux Kivu aux FDLR jusqu’au moment des massacres de Kivanji (Kiwandja) effectués par la soldatesque de Nkunda le 6 novembre. » (p.155)

Donc, il n’y a pas que les Etats-Unis, la Grande-Bretagne et Israël qui soutiennent « les extrémistes tutsi ». Il y a aussi tous ces autres pays et leurs médias. Ils ont poussé leur cynisme si loin qu’ils ont réussi à prendre « les meilleurs d’entre les Congolais » dans leur piège."

Note : Le EED est le service de développement des églises protestantes en Allemagne

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

Extrait d'un article de J.-P. Mbelu, paru dans LE POTENTIEL du 15 mai 2009
"Les voleurs et les receleurs des matières premières stratégiques du Congo se cachent derrière la lutte contre les Interahamwe ou contre les discriminations visant les «Banyamulenge ». D’où la protection des extrémistes tutsi dans les pays des receleurs. « J’ai découvert, écrit Charles Onana, que même dans un pays comme l’Allemagne, Laurent Nkunda et son mouvement ont bénéficié d’un soutien majeur. » (p. 154) Cette découverte n’est pas le fruit de l’imagination de Charles Onana. « C’est à un ancien fonctionnaire allemand au Rwanda, Helmut Strizek, que j’ai demandé d’expliquer ce qu’il a vécu avec les soutiens des extrémistes Tutsi dans son pays », note Charles Onana. Et « voici son témoignage : « L’institut POLE a été créé et installé par des protestants européens pour les encourager à coopérer avec les envahisseurs rwandais. Les différentes églises protestantes allemandes –comme celles de la France- ont soutenu, dès le début le règne de Paul Kagame en 1994 au Rwanda. L’institut POLE dispose d’un staff de 12 personnes africaines par Aloys Tegera. Ce qui est plus significatif c’est que le comité directeur composé de 21 personnes est piloté par trois ressortissants européens.» (p.154-155) Qui sont ces européens ? « Christiane Kayser, luxembourgeoise travaille dans la région des Grands Lacs comme représentante régionale du EED. Dominic Johnson, originaire de la Grande-Bretagne, est rédacteur pour le Rwanda et la RDC du petit quotidien allemand Tageszeitung (Berlin) proche du parti ‘Bündnis 90/Grünen’ et de l’aile gauche du parti social-démocrate. Ce quotidien est très lu par beaucoup de pasteurs protestants ‘gauchissants’ »

Pour dire les choses simplement, pour disposer du Congo comme simple réservoir des matières premières où les vies humaines sont insignifiantes, il faut gagner les têtes et les esprits en vendant des messages mensongers à l’opinion publique des pays dits de vielle démocratie et faire participer les habitants des pays des Grands Lacs à ce boulot de bas étage. Et cela doit être financé. Et « le Tageszeitung n’étant pas en mesure de s’offrir un rédacteur uniquement pour le Rwanda et le Congo, il fallait trouver un moyen de financer au moins partiellement les activités pro-Kagame de Johnson. La solution était apparemment l’institut POLE qui fut dès sa création une sorte de succursale rwandaise au Nord-Kivu. » (p. 155) Pour que ce travail porte du fruit, « Christiane Kayser et Dominic Johnson ont toujours relayé dans le monde germanophone le message du ‘danger FDLR et Interahamwe » pour la sécurité du Rwanda et même quand le Rwanda occupait par le biais du RCD une grande partie de l’Est du Congo de 1998-2002. A partir de 2004 ils ont présenté les rebelles Laurent Nkunda et Jules Mutebusi comme défenseurs des tutsi qui seraient menacés dans les provinces du Kivu. Kayser et Johnson ont attribué presque la totalité des viols commis dans les deux Kivu aux FDLR jusqu’au moment des massacres de Kivanji (Kiwandja) effectués par la soldatesque de Nkunda le 6 novembre. » (p.155)

Donc, il n’y a pas que les Etats-Unis, la Grande-Bretagne et Israël qui soutiennent « les extrémistes tutsi ». Il y a aussi tous ces autres pays et leurs médias. Ils ont poussé leur cynisme si loin qu’ils ont réussi à prendre « les meilleurs d’entre les Congolais » dans leur piège."

Note : Le EED est le service de développement des églises protestantes en Allemagne

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

Friday, May 15, 2009

War criminals in the African Great Lakes: UNHCR, IRINA, BBC KARYANISHAMIRYANGO, MONUC, KAGAME, ICG, NTAGANDA, NKUNDA, RCD,TONY BLAIR and RPF NAZIs

How the genocide is organized with the help of the United Nations. They target for extintion all Hutus beginning with Hutu refugees in Congo and returnees inside Rwanda from 1996 up to 1999. UNHCR played the main role in the extermination and the hunting of Hutu refugees. (Kisangani diary), Bukavu, Mugunga, Kibumba, Katale, Sake, Ubundu, Tingi - Tingi, Kisangani...Mbandaka, etc.

Big lies on Tutsi massacres for the best ethnic cleansing and bloodsheds against Hutu refugess. the same strategy and tactics are used FDLR, hutu children who refuses to disarm before RPF war criminals got arrested and brought to the bar of justice. The same war criminals pretext the presence of those 19994, 1996 hutu survivors and now rebels for organized crimes and lootings of mineral ressources in the congo beginning with Coltan and Uranium.

Read how the lies were spread up throughout the world. Today, as we right this article, millions of Congolese Bantous, Congolese Hutus and Hutu refugees will be exterminated in the name of bringing security to Mulitnational Corparations looting the congolese mineral ressources.

The massacre of refugees during the 1996–1999 war in Congo illustrates the gap between existing legal standards and their application, as the principle of sovereignty rationalises states' behaviour against helpless people.

This article assesses available information on the scale of the massacre, concluding that more than 2 millions of Hutu refugees were killed.

It argues that firmness in demanding justice and protecting human rights does not require ignoring the objectives of stability and prosperity for any country, but rather that it is the best way of promoting those goals and strengthening state sovereignty within the international community.

To implement international law related to refugees will require making states and non-state players responsible for their actions to the international community, since any outflow of refugees creates negative externalities or costs that are unequally borne by this community.

The falseful story that led to the genocide

According the UNHCR, government ministers in Kivu region began actively advocating ethnic cleansing against the Congolese Tutsis (Banyamulenge) in March. Congoan government forces have sided with the Interahamwe, extremist Hutus who fled RPA (Rwandan Patriotic Army) forces in Rwanda after the Hutus killed up to one million Tutsis in 1994, and are even reported to take payments from them to participate in attacks on the Banyamulenge. Official sources in Rwanda said that between the last week in March and April 2nd, more than 2600 Congolese Tutsis fled to the Rwandan border town of Gisenyi, joining

over a thousand who had already fled since January. The refugees came from the district of Masisi in eastern Congo. (IPS, 4/4/1996)

May 1996 Up to 750 people were reportedly massacred by Hutu militias at a monastery in Mikoto, near Goma. Rwandan Hutus have reportedly massacred not only Banyamulenge in Congo, but also "indigenous" Congole

se who have formed the Bangilima militia to fight the Hutus and Banyarwanda in general.

Hundreds of Congolese Tutsis fled to neighboring Uganda to escape attacks by "bangilima" militiamen. Close to 10,000 Tutsis have fled since the beginning of the year. The Bangilima is reportedly composed of Bahunde (Hunde), Batembo (Tembo), Banande (Nande), Banyanya (Nyanya), and Bakobo (Kobo) ethnic groups. The relief organization Doctors Without Borders reported that 100 Tutsis were killed in North Kivu in mid-May by unidentified attackers and two villages containing 3000 others were surrounded and likely to be killed without international intervention. (IPS, 5/23/1996; 5/29/1996)

Jul 31, 1996 Two human rights groups reported that the Congoan government had done virtually nothing to stop attacks in North Kivu by Hutu and Hunde militias against ethnic Tutsis (Banyamulenge). Before the Rwandan genocide and resultant refugee flow into Congo, there had not been reports of fighting between Tutsis and Hutus.

Prior to the arrival of Hutu extremists, the fighting pitted Hunde, Nyanga and Nande ethnic groups against the Banyarwanda as a whole. In July-August 1994, about 720,000 Hutu refugees arrived in North Kivu. Their arrival destroyed the Banyarwanda alliance in the Province and spurred an escalation of the violence. Banyamulenge have been virtually eliminated from Masisi and Hutu have been expelled from Walikale, Lubero, and Rutshuru.

15 years after the Rwanda genocide continues for the Hutu ethnic members.

Sep 1996 Killings around the town of Uvira the weekend of 13 September have left about 50 people dead. The victims were Banyamulenge and Congoan troops were said to have taken part in the massacres. Humanitarian agencies were unable to confirm the numbers killed because Congoan troops had sealed off the region. (IPS, 9/16/96).

Oct 7, 1996 The deputy governor of South Kivu, Lwasi Ngabo Lwabanji, told ethnic Tutsis to leave Congo. For months, the Banyamulenge and the army have been at odds. Ethnic Tutsis and Hutus in Congo have been denied citizenship rights and have long been resented by other Congolese who consider themselves to be "native" to Congo.

The tension between the Banyarwanda and other Congolese in the east was exacerbated by the arrival of Rwandan and Burundian refugees beginning in 1994. The warning by Lwabanji sparked a revolt by the community, and Banyarwanda in North Kivu also began fighting the Congoan government. The rebellion in the east encouraged opposition groups, separatists and pro-democracy activists throughout Congo.

Laurent Kabila joined the Banyamulenge in their fight against Mobutu, and eventually took over the rebellion. Their forces is called the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Congo. Kabila had a long history as a rebel beginning as a youth leader in a political party allied with Patrice Lumumba. He headed a Marxist organization, the People's Revolutionary Party, from 1964 to the early 1980s during which time he ruled an enclave among the Bembe people in eastern Kivu Province.

He then lived in Dar es Salaam as a businessman before returning to Congo in 1996. The Congoan government accused the Rwandan government of arming the Tutsi ethnic group in eastern Congo, the Rwandans denied the charge. Unconfirmed reports suggested that Banyamulenge soldiers in Mobutu's army were deserting to join their ethnic kin in the Mitumba Mountains, a Banyamulenge stronghold. (IPS, 10/16/96)

Oct 12, 1996 At least 50 villagers were killed in Goma and 9000 fled. An armed group of "indigenous" Congolese, the Ingilima, were said to be responsible. Most of those who fled were long-resident Hutu farmers. The Ingilima are opposed to all Banyarwanda, who make up the majority in Goma and other regions in Kivu, in Congo. They fear losing political power and land to the Banyarwanda, especially after the influx of refugees arrived in 1994.

Oct 24, 1996 The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Congo, rebel forces led by Laurent Kabila, seized Uvira on Lake Tanganyika. At least 300 Banyamulenge were reportedly murdered in a spate of incidents in recent weeks in Kivu near Uvira.

Oct 28, 1996 Muller Ruhimbika, an exiled Banyamulenge leader of the Democratic Alliance for the People, said opposition groups based in Shaba and Kasai provinces supported the Tutsi rebels and were fighting for the ouster of Mobutu. Three hundred thousand people, mostly Hutu refugees, have been displaced by the recent rebel offensive. The Congoan army has suffered a string of defeats in South Kivu. As news of the conflict spread to Kinshasa, mobs plundered the homes and businesses of Banyamulenge as well as Rwandan nationals who had fled over the past three decades.

Oct 30, 1996 Kabila's forces seized Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province.
Nov 1, 1996 Rebels and Rwandan soldiers captured Goma. About 500 people were killed in battles. The majority of those fleeing the fighting in the East are heading into the interior of Congo while others are crossing into Tanzania.

Zambia has reported the arr

ival of more than one thousand Rwandan refugees while Uganda reported tens of thousands have been arriving. There are also about 145,000 Sudanese refugees in Congo who may return to Sudan to escape the fighting. Kabila has announced that he believes the solution to the refugee crisis in Congo is to have all refugees return to their native lands.
Nov 14, 1996 Kabila's forces bombed Mugunga refugee camp. Hutu refugees from Mugunga and other camps fled. Up to 700,000 returned to Rwanda and others fled west into the interior. Some of the refugees in Congo were believed to be hard line Hutus who had perpetrated the massacre of the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.

Dec 1996 The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Congo (ADFL) controlled most of eastern Congo. It is made up of four political forces with a history of opposition to Mobutu's government as well as the Banyamulenge. It was reported that the Banyamulenge were outnumbered six-to-one by other Congoan ethnic groups in the alliance. Besides being opposed by Congoan government forces, the rebel alliance is also opposed by Congoan militias, the Bangilima and Mai-Mai who have long been opposed to the presence of all Banyarwanda in Congo.

The Rwandan Patriotic Army, which took over Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, and the Ugandan army were reportedly backing the rebels. (Reuters, 12/3/96)
Dec 17, 1996 Mobutu flew home to Congo after undergoing treatment for cancer in France. He appointed a new armed forces chief and reshuffled his cabinet in order to launch a counter-offensive against the rebels.

Jan 20, 1997 The government launched an offensive against Kabila's forces even as they advanced on mineral-rich Shaba region.
Mar 7, 1997 Hundreds of soldiers seized opposition strongholds in Kinshasa after dispersing opposition militias trying to gather for a march against Mobutu. The Secretary-General of UDPS, Adrien Phongo, was beaten and arrested.

Mar 15, 1997 Kisangani, Congo's third largest city, falls to rebel troops.
Mar 23, 1997 Human rights organizations report that Hutu refugees are being massacred in the East by Kabila's forces. Kabila troops are dominated by Tutsis from Rwanda and he is receiving military and other support from Angola, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Apr 2, 1997 Etienne Tshisekedi is named Prime Minister after Kengo wa Dondo is forced out of office. Tshisekedi names his own government and offers to negotiate with Kabila. The offer is refused and Mobutu sacks Tshisekedi after a week.

Apr 5, 1997 The town of Mbuji-Mayi in Kasai Province falls to rebel forces. It is the diamond mining center of Congo and home of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, a Baluba. Laurent Kabila is also a Baluba, but from neighboring Shaba Province. Both Shaba and Kasai have been operating as de facto autonomous states in recent years.

Apr 8, 1997 Mobutu declares a state of emergency over all of Congo. Tshisekedi's supporters clashed with security forces for two days when it became apparent that he would be dropped as Prime Minister.

Apr 9, 1997 Rebels capture Lubumbashi, the capital of Shaba province. It is the second-largest city in Congo in a region rich in minerals. General Likulia Bolong is named Prime Minister replacing Etienne Tshisekedi.

Apr 14, 1997 Tshisekedi supporters in Kinshasa close down the capital for two days in protest over Tshisekedi's ouster as Prime Minister.
Apr 27, 1997 Kabila gives the United Nations 60 days to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Hutus, many of whose whereabouts are unknown having fled into the interior of Congo with the advance of Kabila's rebels. Relief agencies begin airlifting Hutu refugees back to Rwanda shortly after Kabila makes his announcement.

May 1997 Soldiers put down a peaceful demonstration in Uvira, 90 miles south of Bukavu, South Kivu's capital. Some 20 protesters were killed.

May 13, 1997 A night-time curfew was declared in Kinshasa.

May 16, 1997 After it has become apparent that he has no choice but to give up power, Mobutu left Kinshasa for his northern palace at Gbadolite after which he is expected to leave Congo. South Africa had been attempting to mediate between Kabila and Mobutu, but after several attempts, it was clear that Kabila held the upper hand and Mobutu had no leverage over the take-over of his country.

May 17, 1997 Kabila declared himself president and took office on the 29th. He also changed the name of Congo to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), also known as Congo-Kinshasa.
May 23, 1997 Kabila announced some members of his transitional government. The post of Prime Minister, which opposition leaders had hoped would go to Etienne Tshisekedi who has extensive popular support in Kinshasa and Kasai Province, was abolished. Tshisekedi was excluded from Kabila's government.

Jul 8, 1997 Reports have surfaced that in the first weeks of the rebellion begun in October 1996, more than 9000 people, mostly civilians, were killed. There were systematic killings of Hutu refugees in Mbandaka, Kisingani, Goma, and Bukavu. A Senior Tutsi official in Congo's Interior Ministry said that Rwandan and Congolese Tutsi troops were given a free hand to go after Hutu refugees so long as they also contributed to the overthrow of Mobutu. Rebel officers who opposed this policy were reportedly killed. Western diplomats said Kabila did not participate in much of the planning or execution of the rebellion.

Jul 12, 1997 A United Nations report into the massacres of Rwandan refugees in Congo during the rebellion stated they were so massive and systematic that they can be considered crimes against humanity and possibly genocide. Investigators, who have been hampered in their investigation efforts by Kabila's government, said they received reports on 134 alleged massacres committed by Kabila's ADFL and Banyamulenge militias.

Aug 1997 The Democratic Resistance Alliance was established in eastern DRC with the stated aim of "liberating" the area. The new movement is made up largely of Bembe and is led by Celestin Anzaluni Bemba, a local politician known for his anti-Tutsi sentiments. It is reportedly based in Tanzania. Non-Banyarwandan ethnic groups in eastern Congo have resented the privileged position the Congolese Tutsis played in the rebellion that ousted Mobutu and want all Banyamulenge out of the country. (U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), 9/10/97)

Aug 10 - 20, 1997 A DRC journalist said that troops, either Tutsis from the DRC or Rwanda, raided Masisi and killed up to 200 people in retaliation for an attack on Tutsi soldiers by Mai-Mai guerrillas. Athorities in the area confirmed 48 people were killed, but other sources put the number of dead at up to 200.

Aug 13, 1997 35,000 refugees in Tanzania's Lugufu camp are divided between supporters and opponents of returning to the DRC. The Babembe are the majority in the camp which was set up in February. Most are refusing to return to their homes because they fought against Kabila's rebellion. Ethnic tensions between the Bembe and Banyamulenge continues in eastern Congo.

Aug 27, 1997 The World Food Program has given seeds to farmers in the Kivu regions stating that the food supply situation was still critical in the area. The WFP estimated the remaining Rwandan refugees in Congo at more than 20,000 and added that 190,000 Congolese were internally displaced. The United Nations continued to list 200,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees as missing in the eastern region of Congo.

Sep 5, 1997 The Association for the Defense of Human Rights in the DRC said about 2000 civilians were massacred in July when Kabila's forces and Rwandan troops avenged attacks by Mai-Mai guerrillas. The Mai-Mai had killed 162 troops in the Masisi area. The Mai-Mai are from the Hunde, Nyanga, Tembo and Kumu ethnic groups and have been fighting against the presence of Tutsis in both North and South Kivu.

Kabila's government has set up a commission of inquiry to which aims to end the political and ethnic troubles in the region. The Masisi area has long been the scene of conflict between the Banyarwanda and "autochtones" or "native" Congolese (Congolese). In 1993, approximately 14,000 Banyarwanda were killed in ethnic violence, and after the influx of Rwandan refugees into the region in mid-1994, ethnic Tutsis became the main targets of ethnic violence in Masisi and eastern Congo in general.

(U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), 9/10/97)

Sep 7, 1997 Mobutu Sese Seko died of cancer in exile in Morocco.

Sep 18, 1997 More than 100 people were believed to have been killed in renewed violence in the Masisi area. Congolese Tutsis were the main victims. An organization called MAGRIVI, the Mutual Association of the Agriculturalists of the Virunga, was blamed for the deaths. The alliance, made up of Hutu farmers and Mai-Mai militias targeted Tutsi residents and military personnel.

The human rights organization Azadho said that since July, more than 2000 people have been killed in Kivu. Last week, 7-8000 Tutsi civilians fled Masisi saying that Hutu rebels made daily attacks against them. The Interahamwe have been based in Masisi. In South Kivu, a similar movement has formed within the Babende ethnic group.

It is led by Charles Simba, a one-time ally of Kabila, and has been harassing and ambushing Kabila's Tutsi forces. The Council for National Resistance and Liberation accused Rwandan Tutsis of massacring over 2000 Congolese, mainly Bemba, in the region between Fizi and Kalemia in early September.

Spokesman Henri Njila also stated that many groups in the east, including Babembe, Bafulero, Wanynaga, Bahunde, Bashi and Hutu, have begun to rebel against Kabila. Both Rwandan Hutus and people from other ethnic groups suspected of being sympathetic to Hutus have been killed in massacres in the east.

Sep 22, 1997 Authorities in Kivu said it is now under control of government security forces. Press sources said about 100 Mai-Mai fighters were executed a few kilometers from Goma. Since July, there have been clashes in the area between Mai-Main militiamen and Kabila's forces. Major roads linkind Bukavu to the rest of the world have frequently been ambushed and insecurity in reigned in the area in recent months. The Mai-Mai have been waging a rebellion against what they see is foreign domination by Tutsis.

Sep 23, 1997 Ethnic rivalries flared in the east after the recall of Tutsi soldiers to Rwanda. After their departure, about 7000 ethnic Tutsis in the DRC felt they had lost their protection and fled to Goma. Three thousand fled to the Mudende refugee camp in northwestern Rwanda joining 7500 Masisi Tutsis already there. Non-Tutsi Congolese in the east are increasingly resentful of the improved status of the Tutsis. Tensions are so high in the region that there are rumors of a Rwandan invasion.

Sep 26, 1997 More than 800 former Rwandan army troops and members of the Interahamwe have surrendered to military authorities in the DRC. They had fought alongside governmental troops during the ADFL rebellion. There were no plans to repatriate them to Rwanda.

Oct 3, 1997 About 3000 Mai-Mai militiamen have surrendered to the North Kivu authorities. They will be integrated into the new national armed forces currently undergoing reconstruction. The DRC closed the frontier with Rwanda and said it was expelling all refugees. Interior Minister Mwenze Kongolo confirmed that the UNHCR would suspend its work in the east following the repatriation of all refugees.

Oct 14, 1997 Fighting continued in eastern DRC and neighboring regions of Rwanda and Burundi between Tutsis and Hutus. In the DRC, there is also fighting between Banyamulenge and Bantu groups. Since Kabila's victory, the Banyamulenge have become more and more dominant in local administrations and in the army causing resentment from other ethnic groups.

Fighting in western Rwanda, including an attack mounted against the border town of Gisenyi by 1000 rebels based in the DRC, has increased. More than 4000 people, many of them civilians, have been killed in the past five months. In the Masis area of eastern Congo, Mai-Mai militias continue to fight Kabila's Tutsi soldiers, and in the Fizi area a Babende rebel group led by Charles Simba, a one-time ally of Kabila's, continues to ambush Tutsi soldiers.

Oct 29, 1997 The United Nations team attempting to investigate the alleged massacres of Hutu refugees during the civil war and Kabila's government came to an agreement about how to proceed with the investigations. Details of the agreement included that the government will guarantee to the best of its ability the team's security; the U.N. Mission would cover all areas it deemed necessary to help it conduct its investigation; the report would be limited to "global statements of facts" related to allegations of human rights abuses; the team undertakes not to interfere in the DRC's internal affairs; and the time period of the mandate is 1 March 1993-31 December 1997. The mission is to be completed by 28 February 1997.

Oct 30, 1997 Rwandan Vice President and Defense Minister Paul Kagame has refuted allegations that the Rwandan army took part in the massacre of refugees in the DRC. He stated that all casaulties were a result of the war and not deliberate killing sprees.

The brutality of Tutsis over Hutus has no limits.

A Tutsi has a right to kill a Hutu for any reason including simple displeasure of a Hut's looks. Sometimes killings or imprisonment can be done by parents to please their child, Gacaca court or a "district chief" who may have expressed hatred of a Hutu for any reason. the demonization and the animalization process has reached a terrible depth that Hutus are barred from crying if and when such atrocities are inflicted on them.

Dec 11, 1997 Five hundred Mai Mai guerrillas and Rwandan Hutus attacked the town of Bukavu, DCR before crossing the boarder into Rwanda to attack the town of Cyangugu. Anti-Tutsi sentiment has been on the rise in Eastern DRC in recent months. The local Congolese (autochtones) resent the Tutsis' presence in Kabila's military and their holding of certain political offices in Eastern DRC, especially North and South Kivu.

An anti-Kabila insurgency movement includes thousands of Mai Mai warriors, Rwandan Hutus, and former army members under Mobutu. Rwandan soldiers are fighting on the side of Kabila's army. Rwandan officials say their soldiers are in Congo to offset the presence of thousands of Hutu extremists operating in the country.

Feb 20, 1998 Jean Bosco Muchuma, representative of the human rights group Heirs of Justice, has stated that Laurent Kabila is a dictator just like his predecessor Mobutu. Both men used repression to quash all opposition to their regimes.

Mar 10, 1998 The BBC obtained a copy of an Eastern DRC radio broadcast, in Swahili, that was transmitted 11 December 1997. The "Voice of the Patriot," radio of the Union of Forces for Liberation and Democracy, broadcast for several hours on the night of 11 December urging "true" Congolese to do all in their power to oust Tutsis from the country. The following are excerpts from the broadcast. We have been telling you since yesterday that we have an enemy whom you know very well. However, we would like to remind you that the enemy is gearing up to harm you...

These Tutsi killers who invaded our country continue to prepare themselves to plant their flags on both sides so that Bukavu town can become theirs... You know the cunning of those people, they claim to be Congolese. First of all, the Banyamulenge tribe does not exist here. We have a map of the tribes but there is no Banyamulenge tribe on that map. They come with guns, they kill us, and after killing us they call upon us, the survivors, to accept them as Congolese. Who are they that we should accept them?...

We urge you citizens, if you see our soldiers, give them food. If you see a Hutu soldier, give him food. These Hutus have suffered a lot. And, these Hutus are our brothers. Let no one deceive you that a Hutu is a Tutsi...But these stupid people [Tutsis], these lazy people, we have accommodated them since 1958 when they arrived here. They were our servants. Today they have turned against us saying that the country has become theirs...

Aren't you aware that the AFDL [Kabila's army] set up an occupation army...We are living under foreign occupation...But the Congoan people should not be worried since we, the UFLD, are already well-organized. We shall totally liberate ourselves from the occupation... The UFLD also claimed white mercenaries had joined the national army and were fighting Hutus, and that Tutsis originate from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia and should be sent back there. It claimed that it represents the Bantu people, including Bashi, Balega, Tembo, BaHutu, Banande, Bafulero, and Babembe.

Mar 11, 1998 Most of the 40,000 Bembe who fled Fizi on the western edge of Lake Tanganika remain in refugee camps in Tanzaniza. They are afraid to return home because of continued ethnic fighting in the region. Six different rebel groups, including the Interahamwe, are said to be making their bases in Eastern DRC.

May 13, 1998 Kabila, in an interview with the BBC, stated that "as far as we are concerned, the Banyamulenges that we know, and who have always lived with us, are fully-fledged Congolese, otherwise one cannot explain their presence in Mobutu's army for years and years--why did they vote during all these years if they were not Congolese." No mention was made of Congolese Hutus.

May 15, 1998 The African Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Congo-Kinshasa released a statement on the first year of Kabila's government. Among other criticisms of the regime, the ASADHO reported that ethnic tensions are exacerbated, particularly in North and South Kivu where anti-Tutsi sentiment is very high.

It also reported that arbitrary arrests are high, that the national police and army have virtually no limits in their authority, that more journalists and human rights activists have been jailed than in seven years under Mobutu, and that there is little due process of law. (Africa Policy Information Center (APIC), 5/15/1998)

Aug 1998 The Congolese Movement for Democracy (CDM) (also known as the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD)) broke away from the governing ADFL and is threatening the capital Kinshasa. The rebel force consists mainly of Banyamulenge from eastern Congo and troops of the Rwandan and Ugandan armies. Kabila's forces now consist of former Congoan troops from his home region Katanga and South Kasai as well as a smattering of UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) rebels from Angola.

(Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), 8/16/98)
Sep 5, 1998 The Catholic News Agency reported that at least 600 ethnic Hutus had been massacred since August 24th around Kasika. The remnants of Rwandan refugees were reportedly killed by Tutsi rebels (DPA). The UN report on refugee deaths in Congo, released in July, gave no figures for refugees killed during 1996-97, but UN rapporture Roberto Garreton in April said that some 150-180,000 unarmed Hutu refugees were massacred. (BBC, 7/2/98).

Sep 27, 1998 The Brussels-based European Network for Congo (REC) reported that civilians in eastern DRC, especially South Kivu, were being abused by members of the Congolese Democratic Movement, Mai-Mai militiamen and Interahamwe forces. Food and medicine in the eastern regions have been plundered by rebels and militias, while civilians have been killed or abducted. The CDM and Congolese army reportedly have committed mass killings.

(IPS)
Sep 29, 1998 Hundreds of Hutu rebels from Rwanda living in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), mostly Interahamwe and ex-FAR, have been recruited by the DRC government to fight rebels in the east. Republic of Congo representative Jean Claude Gakosso said that his government was not involved and that it objects to the practice. Other refugees in Congo-Brazzaville said that refugees had not been recruited by the DRC government. (IPS)
Nov 1998 A new rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) was reported in Equateur province. Its leader is former Mobutu ally businessman Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Rwandan Vice-President Paul Kagame admitted that Rwandan troops were in Congo aiding the rebels. He said security concerns led to Rwandan intervention in the conflict. (IRIN, 6/9/99) Kabila protested a UN report that accused his government of massive human rights violations. The report accused the government of inciting ethnic hatred against the Tutsis. (IPS, 11/4/98)
Dec 1998 Ugandan president Museveni and DRC president Kabila met separately with Libyian leader Gaddafi. They signed a peace agreement in April in Sirte under Gaddafi's auspices, but the DRC rebels and Rwandan government refused to be bound by the agreement. (IRIN, 6/9/99)

Jan 1999 Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia and Zimbabwe agreed to a ceasefire in Windhoek, Namibia. The RDC was not invited to the meeting, but promised to review the agreement. Wamba dia Wamba's faction of the RDC restructured itself in late January and non-Tutsi members began questioning the dominance of the movement by Tutsis. Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma later resigned as deputy chairman. (IRIN, 6/9/99)

Mar 22, 1999 The SADC (Southern African Development Community) reaffirmed its support for Congolese President Kabila, but also expressed concern over the continuing destabilization of the region. (IRIN, 6/9/99)
Apr 20, 1999 Kabila announced the dissolution of the ADFL accusing some members of "opportunism" and "self-enrichment" (IRIN, 6/9/99)

May 4, 1999 The presidents of Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania met to discuss the growing rift between Ugandan and Rwandan backed military campaigns in DRC. (IRIN, 6/9/99)
May 16, 1999 Divisions within the RCD escalated with Wamba dia Wamba being ousted and Emile Ilungu announced as his replacement. Uganda backs dia Wamba's leadership while Rwanda backs Ilungu's leadership. (IRIN, 6/9/99)

May 28, 1999 Chadian troops that had been backing Kabila's government against rebels in eastern DRC began withdrawing. Some 2000 Chadians pulled out of the country into Central African Republic on their way back to Chad. They had been employed mainly in former ruler Mobutu's home region of Gbadolite.

Meanwhile, the DRC government invited the rebel movement leaders, including both ousted leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba and new leader Emile Ilunga to participate in national dialogue on the conflict. (IRIN) The Central Bank announced that DRC's currencies, the Congo and new Congo, would no longer be accepted as legal tender from June 30th . Only the Congolese franc would be accepted thereafter. (IRIN)

Jun 2, 1999 Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania met in Dar es Salaam to discuss the DRC conflict. Meanwhile, members of the SADC met in Lusaka to try to secure a multilateral ceasefire to the conflict. Fighting between Mai-Mai and rebels in South Kivu has led to an influx of over 4800 refugees to Tanzania since May 25th. (IRIN)

Jun 3, 1999 The RCD issued a statement clarifying the recent changes in the movement. It said that Ernest Wamba dia Wamba was removed by a 66 member convocation of the movement's founders because of a "series of crises" brought about by his leadership style. The statement said the movement had reorganized itself so that structures were more efficient, adaptable and less personalized. There now exists a Congress, Council, and Executive, with the latter two headed by Emile Ilunga, the new RCD leader.

Meanwhile, the RCD "Assembly" based in Kisangani issued a statement recognizing dia Wamba as its leader. (IRIN) A refugee camp in Tanzania currently housing 50,000 Congolese refugees has reached capacity and Red Cross workers has expressed concern that more refugees are on the way. (IRIN)

Jun 15, 1999 The RCD claimed to have captured the strategic port town of Lusambo in their advance on Mbuji-Mayi. (IRIN)

Jun 17, 1999 In its annual report, Amnesty International said that tjpisamds pf [ep[;e jad neem extrajudicially executed in the DRC, particularly in North and South Kivu provinces, scored of people were sentenced to death after unfair trials, and human rights activists suffered torture. (IRIN)

Jun 22, 1999 Talks on mediating the Congo conflict were scheduled to take place in Lusaka, Zambia. The Lusaka peace talks were initiated by the SADC summit in September 1998 in Mauritius, however the summit of heads of state originally scheduled for December 1998 has been postponed numerous times.

Committees under the Lusaka process have drafted "modalities" for the implementation of an eventual ceasefire agreement and the heads of state meeting is to take place this month. However, there is still disagreement over the participation of the rebels in the negotiations. (IRIN) The total number of internally-displaced people (IDP) in the DRC is estimated to be 660,000, according to the Office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. Those provinces with the highest number of IDPs are South Kivu and Katanga. (IRIN)

Jun 30, 1999 NGOs and others reported that inter-ethnic conflict in the rebel-held zones of DRC are a growing concern. Theo Mpabuka, RCD conflict resolution department head, said that local conflict were an ongoing and destabilizing factor in the region. He said the biggest problem was that posed by the Mai-Mai warriors "who have no clear objective" but who recruit youths under the guise of ethnic solidarity.

The Mai-Mai are currently concentrated in the south around Fizi and Baraka. After having lost some of their support base in North Kivu, the Mai-Mai, who target Tutsis, the Rwandan army, and, when they need supplies, random civilians, moved further south. (IRIN) The Rwandan government has reportedly been making progress in convincing Interahamwe fighting in the DRC to give up their arms, return to Rwanda, and undergo re-education. (IRIN)

Burundian rebels of the Force for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) are also fighting on the side of Kabila's troops in parts of South Kivu and Katanga. Despite denials from the Bujumbura, the Burundian government is believed to have sent its troops into DRC to combat the FDD forces. (IRIN) Ethnic clashes between Lendu and Hema tribesmen reportedly took place in early June in the Ituri district, Province Orientale. Sources said RCD and Congolese soldiers were also involved in the violence. The two groups have fought several times since the 1960s over land use (IRIN, 7/1/99)

Jul 1, 1999 The Goma faction of the RCD (led by Ilungu) has boycotted the Lusaka peace talks for two days insisting that the RCD faction based in Kisangani (led by dia Wamba) not be allowed to participate in the negotiations. Ministers from the DRC, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Rwanda met to discuss a draft ceasefire agreement under the auspices of the SADC. Jean-Pierre Bemba of the MLC was also present in Lusaka.

Jul 21, 1999 The Lusaka peace accords have culminated in the signing of a ceasefire agreement. Within 24 hours, all rebel and government attacks are to cease and the military forces are to disengage. Violence against civilians is also to cease while parties are to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance through the opening of aid corridors.

A Joint Military Commission is to investigate reported ceasefire violations, work out mechanisms to disarm militia groups, verify disarmament of civilians, and monitor the withdrawal of foreign forces. A UN peacekeeping force is to be deployed in the future. Armed groups identified as needing disarmament at some future point include: The Uganda Allied Democratic Forces; Lord's Resistance Army (Uganda-based); West Nile Bank Front (Uganda-based); Uganda National Rescue Front II; Former Ugandan National Army; ex-FAR (former Rwandan army); Interahamwe (Rwanda-originated);

The Burundi Force for the Defence of Democracy and UNITA (Angola-based). Forty-five days after the signing of the Lusaka agreement, the DRC government, RCD, MLC, unarmed opposition groups, and civil society members are to begin open political negotiations to culminate in the setting up of a new political dispensation in the country. (IRIN, 7/22/99)

Aug 1999 Estimates of the number of Interahamwe and ex-FAR in the DRC vary widely from 5000 to 25,000. There were reports that Hutus were being trained in Zimbabwe. Major General Augustin Bizimungu, the Rwandan defense chief during the genocide was said to be commander of the Hutu troops in Mbuji-Mayi.

There were also reports that the Mai-Mai were distancing themselves from the Hutu rebels because of their brutal tactics. Hutu rebels have been dependent on the Mai-Mai for money and food. (New York Times, 8/4/1999) There were reports of a new rebel movement in eastern Congo, the Movement for Security, Peace and Development. It was reportedly led by Wamba dia Wamba's assistant Willy Mishiki.

The report also stated that Wamba was gaining a reputation for being anti-Tutsi. Rebels in Goma accused him of recruiting Hutu militias for his RCD faction. They also accused Uganda of training the Hutus. Wamba denied the allegations which could not be confirmed. (IRIN, 8/4/99; BBC, 8/6/99) Many senior members of the RCD faction led by Ilungu are Banyamulenge (The Guardian, 8/5/1999) The Congolese of the eastern part of the country were reportedly growing increasingly angry with the RCD factions.

They dislike the Rwandans, especially the Tutsis. They also suspect that Rwanda's real aim is to annex eastern DRC (The New York Times, 8/13/1999)
Aug 23, 1999 The RCD were reportedly ready to sign the Lusaka ceasefire agreement after the problem of who represents the movements was resolved in a complicated arrangement. Observers were skeptical about the arrangement because it raised many issues in terms of how to manage military aspects of implementation, representation at negotiations, and the make-up of the Joint Military Command. Wamba dia Wamba said he would travel to Lusaka to sign the agreement while the Goma faction spokesman said that the group would sign the accord by the end of the month. (IRIN)

Aug 30, 1999 According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated in the Great Lakes region in the past three months. The affected population has risen from 3.3 million to 3.9 million from May to August. A complex pattern of "web-like military confrontations led to an incessant in-and-out movement of populations fleeing zones of combat, seeking safe haven or attempting to return to their areas/countries of origin," reported the UN. (IRIN)

Aug 31, 1999 The fifty founding members of the RCD signed the Lusaka cease-fire agreement. The rebels reiterated, however, that they distrust Kabila and want major political reforms in the country, including his removal from office. Rwanda also insists on a comprehensive UN peacekeeping operation to ensure that Hutu extremists in Congo are prevented from launching attacks from eastern DRC and are disarmed. (The Guardian)

Sep 1, 1999 Following last months clashes between Ugandan and Rwandan troops, a group of Ugandan legislators have called upon the government of Museveni to withdraw all Ugandan forces from the DRC. Museveni insisted that Uganda must remain in the conflict to guard its interests. The Congolese government supports the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel umbrella group in western Uganda. (IPS)

Sep 8, 1999 The RCD rebels were trying to encourage Mai Mai warriors to leave the bush and undergo political and military training by the Congolese National Army (an armed wing of the RCD). The RCD said it would be willing to work with the Mai Mai once they had been retrained. (ANS)
Sep 14, 1999 The first 10 U.N. military liaison officers were deployed in regional capitals after completing three-days of training in Nairobi, Kenya. An additional 10 were to be deployed within a week. Some 90 total are scheduled to be sent to support the Lusaka cease-fire arrangement (ANS)
Sep 16, 1999 The Lusaka Accords have failed to recognize the existence of the Mai Mai, though they are presumably one of the militia groups that need disarming at the end of the war. The Mai Mai have no central command structure and are not supported in any substantive way by Kabila. Some Mai Mai have joined forces with Burundi rebel groups while others refuse to cooperate with all Hutu miltias.

Most Mai Mai remain reluctant to side with the rebels because they have not appointed local leaders to any positions in the territory they control. U.S. intelligence sources reported that the Interahamwe and ex-FAR forces in Congo are 50,000 strong, though not under a unified command structure. (Business Day)

Sep 27, 1999 Tensions were high around Rutshuru and Lubero in North Kivu as rival RCD factions struggled for power. Unrest between the two factions was heightened by the Kisangani group's election of a new North Kivu governor. The Goma faction supported the existing provincial governor. (IRIN)

Oct 3, 1999 The rebels said they would be forced to resume the war if attacks by President Kabila's forces were not stopped. Heavy fighting was reported in Kabinda, southern DRC on 10/2. (BBC)
Oct 7, 1999 Over 200 Hutu rebels were reportedly killed in a joint offensive by the RCD and Rwandan army forces. An additional 100 Hutus were reportedly captured. The Rwandan army said they had evidence that the Congo government had been airlifting supplies to the rebels (Xinhua News Agency)

Oct 11, 1999 A U.N. led mission into the DRC near the cease-fire line reported that there was severe economic depression, acute malnutrition, and deserted towns in the area. The war has caused 1.1 million people to flee their homes, some within DRC, and others to neighboring countries. The government and RCD have accused each other of violating the cease-fire in Katanga region.(IRIN)

Oct 29, 1999 Many Congolese are arriving daily at the Human Rights Ministry in Kinshasa to be considered for evacuation. Tutsis who want to flee the country were given the opportunity to register their ethnic status in order to be considered for evacuation. The human rights organization Voice of the Voiceless has called on officials to speed up the evacuation process to avert a humanitarian situation at the centers which are filled to overflowing with people wanting to leave the country. (BBC)

Nov 6, 1999 The United Nations was scheduled to resume its probe of alleged massacres in eastern DRC against Rwandan refugees during the recent civil war (1996-97). The U.N. Commission on Human Rights renewed the mandate of Roberto Garreton to investigate the massacres, though previous efforts at investigation were hampered by Kabila's government. (IPS)

Nov 12, 1999 Fighting in Equateur Province was reported. RCD Vice President Moise Nyarugabo said that government troops launched an attack which killed 100 civilians. The government said the rebels initiated the attack. (IRIN)

Nov 22, 1999 MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba said that 33 government soldiers and 1 rebel were killed on the northwest front near Dongo when the government attempted to capture the city. A new rebel group, the National Resistance Council for Democracy, led by Gaston Kangele Mubawa, was reportedly established.

It was calling for dialogue with Mai Mai leaders in the Kivu provinces. RCD-ML official Mbusa Nyamwisi said the new group exists in name only. (IRIN)
Nov 23, 1999 The Mai Mai and Burundi FDD rebels have been stepping up attacks near Uvira. Seven Banyamulenge women and children abducted by the Mai Mai in March were reportedly released for ransom. (IRIN)

Nov 30, 1999 A meeting was held between traditional leaders in Uvira and the RCD-Goma Vice President Moise Nyarugabo. Moise called for unity while the traditional leaders said they were concerned with armed gangs, in the Interahamwe, Mai-Mai, FDD, and Banyamulenge militias, causing insecurity in the region. (BBC)

Dec 2, 1999 Rebels have surrounded 700 Zimbabwean troops at the airport in Ikela. The rebels said they would attack the Zimbabweans if Kabila tried to rescue them. There have been reports of major battles between Rwandan and Tutsi rebels and Zimbabwean and Namibian troops in the northeast. A Joint Military Commission established by the U.N. in July began meeting in Harare this week. (The Guardian 12/2/99; DPA, 12/3/99)

Dec 9, 1999 Regional experts on central Africa have said the situation in the DRC has worsened since September. The government has launched an offensive on two fronts, one in Equateur where Zimbabweans are fighting the MLC backed by Uganda, and one in South Kivu where the government is reinforcing Interahamwe, ex-FAR, and Mai Mai who are gaining strength. The Banyamulenge in South Kivu were reportedly retreating to the hills. (IRIN)

Dec 21 - 22, 1999 The U.N. Security Council was meeting on the deteriorating situation in the DRC. U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard stressed the level of threat to the Congolese Tutsi community. Assistant Secretary General for Peace Keeping operations Hedi Annabi agreed with Eckhard's assessment and said the slightest incident in South Kivu could spark large-scale attacks against civilians, particularly the Tutsi.

A group known as the Negative Force, comprising ex-FAR, Interahamwe, and Mai Mai militias, was said to be organizing attack on the Congolese Tutsi community. Kabila is suspected of supplying the group with arms. (ANS)

Jan 4, 2000 A confidential U.N. report blamed Kabila's government for triggering violations of the Lusaka cease-fire agreement. The report was sent to the Security Council 12/21/99 and reported that Kabila's forces were launching attacks on the MLC in Equateur and sending arms to the region. (ANS)

Jan 6, 2000 The Rwandan military reported that the FDD, ex-FAR and Interahamwe were regrouping in advance of launching invasions into Rwanda and Burundi. (BBC)
Jan 14, 2000 By April, the Zimbabwean government plans to scale down by half its 11,000 troops in Congo. The costs of its participation in the war have brought Zimbabwe's economy to near collapse. (ANS)

Jan 18, 2000 DRC soldiers were reportedly crossing into Congo-Brazzaville in an attempt to avoid taking part in the war. (IRIN)
Jan 24, 2000 Leaders of the nations involved in the DRC conflict were gathering in New York City to attend a special session of the U.N. Security Council aimed at finding a solution to the conflict.

Both sides demonstrated rancor at the meetings presided over by Madelaine Albright. The Security Council members have begun working on a resolution creating a peace keeping force for Congo. (The Independent, 1/24/00; New York Times, 1/25/00)

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

Oxfam criticises UN for joining Congo war

A UN-backed offensive against Hutu rebels in eastern Congo is likely to lead to civilian deaths and widespread suffering, Oxfam warned today.

The warning from the aid agency came as Monuc, the UN-led peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, prepares to support the Congolese army in a new offensive against Hutu militias who fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide that killed almost 1 million people.

The UN mission is providing logistical and military backing for the Congolese army as it seeks to contain a rebel resurgence in North Kivu and prepares to extend operations into neighbouring South Kivu.

Oxfam said the previous joint offensive, launched in January, had already created immense suffering for thousands of civilians, with an estimated 250,000 people still unable to return to their homes.

"Villagers have reported that thousands of homes have been burned to the ground in reprisal attacks mainly by the FDLR (Hutu rebels)," the agency said.

"Rape and looting by all sides, including government forces, has also been reported. According to recent reports, 100,000 people have already fled their homes in South Kivu, even before the new offensive has started. Aid agencies are planning for the possible displacement of a further 400,000 people in South Kivu."

Oxfam said any military action should follow international law and ensure that risks to civilians were kept to an absolute minimum. It called for appropriate sanctions for any violations of international humanitarian law.

Troops from Congo and neighbouring Rwanda launched a joint operation in January against the Rwandan Hutu rebels, whose presence in eastern Congo has been a major source of regional tension and instability for 15 years.

After Rwandan forces pulled out a month later, the Hutu rebels stepped up reprisals against civilians and regained territory they lost during the offensive.

The 17,000-strong UN force – already one of the UN's biggest operations – has requested a temporary increase of 3,000 troops and police to help it deal with renewed fighting in the area.

The offensive had caused "untold death and suffering that continues to this day", said Marcel Stoessel, the head of Oxfam in the DRC.

"By any yardstick it has been a humanitarian disaster, and one the world has ignored. The UN force's top priority in Congo must be to protect the lives of innocent civilians. The UN needs to be aware of the full implications of continuing to support military action in the present circumstances. "

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

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Judge Bruguière’s Investigation into the Civilian Plane Shoot Down of 6 April 1994--by Col. Luc Marchal [translated from the French by cm/p]

CirqueMinime/Paris

L'enquête du juge Bruguière sur l'attentat du 6 avril 1994 -- par Col. Luc Marchal

http://cirqueminime.blogcollective.com/blog

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Judge Bruguière’s Investigation into the Civilian Plane Shoot Down of 6 April 1994--by Col. Luc Marchal [translated from the French by cm/p]
http://cirqueminime.blogcollective.com/blog/_archives/2009/5/8/4179438.html
[This is our English translation of Col. Luc Marchal’s article about the investigation by French anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguière into the SAM 16 missile strike against the Rwandan presidential plane on 6 April 1994. Our translation of judge Bruguière’s report can be found on this blog here: http://cirqueminime.blogcollective.com/blog/_archives/2007/9/30/3262522.html

There has recently been some--though not much--ado about US/NATO terrorist attacks against civilians in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. Cynical and pathetic explanations for this butchery, like ‘The bad guys used these women and kids as human shields!’ or ‘From the looks of the mess, the bad guys did most of the killing with grenades!’ or ‘Wow, looks like we musta screwed the pooch on this one.

But we’re NOT the bad guys. Sorry!’ come straight out of the NATO/Mossad terror handbook. Along with, ‘If anybody asks any questions, they’re just anti-Semit--fuck ‘em!’

This is all too reminiscent of the early days of the last US Democratic administration, when $3 Bill Clinton, as his first foreign policy gesture, ordered the bombing of Baghdad and killed a world-renowned artist--a woman--yet none dared call Clinton a ‘femmocidaire’.

And Bill was no novice at remote controlled murder, having taken time out of his busy 1991 presidential campaign to sign the death warrant on an auto-lobotomized black man, Ricky Lee Rector--a man so removed from reality that, before entering the infamous Arkansas execution protocol, he stuck a piece of pie, the dessert from his last meal, under his bunk for later, and vowed to fully support his killer’s presidency.

Then, of course, Clinton--in fact, Mr & Mrs Clinton--went on to collaborate on the mass murders of innumerable Middle Easterners, Slavs and Africans, in Palestine, Iraq, Russia, Yugoslavia, and Rwanda/Burundi/Congo--just off the top of my addled pate.

Yeah, those Dems were pretty much equal opportunity liquifacrtionists. So now, the Man from Hope (AR, home of American Mineral Fields, one of the principal parasitic infections in Central Africa), has handed off his executioner’s hood to the Man whose Audacity to Hope he can make a difference is being sorely tested by the wasted nation he has been chosen to lead. When Rush Limbaugh is the Speaker of the Opposition, all I can think of is ‘Praise Jack Lord and pass the Oxycontin!’

But!!! We have not given up on President Obama--yet! However, he is going to have to assert what are coyly called ‘America’s core values’ a little further back into history than just the punishment the Bush/Cheney torture memos. Does ‘We’re Americans! We don’t fucking do that!’ refer only to, like, water-boarding someone with Vanilla Fudge cranked up to 12? Or would CNN’s setting up Radio/Television Serbia, on 23 April 1999, with a Larry King live feed, so that the ‘visibly demented’ General Wesley Clark could fire a Cruise missile into the station and kill 16 of CNN’s putative colleagues--would this qualify as something Americans don’t fucking do?

The Obama administration, if it hopes to save the soul of a nation, is going to have to apply its new standard of decency to the whole murderous juggernaut that has supplanted Cold War anti-communism with an even more barbarous assault on the world’s powerless and poor: the War of Terror on The Terrified.

For the US, through its various military contractors and proxies, like NATO, the IDF, the RPF and al Qaeda, to continue the criminal irrationality currently on display in Afghanistan/Pakistan and Eastern Congo is to condemn his presidency, his nation and its people to a Historical death sentence and a cold, ugly execution at its own hands.--mc]

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Judge Bruguière’s investigation into the civilian plane shoot down of 6 April 1994--by Col. Luc Marchal

The investigation by French judge Jean-Louis Bruguière has continued to bringing on an outpouring printer’s ink and rabid froth from opponents. The journalist Colette Braeckman is one of those who thinks the storm created by this inquest is blowing over. Colonel Luc Marchal’s view is quite the contrary.

Is Judge Bruguière’s investigation of the 6 April 1994 attack nothing but a burst bladder?

Let’s recall the facts.

The French judge’s investigation was begun in 1998 after a complaint against an unnamed party was filed by the daughter of one the members of the flight crew of the Rwandan presidential Falcon 50 jet, and was, subsequently, joined by other members of the victims’ families. At the end of November 2006, judge Bruguière, First Vice President of the Superior Court of Paris charged with anti-terrorism, issued an order for nine international arrest warrants against close associates of Paul Kagame. Since Kagame, as the sitting president of Rwanda, is protected by executive immunity, judge Bruguière has turned to the Secretary General of the UN and demanded that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which has authority over such matters, take up the adjudication of these charges.

Evidence was presented and testimony heard over an eight year period. The least one can say is that these hearings were not rushed. The Rwandan authorities were well aware of the scope of the proceedings and reacted long before the warrants were issued. In 2005 they threatened several times to take France to court over its complicity in the genocide. Charges along these lines were actually filed in Paris against the French military by Rwandan survivors. Then, in April 2006, a commission (called the ‘Muyco Commission’ after its president, Jean de Dieu Muyco) was set up to investigate ‘the role of France before, during and after the genocide.’

Seventy pages long, the order signed by judge Bruguière is somewhat unusual in that it was not composed solely to justify the issuing of international arrest warrants. But this essential moment in the process allowed the synthesis of investigations conducted by the National Anti-terrorist Division (DNAT). Its conclusion is unequivocal: Paul Kagame is directly implicated in the attack of 6 April 1994.

There were various reactions from Kigali, describing the court order as totally unfounded, based on gossip and rumor, and the French judiciary was accused of being motivated more by politics than justice in this case. Other reactions bordered on the surreal, with certain officials contending that President Habyarimana and General Nsabimana, the Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Armed Forces, were legitimate targets in the context of an armed conflict. They were no doubt overlooking that the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) had recently signed a peace accord, and that the president of Burundi and other dignitaries from both countries were on the Falcon 50. More concretely, Rwanda also broke off diplomatic relations with France, and in March 2007, two Rwandan generals, accused by judge Bruguière, filed a complaint against him in a Belgian court, tantamount to filing charges against the Belgian State.

One should remember two major elements of this situation: First, at the end of 2006, Judge Erik Møse, at that time, Chief Justice of the ICTR and presiding judge in the ‘Military I’ trial, entered the entire Bruguière report into the record of that trial of the four Rwandan officers charged with masterminding the genocide. The second element is the completion, in February 2008, of the investigation of Spanish judge Fernando Andreu Merelles. This inquiry into the killing of nine Spanish nationals carried out in Rwanda between 1994 and 2000, concludes with the ordering of 40 arrest warrants against officers of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA).

In a detailed finding of 181 pages, the judge determined that those charged had committed acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and terrorism on the orders of president Kagame. Since Kagame has executive immunity as president of Rwanda, again, a warrant was not issued in his name.

In his conclusions, the judge accuses the RPF of having set up a veritable criminal organization. He estimated that since taking power in Kigali in July 1994, the RPF has created an actual reign of terror, not only in the functioning of its dictatorial regime, but especially by the establishment of parallel structures responsible for committing heinous crimes against the civilian populations, both domestic and foreign. He goes on to state that the overarching aim of this policy was an invasion of Congo, which, after being carried out under the pretext of national security, allowed the invaders to make off with precious natural resources and, at the same time, enabled the government to maintain itself in power and exercise geopolitical domination over the region. The judge furthermore points out that the crimes committed in 1994 are within the purview of the ICTR and, more specifically, within the authority of its prosecutor, the Gambian Hassan Bubacar Jallow. A dubious investigation that is gradually slipping away?

In an article in the daily ’Le Soir’ of 6 April 2008, which was not the first of its kind, the Belgian journalist Colette Braeckman (CB) tried to show that the ‘Bruguière file’ has deflated like a cheap balloon. How does she actually fault the French judge and his investigation? First off, let’s remember that the only document (in the ‘Bruguière file’) that has been made public is the 17 November 2006 order for international arrest warrants.

The full report itself is available only to those who have the specific legal right to see it. That is, at the current stage of the proceedings, only to Mme Rose Kabuye (who has been brought before the French judiciary) and her lawyers. So, one has to wonder just how Mme Braeckman gained access to this file and is able knowingly to comment on it? Let’s be clear. We are not pretending to know ‘The Truth.’

We do understand, however, that if we are wrong, our errors will be demonstrated to us with objective evidence and not by unwarranted assertions, half-truths, generalizations and other subterfuge aimed at avoiding the essential debate. In a file as fraught with emotion as that of Rwanda and Congo (in the past nearly twenty years, the Great Lakes region of Africa has been transformed into an immense killing field with several million victims), the citizen is within his rights to expect to be informed in the most rigorous fashion. If judge Bruguière’s file, because of whatever human errors, contains certain imperfections or informational lapses, it is quite understandable.

But to use such flaws to reduce an eight-year investigation to a mere non-entity, even to question the integrity of the judge and his colleagues, is to cross a line that should never be crossed. And, by crossing it, which seems to be what has happened in this case, one loses all objectivity and credibility.

Three important elements, among others, are brought up in the CB article to justify her lame analysis of the inconsistencies of the file: The main witnesses have gone back on their testimonies. A Rwandan interpreter and translator, Fabien Singaye, who aided judge Bruguière and his investigators in the interrogation of witnesses, was anything but neutral.

The authorization given Mme Kabuye to return to Rwanda and to continue her official duties, even though the arrest warrant had not been formally revoked [sic--the international arrest warrant was executed on Mme Kabuye at the Frankfurt airport on 10 November 2008, and she was subsequently transferred to Paris, where her appearance in court satisfied that order and the warrant was no longer in force--cm/p], is indicative of the weakness of the charges against her.

What about these different allegations?

As to the retraction of testimony by key witnesses:

Two important witness have gone back on their statements: Abdul Ruzibiza and Emmanuel Ruzigana. They are, in fact, two key witnesses but hardly the only witnesses to have testified in these matters. Take the better known case of Abdul Ruzibiza. His book, ‘Rwanda, l’histoire secrète’ (‘Rwanda, the Secret Story,’ though, as far as I know, not only has the book not been translated into English --the new second language of Rwanda--but it has been banned in that country--cm/p), issued by Éditions du Panama in 2005, greatly troubled the debate on Central Africa.

Basically, this book made the case that Paul Kagame was responsible for the 6 April 1994 attack as well as the far-ranging massacres carried out in Rwanda and Congo-Zaire. Such accusations were not big news at that time. They had already been made against the Kigali strong man well before Ruzibiza or Ruzigana surfaced--notably by Jean-Pierre Mugabe, Aloys Ruyenzi and Déogratias Mushayidi, to name just a few. It is true that, in the Soir article of last April 6th, CB indicates that she had met Ruzibiza back in the day and that she found him to be less than credible.

Shocking when one considers that Ruzibiza’s book was prefaced by two renowned experts on the African Great Lakes region: Claudine Vidal, emeritus director of research at the CNRS and André Guichaoua, professor of sociology at the University of Paris (1--Panthéon-Sorbonne). These folks are not lightweights!

It is not because Ruzibiza flipped on his testimony before Bruguière that the 495 pages of his book become a crock of inventions, or lies and wild fantasies. It is even less reasonable to assume that having lived through some of the situations described in the book, we can attest that the details concerning them are, in fact, correct. But whatever the case, it seems to us a little impetuous to declare Ruzibiza to be just a minor bullshit artist and that the whole Bruguière report goes flat when its principal witness caves in.

It might be useful to remind Mme Braeckman that Ruzibiza also testified before the ICTR and that his testimony, which covered the principal themes of his book, was given under oath. Under such conditions, it is surprising that the prosecutor at the ICTR did not think it necessary to recall this witness and charge him with perjury, since he had the authority to do so and had, in fact, done so in the past. On the journalistic side, this move would have been something else again if, instead of taking Ruzibiza’s retractions at face value, a serious investigation had been opened into the real reasons for his flipping on his statements. Isn’t that, after all, the journalist’s job?

To finish up this first point, we could say that if Ruzibiza had been the only person to accuse Paul Kagame of being directly implicated in the Rwandan tragedy, it would be right to call into question the relevance of all his allegations.

Given that this is not the case and that many other direct witnesses have said substantially the same thing, it would be reasonable to look for the real reasons for Ruzibiza and Ruzigana to have gone back on their statements. Such an action would doubtlessly permit us to learn what exactly was the real motivation for these reversals.

As to the controversial role of Fabien Singaye:

According to CB, “The unpublished documents discovered in Switzerland--and to which we were able to gain exclusive access--establish that the Rwandan translator who assisted Bruguière in the questioning of witnesses was anything but impartial (. . .) so it is not surprising that witnesses like Emmanuel Ruzindana (who speaks no French) subsequently declared that he recognized none of the statements he had actually made . . .”

But let’s try to stay serious here. Can you imagine for a moment that judge Bruguière, with his vast judicial experience, could have been duped like a fresh rookie? If the unpublished documents referred to by Mme Braeckman are like the so-called “Key witness to the Habyarimana assassination” (Le Soir of 6 May 2006), the only person to allege that there were three surface-to-air missiles fired at the president’s plane, then it is not worthy the time it takes to read it.

You would really have to go out and do some serious digging to find such a witness and get such strong stuff! Because everyone who was in Kigali on the night of 6 April 1994 confirms that there were just two missiles, and not three, that were fired on the presidential Falcon 50. Dedicating a one-page article to such a seemingly whacked-out witness has for a long time been a way to cast doubt on the seriousness of the judge’s investigation, which only mentions two missiles being fired.

Is the fact that Fabien Singaye is the son-in-law of Félicien Kabuga, accused of being one of the financiers of the genocide, really irrefutable evidence of the translator’s bias? While we’re at it, why not just put it out there that judge Bruguière is surrounded by a staff of genocidaire associates? A relationship like that of Kabuga with is son-in-law doesn’t fool anyone. Such an allusion is a time-tested means of covering up for the total absence of substance in an argument. If the unpublished documents mentioned are supportive of any real position, why not be more precise as to just what they contain?

This would, at least, keep one from falling into vagaries, innuendos, if not outright defamation. To finish with this second point let me emphasize that the person Mme Braeckman accuses of being a ‘biased interpreter’ was needed for the transcription of the control tower tapes from Kigali airport and the testimony of two witnesses. Fabien Singaye had nothing, directly or indirectly, to do with the testimonies of either Ruzibiza or Ruzigana. Not even with that of Emmanuel Ruzindana, whose name does not even appear in judge Bruguière’s report!

As to the special privileges extended to Mme Rose Kabuye:

Here in Belgium we have recently become aware of a governmental crisis brought on by a simple interference by the executive branch into the judicial branch, or maybe it was the other way round.

How do our French friends see the ‘separation of powers’? If we follow the smarmy, self-serving statements of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner with regard to the Kabuye affair, we get the feeling--shared by many--that the bubbly Mr K. has taken great and grave liberties with regard to the principle of the separation of powers.

Strangely enough, his flagrant interfering has not brought anywhere near as great a reaction from French legislators as what we have seen here in Belgium. To speak of the charges against Mme Kabuye as being a huge ‘misunderstanding’ is a sort of provocation of the French judiciary. It is also a harsh blow to the families of the victims of the 6 April attack.

Even if the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The concern of the French president and his Foreign Minister about normalizing troubled relations between France and Rwanda are, in and of themselves, laudable.

Nevertheless, we believe that all is not acceptable in the name realpolitik, and this normalization of relations would be tantamount to the obliteration of the histories of the several million victims sacrificed on the altar of absolute power. No, there are boundaries that should not be crossed. As disturbing is the appeal made at the beginning of this year by president Sarkozy to set up a new system for managing the resources and the territory of the provinces in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. What? Does he think he’s the Bismarck of the Great Lakes here?

Could he have forgotten what the French used to sing with their hands over their hearts and a tremolo in their throats? “They will not take Alsace and Lorraine . . .!” By what right would he force on the Congolese something which, in the past, the French paid an enormous price fighting against? And how much is he ready to do in order to roll out the red carpet for the new Mwami (King) of Rwanda?

In any case, King Kagame is going to laugh until his lips fall off! Given what we have just seen, to suggest, as CB does, that the privileged treatment that Mme Kabuye received showed the Bruguière report to be nothing but an empty vessel, is to take her readers for idiots.

Conclusion

So many years after the 6 April 1994 attack and things are still not back to normal. If after all these years this terrorist act is still spawning books and other documents about its consequences, it is because things are still unclear. Things are still so unclear that there are many who strive, with or against the current, to impose ‘their unilateral view’ of history on the world. But these views just do not stand up to historical analysis. And it is impossible to ignore that these tenants of public opinion, which enforce, far and wide, a sort of intellectual dictatorship by appropriating the ideas of ‘revisionism’ and ‘negationism’ to overwhelm all those who would dare pose even the slightest challenge to their version of history.

The press should be content simply to play its noble role: to inform the public with complete objectivity. It should avoid, for its own obscure reasons, trying to take on the role of the judiciary. Justice is perfectly capable of meeting its own responsibilities.

To pretend that the Bruguière investigation is about to collapse for want of consistency, is to trivialize another investigation that preceded it and came to the same conclusions. In 1997, Michael Hourigan, lead investigator for the ICTR working out of Kigali, put together a file which implicated the current Kigali regime in the murders of presidents Habyarimana and Ntaryamira.
This investigation was well executed from beginning to end. While it started out with the presumption that the attack was the responsibility of extremist Hutus, the accumulation of evidence indicated that, in reality, the responsibility lay with the RPF. And, of course, we know what became of the ‘Hourigan file’: it was first shoved into the back of a drawer by Canadian Louise Arbour, the ICTR prosecutor at that time. Hourigan was told, summarily, to stop his investigation and to destroy all his supporting documents.

And then, it is not the attempts to denigrate the Bruguière investigation by certain members of the press that will make us change our opinion on the necessity for the judicial process to take its normal course and to bring forth a trial. Only a trial will allow a true debate, with the confrontation of opposing arguments, to take place. It is also by way of a trial that, after all these years of obfuscation, we can hope to bring some real clarity to the history of the attack of 6 April 1994. Luc Marchal 4 May 2009

© Mick Collins

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