I noticed that the more we go deep in President Obama agenda, the more we do encounter a stronger resistance, not only from pure Republican machine, but also from some Democrats who still not understand the message of change. We should fight and achieve our objectives in Healthcare, Education, Energy, and keep the economy going. The more we demonstrate our focus, all our opponents will finally believe in our commitment, and it will be difficult to continue their resistance movement.
Nyagatare
The Senate is holding up the budget. Anybody want to work on this? Then join the Citizen Strategy Think Tank. We will be dividing up the budget, studying it, and making talking points to get this thing passed. Then we will be contacting our Representatives and helping to make it happen. Pass it on...see you there. Look for a thread that says Project Four and jump in. http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/CitizenStrategyThinkTank And please be respectful and helpful. Thank you to all those who are gonna join this work team.
Lisa Lindo National USA.CAN Group Administrator (Community Action Networks) Associate Producer Vote For Change Campaign -- http://obeygiant.com/voteforchange/ You Tube: You Made Me Love You, Obama! Economic URL: IfTheBuckStopsHereShootIt.com Twitter: lisalindo http://My.BarackObama.com/page/group/CaliforniaCAN http://My.BarackObama.com/page/group/USACAN http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/hawaiiCAN
Alison des Forges
ARUSHA (AFP) — The court trying alleged perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide was stunned Saturday at the death in an air crash of the top expert on the 1994 massacres, Alison Des Forges.
Des Forges, 66, an expert advisor to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and human rights groups, was among the 50 victims of Thursday's plane crash near Buffalo, New York.
"It is with deep shock that the tribunal has learned of the tragic disappearance of Alison des Forges, "a spokesman for the UN tribunal based in Arusha, Tanzania, told AFP.
"It is a great loss for the world of human rights, international justice and all humanity," Roland Amoussouga said.
"Alison was not only an expert but also a very committed militant," he added." It is a great loss for the world of human rights, international justice and the whole of humanity," he said.
Des Forges appeared as an expert witness in 11 trials for genocide at the ICTR, three trials in Belgium, and at trials in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Canada.
Her book "No Witness Must Survive" is regarded as the reference work on the Rwandan genocide.
"She was one of the topmost authorities on the history and politics of Rwanda," ICTR prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow said in a statement.
"As a world renowned expert in this field, her knowledge, professionalism and commitment to justice assisted the ICTR and indeed the world at large tremendously -- through her writings, her expert reports and her oral testimony spanning several trials before the tribunal -- acquire a better understanding of the genesis and course of the tragedy of the Rwanda genocide of 1994."
He added, "Dr Des Forges has made an indelible contribution to the cause of international criminal justice and to the cause of human rights."
Des Forges was also a senior adviser to Human Rights Watch, whose boss Kenneth Roth called her "truly wonderful, the epitome of the human rights activist - principled, dispassionate, committed to the truth and to using that truth to protect ordinary people."
"She was among the first to highlight the ethnic tensions that led to the genocide, and when it happened and the world stood by and watched, Alison did everything humanly possible to save people," Roth added.
Solving the problem, which would involve the 2 state solution, is possible, but at a tremendous financial cost that no one so far is willing to pay. Right now Gaza and the West Bank are little more than refugee camps, they have almost no infrastucture, no businesses, no agriculture sufficient to sustain the people, let alone trade. They have little in the way of fresh water resources and depend on sources in Israel for this as well as their electricity. If Israel granted them complete autonomy today, they would still be unable to function as an independent state. The situation on the ground would change very little. But, if the U.S., U.N., European Union, and Arab states (especially cash flush states like Dubai) would committ to 1-2 Trillion dollars to build up the territories, then a Palestinian state could really work. If the Palestinians had decent lives (not starvation, electricity constantly shut down, unemployment, border crossings blockaded, radicals shooting their mouths off and rockets at Israel) and some hope, Hamas and Islamic Jihad would wither away from lack of support.
Instead of taking sides, lets do what is right for both peoples. President Obama and Hillary Clinton should be encouraged to seek a real, sustainable, peace, and twist the arms of the Global community to commit the necessary funds to make it happen. We don't need temporary cease-fires and photo opportunities which fall apart six months later.
Barack Obama was adopted by Crows of Montana in May 2008.
See a slide show from the fomal ceremony on May 19, 2008 here:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/caitlinharvey/gGBTlf
by: Timothy Egan
SALT RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. — Nearly 50 years ago, a Pima native took a Greyhound bus from this sun-roasted redoubt of Indian land to the winter chill of Washington, D.C.,to witness the first day of a young American president.
“When he came home, my father was so excited because John Kennedy stood up for him when he walked by him in the parade,” said Diane Enos. “The president stood up for an Indian! He couldn’t stop talking about that.”
Next week, Diane Enos will make the same trip, along with hundreds of other American Indians who hope that Barack Obama’s inauguration will bring the wind of possiblity to Indian Country.
In less than a week’s time, the Great White Father will be black. Amidst the euphoria and stirring of fresh ideas, there remains some suspicion.
“He’s still a politician and I’m still an Indian,” said Sherman Alexie, the National Book Award-winning writer, a Spokane and Coeur d’Alene native.
“They all look like treaty-makers to me,” said Alexie, paraphrasing the native musician, John Trudell. “I guess that’s the puzzling and I suppose lovely thing about Indians’ love of Obama. Many have suspended their natural suspicion of politicians for him.”
So often, they are invisible, these first Americans, or frozen in iconic images of the past. We see them in Curtis prints and Remington poses, or hear something attributed to them in New Age spiritual circles. Cool, Indians.
And then a new casino opens off the interstate or a pottery exhibit is unveiled, and we realize: ah yes, they’re with us still.
With Obama’s rise, Indians have allowed themselves to dream — some, even to fall in love. He was adopted into an Indian family in Montana last May, given the name “Barack Black Eagle” by the Crow Nation.
When asked about immigration concerns in New Mexico, Obama pointed to a handful of elderly natives in the front row of a high school gym.
“He said, ‘The only real native people in this country are sitting right in front of me,’ ” recalled Joe Garcia, who is president of the National Congress of American Indians. “You should have heard the applause.”
The epic struggle for natives has been to avoid getting washed away by the flood of dominant culture, where Indians make up less than 2 percent of more than 300 million Americans.
That, and the physical toll that losing this big land has taken on them. Indians die younger than most other Americans, suffer from higher rates of suicide, alcoholism, debilitating dietary problems.
The Pimas, who hold to this 52,000-acre homeland amidst the predatory sprawl of 4.2 million people here in the Phoenix metro area, have one of the world’s highest rates of type 2 diabetes — a consequence of the rough adjustment from their world to one handed down by Europeans.
Presidents come and go. They promise to uphold treaty rights and appoint somebody to oversee Indian affairs who understands that history did not end when Custer fell to his hubris. It’s ho-hum, usually, with a mournful shrug on the reservations.
But on the most recent Election Day, on the Navajo Rez, which spills into three states and is the size of West Virginia, high school kids held up Obama signs at intersections in the town of Window Rock, and cheered themselves hoarse as returns came in.
“I feel very elated,” said Joe Shirley, Jr., president of the Navajo Nation. “All of Navajo Country came out strong for Obama.”
Shirley says nearly half of Navajo families heat their homes with wood they cut themselves, drink water hauled into their homes in barrels and light their rooms with kerosene lamps.
Talk about stimulus: a billion dollars, one-seven-hundredth of what taxpayers are giving the financial institutions that caused the Crash of 2008, could bring much of Navajo land into the modern age, Shirley said.
But beyond the desire for urgent, fundamental infrastructure help, Indians look to Obama as a powerful narrative. People who were subjugated, with near-genocidal brutality, feel a kinship with people who were first brought here in chains, even though Obama is an immigrant’s son.
“There’s a bond there,” said Shirley. “Birds of a feather flock together. We try to teach that there are no impossibilities to Navajo people. His election speaks to the young especially.”
Cynicism is the poison of so many young people. In Indian Country, where despair is often woven into the landscape, it takes hold even earlier.
So when Diane Enos, who is president of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, arrives in the festive capital next week she will have a teenage tribal leader with her.
“Obama’s life has been a journey to find identity,” she said. “That’s the Indian stuggle. And it starts with children.”
On Inauguration Day, the capital will host the likes of Ludacris and Chaka Khan, corporate titans and political giants, and balls too numerous to count.
Among the sea of Americans ushering in the president will be a small contingent of people who have clung to this continent longer than any other. And for once — if only for a January moment — they will feel like they belong."
This is from a post by "A New Birth of Freedom" on Barack's website.
Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis of California will be Barack Obama's pick for labor secretary as the president-elect fills the last open positions in his Cabinet, a labor official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Solis, who is the daughter of Mexican and Nicaraguan immigrants, has been the only member of Congress of Central American descent. She just won a fifth term representing heavily Hispanic portions of eastern Los Angeles County and east LA. Obama planned to announce Solis' selection on Friday along with his selection of Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois for transportation secretary. The official spoke on conditions of anonymity because an announcement has not been made yet. A call to Solis's office was not immediately returned.Solis, in 1994, was the first Latina elected to the California Senate, where she led the battle to increase the state's minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.75 an hour in 1996.In Congress, she wrote a measure that authorized $125 million for work force training programs in areas such as energy efficiency retrofitting and "green building" construction.Andy Stern, president of the 1.9-million member Service Employees International Union, the 51-year-old praised Solis for her deep roots in the union movement. He recalled marching with her in Los Angeles -- well before she was elected to Congress -- to seek higher wages and benefits for janitors."We were with her fighting for the rights of people who work from the beginning and we're so proud that she's been chosen to be the labor secretary," Stern said.
Obama planned to announce Solis' selection on Friday along with his selection of Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois for transportation secretary. The official spoke on conditions of anonymity because an announcement has not been made yet. A call to Solis's office was not immediately returned.
Solis, in 1994, was the first Latina elected to the California Senate, where she led the battle to increase the state's minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.75 an hour in 1996.
In Congress, she wrote a measure that authorized $125 million for work force training programs in areas such as energy efficiency retrofitting and "green building" construction.
Andy Stern, president of the 1.9-million member Service Employees International Union, the 51-year-old praised Solis for her deep roots in the union movement. He recalled marching with her in Los Angeles -- well before she was elected to Congress -- to seek higher wages and benefits for janitors.
"We were with her fighting for the rights of people who work from the beginning and we're so proud that she's been chosen to be the labor secretary," Stern said.
More high praise for Solis in statements from SEIU, Unite to Win, American Rights at Work, and Change to Win.
Here's video of Solis speaking on the House floor about the Employee Free Choice Act, a top legislative priority for the labor movement.
Solis is viewed by environmental groups as one of the foremost proponents of green jobs and environmental justice. The Sierra Club and Wonk Room's Brad Johnson have more on her record, and Johnson posts this video of Solis speaking "about her commitment to solving global warming through a clean energy economy for all":
Hilda Solis has blogged for the Huffington Post multiple times in recent years, often about labor issues. Check out the full archive here.
Read more about Hilda Solis, Hilda Solis labor , Hilda Solis Labor Secretary, Solis, Rep. Hilda Solis, Hilda Solis on Source Watch, Hilda Solis votes.
Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
Rwanda: Kigali Admits to Have Barred Human Rights Champion Dr. Des Forges From Entering
The Rwandan government has admitted to have barred Human Rights Watch's Senior Adviser on Africa, Dr Alison Des Forges, from entering Rwanda as " an individual case", but did not state categorically for what reasons.
The pro-government Rwanda Times quoted Rwanda's Director of Immigration and Emigration, Mr Anaclet Kalibata, as saying that Dr Des Forges case was "personal problem" and that it was different from making her organization's human right's work in Rwanda difficult. "It is true that we have barred her from entering, but it is an immigration issue... it has nothing to do with human rights, it is an individual case" claimed Mr Kalibata.
Kalibata added that Human Rights Watch has an office in Kigali that was still operating, which was a testimony that Rwanda has no problem with the organization's activities.
The Human Rights Watch last week called on the Rwandan government to reverse its decision over Dr Des Forges.
"Des Forges, who has been working to promote human rights in Rwanda for 17 years, won the prestigious MacArthur Award for her reporting on1994 genocide" wrote HRW. Dr Des Forges was author of a book titled: "Leave None to Tell the Story".
"A nation like Rwanda, which has seen such deadly violations of human rights, should show the world that it welcomes review of its record," said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch.
"We've asked Rwandan authorities why they have excluded this highly respected human rights advocate but haven't gotten any official response. Unofficially the only explanation we have been given is that they don't like our criticism."
The Rwandan government first refused Dr Des Forges entry at a border crossing with Burundi on September 4, 2008. She was refused a second time on December 2, when she flew to Rwanda to attend an international conference on legal aid for poor. On that occasion, Rwandan officials prevented her from leaving the plane and which forced her to return to Belgium.
On December 3, the Rwandan authorities delayed for a day another Human Rights Watch staff member at Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), border crossing. However, finally she received permission to enter Rwanda in the evening.
In addition to monitoring human rights, the US-based body has worked to see justice delivered on behalf of victims of 1994 genocide and of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which according to UN estimates ,claimed lives of about 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Dr Des Forges has provided expert testimony in 11 genocide trials before the Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), including that of Col. Theoneste Bagosora and two others found guilty on December 18. She has testified also in genocide trials in Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada.
On several occasions, most recently on December 12, Human Rights Watch called on ICTR Prosecutor to ensure it carried out its full mandate by examining alleged cases against the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), dominant force in the current Rwandan government.
In the past, staff members of other international organizations, journalists, and academic specialists thought to be critical of the government, have also been refused permission to enter or work in Rwanda.
It's really cool to see that this website is on going and continuing to be a place for connecting the people to activities and events... continuing support for the vision of change as proposed by President-elect Barack Obama.
Sunday, December 14th- I attended a community house meeting whereby we discussed issues that concern us, and planning of things we can do within our community to make a difference for the better. We came up with some things that we can take action on immediately, such as helping out at a shelter/safe house for battered women and children. We'll be participating in expanding the facility so that a few more families can get off the waiting list and into a safe environment.
Some of the members of the group are acquaintances of senators and other congressional reps. These group members have now written to these acquaintances regarding such issues as
by Peter Erlinder
November 2008 was the 100-year anniversary of the Congo's conversion from the personal property of Belgian King Leopold II to a colonial possession of Belgium, itself. The King's brutal rule, documented in Leopold's Ghost, embarrassed the Belgians into switching "landlords" in 1908, but did little to ease the colonial burden on the Congolese people.
Between the European powers Berlin meeting that divided up Africa in 1885 and 1908, Belgium's Leopold II accumulated spectacular wealth for himself while an estimated 10-million Congolese died. Even more died before Congo finally got its independence on June 30, 1960. But, real independence has never arrived in the Congo, and foreign military and economic powers still control its destiny today! In 2008, Leopold's "Ghost" has been replaced by the United States and the United Kingdom, and surrogate-armies led by Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Uganda's Yoweri Musveni, as documented by reports commissioned by the UN Security Council more than 5 years ago....that the U.S. press has studiously ignored.
U.S. neo-colonial influence in Congo can be traced to the years just after nominal "independence," when Patrice Lumumba, its first democratically-elected prime minister, was assassinated by a western-backed "anti-communist" coup on January 17, 1961. Belgium apologized for its role in 2002 , but despite exposés like A Legacy of Ashes, the CIA history published last year that documents CIA crimes in the Congo, and elsewhere, the U.S. still downplays its role in assassinating Lumumba, and backing the "anti-communist" dictator-criminal Mobutu Sese Seko for more than 3 decades...until he was overthrown in 1997 by a U.S./U.K. sponsored invasion from Rwanda and Uganda, after the Soviet Union's collapse made him expendable.
During a lull in the fighting in the Congo, the UN Security Council commissioned detailed reports in 2001, 2002 and 2003 that document how the 1996 Ugandan/Rwandan military-invasion overthrew of Mobutu, put Laurent Kabila in power in 1997 and unleashed an ongoing resource war, when Kabila tried to reclaim the resource-rich eastern Congo from his erstwhile "allies." That war eventually brought Angola, Zimbabwe and other nations to the defense of the Congo's territory in what became known the First "World War of Africa." Since the 1996 invasion, the Congo has lost an estimated 6 million men, women and children, and the Rwanda/Uganda sponsored war continues today.
As central Africa teeters on the edge of another conflagration that threatens to touch off a Second "World War of Africa" even the New York Times is reporting that the increasing violence is based in a grab for resources. But, what has not been reported is that, more than 5 years ago, at least 3 UN Security Council-commissioned reports submitted over 3 separate years, identified the resource-grab by Rwandan and Ugandan elites as the main source of violence and death in the Congo. Each nation's capital has become the largest trading centers for riches that don't exist in either country, but exist in great plenty in the eastern Congo.
The UN reports describe how elites, related to government and military leaders in Rwanda and Uganda, are gorging themselves on the riches stolen from the areas under the control or their armies or their surrogates. For example, according to the UN reports Rwanda controls an area of the Congo more than 15-times its national territory.
The map of central Africa shows Rwanda and Uganda as smallish "bumps" on the backside of the Congo, a country the size of Western Europe. Uganda's population is only about 35 million and Rwanda's no more than about 8 million...but they have both managed to sustain a 12-year war of occupation in vast areas of the eastern Congo, and have threatened to take control of the entire country.
The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have taught the American people just how expensive wars of aggression and occupation really are. The occupation of the Congo has lasted nearly twice as long as George Bush's wars, which means that either the wars are very, very profitable, or the Ugandan and Rwandan militaries are getting support from outside central Africa...or both.
The 2001-03 UN-commissioned reports document just how lucrative the Congo invasion and occupation has been for its Rwandan and Ugandan sponsors....but it also helps to know, as reported by the U.K. Telegraph, that Uganda is one of the largest recipients of U.K military and economic aid on the African continent. And, Rwandan President Kagame was trained by the U.S. Army at Ft. Leavenworth and that Rwanda has been Africa's largest per capita recipient of U.S. military and economic aid. The Rwandan army has grown from 7,000 troops when Kagame invaded Rwanda from Uganda in 1990 to between 70,000 to 100,000 troops today. Rwandan and Ugandan troops and private military contractors are in Darfur, Somalia and part of the 180,000 "civilians" assisting the U.S. military in Iraq.
Only the United States and United Kingdom (not the UN or the "international community") have the power to stop the killing in the Congo by removing support for the military and economic crimes of their allies. But, in addition to direct governmental support, as we know from the movie "Blood Diamonds," cutting off the private capital that also fuels Africa's wars is also necessary. But, if the well-documented governmental and private Anglo-American interests in central Africa stop turning a blind-eye to the crimes being committed by their surrogates....that supply "blood"-coltan for cellphones, "blood"-gold, diamonds, tin and bauxite to North American and European markets, and proxy-troops in Africa and Iraq, the "puppet-combatants" would be unable to continue a large-scale war for very long.
Europe had its own 100-year war, and the Congo has already experienced an African variation with a century of European assistance. But, at the dawn of the 21st Century, the British and Americans can prevent what promises to be a 200-year genocide in the Congo and central Africa....but only if they choose to admit their complicity, and end it!
President Obama has many difficult challenges indeed....but his capacity for deeper understanding of neo-colonial manipulations in Africa than any U.S. president before him presents the possibility that he could emerge as a peacemaker in Africa on a scale that could even exceed the contributions of Nelson Mandela, and ensure Obama's place in world history. The question is whether he will have the wisdom, strength and courage to finally put Leopold's neo-colonial "Ghost" in its well-deserved grave....and, whether the Pentagon and U.S. economic interests will permit him to bury U.S. neo-colonialism in Africa, once and for all.
The Internet is More Powerful Than an Atomic Weapon
The Internet is more powerful than an atomic bomb because it is cheap, it reaches the target without war, and it carries the power of life or death; the Word of God says, the power of life or death is in the tongue.
© Lillene Ebanks
Remains of Juvénal Habyarimana’s presidential plane, 1994Retired Colonel Rose Kabuye was recently arrested in Germany, and extradited to France, where she was charged with for complicity in murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise, for her alleged participation in the 1994 shooting down of Juvénal Habyarimana’s presidential plane, and released on bail. She is the first member of Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s inner circle to be charged in connection to what is arguably history’s least-investigated political assassination and terrorist attack.Rose Kabuye
Who is Rose Kabuye?
Colonel Rose Kabuye was born in Uganda, the child of Rwandan expatriates, many of which left the country after it obtained independence, and following a UN-sponsored referendum abolishing the (Tutsi) monarchy in Rwanda. She attended primary school with many of the current regime’s hard-liners, and like numerous other Rwandan Tutsi exiles living in Uganda, Kabuye joined the Ugandan Army, where she held the rank of Lieutenant, and became the personal attaché of the Chief of Staff. During the same period, Paul Kagame, who attended the U.S. Army Command and Staff College (CGSC) in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, was Chief of Military Intelligence in the Ugandan Army.President Paul KagameOn October 1st, 1990, an armed group called the Rwandan Patriotic Front, composed of many Ugandan officers, including Rose Kabuye and Paul Kagame, invaded Rwanda from Uganda, with Ugandan military materiel, and Ugandan soldiers. President Museveni of Uganda claimed that these "rebels" were acting unbeknownst to him, and had "deserted" the Ugandan army; however, there is no account that any of these officers, including Kabuye and Kagame, were ever stripped of their Ugandan military rank, or that they were they ever court-martialed and charged with desertion.
It is said that Rose Kabuye—who charmed foreign journalists by holding her baby on her knee in press conferences held after the RPF invasion of Rwanda-- was imprisoned for several months by Kagame in 1993, for undisclosed reasons.
In April 1994, she was back in Kigali, Rwanda, working in an administrative capacity at the RPF headquarters. French judge Jean-Louis Bruguière accuses her of having abetted the SAM 16 missile attack on the plane carrying Presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, of Burundi. The indictment states that it was in her office that the members of the "Network Commando", the RPF cell alleged to have shot down the presidential plane, waited for their orders, on April 6th, 1994.
Rose Kabuye was named "Prefet" (or governor) of Kigali after the tragic event of 1994.
She was later designated to participate in the National Transitional Assembly by Kagame, but was later removed. Colonel Kabuye was subsequently named Chief of Protocol of President Kagame. She is the highest-ranking woman in the Rwandan Patriotic Army.
A Convenient Arrest
Kabuye’s arrest and extradition to France arrest comes at a curious time and is accompanied by circumstances that deserve closer scrutiny.
It appears that, according to both French and German government sources, Rose Kabuye had been warned that if she traveled to Germany, she would be arrested pursuant to a warrant launched by French anti-terrorism judge, Jean-Louis Bruguière; a claim she now denies, expressing instead "surprise" at her arrest. Much has been said of Colonel Kabuye’s willingness to face justice in France so that "the truth be known"; President Paul Kagame has ever referred to "lancing the boil".
It has been speculated that General Kagame has sent his Chief of Protocol—a Lieutenant herself—to attempt, first, to obtain a copy of judge Bruguière’s file, and secondly, to "reveal the weakness" of the case against himself, and inner circle. Indeed, Kabuye is, among those charged, the individual against whom the charges are least severe, and whose implication may seem to be less instrumental than others. This theory is revealing to some extent, but fails to take into account what are high-level diplomatic and political attempts to paradoxically, move away from, and not towards, the truth.
The shooting down of the plane carrying Presidents Habyarimana of Rwanda and Ntaryamira of Burundi triggered the large-scale massacres that followed. The role of this attack on the nightmare that unfolded is obvious, yet over the years, and with the exception of judge Bruguière’s investigation, efforts to elucidate this crime have been frustrated almost every step of the way. An investigation was requested on numerous occasions, by numerous parties; significantly, by the Security Council, almost immediately, whose reminders to the Secretary-General to investigate the circumstances of the attack were not followed; by the Rwandan Government, after the plane was shot down; by the African Union; and following the UN resolution establishing the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities adopted resolution 1994/1 entitled "Situation in Rwanda", calling the attention of the Commission of Experts, established by the Security Council, to the need to inquire into the circumstances of the shooting down of the plane.
In 1997, as defense counsel for Georges Rutaganda before the ICTR, I argued a motion requesting the Prosecutor disclose results of investigations into the shooting down of the Presidential plane, or be directed to undertake investigations, if none had been carried out. The Prosecutor’s representative responded:
"Our responsibility and mandate is not to investigate plane crashes. That's not really our function. Therefore, I would categorically answer this question by saying that, first, we don't have any such investigation. We have not made any such investigation and we don't have any reports. And, secondly, it is not our function, it is not our mandate, to investigate plane crashes or presidents, vice-presidents, or whoever it is. And, therefore, this is really a matter not within our province."
We have since learned from Michael Hourigan, Australian lawyer and one of former Prosecutor Louise Arbour’s lead investigators, that investigations had in fact been carried out (and at the material period when this fact had been denied), but had been shut down by Prosecutor Arbour personally once Hourigan informed her that he had credible evidence that a "network commando" of the RPF had shot down the plane.
The efforts to undermine this investigation over the years are significant, and the testimony of Abdul Ruzibiza, a former RPF officer who testified before the ICTR, sheds substantial light on why that may be. Ruzibiza, one of judge Bruguière’s witnesses, claims to have recanted the totality of his testimony in several telephone interviews given last week. Yet Ruzibiza wrote a book setting out in detail the fact that Kagame’s RPF shot down the plane with the knowledge that armed hostilities would resume in Rwanda, as he was dissatisfied with the political process undertaken after belligerent parties had signed the Arusha Peace Accords. In other words, knowing full well that chaos would descend upon Rwanda (or with incomprehensible recklessness) , Kagame’s strategy was to seize power through the force of arms, and it was guaranteed that war would resume after the assassination of the Rwandan President—and as it happened, the Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Armed Forces, as well as the President of Burundi.
Ruzibiza testified publicly at the ICTR as a defense witness. The Prosecutor’s cross-examination covers 65 pages of transcripts, yet Ruzibiza’s version was unshaken, much less did he change his version, or recant then, when testifying under oath.
But Rose Kabuye’s arrest and transfer to France appears to have suddenly triggered Ruzibiza’s change of heart and complete recantation of his testimony. He now claims that Bruguière’s investigation was a French political machination (which does not explain his UN testimony).
Diplomacy’s Pale Underbelly
Perhaps key in understanding what has happened is the policy adopted by France’s Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner. In January 2008, and apparently desperate to normalize relations with Rwanda (which were suspended by Rwanda after Bruguière launched arrest warrants in 2006), he signed an op ed in Figaro, in which he wrote (my translation):
"I do not know who ordered the April 6th, 1994 attack against President Habyarimana’s plane. But I do not believe, as does the excellent judge Jean-Louis Bruguière, that Paul Kagame knowingly decided to spark the fire that roared over his country. I cannot accept this simplistic and slanderous vision that would have Tutsis be responsible for what happened to them, no more than I can stand to hear certain people claim that there was a double genocide, against both Hutus and Tutsis."
Asked last week [mid-November 2008] whether Kabuye’s indictment in France would present an obstacle to the normalization of relations with Rwanda, he responded: "I believe the contrary."
One can only hope that geo-political concerns will not yet again stand in the way of learning the truth about the circumstances in which President Habyarimana’s plane was shot down by two surface to air missiles in 1994, even if the truth to be discovered, and justice to be done as a result, leads us to indict those who’ve become some of the West’s strongest allies, and who continue, it seems, to wage a path of destruction through Eastern Congo, with complete immunity.
Indeed, if the RPF shot down President Habyarimana’s plane, Kagame can no longer be deemed a heroic military genius who stopped a genocide and should be forever protected and flattered no matter how many crimes he commits. He becomes one of the (main) reasons the massacres unfolded: he could not have failed to know that the assassination of two Hutu presidents, and the Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Armed Forces, during a volatile political transition and in the course of a fragile ceasefire (violated on several occasions by the RPF, as it happens), would unleash violence. If the RPF shot down the plane, they are co-responsible, and this substantially changes the cartoonishly uni-dimensional narrative necessary to provide Kagame with total impunity, and buttress a Western foreign policy on intervention that helped make the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia possible politically.
While Bernard Kouchner may not want to believe the results of a careful investigation carried out by France’s most celebrated anti-terrorism judge, and while Judge Bruguière’s witness, Mr. Ruzibiza, may suddenly see fit to recant a testimony given under oath before a UN institution, the fact remains that there are many other witnesses relied upon in the French investigation. And this most under-investigated of political assassinations, one which sparked a hundred-day massacre, the latter justifying continued war and misery in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and authoritarian rule in Rwanda, must be elucidated, and not quashed yet again, for the sake of geopolitical interests that would impede discovery of truth, and delay justice beyond what can decently be tolerated.
Tiphaine Dickson was lead counsel for Georges Rutaganda before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda from 1997 to 2001. She was the first defense lawyer to present a motion requesting disclosure of the Prosecution’s investigations into the shooting down of President Habyarimana’s plane.
You Have Sown the Seeds: Now is the Time to Prepare for a Rich Harvest
Dear Mr. Obama,
Congratulations on your election as the next president of the United Sates of America. Millions of Americans and indeed many more millions around the world are eagerly looking to you and your administration to address many pressing crises facing your country and the world over. These include climate change and ecology, banking, credit and subprime mortgage lending, soaring cost of energy and food, hunger and infectious disease, international relations and cooperation, peace and justice, terrorism and war, armaments and unprecedented violence, crime and insecurity. Other major problems include the fear of getting sick, old, homeless and jobless.
It is precisely in times like these – unstable and confusing though they may be – that people everywhere need to keep their eyes on the better side of human nature, the side of love and compassion, rather than hatred and injustice; the side of the common good, rather than selfishness, individualism and greed.
With your election a seed of hope has been sown. Now it’s the time to ensure this seed will grow into a most wonderful and rich harvest by insisting that the abundance that comes from God and earth and human effort must be shared, lest its concentration in the hands of the few become a blood-clot endangering our lives- as indeed has happened.
To do this, your government needs- as I am sure, it will- to adopt a new strategy of generosity toward all the people of America, as well as to all other people and nations around the world, by replacing the strategy of domination that has so long been the policy paradigm. Your administration needs to transform all institutions including the U.S. government to act not merely for economic benefits and the highest return to the shareholders, but also to encourage people’s natural inclination toward love, generosity, compassion, imagination, and wonder at the beauty of the planet Earth and the universe in which we live, by encouraging us all to know and serve the common good.
Those who may not have your best interest at heart may say this is too idealistic. But today, idealism is the new realism. So-called realism, through the strategy of domination, has only led to endless wars, needless suffering, and exploitation, seriously compromising the moral and spiritual standing of the U.S., both at home and abroad.
"The first place I heard the blues was in Kansas City." Langston Hughes
"Kansas City has a rich history of music, especially jazz. While most of the music was created by professional musicians at various performance venues in and around the city, there were also the up and coming musicians at the local schools. One such school with an extremely rich musical history is Lincoln High School, often referred to as the 'castle on the hill'.” http://lcpabands.org/Links/history.htm
President-elect Obama understands the importance of arts in the schools which includes music education. Quality music education programs need financial support in every school district in order to provide the world class education that every student deserves.
"What we can’t have is the creation of a cultural caste system where only the children of the affluent will have the opportunity to have an arts education. The only way the children of the non-affluent are going to get an arts education is in the public school. But the quality of education in the public schools is inconsistent, so that’s an issue we’ve got to deal with".— Denny Senseney, President of Senseney Music. Source: http://www.supportmusic.com/smc_report.pdf
Lincoln College Preparatory Academy's Wind Ensemble, a 45-student concert band has been invited to participate in a special rehearsal and recital program at Carnegie Hall in New York City in April 2009.
The Band Boosters are seeking community financial support in order to make this dream music experience a reality for students.
Lincoln High School is located in the 18th & Vine Historic District of Kansas City, Missouri. The history of Lincoln is summarized on the Tiger Bands' site: http://lcpabands.org/Links/history.htm Lincoln, a public school in an urban neighborhood, provides a college prep education (including an academic music program) to students from across the city.
The performance program at Carnegie Hall annually attracts talented youth and young adult musicians from across the country. Students, Band Boosters and other supporters are seeking to raise the $75,000 needed to arrange the one-week trip and performance program in New York.
This is an appeal for your support!
LCPA Band Boostersc/o LCPA Bands2111 WoodlandKansas City, MO 64108
For more information about the Lincoln College Prep Band Program and the students' efforts to get to New York City in April 2009, visit www.lcpabands.org.
Musical Kansas City: From Rags to Classic Jazz to the Classics
http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col/parisoftheplains/webexhibit/page4.htm
Sometimes when everyone agrees that something is a good idea -- like supporting music education or sending students to Carnegie Hall -- then everybody assumes that everyone else is already doing something to help which may result in nobody doing anything at all -- so, please donate if you are able.
Thank You!
YES!
An open invitation to join : President Barack Obama Inauguration Day 2009 - Washington, DC Group!!!
http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/InaugurationDay2009
Make plans to be in DC on this historical day!
Make plans to be tuned in with TV and/or the Internet.
Be out in public with friends and fellow citizens.
A Grand and Wonderful Celebration!
Presidential elections may capture the public's attention, as Barack Obama's victory did last week, but the less glamorous work in the U.S. Congress tends to prove more important for technology topics.
In general, much of today's current congressional leadership will continue unchanged into the next, albeit with some complications such as Obama's departure and some narrow Senate races including Minnesota's. Whatever the outcome, Democrats are likely to be newly emboldened and may be eager to approve legislation that stalled in the 110th Congress, including spyware regulations and a shield law that would protect some bloggers.
The outlook is complicated by some shuffling in House and Senate committee leadership, which is expected to take place next week. Two politicians are jockeying over chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which includes green tech and Internet regulation in its portfolio. And increased interest in intellectual property issues in the House Judiciary Committee has led John Conyers (D-Mich.) to reorganize a key subcommittee.
Same issues, new players Energy-related legislation will be one area of expected focus, though a continued economic downturn could divert attention or Treasury funds.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "has taken a personal leadership role in identifying and advancing a house innovation agenda, which didn't really get as far as it should have," said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. "Republicans are generally less oriented to pro-active policies to spur innovation--they're more interested in reducing barriers to innovation."
Other issues expected to be addressed again next year include Net neutrality, consumer privacy issues such as regulation over electronic medical records, and patent reform.
In the House, look for Conyers and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Telecommunications and the Internet panel in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to take the lead. On the Senate side, senators like Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) are likely to remain focused on tech-related issues.
Some new members are expected to bolster the Democrats' commitment to tech issues, "particularly Mark Warner who is very technology savvy," said Atkinson. Warner, the former Democratic governor of Virginia, was elected to fill the seat of retiring Republican Senator John Warner.
After the election, Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black praised the new Democratic senators for their tech-friendly platforms, noting that Mark Udall of Colorado and Kay Hagan of North Carolina both pledged their support for Net neutrality during their campaigns.
Some uncertainties exist on the tech policy front, like who will chair the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force since Chair Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) lost his seat last week. A senior aide to the task force said Republican leadership has yet to determine who will chair the group, but its agenda will remain focused on issues like broadband deployment, immigration reform, and securing U.S. competitiveness in the global high-tech marketplace.
Additionally, some Democratic agenda items, which call for more spending, and presumably higher taxes to fund those projects, could fall by the wayside if moderate Democrats insist on maintaining a pay-go system.
Musical chairsIt will be more clear how Congress intends to address tech policy once the Democratic caucus decides upon committee chairs next week.
"In both chambers, the committee makeup plays a significant role in what issues come forward," said Betsy Mullins, vice president of government and political affairs for TechNet, a bipartisan technology lobbying group. "Having certain champions and people who understand your issues can only help you."
In the senate, Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) is expected to replace Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) as chair of the Appropriations Committee, leaving open his chairmanship of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.V.) would logically assume the leadership role of the Commerce Committee, though his office declined to comment on the subject. In that position, he would assume responsibility for Congressional oversight of the digital television transition, which many expect to be fraught with complications.
The committee has jurisdiction over a number of tech issues, and Mullins said Rockefeller would probably push forward broadband deployment legislation, as he has tried to do for years, and would encourage public-private partnerships in scientific research.
Critical subcommittees in the Senate Commerce Committee could face big changes as well. The science, technology, and innovation subcommittee is currently chaired by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who is rumored to be a potential candidate for a cabinet position in the next administration.
It's also possible the next Commerce chair could reinstate the communications subcommittee, which Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) eliminated in 2005, greatly reducing the influence in the committee of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Kerry would be in line to assume that leadership role, but Dorgan--a strong Net neutrality proponent--could be a more likely choice, some have said.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) has been a natural Silicon Valley ally as chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The committee may function differently even if Bingaman remains in that role, however, with the retirement of ranking Republican member Pete Domenici who, as the other senator from New Mexico, worked closely with Bingaman. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), as the next-most senior Republican member of the committee, may fill the GOP leadership role.
Power play On the House side, a battle is brewing over the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who currently chairs the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is bidding to replace Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) as head of Energy and Commerce. Dingell, who has chaired the committee for 28 years, is defending his seat with strong support from other Democrats.
Waxman's challenge is a "stunning" development, said a representative from the communications industry, given Dingell's longstanding history in the committee. While both congressmen are considered to be smart and tough politicians, he said, Dingell is more business-friendly, which could be important, given the state of the economy.
As an ally of the auto industry, Dingell does not always win the approval of environmental groups but is seen as being able to work across party lines. In October, he introduced legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions with Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.).
"Dingell has a long record of fostering communications and technology issues," said an Energy and Commerce Committee spokesperson, that includes promoting competition among communications service providers and overseeing preparation of the digital TV transition.
Still, Waxman said in a statement (PDF), "My record shows that I have the skill and ability to build consensus and deliver legislation that improves the lives of all Americans."
The House Judiciary Committee is also in flux, now that Conyers has decided to restructure the courts, the Internet, and intellectual property subcommittee. Intellectual property will now be under the jurisdiction of the full committee; antitrust topics get their own subcommittee.
Subcommittee Chair Howard Berman (D-Calif.) announced earlier this year he would give up his position to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee instead, so the vacancy created an convenient time to restructure the subcommittee.
A Judiciary staff member said interest in intellectual property issues has grown dramatically in the full committee, so the change gives more members a chance to weigh in on the issue. He said it is still undetermined who will chair the subcommittee.
There has been speculation that another leadership role critical to technology could end up changing hands in a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee.
Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a politician prone to grandstanding on topics like the iPhone and AT&T, may be interested in giving up that spot in order to chair the energy and air quality subcommittee, some insiders believe. The move would allow him to more effectively work on energy legislation. Markey also chairs the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Markey's office declined to comment about the chairmanships.
The next president will face an unprecedented array of foreign policy demands upon taking office in January. The urgent national security challenges are the most visible among them, with Iraq and Afghanistan topping the list. But Pakistan, the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflagration, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Sudan, Somalia, and the global financial crisis will also cry out for immediate attention.
Layered on top of these immediate challenges are growing threats that provide the backdrop for new and more complex crises—climate change, resource scarcity, the global food and energy crises, urbanization, and sweeping demographic shifts. These trends are placing enormous pressure on the ability of individuals, families, and communities to save, plan, and in some cases survive. Combined, they threaten to spawn sweeping insecurity that could further undermine global stability.
The next administration will also be compelled to manage a host of transnational threats that transcend borders and undermine our collective global security, including terrorism, global pandemics, money laundering, illicit trade, and crime and drug syndicates. Taken together, global trends and transnational threats serve as force multipliers that expand poverty and fuel conflicts.
The challenges facing the United States are so many and so diverse that the only way the next president can avoid leaping from crisis to crisis is to position America to get ahead of the curve. The next president can enhance our standing in the world, sustain our security, and protect our investments by implementing robust prevention strategies to complement the foreign policies that are, due to necessity, geared toward immediate crises. By failing to do so, the next president would ensure that our sustainable security remains elusive.
Merely reacting to global crises is a costly strategy in terms of both human lives and direct financial costs. In order to get out ahead and prepare itself to face the challenges of the 21st century, the United States should:
Hi Everyone,
I wouldn't write much about this subject, because I know right now that, interested people know the reality of what is going on over there, between Rwanda and DRC.
Just a few words to diplomats and politicians involved in this conflict: Killing or doing harm to innocent civilians, is intoralable, no matter what reason you are claiming. You will be asked one day your part in this horrible act, don't claim you were not informed. The justice will prevail, when western democraties, the only hope for now, will recognized their involvement and come back to the reality.
Populations involved, don't spread hate to your fellow citizen, love your neigbor, denounce your incompetent politicians-be smart though-you might be killed too, by those cowards. In the end, you will be proud of yourself, for what you have done. God bless you all.
NB
This is my last input on Rwanda DRC conflict, I have decided to work on: The Role of Information Technology in poor populations, a source of Information Security to Developed Economies. I believe that, selected articles about this subject would enlight Obama administration, to work towards good results and solutions to the matter! Wish me Well!!!!!!!!!
Rwanda: Dealing with the reality, achieving common ground, and betting on the future.
Comment to Colette Braeckman's article entitled: "DRC: The failure of the International Community as well".
On October 9th, 2008 Colette Braeckman published in the Belgian newspaper "Le Soir" and posted on her website a shocking article entitled "DRC: The failure of the international community as well". The entire article can be accessed online at the following link: “http://blogs. lesoir.be/ colette-braeckma n/2008/10/ 09/lechec- aussi-de- la-communaute- internationale/”.
In this article, Colette Braeckman raises the current civil war in the DRC in the eastern province of North Kivu and proposes the solution. Briefly, here is how she poses the problem:
The problem:
"When the Mobutu regime, pressured by the International community, agreed to host the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide and their fellows, the Rwandan regime felt entitled the right to invade the DRC province of Kivu so that it can chase away its strenuous opponents."
The solution:
"Hunt down the Hutu genocidaires and send them home in Rwanda or elsewhere, neutralize the Tutsi rebel Laurent Nkunda, seal off the DRC boundaries , and halt the looting of the DRC mineral resources."
In my opinion, Colette Braeckman is deadly wrong both on the root cause of the current DRC civil war and obviously on her proposed solution.
About the cause:
The presence in the DRC of what Colette Braeckman calls "Hutu genocidaires" is a direct consequence of the military coup which put the RPF on power in Rwanda. Up to date, the RPF continues to spread lies that its decision to take power by force in Rwanda was directly linked to its willingness and determination to end the Rwandan genocide in 1994. This baseless argument does not stick at all since every Rwandan knows that the Rwandan genocide of 1994 was not the cause of the Rwandan civil war which began in 1990. Instead, the Rwandan genocide of 1994 was a direct consequence of the Rwandan civil war which spanned from 1990 to 1994. In addition, the Rwandan genocide was triggered by the terrorist attack against the Rwandan presidential aircraft on April 6th, 1994.
Numerous reliable sources attest that this terrorist attack is the triggering event of Rwandan genocide and that it was ordered and executed by the RPF.
In 1994, the RPF was indeed in a desperate need of a strong argument so that it can resume the Rwandan civil war which had been ended by the Arusha Peace Agreement signed between the RPF and the Rwandan government on August 4th, 1993. The RPF wanted to resume the war because the application of the Arusha Peace Agreement would have lead in just 22 months to democratic elections and the RPF was strongly convinced that there was no way it could have won these elections. The RPF was in great fear of a strong coalition that would have emerged between MRND, MDR, and PSD political parties before and/ or after these elections. This great fear was somehow real: in neighboring Burundi, the political party of Pierre Buyoya (UPRONA) had just lost the democratic elections. On one hand, the RPF back-up base in Burundi, the second largest back-up base both politically and militarily, was in great danger of being wiped out. On the other hand, well-informed sources suggested that in Rwanda, MRND, MDR, and PSD political parties were gaining key allies in neighboring Burundi. That is why the RPF decided to halt the implementation of the Arusha Peace Agreement by resuming hostilities in Rwanda. On April 6th, 1994 the RPF fired two missiles, shot down the Falcon 50, and killed at scene two African Heads of State: the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana and the Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira. This terrorist act achieved two goals:Firstly, by killing the Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira, the RPF halted, at least temporarily, the democratic process in Burundi and stabilized its back-up base in this country. Secondly, by killing the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, the RPF triggered the resumption of the Rwandan civil war and at the same time halted the implementation process of the Arusha Peace Agreement. In the aftermath of signing the Arusha Peace Agreement, the RPF deliberately resumed the recruitment of new combatants long before the April 6th 1994 terrorist act. In strong violation of the Arusha Peace Agreement, these new RPF recruits were enlisted in the APR late in March 1994. The consequences of this enlistment are well-known: crimes of genocide, collapse of the Rwandan government, exodus of 2.5 million Rwandans to Tanzania, then to Burundi, and finally to the DRC, which alone received more than 1.5 million Rwandan refugees in its two eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, provinces that are up to date war torn. Moreover, from 1996 to 1997, the RPF continued to track the ex-FAR inside the DRC in order to exterminate them and install its allies in Kinshasa. To achieve this goal, the RPF massacred at least 200,000 Rwandan refugees inside the DRC. It even tried to conceal evidence for these mass killings by burning victim corpses and scattering the ashes away in the forest and/ or in the river. Such a sinister plan was thwarted when a revolutionary Congolese, the late Laurent-Desire Kabila, took power in the DRC and decided to restore the sovereignty of the land. In August 1998, the RPF launched a new war aiming at not only completing the installation of its allies in Kinshasa, but also to prevent any international criminal justice inquiry into its role in the DRC, given the extent of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by its army. Some of these crimes had already been documented by an investigation team established by the UN Secretary-General. This new proxy war in the DRC made it possible for many survivors of the Rwandan refugee massacres of 1996 and 1997 to stand up and defend themselves against this strenuous common enemy. The birth of the FDLR is a direct consequence of the RPF sinister plan in the DRC. That is the origin of the current proxy war in the province of North Kivu. In other words, the origin of the current DRC civil war is in Kigali not in Goma or in Kinshasa. Sooner or later this problem will be solved. This problem is the result of the RPF refusal to face free democratic elections in Rwanda. It also is the result of the RPF inability to handle the actual state of Hutu-Tutsi problems in Rwanda. Indeed, the RPF regime has been trying to underestimate and ignore the existence of such Hutu-Tutsi problems in Rwanda. In Rwanda, there are nearly 85% Hutus and 14% Tutsis. Democratic elections in Rwanda would probably give back the power to a "Hutu" movement.This analysis has always been in the RPF calculations with regard to plausible results of democratic elections in Rwanda. The RPF suggests that such results simply denote "confusion between the ethnic majority and the political majority." Since 1993, the RPF estimates that such results would inexorably relegate it to the opposition for an indefinite period of time. Indeed, this is the case for the UPRONA of Pierre Buyoya in neighboring Burundi since the democratic elections of June 1993 and 2005. This also is the case in South Africa where democratic elections have thrown the National Parteit of De Klerk (now renamed the Democratic Alliance) in the opposition since 1994. That is root cause of the current DRC crisis in the province of North Kivu. About the proposed solution
A democratic government is urgently needed in Kigali. In my opinion, it is obvious that a democratically elected government in Kigali would not need to sponsor armed groups in the provinces of North and South Kivu. In addition, such a democratically elected government in Kigali would refuse to offer back-up bases to any Congolese armed groups, including the one belonging to the Tutsi rebel Laurent Nkundabatware, whose rebellions would shortly die off by themselves. Concerning the Rwandan armed groups, including the FDLR combatants, a democratically elected government in Kigali would not be afraid to directly discuss with them. Direct talks between these combatants and the democratically elected Rwandan government would set up new relationships under which the armed struggle would be meaningless. These armed groups would not have any reason to refuse to face justice in Rwanda, should some of their combatants have to respond for their acts, just as any other Rwandan in similar situation would have to, especially the RPF members who are accused of several crimes, including crimes against humanity. A democratically elected government in Kigali would provide impartial justice for all Rwandans without any discrimination. Therefore, there would be no need for such a democratic government in Kigali to request that these combatants be sent "elsewhere". Their home is in Rwanda. That is where they belong and no where else. Most importantly, it is up to the Rwandan people to judge their fellow citizens, and not to anyone else. With numerous uncertainties and political machinations mostly owing to regional and international geopolitics, the international community can only offset the inability of the RPF regime to create suitable conditions for a fair and impartial trial in its own courts.
Cyprian Musoke Kampala
Rwanda should stop supporting renegade general Laurent Nkunda under false pretext, Democratic Republic of Congo's Minister of Planning, Olivier Kamitatu, told Sunday Vision. In an exclusive interview conducted by Cyprian Musoke
Do you think the tripartite summit was a success?
We really wonder if regional integration is possible without security and peace. It is a great paradox. We have many problems in eastern Congo, especially with Rwanda, which continues to support Congolese rebels like Nkunda under false pretext. They claim it is about the protection of Tutsis. But not a single Tutsi has been killed in Congo. And Tutsis occupy high positions in the army, the parliament, the senate and the administration of public enterprises. It was agreed that all forces would be integrated into the national Congolese army, but Nkunda has refused to integrate his troops.
Rwanda claims that your government is supporting Hutu extremists who were responsible for the 1994 genocide.
We have no reason to co-operate with extremist Hutus. Who is an extremist Hutu anyway? Over 70% of the FDLR are below the age of 24. They were 10 when the genocide took place. When Rwanda declares that there are 7,000 Hutus in eastern Congo and that 6,900 are genocidaires, it is a joke. But apart from that, we don't want those people in Congo. In the past five years, they have not killed anybody in Rwanda. Instead, it is the Congolese people suffering. They have been killing and raping Congolese civilians. We want them to go back to their country. We are even ready to discuss how they could be relocated to other parts of Congo. We are open to any suggestions. We want to find lasting solutions. But they need to be realistic. Uganda and Rwanda were not able to neutralise the Interahamwe during the five years they occupied the Congo. How do they expect us to do it alone? We want Rwanda to say frankly what their concerns are. Is it about protection of the Tutsi minority? Is it about Hutu extremists? Or is it about business, about coltan, gold and other minerals?
Is a free trade zone not the ultimate objective of the regional integration discussed at the tripartite summit?
We can trade with Rwanda provided they are willing to respect Congolese laws and trade is carried out transparently and for the benefit of the entire population. We cannot accept Congolese minerals being exported to Rwanda in an uncontrolled way.
The Congolese army itself is accused of grave human rights abuses, including rape, looting and killing of civilians.
Joseph Kabila inherited a totally devastated country. We have to reconstruct everything. That takes time and money. The will is there to build an army which is well equipped and disciplined, but the resources needed are enormous. The integration of so many rebel forces into the national army is another challenge. But that is the price we have to pay for peace in Congo.
Is MONUC (the UN peacekeeping force in Congo) assisting your government to rebuild the army?
Not really. We are getting support from Angola, South Africa, Belgium, the European Union and France.
How would you describe your current relationship with Uganda?
Our relations have improved. We have re-opened embassies in our respective countries and will soon exchange ambassadors. Uganda is in a position to help DRC, Rwanda and Burundi improve their relations. President Yoweri Museveni has a big role to play, as an elder with great experience. The disintegration of Congo, a country with a 10,000 km border line and 65 million people, would be a great disaster for the whole region.
Uganda was instructed by the International Court of Justice to pay reparation for its involvement in the DRC in the late 90s. Is the issue still on Kinshasa's agenda?
The National Assembly wants the government to accelerate the matter. But we prefer to talk about normalisation of relations and how we can reconstruct Kisangani through investments. We don't want to just forget about the matter. It should be a lesson for history. We don't want this kind of problem ever again.
The International Criminal Court recently demanded to know what Kinshasa was doing to execute the warrants of arrest against LRA leader Joseph Kony and his commanders. What steps has your government taken against the LRA?
Congo has no interest in having its territory being used as a sanctuary for Ugandan rebels, particularly at a time when we are discussing cross-border trade, investments and shared infrastructure. We have mobilised all efforts to arrest Kony and are already carrying out military operations in the area. We are co-operating with the UPDF because they have experience. At the moment our co-operation is at the level of intelligence sharing, but I cannot go into details.
Are you getting support from MONUC for this operation?
MONUC is in the region, but we are carrying out this operation in our own capacity. Kony is a big concern to us. Dozens of Congolese children have been abducted and thousands of civilians are fleeing. Villagers have now organised themselves to fight Kony. Garamba National Park is a difficult area to control. And as you know, the rebels' tactic is to attack and retreat. The army has sent reinforcement to the area. We plan to deploy more and more troops in the next few weeks.
What time frame are you looking at to arrest Kony?
It is difficult to say, but I would say it is a matter of weeks. The two heads of state are discussing the issue, which shows that it is a priority to both leaders.
Uganda is in advanced stages of exploring oil on Lake Albert. Why did Congo decide to use a different company from the one Uganda is using?
The contract has not yet been awarded. The final person to give authorisation is President Joseph Kabila. At ministerial level, an operator has been suggested, but it must be sanctioned by President Kabila.
An oil worker was killed by Congolese soldiers near the disputed Rukwanzi Island last year. What happened to the border demarcation project?
A commission was put in place to demarcate the border, not only with Uganda, but also Angola. It has not finished its work yet. We want normalisation and development along the border, not tension. We want to have a common zone of prosperity. When Congo becomes secure and registers economic growth, Uganda and Rwanda will also be more secure.
What is your economic programme to reconstruct the country?
We are following the Ugandan example of private and government partnerships. We now have 62 of such partnership agreements. We want to produce 400,000 tonnes of copper in the next three years, to get back to the capacity of 1989. We are co-operating with the Chinese on how to explore our minerals. We are also negotiating with the donors to have our external debt, amounting to $10b, cancelled so that we use the money for infrastructure development. We need $14b in the next five years to reconstruct the country. The donor consultative group pledged $4b. The rest we have to mobilise internally.
What are your priorities?
We want to refurbish the two Inga dams, which have a capacity of 1,700 megawatts. We are also finishing the feasibility study for Inga 3, which will have a capacity of another 4,500 megawatts. Our second priority is to explore oil in the western part of the country, near the border with Angola, which has a potential of 1million barrels per day.
In terms of transport infrastructure, we want to construct a railway from the deep sea port in Mbanana to Kinshasa, as well as refurbish the one from Kindu to Lubumbashi. We also want to connect Kasese and Lubumbashi to Kisangani by road. We want to link every part of Congo to the outside world
