Paul Kagame wants to break democratic aspirations in Rwanda

Thursday 28^th, 2010, at 2.00 pm (Rwanda time), police forces enter FDU-Inkingi office and party officials’ houses in Kigali. They searched them thoroughly, apparently looking for additional clues to fabricate evidences against Victoire Ingabire, who is already in prison since October 14^th. In some cases, this was the second time the police had searched officials’ residences.

Without any warrant to search the properties, policemen took computers, documents, and everything they found hopefully to make their case against FDU-Inkingi leaders. FDU leaders in Kigali are trying to find alternative means to be able to communicate and operate within a very hostile environment created and led by Paul Kagame government and institutions.

The Socialist Party Imberakuri had experienced similar acts of illegal intrusion into private property in July 2010, when the police vandalized the party’s office in Nyamirambo. Surprisingly, even this added to persistent interference of Kagame’s institutions in trying to run the party by breaking it up into two factions, its Chairman Me Bernard Ntaganda now nearly made temporally disable and lying in King Faycal Hospital after intensive torture by the regime, has refused to become a Kagame’s stooge.

Apparently the objective of Kagame’s regime is to break up everything which could help support the idea of democracy in Rwanda. In that line, the prosecutor Martin Ngoga has renewed his attacks against Paul Rusesabagina accusing him of being a terrorist. Accusing anyone of terrorism lands in listening ears in the West, but not when you are yourself a genocidaire. The prosecutor forgets that the UN report on crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo is crystal clear on the role of his master Paul Kagame in documented acts of genocide against Hutus refugees and Hutu Congolese populations.

Fooling the world about offence of terrorism to get political opponents tortured and imprisoned won’t stand long since Paul Kagame is himself accused of similar if not worst crimes. He can pretend or be in denial, but it won’t take long for him to be caught with truth. Barack Obama may be currently preoccupied by his mid term US elections. But on his inauguration on January 20^th, 2009, he said,’ ‘To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills to the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extent a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.’

Rwandans have suffered enough in the hands of Paul Kagame. We know he is clinging on power only because it is there he can legally avoid facing his crimes. But even Omar al-Bashir, though still President of Sudan, has been officially accused and summoned by a warrant by an International Criminal Court. Consequently, we should watch what is coming in the case of Rwanda and his president. There is in Rwanda paramount need for unity as a nation, real reconciliation, and equity in accessing opportunities, transparency and accountability before the population and good governance. And this is not about Victoire Ingabire, Deo Mushayidi, Me Bernard Ntaganda, Frank Habineza, and many others, or Hutus, Tutsis or Twas. Rwandans are hungry of democratic aspirations Paul Kagame cannot provide. The like of Victoire Ingabire leaders have started a revolution that Kagame’s mighty will not be able to stop.

Read, personalise, then send to your representative at the parliament of which government supports Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president

There is nothing like experience. When I first landed in the West, fleeing Africa, after my home country Rwanda was savaged by war, there is one understanding I got aware of firsthand. Ordinary Westerners are fed with filtered and misrepresentative news about what raw African realities generally are, and particularly in the case of tragic events in specific countries such as Rwanda or Democratic Republic of Congo.

Despite the blame developing countries put generally on the West for their structural problems, either social or economic, Western leaders are relatively democratic, as their political survival depends on what the public thinks of them. They may be pursuing policies detrimental to the developing world (meaning citizens and not necessarily local political leaders who may be accomplices), if they loose the confidence of the public, i.e. their electorate, this becomes the ultimate end of their political career as they may have wanted it to be.

A list of countries top the group of those which have been effectively supporting financially Paul Kagame’s government at the point that if for any particular reason such backing stopped, Rwandan public services wouldn’t be able to function normally. More than 50% of Rwandan government budget come from external aid. Countries keeping the Rwandan government afloat include US, UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, etc. There are also international institutions, such EU, backing Rwanda financially.

Though abuse of human rights has reached an intolerable level in the Great Lakes region of Africa, particularly in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo, nothing seems to bother Western governments which are financing Paul Kagame, the main destabilising factor of the whole region.

In order to change the public opinion in these countries I would like you to invite to read carefully the following letter, personalise, then send it to your representative at the parliament of your government.

                                                                                                                               Your names 
                                                                                                                               Address

Date

Your representative
Address

Call for Immediate Release of Ms Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and other Rwandan political prisoners

Honorable,

I write to request your urgent intervention to help release Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, Chairperson of FDU-Inkingi opposition party in Rwanda, with no more conditions and also free all other hundreds of Rwandan political prisoners.

Ms Victoire Ingabire is a mother of three children. Her family lives in The Netherlands. She returned to Rwanda in January 2010 after sixteen years of exile. Since her arrival she has been consistently publicly intimidated and harassed by the Rwandan government institutions. In April 2010 she was imprisoned then released on bail.

FDU-Inkingi, Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza’s political party, and other parties from the opposition have been refused their registration to participate to the August 9^th, 2010 presidential elections, in which Paul Kagame allocated himself 93% of the vote.

Ms Victoire Ingabire was re-arrested and immediately incarcerated on October 14^th, 2010. She has been detained in inhuman and humiliating conditions, handcuffed day and night, and denied any sleeping item. The longer she stays under the mercy of Paul Kagame’s prison guards, the more we become very concerned that she may be treated and incapacitated like the former Head of State, Mr. Pasteur Bizimungu.

The alleged crimes for Victoire Ingabire’s imprisonment are seemingly politically motivated charges of forming a terrorist organization (Coalition of Democratic Forces as an alleged military wing of FDU-Inkingi). She denies the accusations and has pleaded not guilty explaining that she was only being imprisoned for being a persistent critic of Paul Kagame’s government. 

Honorable

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and many other advocacy organizations have for several years pointed to institutionalized abuse of civil rights in Rwanda, where any dissent voice is immediately crashed violently.

Opposition leaders are either killed or imprisoned. Andre Kagwa Rwisereka, Vice President of the Green Democratic Party, was assassinated and found decapitated on 14th July 2010, till now his killers have not faced justice and there are no signs of on-going investigations despite the fact that the UN Secretary General, EU, France and Canada called for investigations.

The Founding President of The Social Party Imberakuri, Maître Bernard Ntaganda is in prison since 24^th June 2010. He is in critical health conditions and has been admitted at King Faycal Hospital for treatment. He is reported to be losing sight and to be paralyzed due to ill-treatment in the Kigali Maximum Prison known as “1930”.

The UN report released on October 1^st on crimes committed in Democratic Republic of Congo documents atrocities including acts which could be qualified as genocide in front of a court, and of which Paul Kagame forces are responsible.

With the help of his strong lobby and PR machineries particularly backed by powerful personalities in US and UK, the Rwandan president has been so far capable of remaining unpunished despite his significant and irrefutable responsibility in the millions of victims that his criminal ventures have caused in Rwanda and the whole Great Lakes region.

Honorable,

Ms Victoire Ingabire politician case is the latest in Paul Kagame’s strategy of remaining in power indefinitely unchallenged peacefully and democratically.

Our government has committed to support Rwanda at a high cost and without any good value of what citizens of this country are giving away in terms of their taxes. This allocation has been so far distributed to Kagame’s government without questioning its records particularly on human rights grounds.

At the time when our government and people are living under drastic budget cuts in different areas of their welfare, it should objectively be the moment to use the financial leverage we have as a nation to put strict and new conditions on our country’s assistance to Rwanda.

These conditions would include:

• Immediate release of Ms Victoire Ingabire, all Rwandan political prisoners, and other prisoners without judiciary files, elderly and seriously ill.
• Opening up political space and allow registration of political parties of the opposition
• Putting in place a Truth, Reconciliation Commission and a Rwandan National Dialogue
• Agreeing to form a Transitional Government of National Unity to prepare democratic and truly inclusive and transparent elections

Honorable,

If you could divert some attention to this emergency effort to end the abuse towards a courageous woman in Rwanda, you would be serving a significant cause.

This is in the wider context of Kagame’s outrage at being in effect indicted for genocide by the UN report leaked last August, forcing an official release October 1. It is also in the context of an ominous Rwandan troop build-up and displacement of refugees from North Kivu which is ongoing.

Hoping to count on your prompt appreciation of the seriousness of prevailing situation in Rwanda, I look forward to getting your rapid intervention towards our government on the matter.

Yours sincerely,

Name

Signed

Further evidence of Paul Kagame’s destabilizing character in Eastern Congo

Saturday, 30 October 2010 at 18:54 – David Barouski reported on his online pages facts confirming what has always been the reality on the ground but carefully misrepresented in mainstream media, because of diverse interests they protect. The destabilizing character of Paul Kagame in Eastern Congo under different disguises is uncontestable since the time he first invaded DRC alongside Uganda and Burundi in 1996.

Barouski explains that, ‘Rwandan soldiers in FARDC uniforms have been spotted near some of the mining areas there.  There are also reportedly Rwandans trying to strike deals with Congolese traders in Beni-Lubero to create mining cooperatives.  Some sources claim they are planning to go to Northern Katanga and South Kivu as well.  Sources in Goma claim that, despite the smuggling, coltan stocks bought illegally before the mining ban are being smuggled to Rwanda without much problem, as the border guards and customs officials are still easily paid off.  Charcoal, ivory, wildlife, and cash crops are still smuggled as well.’

The source continues highlighting other troubling development further south in the same Eastern Congo. ‘In South Kivu, the FRF have allied with the FDLR.  In the past, prior to the arrest of Laurent Nkunda, the FRF was allied with the CNDP and Kigali, as pointed out in the UN Panel of Experts report of 2008.  Both groups joined, in part, because their numbers have dwindled.  The FDLR has lost about half of its capacity due to the FARDC and RDF operations.  However, RDF soldiers who deployed in the area, along with Amani Leo units, have been unable to dislodge them due to difficult terrain.  RDF soldiers are said to be fighting the FRF in Itwombe.  There is talk that the FNL may join this coalition, and other Bembe from that region may join in as well.’

David Barouski goes on explaining some of the intricacies of what forces on the ground are at.

Rwanda is concerned that if the FNL take to fighting again, and especially if they team up with the FDLR, the FDLR will be able to have access to inflitrate Rwanda from the southern front via Nyungwe if they can get past border security and the patrols and bases in and along the forest.  Rwanda’s forces are stretched somewhat thin, as numerous soldiers have infiltrated Congo to fight and other 3,200 – 3,300 soldiers and police are in Darfur.  There is also the pro-Nkundists, defected RDF soldiers, and the CND holed up in Uganda to the North.   Rwanda does not need to defend another front.  The RDF soldiers in Congo hope to severely weaken the FDLR, FPLC, pro-Nkundists, and all other anti-Rwandan militias before they can organize and possibly form an alliance.  Kigali would prefer to use smaller commando units and use their army intermittently, not as an occupying force in large numbers.

After the mass rapes in Luvungi, following a meeting between President Kagame and President Kabila, the FARDC inacted the mining ban and launched a military attack in Walikale territory to defeat the Mai-Mai Cheka, FDLR led by General Mudacamura and a militia led by Colonel Emmanuel Nsengiyumva.  The militia allegedly has pro-Nkundists in its ranks.  With Kabila’s permission, the RDF went to Walikale and sources claim Bosco was sent there as well.  The purpose of the operation appears to be to get the mine out of the hands of the FDLR and pro-Nkundists and back into the hands of Bosco and his loyalists in the FARDC and his militia the FLEC.  They can still collect illegal taxation along the routes.  That way, Rwanda, and the FLEC, can potentially at some point benefit from the cassiterite trade there while depriving anti-Rwandan militias of the funding they sorely need.  Rwanda needs to back the FLEC as a proxy against the anti-Rwandan militias and the FLEC is protecting some of the land owned by prominent RPF members and high-ranking RDF soldiers.

They are also helping provide protection for the Tutsi refugee returnees, and the Rwandans who are sneaking across the border with them and settling in Masisi territory, bringing their cattle and belongings with them.  Some sources claim the new occupants of Bisie, officially one of the brigades of the 21st sector (recall the Rwandans are in FARDC uniform), might be looking to cut deals with new traders before the mining ban is lifted.  This coincides with the alleged visitation of Rwandans looking to set up joint cooperatives.  Keep an eye on Rwanda’s export numbers.  The FLEC also appears to have allied with the Hutu elements of PARECO.

It is also being said that the FLEC, under Bosco’s command, have allegedly been helping Rwanda’s DMI assassinate key ex-CNDP officers allied with Nkunda as well as CNDP moneymen allied with Nkunda.  These assassinations have occurred in Congo.  Some pro-Nkundists are now allegedly joining the FLEC’s ranks or alligning themselves with the pro-Bosco FARDC elements.  Officially, Bosco is supposed to be relieved of his position in the FARDC.  Pres. Kabila is apparently beginning to move the ex-CNDP out of North Kivu, as mentioned before, but don’t be surprised if the ones moved are the pro-Nkundists, not the pro-Bosco ex-CNDP soldiers.

All the above developments led to General Kabarebe to visit officials in Kinshasa last week.  In addition, there was a recent meeting of the Intelligence chiefs of Rwanda (Emmanuel Ndahiro [DMI]), DRC (Jean-Pierre Daruwezi [ANR]), and Burundi (Gen. Adolphe Nshimirimana [SNR]) in Bujumbura to discuss how to coordinate intellegence between their respective countries better in order to combat the non-state armed actors.  The first step will be to appoint liason officers for each country.

In this whole picture, the surprising element is the attitude of the international community which leaves free reign of internationally re-known military and political leaders accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes and acts of genocide, to operate without any condemnation. Bosco Ntaganda has an international warrant issued by ICC pending on his head. The UN report released on October 1^st on crimes committed in Democratic Republic of Congo between 1993 and 2003 accuses incontestably Paul Kagame of crimes against humanity, war crimes and acts of genocide character against Hutu refugees and Hutu Congolese populations.

Wouldn’t it be true that MONUSCO currently in DRC as its predecessor MINUAR in Rwanda back in 1993/94 is working to protect interests of those external forces to the Great Lakes region exploiting its mineral resources, instead of peacekeeping? In that context, who would be the equivalent of General Dallaire in the case of MINUAR playing the card of destabilizing elements in Eastern Congo the same way the former facilitated the Rwandan Patriotic Front to pile up ammunitions in the country for its final control?

The timing of this reported incursion in Eastern Congo at the time of the US midterm elections reminds about the last official entry in DRC of Kagame’s soldiers on January 20^th, 2009 on the day of the inauguration of Barack Obama. It looks as if Kagame’s military advisers count significantly on any possible reaction of US while intervening in DRC. They progress only when US administration is very politically preoccupied by internal affairs. Which means analysts should preempt his next military moves when there will be general elections in US in 2012, this of course if Paul Kagame is still around.

Rwandans striving for change more than ever

It is amazing what can come from adversity. It is not always the expected. The imprisonment of Victoire Ingabire, leader of FDU-Inkingi, a Rwandan political party opposed to the regime of Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, is so much galvanising Rwandans in the diaspora, all ethnic groups inclusively, that the latter will be himself surprised by the boomerang effect of his action.

The more the president of Rwanda demonstrates his unwillingness to more openness towards a democratic Rwandan society, the more there are people who are ready to show him that this shouldn’t be the case.

Friday 29/10/10 in front of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, a group of Rwandans and Ugandans displayed banners to the attention of the London public, which explained some of the persistent and current issues Rwanda experiences because of Paul Kagame’s dictatorial regime.

The objective of the demonstration was to request immediate release of Victoire Ingabire and other Rwandan political prisoners such as Deo Mushayidi, Charles Ntakirutinka and Me Bernard Ntaganda.

An open letter of which a copy is reproduced below and which was addressed to the Rt. Hon. William Hague, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, was delivered to his office after the demonstration. Many leaflets about Victoire Ingabire and her democratic fight in Rwanda were also distributed to the passing-by public.

An immediate and positive outcome of the demonstration was that participants decided to support actively the release of Victoire Ingabire by initiating different actions including a monthly public protest in London, this until she becomes free out of Kagame’s prison.

Knowing that the UK department for international development is the main British executive agency to distribute the country’s budget allocated to other nations, it was agreed that the next demonstration would be held at its location. Provisional date and time for the event are Friday 26/11/10 from 12.00 to 15.00. News that other participants from other places in UK and countries would like to join were welcome.

By imprisoning Victoire Ingabire, Paul Kagame may have wished to destroy Rwandans’ aspirations to democracy. Instead what is emerging from such injustice inflicted to a woman who has always only preached unity, reconciliation, freedom,  democracy, justice and good governance for her country, is an unstoppable determination from more and more Rwandans to get rid of a dictatorship responsible of millions of victims in Rwanda and the Great Lakes region, this as soon as possible.

Among Rwandans living in UK, I had sensed such determination only a few years back, when some of their members, had been arrested and imprisoned in London at the initiative of Paul Kagame’s government. The community stood up as one, fought back, and got them released. This time around, the Rwandan president is warned, they are going to get Victoire Ingabire released soon.

October 29^th, 2010

Open Letter to The Rt. Hon. William Hague MP
Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH

Call for Immediate Release of Ms Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and other Rwandan political prisoners

Honorable,

On this day of October 29^th, 2010, we citizens from the Great Lakes region, particularly from Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo, living in the UK, and our British friends, are gathered in front of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London, to call upon your government to use its influence on the Rwandan regime led by President Paul Kagame, for an immediate release of Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, Chairperson of FDU-Inkingi opposition party in Rwanda, with no more conditions and the release of all other Rwandan political prisoners.

 

Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was arrested and immediately incarcerated on October 14^th. She has been detained in inhuman and humiliating conditions, handcuffed 24 hours, and denied any sleeping item. The longer she stays under the mercy of Paul Kagame’s prison guards, the more we become very concerned that she may be treated and incapacitated like the former Head of State, Mr. Pasteur Bizimungu.

The alleged crimes for Victoire Ingabire’s imprisonment are seemingly politically motivated charges of forming a terrorist organization (Coalition of Democratic Forces as an alleged military wing of FDU-Inkingi). She denies the accusations and has pleaded not guilty explaining that she was only being imprisoned for being a persistent critic of Paul Kagame’s government.

 

We are convinced that your urgent intervention will help defuse the current political crisis in the country and help achieve sustainable peace in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Contrary to the official line in Kigali, political, social and economic policies of post Rwandan genocide have divided the country along ethnic lines as never before.

Honorable,

As you may be aware, genuine opposition political parties that have challenged the Rwandan Patriotic Front Led Rwandan Government have undergone serious and dangerous trials. It was blocked from participating in the recently concluded Presidential elections, which the incumbent run with stooge candidates and later awarded himself 93%.

The Government refused to register opposition parties to participate. Their leaders were either killed or imprisoned. Andre Kagwa Rwisereka, Vice President of the Green Democratic Party, was assassinated and found decapitated on 14th July 2010, till now his killers have not faced justice and there are no signs of on-going investigations despite the fact that the UN Secretary General, EU, France and Canada called for investigations.

The United Democratic Forces-FDU Inkingi and many of its members have been imprisoned or released on bail. In April 2010 the party leader, Ms. Victoire Victoire Umuhoza, was bailed out of jail and kept since then under extended house arrest. She had never been given a chance to defend herself in a court of law.

The Founding President of The Social Party Imberakuri, Maître Bernard Ntaganda is in prison since 24^th June 2010. He is in critical health conditions and has been admitted at King Faycal Hospital for treatment. He is reported to be losing sight and to be paralyzed due to ill-treatment in the Kigali Maximum Prison known as “1930”.

The vicious cycle of political violence in Rwanda has been due to a lack of a system for a peaceful competition for and transfers of power between the political elites. Your government can help Rwandans take a commitment to make sure that it does not happen again. Justice is needed for the country to achieve genuine reconciliation and sustainable development. To have sustainable peace in Rwanda, there is a strong need of creating political space that enables a peaceful process of transfer and competition for power. We call for a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission and a Rwandan National Dialogue.

Many ordinary people are fleeing their country at a time when prominent members of the political elite are fleeing for their lives. We fear therefore that the present management of the political system has the potential to lead to another cycle of violence. This must be stopped immediately; UK government and other nations in the international community can prevent this. It should not be like the 1994 Genocide, which was a result of extreme ethnic radicalization as Rwanda is now heading to.

We request you to impress upon the President of Rwanda to immediately release all political prisoners: Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, Maître Bernard Ntaganda, Mr. Deo Mushayidi, Mr. Charles Ntakirutinka, Ms. Seraphine Mukamana, Mr. Andrew Muganwa plus many others and also allow political parties that are critical of the regime (the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and FDU-Inkingi) to register and exercise their full political rights and let the legally recognized leader of Social Party Imberakuri, Maître Bernard Ntaganda, manage his party without Government interference.

 

 

On behalf of participants
Ambrose Nzeyimana
Public Event Organiser
Organising for Africa

A difficult, predictable, but somehow necessary path to Rwandan democracy

History is often an eternal repetition of the human experience. During the events leading to the 60s in Rwanda, there is a contextual significant anecdotal story referring to the social unrest which prevailed at the time, and which was caused by the oppression suffered from the Tutsi aristocracy by the Hutu population.

Joseph Gitera, a Hutu political leader from that period, who apparently was as vocal as Victoire Ingabire could be about the concerns of Hutus under the regime of Paul Kagame, was considered by the ruling Tutsi as the most representative voice of the then oppressed citizens.

The then Tutsi King, Mutara Rudahigwa, after lengthy consultations with his closest advisers on the political situation concerning a variety of pressing demands from the Hutu population as presented by Joseph Gitera and other Hutu leaders, said that killing the Hutu politician would not solve the problems, but instead finding the root causes of the population’s demands and addressing them would do.

Umuvugizi Newspaper was banned for six months in order to let it not cover objectively, among other Rwandan issues, the rigged elections of August 9^th, 2010. After the elections, the ban was lifted. But the newspaper, which had seen one of its journalists, Jean Leonard Rugambage assassinated on June 24^th, told the Rwanda Media High Council, that it would only return to operate from Rwanda, once the issues it raised and got it banned will have been addressed by Paul Kagame’s regime.

On January 9^th, 2010, in Brussels, while replying to a question from a supporter about her security once in Rwanda, Victoire Ingabire said, ‘I don’t have any army to protect me. I have confidence in the security of the Rwandan government to protect its citizens. But I am also conscious that they may imprison me or kill me. What I demand from those left behind is to continue from where I will have fallen.’

She has been continuously harassed, intimidated starting straight from the day of her arrival in Kigali, on January 17^th, 2010. In April, she was arrested, imprisoned and then released on bail. Since then she was under house arrest, with restricted freedom of movement. Silvain Sibomana, Secretary General of FDU-Inkingi provides in the following lines a detailed account of Victoire Ingabire‘s situation from October 8^th, 2010 onwards.

08^th October – 04:00 pm – Police siege starts. Until the arrest on 14th October, Victoire Ingabire remained indoors.

09^th October - Victoire asked the police spokesperson what was going on and she was told there was nothing to worry about.

11^th October - Victoire reached the Prosecutor Ruberwa on phone and asked whether the bail conditions had changed because of the police siege. The prosecutor seemed to be surprised and promised to ask the Criminal Investigation Department.

14^th October - 12:50 pm – A police team entered the property, put Madame Victoire Ingabire under arrest, and took her to CID headquarters. The police spokesperson informed the public that she is arrested because of new evidence implicating her in the formation of a terrorist organization and that a key witness was arrested the day before along the DRC common border with documents and details implicating her.

14^th October – In the evening, she is transferred to Kicukiro police detention facility.

14^th October – In the evening, FDU-Inkingi team brought her a mattress, clothes, blanket and hygienic items. The food was taken to the detention center as well. All the items are given to the guards and never to the detainee.

15^th October - Two lawyers visited her, and noticed she was still in handcuffs since the arrest. She slept in a seated position on the floor, and no personal item was provided. She did not eat. The lead lawyer discussed the detention conditions with the security officers and was told that they did not make decision. He rushed to the CID headquarters and left with no assurance that the situation will improve.

16^th October - The jailers decided to give only the blanket. She is still in handcuffs. No mattress, no clothes, no hygienic stuff. The lawyer discussed the situation with the hierarchy. In the evening, the handcuffs were removed for the night.  All the food provided is returned untouched. No member of the party or nobody from her house is allowed to see her, or to talk to her. There is a total blackout on her status. At this stage there was no doubt, she was not eating. We did not know whether she was given food or if she was unable to eat because of 24-hour handcuffs.

18^th October - She is taken to Gasabo Court House for the Prosecutor’s interrogation. She is in the same outfit she had the time of her arrest. Her hair is undone; she is in handcuffs and looks weak.

18^th October – Late night, a Medical Doctor is rushed to her cell. The blood pressure has dropped dangerously, and some medication is given. The Police accepted this time to give the mattress and hygienic items.

19^th October - The lawyer asked in a letter to the Police Commissioner to allow the client to go to hospital or to be seen by an independent Doctor.

18^th – 21^st October – She is subjected to Prosecutor’s interrogations at the Gasabo Court House. She is always brought in handcuffs. She is looking weak, exhausted and under duress.

21^st October: Morning hours, the police rushed in again some medical staff and some medication is given again before the afternoon Prosecutor’s confrontation exercise with the state-prepared key witness Major Vital Uwumuremyi. During the confrontation, the key witness claimed that he was given in 2008 – 2009 at least 1,000 USD to create, train a rebel group and to purchase weapons. He informed that since his repatriation in Rwanda in February 2009, he has never been involved in any other rebel activity. This gives an impression that the terrorist allegations are over 2 years old and that police statements in this respect are not accurate, for a reason.

22^nd October - She is again seen by police medical doctor. Until now, people from our political party are not allowed to see her. A bail hearing is supposed to happen on the 25th October at the Gasabo Court House.

26^th October – The bail was refused.

It is unfortunate that political leaders, and among them African dictators particularly, don’t learn from the past. The more you oppress people, the more voices from the oppressed you radicalize against you. After the recent imprisonment of Victoire Ingabire, young Rwandans in Kigali announced that they wanted to go on a hunger strike to show to the world the level of injustice the imprisoned politician and those that she represents suffered under Paul Kagame’s regime. These are pacifist people who are ready to give up their lives for a cause they believe to be just, but without jeopardizing anybody else’s life. And unfortunately, radicals are not always pacifists. If I had to deal with any I would rather deal with a Victoire Ingabire rather than a Paul Kagame type. Only of course if I value human life.

Did Tony Blair discuss with Paul Kagame about Victoire Ingabire’s imprisonment?

Agence France Presse (AFP) reported this week that Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, visited Rwanda on Sunday and Monday. The visit happened just after two major events in Rwandan politics which, if not carefully managed, could damage irreversibly the image of Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president, his country, and particularly many world personalities who have been closely associated with the rebuilding of Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. These events could as well have a negative resonance on the views of citizens of Rwanda and more widely the Great Lakes region about countries and foreign leaders backing the Rwandan president.

The two events are in order of importance and chronology the publication of the UN report titled, ‘Report of the Mapping Exercise documenting the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between March 1993 and June 2003,’ which was published on October 1^st, and the imprisonment on October 14^th, of the main Rwandan opposition politician Victoire Ingabire, leader of FDU-Inkingi.

Officially, Blair was in Kigali to praise Paul Kagame and his government on the progress they may be making towards the MDGs. But knowing the setbacks that Paul Kagame experienced in Madrid during the UN Conference on the MDGs in the month of July, when the Spanish prime minister refused to stand along side him because of the crimes he is accused of, and then the massive public demonstration against him in New York during the annual general assembly of the UN, this early September, consequently the Blair’s visit must have had a different agenda.

At this stage there can only be speculations about what they may have discussed related to the mentioned important recent occurrences in Rwandan politics. Could Blair have told Kagame to go friendlier with his political opponents? This may be a possibility. Is it likely that the former  British prime minister may have also advised that he would continue to help as much he could on the accusations bound in the UN report about Kagame’s forces in Congo? This is another eventuality.

Whatever they may have discussed which didn’t come out publicly, must have been very important. The reason for that understanding is because many other foreign personalities had talked to Paul Kagame before. The way he had reacted to their arguments came out in his speech on Wednesday October 6^th, during the swearing-in of his recently nominated government. At the time he arrogantly indicated that he didn’t want to receive lessons from anyone on how to lead his country. He apparently knows best what is good for Rwanda.

Glen Ford explains why the situation is critical and may have probably demanded the intervention of Tony Blair. ‘The leaked UN report cannot be put back in the bottle. Kagame, who labels all critics “genocidaires” or apologists for genocide, is exposed as “the greatest mass killer on the face of the earth, today,” as described by Edward S. Herman, co-author of The Politics of Genocide. Kagame’s mentors and funders in the U.S. government, who aided and abetted his genocide in Congo, must be held equally accountable – if not more so, since United States corporations derive the greatest benefit from Congo’s blood minerals, and the U.S. military gains the most advantage from Rwandan and Ugandan services as mercenaries at America’s beck and call in Africa.’

Will Paul Kagame listen to Tony Blair’s arguments if the latter did recommend him what best should be done in the face of the current situation, or will he continue to reply, ‘I don’t care,’ as we know him for his trademark kind of answer? Time will tell.

A concerned African writes to imprisoned Rwandan politician Victoire Ingabire

After Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, leader of FDU-Inkingi and main Rwandan political opposition party, was arrested on Thursday 14th and then imprisoned in Kigali, Francis Muhoozi wrote an open letter he addresses to the now prisoner. To remind the reader, Kagame’s government refused to register FDU-Inkingi and denied it participation to the August 9th presidential elections, apparently because of fear of competition of the incumbent president. As people informed about the Victoire’s current situation in prison know, every basic human right like sleeping or eating has been denied to her. Even terrorists in Western prisons are more comfortably treated than she is at the moment, though she has not killed anybody. Francis’ letter describes the context of her political fight and particularly the personality of her jailer, Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president.

OPEN LETTER TO MADAM INGABIRE UMUHOZA ARRESTED IN RWANDA

Madam Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
KICUKIRO POLICE PRISON/ Rwanda Prison
Kigali – Rwanda

18^th October 2010.

Dear Madam,

Hoping that this open letter will find you still alive in President Paul Kagame’s  dungeons, allow me to greet you in the name of the Father God the Almighty, the son and Holy Spirit.

Words cannot express the sadness and grief we received with the news of your being taken into Rwanda prisons again on October 14, 2010. Though we all knew that Kagame would mistreat you, we never expected him to degrade you to the level you are in now. We understand you are not allowed any drop of water to bathe, you are handcuffed 24 hours, and you are forced to sit and sleep on the cold police cell floor without anything to cover yourself with.

Married and a mother of three, Ingabire you trained in Commercial law and Accounting and graduated in business economics and Corporate management in the Netherlands. Victoire you were doing well, had peace and protection in Europe. You worked as an official of an International Accounting Firm based in the Netherlands where you were in charge of its accounting departments in 25 branches in Europe, Asia and Africa. It is both unbelievable and commendable that in April 2009, you resigned from these lucrative functions and decided to dedicate yourself to a political career and to prepare your return to your homeland Rwanda as the head of your political party FDU Inkingi, to contribute to the much needed genuine rebuilding and reconciliation in your country Rwanda.

On 17 January 2010, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza you returned to your country, after 16 years in exile, as the main leader of the Rwandan political opposition. My dear Ingabire, on that day when you stepped your foot in Kagame’s Rwanda, I could not believe my eyes or thought and my heart skipped several beats at your courage and patriotism. There are millions of oppressed sons and daughters of Rwanda living in Rwanda; there are almost three million hopeless Rwandan men and women refugees roaming the entire world not knowing when God will perform a miracle for them to go back into Rwanda their country they love; but you, a young lady Ingabire of a golden big heart, saw it fit to go back into your country to help in the genuine soul rebuilding and heart reconciling in the traumatised people of Rwanda after the unfortunate six year civil war in Rwanda (1990 – 1996), and bloody retributions thereafter. My fear was due to the terrible ruthless history I personally knew about General Kagame and his disrespect for the rule of law and humanity in general.

General Kagame rose to the ranks he is holding today because of his merciless ruthlessness. After serving as an informer in late dictator Idi Amin’s notorious intelligence organs, his official military career started in 1979, when he joined Yoweri Museveni‘s National Resistance Army (NRA) and spent years fighting as a guerrilla against the government of Milton Obote in what is commonly known in Uganda as the bush war. During this war, Kagame’s main job was to summarily kill opponents and NRA deserters in the most barbaric way, without mercy that his friends nicknamed him “Pilato” the merciless. It is because of this that after overthrowing the then Ugandan government on January 25, 1986, Yoweri Museveni appointed Kagame the head of military intelligence in the NRA, and was regarded as one of Museveni’s closest allies. He hence joined the official Ugandan military.

During 1990, Kagame went to Fort Leavenworth where the U.S. Army gave him military training. Broadening this connection, the U.S. and U.K. military provided further training and active logistical support to the RPF, which it used to attack Rwanda from Uganda in 1990 and took over power in a bloody civil war that left over 800,000 mostly Tutsis children of Rwanda dead. Kagame called this the Tutsi genocide; though moderate Hutus also died and many more Hutus also perished on his direct orders. After coming to power, Kagame arranged for the RPF to receive further counter insurgency and combat training from U.S. Special Forces, which was put to use in the 1996-1997 Rwanda-Uganda backed military campaign to overthrow the government of neighbouring Zaire now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

You gallant daughter of the son of Rwanda Ingabire Umuhoza, because of your courage and popularity, Kagame prevented you from running as a presidential candidate for your party and falsely accused you of being a “genocide denier,” simply because you rightly remarked in broad day light, without mincing words, on January 17, 2010 that,

“Yes, Tutsis were massacred in 1994, but Hutus were also massacred, and there can never be any genuine reconciliation if only the vanquished side was prosecuted.”

You were not wrong my dear to ask for this nor were you the only one concerned about it. On October 01, 2010, the highest humanitarian International body on this planet, the mighty United Nations vindicated you when it released a well researched Mappings report accusing Rwanda/Uganda, and in particular Paul Kagame’s RPF of the Hutu genocide in D.R.Congo in the period 1993 – 2003.

Ingabire, we all know that Kagame is not persecuting you because you are a daughter of a Hutu Rwandan; No! Kagame is just a power hungry dictator who will eliminate anyone who criticises his power. Andre Kagwa Rwisereka (RIP) was a peace loving son of a Rwandan Tutsi before he was beheaded on July 14, 2010 for politically opposing Kagame; Mr. Jean-Léonard RUGAMBAGE (RIP), son of a peace loving Tutsi was a journalist and critic of Kagame’s government and was murdered in July 2010; General Kayumba Nyamwasa, his comrade in this RPF, a Tutsi and critic of Kagame’s autocratic rule was gunned down in South Africa on May 15, 2010; and many more in prison and exile.

My dear sister Umuhoza, this trigger happy dictator Kagame knows very well that he cannot win political power through free and fair elections just like his mentor General Museveni of Uganda. Yoweri Museveni also used the same tramped up rape and treason charged against his main political challenger Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Col (rtd) Dr. Kizza Besigye and wrongly imprisoned him in 2005. Museveni has been torturing poor Dr. Besigye with these false charges since then until just recently on October 12, 2010 when a five-judge panel approved a petition filed in 2007 by Besigye and 11 co-accused asking for their case to be thrown out because they were under trial in a military court and a civilian high court at the same time, violating the constitution. This ruling was passed by the Constitutional Court of Uganda. You should have seen how Museveni’s “Black Mambas”, heavily armed with machine guns, attacked the High Court in Kampala on November 17, 2005 with utter impunity overthrowing the Ugandan Constitution that day to re-arrest Besigye’s co-accused who had been legally granted bail.

When President Obama was sworn in as the President of the United States of America on January 20, 2009, I was among the many Africans who thought that at least someone who would understand Africa better because of his roots, and our great lakes region in particular was at least going to solve this flesh piercing problem. But my hopes are not being helped by the fact that Bill Clinton is one of dictator Kagame’s mentors. However I am still hopeful that Madam Hillary Clinton the US Secretary of State will make her own uncorrupted judgement on this awkward Kagame-Bill Clinton relationship, especially after the October 01, 2010 UN Hutu genocide report by Kagame in DR Congo.

Ingabire Umuhoza, be there for us many cowards who cannot face Kagame in the face like you did and challenge him. Be there for the many millions who cannot have a peace of mind in their country Rwanda. Be there for the innocent blood that was shed by the senseless 1990 war imposed on Rwanda by Yoweri Museveni and his Kagame RPF group. Be there for the millions who perished in former Zaire in 1996 and thereafter in DR Congo, who cannot be there for themselves. I know I have selfishly asked for too much from you my dear sister, but die for that cause. Your blood will not be spilled in vain.

May the Almighty God bless you, and give you the strength to withstand Kagame’s dungeons and torture.

Francis Muhoozi
A peace loving citizen of the great lakes region of East and Central Africa

cc
General Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda
General Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda
Mr. Barack Obama, United States of America President
Madam Hillary Clinton, Secretary of state USA

ICTR and MONUSCO: highly expensive UN entities to exploit DRC’s wealth

Had the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda – ICTR and UN peacekeepers’ forces in DR Congo – MONUSCO been effective from the beginning, these two structures would’ve saved millions of lives in the Great Lakes region. Furthermore, they wouldn’t have wasted billions of dollars from taxpayers’ money from countries which are members of the UN.

The ICTR was created following resolution 955 of the UN Security Council, adopted on November, 8th 1994. Its aim was to prosecute people responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda that year. Judge Dennis Byron, President of the tribunal, while presenting his annual report to the General Assembly on October 8^th, 2010, explained that, ‘despite major obstacles, including staffing, the Tribunal – based in the Tanzanian city of Arusha – has made “significant progress” in the completion of its mandate.‘ Surprisingly, he was asking for more resources.

November 2010 it will be sixteen years that ICTR will have been put in place. The budget spent on its operations will be almost 1.5 billion $ by the end of 2010. The Tribunal has so far investigated and sentenced only one side to the Rwandan genocide. It is noteworthy mentioning the fact that unlike the Holocaust in Germany, for the case of Rwanda, atrocities were committed in the middle of a civil war which had begun on October 1, 1990 between RPF and Habyarimana government. The Nuremberg Tribunal for Nazi criminals lasted only from 1945 to 1949.

The first invasion of DR Congo by the coalition of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Laurent-Desire Kabila’s AFDL in 1996 was made partially possible by the fact that US and Britain through their agents in UN structures disregarded the Gersony report, which was produced in October 94. The document shows evidence of records of between 30,000 and 40,000 mainly Hutus that Paul Kagame and his forces killed from April to September 94 in Rwanda. Can we hypothetically imagine what would’ve happened if ICTR had straightforwardly and seriously started investigating those crimes at the same time it pursued perpetrators of the genocide against Tutsis?  DRC’s invasion would’ve surely taken a different path.

DR Congo was invaded the second time in 1998 when Laurent Desire Kabila, president of the country decided to become his own man and defend national interests instead of being a proxy of US and Britain in the region as were and still are Rwanda and Uganda. His bravery got him assassinated in 2001. The war which had involved several other African countries, officially ended in 2003. It left in its trail a state of loose occupation of parts of the North Eastern and Eastern Congolese provinces by Rwandan and Ugandan supported militias. This situation has prevailed until today and is characterized by the presence of a multitude of forces serving different interests on DR Congo soil.

Considered the volatility of the context and in order to avoid its deterioration, MONUC was set up in 1999 to facilitate peace. It became MONUSCO in May 2010 with a mandate of stabilizing DR Congo. Despite UN forces’ presence, illegal mining and trafficking of minerals have continued as if peacekeepers were there to protect these operations. In addition, serial rapes have endlessly been committed nearly in the vicinity of the UN mission in Eastern Congo. This UN structure is the biggest peacekeeping mission ever set up. Its military and civil personnel stand at 22,000 men and women and its approved budget only for July 2010 to June 2011 is $1.4 billion.

Lost lives that these UN institutions didn’t protect are today nearly 8 millions so far. The count is far from ending. Ugandan and Rwanda dictatorships they have enabled to stay in power for so many decades are pursuing undisturbed their objectives in the region. The last of their achievements is the creation of the East African Economic Community. At first hindsight, the idea looks as a great step for the development of the region.

Knowing the personalities who are spearheading and dubiously pushing for a fast paced realization of the East African Community, other leaders and citizens of concerned countries should be more assertive and critical of the path they are nearly being bullied to get into. In fact, the speed with which letters of accreditation from the West are being presented to the nearly formed community should raise some questions from those caring seriously for the interests of the region.

Society in the West is somewhat today paying with drastic budget cuts following an unprecedented financial crisis, the price of its politicians’ adventurism. It’s true the latter has been playing with Africans’ lives in exchange of minerals for technology and military industries of developed countries. Unfortunately, while there is no wrong doing in the pursuit of the riches wherever they could be, multinationals and governments they are associated with, have until today failed to be accountable for African lives they facilitate to destroy. As proof, there is no mention at all of the responsibility of the West in the recently published UN report on crimes committed in DR Congo between 1993 and 2003, though there are plenty evidence of its involvement, through supplying equipment, providing training or advising.

It is shameful that a lot of UN members’ taxpayers’ money has been wasted on ICTR, MONUC and MONUSCO with so poor achievements. If they had been less politicized they could’ve achieved more. Could they be a good lesson in mismanagement of public resources from the international community? If this could be acknowledged, at least they would’ve served to something helpful.

Africans in general and those particularly from the Great Lakes region should stop being distracted. There are identifiable forces from the West using local warlords, which are at work continuously to get hold of RD Congo’s wealth. At the same time they have been for many years maliciously misleading public opinion to distract people from the real issues. And they persist to demonstrate that they don’t care about African lives. Taking responsibility and ownership of their destiny needs to become second nature to Africans, if they want to be free from their exploiters.

Victoire Ingabire, Chair of FDU-Inkingi, arrested today in Kigali

Thursday, October 14, 2010, at 12: 50 Rwanda time, more than six policemen in two police vehicles came to Victoire Ingabire’s house and arrested her.  The source who communicated the information initially thought she was taken to an unknown location but it was later confirmed that it was to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Kacyiru, where the headquarters of this intelligence unit are located.

A few days ago, we had reported a heavy presence of police forces which had surrounded her house since Friday night. This was three days after Paul Kagame had, during the swearing-in ceremony of his new government, announced that, ‘the political space is well and fully occupied by the people of this country (Rwanda),’ implying that political parties of the banned opposition, namely FDU-Inkingi of Victoire Ingabire, Green Party of Frank Habineza and PS-Imberakuri, should forget about competing politically while he rules.

In his same public address on Wednesday October 6^th, he went on to ridicule those accusing him of having committed genocide against Hutu refugees in Congo. He instead invited his audience, particularly his people in positions of leadership to ignore all the claims of lack of political space, democracy, etc, by human rights organizations, partner countries, and political opposition, and focus instead on their mission and avoid being disturbed in any way.

Hence Victoire Ingabire is today victim of someone zealous in government who is fulfilling Kagame’s recommendations from last week. She has been waiting for a court hearing about her judiciary case since April, but the government prosecutor has repeatedly indicated they were waiting some information from external sources to progress the judgment. But as it appears, it’s only a malicious tactic of depriving her of her civil rights of doing politics in Rwanda and representing her party.

Me Bernard Ntaganda, Chair of PS-Imberakuri, is another Rwandan political prisoner. On the human rights front, he has not been as lucky as Victoire Ingabire so far. He was imprisoned on June 24^th, 2010, for organizing an illegal public demonstration according to the Rwandan general prosecutor.  On Tuesday October 12, 2010, four policemen took him from where he is imprisoned in Kigali at the famous 1930 Prison, for unknown location. Those following his whereabouts feared for him. Apparently he was returned the following day. He had been taken for investigation about the requests of his party to let him to be visited by human rights organizations.

There are hundreds of political prisons in Kagame’s prisons. Many less known than others. Those who fall in the process and die get forgotten. That’s one of the many of the Rwandan president’s strategies of dealing with dissent voices, or only those he wants their number reduced. As he stressed last week that every inch of political space was already occupied, those among Rwandans who don’t want to be finished through his system of oppression, need to stand up for their rights since they still have some time.

Continuous harassment of Victoire Ingabire, Chair of FDU-Inkingi, by Paul Kagame’s forces

It has been in the public domain since April this year that Victoire Ingabire, leader of the main Rwandan opposition political party, lives under house arrest, with particular restrictions on her freedom of movement. She is not allowed to travel beyond Kigali, the capital. Since her passport has been also confiscated, for the last nine months, she has been unable to visit her family which lives in The Netherlands.

At one time the Rwandan minister of internal affairs menaced her of further trouble if she continued to give interviews to international media. In addition, her different landlords were pressured to cancel their rent contracts at several occasions. But this aspect of harassment may be temporary on hold. Though she has been evicted from the elite of Kigali’s neighbourhood, not because she couldn’t afford it, but because of economic discrimination prevailing in Rwanda against a fraction of the population.

Being the voice of millions of Rwandans who cannot express themselves for fear of direct consequences on their lives or their families, Victoire Ingabire, has continued undeterred to speak out against injustices her compatriots experience on a daily based.

This week she denounced the Education Minister, Mr. Charles Muligande, who last week had revealed that the government was stopping the subsistence portion of the student loan/bursary without offering any other alternative. Victoire Ingabire and her party FDU-Inkingi called upon the government not to touch the already small student’s subsistence token but instead to find compensations from other items of the national budget such as the presidential security systems and trips, the governmental propaganda expenses and travels.

Through a press release which also went out this week Victoire Ingabire criticised the president who had said during the swearing-in ceremony of the new government that there was no more political space left for the opposition and that he had no lessons to receive from perfidious donors.

Saturday October 9^th, at Victoire Ingabire’s office in Kigali they issued a public note saying, ‘Since last night around 22:00 pm a large number of Defense Forces and from 4:00 am the Police forces are being reported in the area surrounding the residence of Mrs. Victoire Ingabire. Last nights, shopkeepers were asked to close their shops. A presence of at least six police officers with firearms can be observed from the residence of the president of FDU-Inkingi in Kigali.’ The office indicated it would provide updates later.

Victoire Ingabire is publicly the only person in the country who has been courageously standing against Paul Kagame’s policies in a persistent way. For that reason, she is the target of the president’s frustration about his present downfall on the international stage.

Ann Garrison, a Californian independent journalist, who heard about the latest development said, ‘ I fear for Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, because of reports that a large number of Rwandan Defense Force troops are in her neighborhood, that shops have been shut down, and that her home is surrounded by armed police.’