Arrested Rwandan Generals are being tortured
Washington 20 January 2012
Sources in the UDF and RDF reported to this reporter that the four generals in Rwanda that have been arrested was falsely reported as being arrested for questionable dealings in the DRC but in reality they were arrested due to the fleeing of 600-800 soldiers in December 2011. The arrest of these Generals has led to them allegedly being tortured.
Mugesera deportation decision held until Monday
Montreal 20 January 2012
A Rwandan man facing deportation to his native country on charges of
inciting genocide will find out Monday whether he'll get to stay in
Canada a bit longer. A Montreal law firm argued in Quebec Superior Court Friday that
Canada is obliged to keep Léon Mugesera while a UN body examines his
claims he will be tortured if he's returned to Rwanda. The United Nations Committee Against Torture has requested Canada
give it time to examine Mugesera's case, a process that could take a few
months.
Top army officers arrested: aborted coup?
Kigali 18 January 2012
Rwanda has suspended and put under house arrest four of its top military officers, an army spokesperson says. One of those arrested is the military intelligence chief, who has also advised President Paul Kagame on security issues.
Experts Report on the Habyarimana Plane, a Doubled Edged Sword for Kagame
16 January 2012
The long awaited report on the April 6, 1994 shooting down of the plane
carrying the Rwandan and Burundian presidents Juvenal Habyarimana and
Cyprien Ntaryamira and their staff was published earlier this week. According to AfroAmerica Network sources, the French judges have overwhelming evidences and testimonies that a Rwandan Patriotic Army commando shot down the plane, using the missiles bought from the Soviet Union by Ugandan army and officially stolen, but likely given in covert action, from the Ugandan army arsenal by the Rwandan Patriotic Army.
Leon Mugesera wins reprieve to avoid deportation in Rwanda
Montreal 12 January 2012
In the latest bizarre twist in a two-decade-old case, a man accused of
inciting the Rwandan genocide has won a court order imploring the
Canadian government not to deport him. The lawyers who filed the motion on Mugesera's behalf said they had never even met the man, but were upset at what they deemed to be flippant behaviour by the federal government. They say the Canadian government's international obligations require it to keep Mugesera here while the United Nations Committee Against Torture examines his case.
UK MPs say Britain should use aid to press for good governance
London 5 January 2012
UK parliamentary committee backs aid to conflict-affected states, but
says funding should be withheld if recipient states fail to deliver on
transparency or human rights. About Rwanda, the committee recommended that Britain set out indicators or benchmarks in its budget support agreements about what type of improvements it expects to see in areas such as freedom of speech and of association. "This might include ensuring human rights organisations can operate freely and improving freedom of the press," it said.
Deadly grenade attack in Kigali kills two
Kigali 3 January 2012
Two people have been killed in a grenade explosion in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, police have said. Leaders of a new opposition party in exile, who were also accused of having links to grenade blasts in 2010, condemned Tuesday night's explosion. "Either the government is implicated in these periodic grenade attacks, so as to find pretext to crack down on the political opposition at a time of dwindling internal and foreign support, or the regime has lost the ability to protect its citizens," Theogene Rudasingwa, of the opposition Rwanda National Congress (RNC), said in a statement.
ICC Frees Rwandan Callixte Mbarushimana
The Hague 23 December 2011
The International
Criminal Court (ICC) has released a Rwandan rebel leader after judges
ruled there was not enough evidence against him. Callixte Mbarushimana, a Hutu rebel leader, had denied ordering his fighters to kill and rape civilians in 2009. Mr Mbarushimana, a spokesman for the FDLR movement, is the first suspect brought to the court to be freed. He has returned to France, where he has refugee status.
ICTR: Ngirumpatse and Karemera given life imprisonment
Arusha 21 December 2011
The UN war crimes court has given life sentences to two key organisers of the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
The sentences were imposed on Matthieu Ngirumpatse and Edouard Karemera, two senior members of Rwanda's former ruling party.
Kagame backs calls to change constitution to allow him third term
Kampala 12 December 2011
"The fact that Kagame is openly floating the idea of changing the
constitution is extremely dangerous. It marks a radical switch in his
tactics. He has always previously said that Rwanda is a constitutional
country and that he will abide by the constitution. Given the level of
repression in Rwanda, the opposition will consider taking up arms to be
their only option."
UN Security Council challenged to find host countries for ICTR acquittees
Arusha 5 December 2011
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) made a special appeal to the United Nations Security Council to find a lasting solution of getting host countries to acquitted persons who remain in safe houses under the Tribunal's protection. 'The Tribunal considers the settlement of persons acquitted by an international criminal tribunal to be a fundamental expression of the rule of law and is concerned about the consequences of failing to fulfill this obligation,'' ICTR President underlined.
Bagaragaza released from jail in Sweden
2 December 2011
Genocide-convict Michel Bagaragaza was on 1 December 2011 released from his Swedish jail after having served two-third of an eight year sentence handed down by the ICTR for complicity to commit genocide. He is still in a guest house. He has applied for a political asylum and is waiting for the response, may be in mid December.
Rwandan soldier wins case against unlawful detention
Nairobi 2 December 2011
The East African Court of Justice Friday (2 December) faulted Rwanda for violating
the rights of its citizen, Lieutenant-Colonel Rugigana Ngabo, a brother
to the exiled General Faustin Nyamwasa, who was jailed in absentia for
24 years. Judges at the East African Court in Arusha, Tanzania, declared
that the detention of Lt.-Col Ngabo was in breach of fundamental and
operational principles of the East African Community (EAC).
Rwandan Journalist killed in Uganda
Kampala 2 December 2011
A Rwandan journalist living as a political refugee in Uganda has been shot dead, police say.
Charles Ingabire was gunned down in a bar in Kampala.
He was editor of Inyenyeri News, an online publication critical of the government of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
Several critics of Mr Kagame have been attacked or killed in recent years. The government denies any responsibility
A Revolutionary Climate Exists in Rwanda: Dr Rusasingwa
29 November 2011
Here
is a man who committed a terrorist crime in which lives were lost,
including two Heads of State. Would Rwandans and the international
community accept that because Kigali streets are clean, new estates have
sprung up, we should look the other side and forget this crime or
justify it? What moral or ethical standards are we creating for our
society? Where is fairness and justice when hundreds of thousands of
other Rwandans have been asked to account for their role in genocide
when Paul Kagame cannot account for his role in the terrorist crime and
the genocide that followed it.
The West and South Africa working on succession plan in DRC, Uganda and Rwanda
27 November 2011
AfroAmerica Network has learned that the West and South Africa have
been developing power succession plans for three countries in the Great
Lakes Region of Africa: Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), and Uganda. The plans, already in advanced stages, include three scenarios:
- Succession through elections
- Succession through peacefully handing over power
- Coup-d’etat
Rwanda Should End Political Harassment: US Ambassador Rice
Kigali 24 Novemeber 2011
Rwanda should end harrasment of opposition supporters to allow greater political openness for the country to develop, the US envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice said on an official visit Wednesday. "Civil society activists, journalists, and political opponents of the government often fear organizing peacefully and speaking out," Rice said in a speech in the Rwandan capital. "Some have been harassed. Some have been intimidated by late-night callers. Some have simply disappeared."
South Africa rejects Rwanda bid to extradite General Nyamwasa
Cape Town 23 November 2011
South Africa has turned down a request to extradite exiled Rwandan army
General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa to his home country, but is considering
similar requests from Spain and France, a minister said today.
Paul Rusesabagina Receives his Award Amid Protests by Kigali Regime
Washington 17 November 2011
Paul Rusesabagina was
given the prize by the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. Katrina Lantos Swett, president of the Lantos Foundation, told the BBC's World Today programme "The lack of democracy, the squelching of the free press, imprisonment of
political opponents, these are causes of concern and it takes courage to
speak out when there is a government in Rwanda that really does not
brook criticism well."
Paul Kagame's War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Crimes of Genocide
16 November 2011
Although the U.S. has been
successful in preventing Kagame’s crew from being indicted at the ICTR, other
courts have indicted Kagame and members of his retinue. In late 2007, French
Judge Bruguiere indicted the assassins of Habyarimana and personally recommended
to Kofi Annan that Kagame be prosecuted by the ICTR. And, in February 2008 Spanish Judge Merelles
issued a 180-page indictment specifically charging Kagame with: Genocide; War
Crimes; Crimes against Humanity; including the massacres of more than 300,000
civilians.
UNDP Report Reveals Uncomfortable Truths about Rwanda
14 November 2011
According to the UNDP report, 80% of Rwandans are living in poverty.
Here, poverty is defined as an income of less than $1.25 per day. As for
the global rankings, Rwanda is pretty down there with the likes of
Liberia and Burundi. One in two children suffers from rickets. 18% of the children suffer from malnutrition. And even for all the hype that has been made about Kagame's pro ICT policies, internet usage is still a dismal 3.1%. Moreover, only 0.5% of the population has regular access to a computer. Clearly, the ICT revolution is still a pipe dream!.
Kagame Rejection as Key Speaker at Genocide Conference: The Beginning of an End
8 November 2011
“If this conference is about how to prepare and implement the genocide, then Kagame is the right man because he is expert in genocide implementation. He has more experience in organised killings, massacres and hiding evidence by lies, burning human bodies as he has done in Rwanda and Congo genocide. But if the conference is about the truth, reconciliation, and conflict prevention, then this invitation is completely wrong and Kagame should not be allowed by any human rights organisation, independent institutions in such a conference.”
Former Kagame aide wants to testify on April 6 plane attack
Washington 7 November 2011
“I would like to appear before the ICTR as soon as possible regarding this matter,” Dr Rudasingwa said to Hirondelle. “I am not just requesting this. I am demanding it as a witness to the most pivotal event in the 20th century whose consequences remain tragic almost two decades later.”
French Judges to confirm that Kagame triggered the genocide by killing President Habyarimana
2 November 2011
According to AfroAmerica Network sources, the investigations and ballistic reconstructions have ruled out Rwandan ex-Far or alleged Hutu extremists as the potential assassins. The report concludes that the long suspected farm in Masaka that belonged to an RPF sympathizer is the likely shooting site, and the shooters were RPF commando.
The Empirical record on Habyarimana's death
1 November 2011
On 1 October 2011, Rwanda National Congress co-founder, Theogene Rudasingwa confirmed that his former Rwandan Patriotic Front colleague, Paul Kagame, is personally responsible for downing Habyarimana's plane -- the event that initiated the Rwandan genocide. There has been virtually no response from Kigali on Rudasingwa's allegation, although I hear from trusted sources that Kagame is fuming mad.
US court dismisses lawsuit against Rwandan president Kagame
29 October 2011
A federal court in Oklahoma on Friday (28/10/2011) dismissed a lawsuit against Rwandan President Paul Kagame brought by the widows of two assassinated African presidents, ruling that he had immunity in the United States. U.S. District Judge Lee West ruled that as a head of state recognized by the U.S. government, Kagame was immune from the wrongful death civil suit.
Commonwealth: Rwanda at risk of becoming another Zimbabwe
Perth 26 October 2011
Australia and other Commonwealth Governments naively believed admission to the Commonwealth would support Rwanda's path to democracy, but human rights abuses have continued and worsened, President of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, Frank Habineza, and Australian Greens Leader, Bob Brown, warned today. "The Commonwealth should take action or risk Rwanda becoming another Zimbabwe. Without swift action, the calls will become louder to suspend the Commonwealth's newest member," Senator Brown said.
ICTR: Bagaragaza to be released early
Arusha 25 October 2011
For the first time ever, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has granted early release to one of its convicts, Michel Bagaragaza, who has served three-quarters of an eight year sentence for complicity to commit genocide. Under a court order issued Monday (24 October 2011) by ICTR president Judge Khalida Rachid Khan, the former head of the Rwandan Tea Authority is to be released on December 1, 2011 from the prison in Sweden where he is currently jailed.
Take action for Rwandan Opposition Politician Victoire Ingabire
20 October 2011
The purpose of this post is to ask you to take action, namely write to Paul Kagame, to request a fair trial. We need to bring more attention to the flawed nature of this case to the international community, and writing letters of protest to Kagame with a copy to your local politician is a good place to start.
Rwanda opposition to stage anti-Kagame protests in Perth, Australia
19 October 2011
Some of Rwandan communities living in Australia who are believed to be mobilised by Rwanda National Congress will put up peaceful protest against Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s visit to Australia on October 28 in Perth.
Commonwealth urged to take action In Rwanda
17 October 2011
International democracy prize winner is pleading with Commonwealth leaders to use their Perth meeting to stop killing and imprisonment of the government's political opponents. Mr Habineza, the president of the Rwandan Greens Party, who fled to Sweden last year after his party deputy was decapitated and other political leaders were jailed, wants the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to help bring "democracy and the rule of law" to his homeland.
UNHCR urged to review decision to withdraw refugee status from Rwandan refugees.
11 october 2011
Reporters Without Borders fails to understand a decision by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to urge countries that have given asylum to Rwandan refugees to withdraw their refugee status by the middle of next year on the grounds that political life in Rwanda is back to normal.
UK and Dutch Diplomats follow Ingabire Trial in court
Kigali 5 October 2011
After the adjournment decided last week, the High Court reopened on Tuesday the trial of the opposition leader Madame Victoria Ingabire. In yesterday’s hearing the judge silently listened to the defence concerns before returning the word to the national public prosecution authority. Key diplomats including the Dutch Ambassador in Kigali , the British High Commission’s political affairs followed the trial.
ICTR acquitted's visa case goes to the highest French jurisdiction
Paris 4 october 2011
The French Interior Ministry has brought before the Council of State, France's highest administrative jurisdiction, an ongoing battle over whether Gratien Kabiligi, a former Rwandan general acquitted by the ICTR in 2008, should be granted a visa to live in France. The case underlines an ongoing headache for the ICTR and an ongoing political football among UN member states over what to do with ICTR acquitted persons. The Ministry is asking the Council of State to cancel an August 23 order by the administrative tribunal of Nantes (western France) to reexamine "within fifteen days" its decision refusing Kabiligi a visa for the second time.
Did Kagame kill President Habyarimana? YEESSSSSSSS
4 october 2011
Kagame does not deny it, instead he says I don't care....
Rwanda leader sparked the genocide
4 October 2011
Theogene Rudasingwa is by far the most senior former ally of Paul Kagame to have made the allegation that Mr Kagame was responsible for shooting down the plane carrying Juvenal Habyarimana. Kagame has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack. He told the BBC's HardTalk programme in 2007: "I am not responsible for Habyarimana's death and I don't care, I wasn't responsible for his security and he wasn't responsible for mine either. He wouldn't have cared if I had died and I don't care that it happened to him."
SHOCKING: CONFESSION OF DOWNING OF PRESIDENT HABYARIMANA'S PLANE BY DR THEOGENE RUDASINGWA
Washington 1 October 2011
The truth must now be told. Paul Kagame, then overall commander of the Rwandese Patriotic Army, the armed wing of the Rwandese Patriotic Front, was personally responsible for the shooting down of the plane. In July, 1994, Paul Kagame himself, with characteristic callousness and much glee, told me that he was responsible for shooting down the plane. Despite public denials, the fact of Kagame’s culpability in this crime is also a public “secret” within RPF and RDF circles. Like many others in the RPF leadership, I enthusiastically sold this deceptive story line, especially to foreigners who by and large came to believe it, even when I knew that Kagame was the culprit in this crime.
ICTR: Two Ex-Ministers acquitted
Arusha 30 September 2011
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Friday (30/09/2011) acquitted Rwandan ex-ministers Casimir Bizimungu and Jérome Bicamumpaka on all charges for lack of sufficient evidence. It imposed 30- year prison sentences on two other members of the former interim government, Justin Mugenzi and Prosper Mugiraneza, for their role in the 1994 genocide.
France Releases Former Minister Nsengiyunva Under legal Restrictions
Paris 28 September 2011
The Rwandan minister of Public Works in the 1994 interim government, Hyacinthe Rafiki Nsengiyumva, was freed under legal restrictions after spending 51 days on remand in a jail in Paris, according to a decision taken by a Parisian appeals court on Wednesday during a preliminary hearing. Three hours earlier the same court, presided over by Judge Edith Boizette, had rejected Rwanda's request to extradite Agathe Habyarimana, the widow of the Rwandan President killed on April 6, 1994, when his plane was shot down.
France rejects Rwanda's extradition request for Agathe Habyarimana
Paris 28 September 2011
A French court has rejected a Rwandan bid to extradite the widow of ex-President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose killing sparked the 1994 genocide. Rwandan Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugaramatold the BBC that he respected the ruling, but said she should now face trial in France.
Rwandan opposition leader trial postponed due to confusion
27 September 2011
Barely three weeks of the politically motivated case against the opposition leader Madame Victoire Ingabire has left the trial in a tailspin.
On Monday , Justice Alice Rulisa, lost her cool and furiously decided to postpone the hearings until 04 October 2011, in order to allow the prosecutor to prepare his response to the defence submissions on the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law, and on the territorial jurisdiction of the high court.
On Monday , Justice Alice Rulisa, lost her cool and furiously decided to postpone the hearings until 04 October 2011, in order to allow the prosecutor to prepare his response to the defence submissions on the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law, and on the territorial jurisdiction of the high court.
Kagame's uneasy relationship with British press
Kampala 23 September 2011
Parts of the British press have decried Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame as a ‘dictator accused of war crimes’, a huge leap from the days when he was lauded as his country’s saviour. Yes, it’s true, he does wield absolute power in a country that is purported to be a multi-party democracy, but where opposition journalists and politicians are not tolerated; and yes, he has been accused by the UN of war crimes against Hutus in the Democratic Republic of Congo after the 1994 genocide ended. But Rwanda’s story is not black and white.
Kagame has no where to hide
17 September 2011
The Rwandan emperor is totally naked. Kagame has nowhere to hide! Every corner of the world now knows him as a cheat and conman. He usually paints himself as Mr Zero Tolerant for corruption but Kagame is now exposed as the most corrupt leader on this planet.
Kagame had a hard time in Paris
17 September 2011
Kagame was not welcome at all in Paris. French senior politicians avoid to meet him. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe travelled to the Pacific Rim, having said that he had “no wish to shake” Kagame’s hand. The chairman of the French Senate, Gerard Larcher, also refused to meet Mr Kagame. The streets were full of anti-Kagame protesters.
Was Kagame's visit to Paris a success?
17 September 2011
The President of Rwanda claims that his recent visit to France early this week has been a success. It obviously depends on which point of view he looks from! Have a look!
Nicolas Sarkozy's Rwanda accord rebuffed
17 September 2011
An attempt by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to end the row over France’s murky role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide has run into controversy as senior politicians in Paris snubbed the leader of the African nation.
Plan to take out Rwandan General revealed
14 September 2011
An alarming security breach within South African defence intelligence has put suspected death squads on the trail of an exiled Rwandan general who is under South African protection. It was reaveled that private investigators, allegedly hired by Rwandan intelligence agents, penetrated the security ring around Rwanda’s former chief-of-staff General Kayumba Nyamwasa.
Obama requests immnunity for Kagame
14 September 2011
Obama seems to be requesting more legal immunity for a foreign head of state than he himself enjoys, after the landmark Supreme Court case Clinton v. Jones, which established that a sitting president of the United States has no immunity from civil litigation against him for acts done before taking office and unrelated to the office.
Kagame pays "reconciliation" visit to France
12 September 2011
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has started his first visit to France since his country's 1994 genocide, in a bid to bridge the countries' deep divides. Rwanda has accused the French military of contributing to the massacre of 800,000 mainly ethnic Tutsis by the Hutu regime and its supporters.
No political opposition under Kagame: Ingabire on trial
9 September 2011
The international community continues to ignore the Rwandan government’s human rights violations, killing and imprisonment of opposition leaders, media censorship, and assassination plots within Rwanda and abroad.
Understanding the reason why Victoire Ingabire is on trial
6 September 2011
Professor Kambanda said that Victoire is a great leader, capable of leading Rwanda, whose conflict has spilled into eastern Congo, to real reconciliation – between African people who have been manipulated by foreign powers to the point of human catastrophe. But Kambanda also thinks Victoire is such a great leader that Rwandan President Paul Kagame will never let her leave prison alive, or with her faculties intact.
France extradites Fabien Neretse to Belgium
Paris 1 September 2011
Fabien Neretse, the former head of the Rwandan Coffee Office from 1989 to 1991, was turned over by the French judiciary to Belgium on Tuesday (30 August) on account of a European arrest warrant issued on June 24 in Brussels. Neretse, 54, who hails from Ruhengeri, had been living in Angouleme (West of France) for several years using his father's name, Fabien Nsabimana. Two Belgian investigators, empowered by an international rogatory letter, questioned him in Angouleme on June 30. He was then taken into prison in Draguignan.
US government drops all genocide-related charges against Kobagaya
26 August 2011
US government prosecutors asked a judge Thursday to dismiss all charges against a Rwandan man convicted earlier of lying to U.S. immigration officials about his whereabouts during the 1994 Genocide, ending a case that was the first in the US to require proof of genocide.
French court urges Interior Ministry to grant visa to General Kabiligi
Paris 25 August 2011
The administrative tribunal of Nantes (West of France) requested in a decision released on August 23 that the French Minister of Interior reexamines "within fifteen days" its decision to refuse Gratien Kabiligi a visa for the second time.
Stop intimidating Human Regional Rights Groups, HRW tells Rwanda
New York 23 August 2011
The Rwandan authorities should immediately stop intimidating human rights defenders and allow them to work freely, Human Rights Watch said today. Two leading members of a regional human rights organization were unlawfully detained on August 19, 2011, prevented from traveling, questioned, and harassed, Human Rights Watch said.
More light in Rwanda's plot to execute exiled general
10 August 2011
A would-be assassin revealed to City Press this week how he had been recruited and paid by Rwanda’s military intelligence service to kill an exiled Rwandan general and his followers in Pretoria. Rwandan refugee Gustav Tuyishime told City Press that his main targets were former Rwandan army chief of staff General Kayumba Nyamwasa and two of his confidants.
Genocide courts attacked for failure to heal Rwanda's scars
5 August 2011
Rwanda's widely praised community genocide courts, due to wind up later this year, have done nothing to "heal ethnic divisions" and have been used to "bolster government authority", according to a new report by one of the country's leading donors.
UK's cosy relationship with Rwanda: rose-tinted glasses?
4 August 2011
Rwandan refugees in Britain live in fear of their government’s spies, whilst Britain remains Rwanda’s largest donor. Britain must avoid nurturing another African dictator.
Canada: Stop training militia members for Rwanda
3 August 2011
The Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), the rebel group that took over government after the genocide, has failed to lead the country to democracy. Instead, the organization has re-established a one-party, authoritarian system of government that is even more repressive than the government that was in power prior to the genocide. The RPF Government of Rwanda maintains its hold onto power through acts of repression, including arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings of critics and opponents of the regimes.
FDRL Commander General Mudacumura allegedly negotiating his surrender to Rwandan Defence Forces
2 August 2011
Sources close to Ugandan Intelligence Services have informed AfroAmerica Network that General Sylvestre Mudacumura the overall Commander of the troops of a Rwandan rebel organization based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR-FOCA), is negotiating his surrender to Rwanda Defense Forces.
Call to stop Rwandan aid over death threats to exiles
London 2 August 2011
The UK should withdraw aid from Rwanda if its government is threatening opponents living here, says the former Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells. He argues these death threats are the latest in a series of events that raise a question mark over Britain's continued support: "If there's any hint at all that these people are threatening people whether they're British citizens or residents, then we must say to them 'I'm sorry this aid is going to be cut off immediately', and that's a threat they certainly could not afford to ignore."
Rwandan opposition says leader barred from seing a doctor
Kigali 1 August 2011
The leading Rwandan opposition figure Victoire Ingabire, who is in a Kigali jail on trumped up charges of supporting terrorism, has been barred from seeing her doctor since April, her party said Sunday. "Since April 2011, she is in total isolation. She has not been allowed to be seen by her doctor," Ingabire's Unified Democratic Forces said in a statement, without giving any details about her state of health. "All incarcerated opposition leaders remain in extreme isolation," it added.
Monster behind the genocide and rapes squads
27 July 2011
Kagame has created what one observer calls ‘a well-managed ethnic, social and economic dictatorship’. People speak of a climate of fear, where the wrong words can lead to incarceration – or worse. President Kagame should no longer be able to avoid blame despite protestations that his regime was merely tracking down remnants of mass-murdering Hutu militias.
Kagame digs himself into a deep hole
12 July 2011
When Kagame jetted to London to receive his medal for his “great leadership” from an NGO that does not even operate in Rwanda, there was nothing particularly unusual about that. Kagame has a bottomless hunger for awards and medals. He will travel to the North Pole to receive one – even if given by the penguins, as long as it is a medal. It turns out, however, that Kagame got more than he bargained for in London this time around.
Dutch court gives Rwandan Joseph Mpambara life for genocide related crimes
The Hague 8 July 2011
A Dutch appeals court on Thursday (7 July 2011) sentenced a Rwandan citizen living in The Netherlands to life in prison for war crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Joseph Mpambara, 43, was found guilty of having carried out an attack on a Protestant church where Tutsis had fled. The lower court, which sentenced him to 20 years in prison, had previously acquitted him on this charge.
ICTR: Former female minister and son sentenced to life imprisonment
Arusha 24 June 2011
Pauline Nyiramasuhuko (65), former Rwandan Minister for Family and Women Affairs and her son Arsene Shalom Ntahobali were found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity of extermination, rape and persecution and war crimes. Nyiramasuhuko was in addition convicted for conspiracy to commit genocide.
ICTR: Kabuga duty counsel to call defence witnesses in 2012
Arusha 24 June 2011
The proceedings for Kabuga, who is considered the financier of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, took off on May 23, 2011 and the prosecution is still calling witnesses. "The deposition will go on until July 15, 2011, then there will be three months suspension to allow the defence to carry out investigations. It is expected that the hearing of defence witnesses will take place in March 2012," the ICTR Spokesperson, Roland Amoussouga, said on Friday (24 June 2011)
The trial of Rwandan opposition leader postponed
Kigali 21 June 2011
On her request, the trial of Ms Victoire Ingabire has been postponed until September as she needs more time to prepare her defense. But what is behind the trumped up charges against her?
ICTR: Bernard Munyagishali pleads not guilty
Arusha 20 June 2011
Bernard Munyagishari, former President of Interahamwe for Gisenyi, today made his initial appearance before Judge Dennis C. M. Byron and pleaded not guilty to five counts charging him with conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity for murder and rape. The Prosecution alleges that Munyagishari recruited, trained and led Interahamwe militiamen in mass killings and rapes of Tutsi women in Gisenyi prefecture and beyond between April and July 1994.
London calls for States' cooperation with ICTR over genocide suspects
London 17 June 2011
The United Kingdom has called up all states to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to ensure all remaining nine genocide fugitives are arrested and brought to justice. "I encourage all countries to provide the ICTR with full co-operation as it seeks to bring to justice the remaining fugitives," British Foreign Office Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham, said in a statement published on Thursday (16 June 2011).
South Africa row over Rwanda ex-army chief
Johannesburg 14 June 2011
South African human rights groups have launched legal action to force the government to revoke the refugee status of a former Rwandan army chief. They said Pretoria acted illegally by giving asylum to Lt Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, who is also wanted by Spain and France for his alleged role in killings in the lead-up to Rwanda's 100-day genocide.
Dictator Kagame challenged in Chicago
13 June 2011
Neither the Governor Quinn of Illinois nor Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former Obama chief of Staff wanted to get their hands dirty. Not one sitting Senator nor Congressman was willing to risk the bad press by hanging around with Rwanda dictator. Indeed, all Kagame’s organizing machine could manage to make the sham event “respectable” was a washed-up opportunistic politician by the name Jesse Jackson. One wonders how much they paid good old Jesse to appear.
US Secretary of State Warns African Dictators at African Union
Addis Ababa 13 June 2011
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has challenged African leaders to promote democracy, economic growth, and peace and security.Talking about the changes that are taking places in North Africa and Middle East, Mrs Clinton said: "Their message is clear to us all: The status quo is broken; the old ways of governing are no longer acceptable; it is time for leaders to lead with accountability, treat their people with dignity, respect their rights, and deliver economic opportunity. And if they will not, then it is time for them to go".
Rwandan opposition calls for talks with Kagame
London 7 June 2011
The leader of the London-based Rwanda Peoples Party (RPP) has called on Rwandan President Paul Kagame to hold emergency peace talks to avert what he called an ‘eminent civil war’ that he claimed was looming over the horizon. “We want to put an end to civil war, whether inside Rwanda or outside it, principally in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We want a new democratic Rwanda that accommodates rather than threatens its citizens, many of whom are scattered around in the Diaspora.”
Stop the flow of cash to Rwanda's despotic regime
25 May 2011
The desperate desire for an aid success story has ensured that for too long, too many people who should know better have ignored repression in Rwanda. We can ignore it no longer. Otherwise we are aiding and abetting an autocrat whose regime sends death squads to murder people living peacefully in this country. We all hope that the British leaders are listening and will dare take appropriate action.
Investigating claims that the Rwandan government is plotting assassinations in UK
22 May 2011
Rwandan exiles living in London are warned by UK police that they faced the threat of assassination.
It has emerged that two men were visited by officers who told them they were in danger of being killed by a hitman sent by the Rwandan government. Shortly before the warning was issued, a Rwandan man suspected of involvement was prevented from entering the UK.
It has emerged that two men were visited by officers who told them they were in danger of being killed by a hitman sent by the Rwandan government. Shortly before the warning was issued, a Rwandan man suspected of involvement was prevented from entering the UK.
Kagame sends his killing machines to the UK
London 14 May 2011
The London Metropolitan police warned some key Rwandan opposition figures about imminent threats to their personal safety. The alert came on the eve of a meeting convened by Rwandan opposition to Kagame dictatorship in London. The warning reads in part as follows: “Reliable intelligence states that the Rwandan Government poses an imminent threat to your life. The threat could come in any form. You should be aware of other high profile cases where action such as this has been concluded in the past. Conventional and non-conventional means have been used.”
It is official: DR Congo killings may be Genocide
Geneva 1 October 2010
A UN report into the killings of Hutu civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the 1990s says they may constitute "crimes of genocide". It accuses Rwandan, Ugandan and Burundian forces of participating in the attacks, and recommends that the international community seeks to prosecute those responsible.
