Helping Africa develop growth that benefits its poor

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/developing-enterprise-achieve-inclusive-economic-growth

OPJDR expects the UNHCHR report on Human Rights abuses in DRC between

His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon September 2, 2010

UN Secretary-General Nº 29/J/PK/910

760 United Nations Plaza,

Manhattan, NY 10017

New York, NY 10017

Re: OPJDR expects the UNHCHR report on Human Rights abuses in DRC between

March 1993 and June 2003 to be officially released as it was drafted without any

distortion on the content and that a genuine action be taken thereafter.

Excellency,

The Organization for Peace , Justice and Development in Rwanda (OPJDR), Inc; a

human rights organization based in US with area of interest being the Great Lakes region

of Africa, has just read the draft of the report from United Nations High Commission for

Human Rights (UNHCHR) detailing serious violations of human rights and international

humanitarian law, including crimes of genocide perpetrated by the current army of

Rwanda, Rwanda Patriotic Army, against Hutu refugees in DRC between 1996 and 1998.

OPJDR welcomes this report but was disturbed by the information that the Government

of Rwanda has for months being busy pressuring you personally and the whole UN

system to dismiss the entire report or at least to water it down by removing the term

"genocide". This information has been confirmed by the French daily newspaper Le

Monde in its edition dated August 26, 2010, an official letter sent to you on August 3,

2010 by Mrs. Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and finally by

statement of the government of Rwanda dated August 27, 2010 where it threatens to

withdraw its forces from African Union- United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) if

its demands were not met.

Reports and testimonies about the atrocities that have been committed by the RPA are not

new in the UN offices but unfortunately, all of them have been dismissed under the

pressure of Kigali and its lobbies. OPJDR recalls a few of them.

1. On April 6, 1994, the presidential aircraft carrying the then Presidents Juvenal

Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi, has been shoot

down when preparing to land at the Kigali International Airport. All 13 persons

on board perished. Despite the fact that the airport was under the control of the

United Nations Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR), UN did not dare to conduct any

genuine investigation and the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

(ICTR), refuses to look at the issue even though it states that this terrorist act

sparked the Rwanda genocide. French and Spanish judges, who investigated the

incident, concluded that the RPF/RPA was responsible of the aircraft shooting.

2. In April 1994, when it was clear that the genocide was underway, the UN

preferred to walk away by pulling most of its peacekeeping force of UNAMIR.

People of Rwanda and friends of Rwanda will never forget that moment.

3. In October 1994, Mr. Robert Gersony, consultant to the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), after a four week long investigation

inside Rwanda and Tanzania, concluded that the RPF regime has murdered at

least 30,000 Hutus since July 1994. Kigali regime threatened to terminate the

operations of the UNAMIR, if the report was validated. The UN, represented in

Rwanda by Shaharyar Khan, succumbed to the pressure and sealed the report.

4. On April 22, 1995, the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) massacred internally

displaced people (IDP) in Kibeho, South West of Rwanda in the presence of

Australian and Zambian UN peacekeepers from UNAMIR. More than 8000

refugees Hutu perished that day and UN kept silent as of today.

5. In 1997, the Special Reporter of the UN commission in charge of human rights in

DRC, the Chilean Roberto Garreton, released a report on crimes committed by the

RPA against the Hutu refugees in DRC. The Rwanda government put an intensive

pressure to suppress the report and managed to block a UN mission that was set to

confirm the results of the Garreton's mission. The public did not hear about this

mission since then.

6. The selectively ethnic killings started in February 1991 in the Byumba and

Ruhengeri prefectures when RPF staged a major attack in several communes of

the Provinces of Ruhengeri and Byumba, selectively killing as many Hutus as

42,200 Hutu populations

7. UN HCR team report of September 12, 1994 "New Human Rights Abuse in

Rwanda" led by George E. Moose concluded that RPF and Tutsi civilians killed at

least 10,000 Hutu civilians per month with a purpose of ethnic cleansing intended

to clear certain areas in the south of Rwanda for Tutsi returnees' habitation. The

killings also served to reduce the population of Hutu males and discouraged

refugees from returning to claim their lands".

8. These are few UN official reports but numerous eyewitnesses, most of them

survivors of these pogroms are available around the world and would be more

than happy to testify.

OPJDR urges the UN not to fail once again the people of Rwanda by dismissing or

altering this genuine report. People of Rwanda has suffered so much in the hand of war

mongers and other criminals that it needs now to know exactly what happened and who

did what, so it can start the long process of healing and reconciliation based on a solid

foundation of truth and justice.

The fact that the Kigali regime threatens to withdraw its troops does not hold at all. First,

that mission in Darfour is not founded by Rwandan taxpayers, so other countries will be

ready to provide necessary troops. Second, UN is setting a very bad example by

employing troops from Rwanda suspected to have committed genocide in peacekeeping

missions as in Darfour where the International Criminal Court (ICC) has concluded that

crimes of genocide took place.

OPJDR believes that justice will prevail and that this report will be officially launched

and that genuine actions will be taken thereafter such as the creation of a special tribunal

for Congo or by the amending the status of the ICTR or ICC to prosecute those who will

be found responsible of those crimes. It is only that way that the impunity will be

eradicated in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Due to this report, once again OPJDR asks to the UN Security council and the President

of the ICTR to stop sending cases of detainees in Arusha to Rwanda to be prosecuted by

their war opponents. OPJDR reminds you that, in the resolution 955 creating the ICTR,

the UN Security Council concluded that both parties to the conflict, namely RPF and the

government forces, have been involved in genocide and other crimes against humanity

and should respond before the created tribunal. Therefore, the current government in

place in Rwanda led by RPF doesn't have the moral authority to prosecute anybody else

for the crime they are themselves accused for.

In conclusion we would like to recall this quote from Albert Einstein work "The world

will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but those who look and refuse to act."

Sincerely;

Pascal Kalinganire

Coordinator General

Copies:

Honorable U.S. Senator John Kerry

Chair of Foreign Relations Committee

218 Russell Bldg/ Second Floor

Washington D.C. 0510

Honorable U.S. Senator Russ Feingold

US Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs

506 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510-4904

Honorable Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street NW

Washington, DC 20520

Honorable Mrs. Susan Rice

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of

the United States to the United Nations

140 East 45th Street

New York, N.Y. 10017

Tel: 212-415-4062; Fax: 212-415-4053

Honorable Mark Lyall Grant

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of

the United Kingdom to the United Nations

One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza

885 Second Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Tel: 212 745 9200; Fax: 212 745 9316

Honorable LI Baodong, PR

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of

the People's Republic of China to the United Nations

350 East 35th Street,

New York, NY 10016

Tel: 212-655-6100/Fax: 212-634-7626

E-mail: ChinaMissionUN@Gmail.com

Honorable Gérard ARAUD

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of France to the United Nations

245 East, 47th Street - 44th floor

New York, NY, 10017

Tel.: 212.702.4900

E-mail: france@franceonu.org

Honorable VITALY CHURKIN

Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Russia Federation to the United Nations

136 East 67 Street

New York, N.Y. 10065

Tel.: (212)861-4901, (212)861-4900; FAX: (212)628-0252

E-mail: rusun@un.int

Organization For Peace Justice and

Development in Rwanda,

(OPJDR) Inc.

Organisation Pour la Paix, la Justice et le

Développement au Rwanda,

(OPJDR) Inc

OPJDR • BP 3026 • Manchester, NH • 03105 / PHONE: (603) 361-6473 www.opjdr.org. OPJDR is non-profit and apolitical. Its mission is to promote the respect of

human rights and Cultural, educational, and economic development in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

DRC: Mapping human rights violations 1993-2003

In the wake of the discovery of three mass graves in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in late 2005, the United Nations first announced its intention to send a human rights team to conduct a mapping exercise in DRC in a June 2006 report to the Security Council.

In May 2007, the UN Secretary-General approved the terms of reference of the mapping exercise following a series of consultations among relevant UN agencies and partners and with the Congolese government

The mapping exercise, led by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had three objectives:

• Conduct a mapping exercise of the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003.

• Assess the existing capacities within the national justice system to deal appropriately with such human rights violations that may be uncovered.

• Formulate a series of options aimed at assisting the Government of the DRC in identifying appropriate transitional justice mechanisms to deal with the legacy of these violations, in terms of truth, justice, reparation and reform, taking into account ongoing efforts by the DRC authorities, as well as the support of the international community.

The mapping exercise began in July 2008. Between October 2008 and May 2009, a total of 33 staff worked on the project in the DRC (including Congolese and international human rights experts). Of these, some 20 human rights officers were deployed across the country, operating out of five field offices, to gather documents and information from witnesses to meet the three objectives defined in the terms of reference. The report was submitted to the High Commissioner for Human Rights in June 2009 for review, comments and finalisation.

The mapping team's 550-page report contains descriptions of 617 alleged violent incidents occurring in the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003. Each of these incidents points to the possible commission of gross violations of human rights and/or international humanitarian law. Each of the incidents listed is backed up by at least two independent sources identified in the report. As serious as they may be, uncorroborated incidents claimed by one single source are not included. Over 1,500 documents relating to human rights violations committed during this period were gathered and analysed with a view to establishing an initial chronology by region of the main violent incidents reported. Only incidents meeting a 'gravity threshold' set out in the methodology were considered. Field mapping teams met with over 1,280 witnesses to corroborate or invalidate the violations listed in the chronology. Information was also collected on previously undocumented crimes.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/RDCProjetMapping.aspx

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/DRC_MAPPING_REPORT_FINAL_EN.pdf

UN MAPPING REPORT ON CONGO

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Admin| Comments Off

Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame, planed and funded for systematic murder of a group of people in Congo

The AFDL/APR troops indiscriminately killed men, women and children. Most of the victims were Hutu Banyarwanda, but many Nande were also massacred at Buhimba. According to several survivors, the AFDL/APR soldiers killed several children by dashing their heads against walls or tree trunks. In all, 334 victims were recorded. 341

The vast majority of incidents listed in this report could, if investigated and proven in a judicial process, point to the commission of prohibited acts such as murder, wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health, rape, intentional attacks on the civilian population, pillage, and unlawful and arbitrary destruction of civilian goods, including some which were essential to the survival of the civilian population.
The vast majority of these acts were committed against protected persons, as defined in the Geneva Conventions, primarily people who did not take part in the hostilities, particularly civilian populations and those put out of combat.
This report shows that the vast majority of incidents listed, if investigated and proven in a judicial process, fall within the scope of widespread or systematic attacks, depicting multiple acts of large-scale violence, apparently carried out in an organised fashion and resulting in numerous victims. Most of these attacks were directed against non-combatant civilian populations consisting primarily of women and children. As a consequence, the vast majority of acts of violence perpetrated during these years, which formed part of various waves of reprisals and campaigns of persecution and pursuit of refugees, became collectively, a series of widespread and systematic attacks against civilian populations and could be found by a competent court to constitute crimes against humanity.


READ FULL UN MAPPING REPORT ON CONGO CRIMES