http://www.inyenyerinews.org/politiki/rubavu-amavunja-yibasiye-abaturage/   Rubavu: Amavunja yibasiye abaturage December 20, 2012 By Rwema IT Webmaster Leave a Comment Imidugudu ibiri ya Ngwinurebe n'uw'Amajyambere; yo mu Kagari ka Busigari, Umurenge wa Cyanzarwe mu Karere ka Rubavu; yibasiwe n'ikibazo cy'amavunja aterwa n'umwanda ugaragara mu mazu y'abaturage bimuwe muri Gishwati, bagatuzwa muri Site ya Kanembwe. Ikinyamakuru Izuba Rirashe dukesha iyi nkuru gitangaza ko cyaganiriye na bamwe mu baturage biganjemo abafite iki kibazo cy'amavunja, bakavuga ko amazu menshi yamaze kwinjirwa n'imbaragasa bikaba bimaze igihe kirekire. Aba baturage bavuga ko ubuyobozi bwari bwarafashe ingamba zo gutera imiti yica imbaragasa mu mazu; ariko aho habereyeho ihinduranya ry'Abanyamabanga Nshingwabikorwa b'Imirenge mu mezi atatu ashize; bimera nk'ibidindira. Abarwayi b'amavunja bose ntabwo ariko bazi ko bayaterwa n'umwanda; kuko bavuga ko babona byizana; bagahora bahandura ariko bakanga bagakomeza kurwara amavunja. Umwe muri aba baturage barwaye amavunja witwa Uwamahoro Claudine avuga ko yayarwaye amavunja akimara kwimukira i Kanembwe, gusa ngo ntazi icyabiteye; yemeza ko byizanye. Yagize ati "Narwaye amavunja nkigera hano, ariko sinzi icyabiteye kandi simbijyana kwa muganga, ahubwo abantu bampandurira hano". Undi muturage urwaye amavunja witwa Majyambere Venantie yemeza ko uburwayi bwe burimo bukira; nawe yavuze ko amavunja aza, akaba ataramenya ikibitera; ndetse akabona n'abandi bayarwaye. Abana nabo bibasiwe n'amavunja Umubyeyi witwa Nzarora waganiriye n'iki kinyamakuru ubwo cyamusangaga iwe mu rugo hamwe n'umwana w'imyaka 2 urwaye amavunja; yavuze ko ikibazo cy'amavunja gihari kandi kibahangayikishije; dore ko ngo batazi n'ikibitera; kuko bavuye muri Gishwati batarwara amavunja; nyuma bageze i Kanembwe bakabona bamwe batangiye kujya bihandura amavunja. Usibye ikibazo cy'amavunja; aba baturage bavuga ko n'imibereho yabo itameze neza kuko kurya bibagora bitewe n'uko aho bahinga ari hato kandi hatera; ibi bikiyongera ku mazi akunze kubura ndetse no kutagira irimbi. Ubuyobozi bw'Umurenge buhakana ko nta mavunja aharangwa Nubwo abaturage bavuga ibyo byose ariko, Umunyamabanga Nshingwabikorwa w'uyu Murenge Cyanzarwe Kabera Eric, avuga ko icyo kibazo nta gihari; kuko ngo umukecuru umwe ari we wigeze kugaragaza ibyo bibazo; ariko nawe ngo yaje kwimukira mu Karere ka Nyabihu. Nubwo uyu muyobozi avuga gutya; iki Kinyamakuru gitangaza ko cyabashije kubona bamwe mu baturage barwaye amavunja, harimo abana babiri n'abandi bantu bakuru babiri.   ©Izuba Rirashe

Susan Rice’s defense of Kagame in Congo puts Obama State Department on the defensive

http://sfbayview.com/2012/susan-rices-defense-of-kagame-in-congo-puts-obama-state-department-on-the-defensive/   Susan Rice's defense of Kagame in Congo puts Obama State Department on the defensive December 19, 2012 13 by Ann Garrison U.S. President Barack Obama, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice The Obama administration was on the defensive about the U.S. relationship with Rwanda and its U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice at the Dec. 11, 2012, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Two days after the hearing, Rice withdrew her name from consideration to become secretary of state. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, now appears to be first in line for the job, and Republicans aren't likely to unleash attack dogs on him because his appointment will give them a shot at his Massachusetts Senate seat. Will Kerry be any better, for Congo or the rest of Africa? Of course not, unless political pressure forces him to be any better, and there's some danger that journalists, Africa advocates, and peace and social justice advocates won't keep their eyes on him as they might have on Susan Rice. Kerry was an early backer of the invasion of Iraq. He's down with all the warmongering in East and Central Africa by John Prendergast's Enough Project and its satellite organizations, including Invisible Children and their KONY 2012 campaign. He toured college campuses with movie star Ben Affleck to promote conflict minerals legislation, a faux solution to the Congo conflict, broken down by Friends of the Congo's Kambale Musavuli and Bodia Macharia in "Conflict Minerals: A Cover For U.S. Allies and Western Mining Interests?" In 2011, Kerry was in South Sudan, along with John Prendergast, George Clooney and Bono, to celebrate its independence and deliverance to Glencore International, the new nation's new oil marketing partner. Why imagine that Kerry would oppose the break-up of the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Will Kerry be any better, for Congo or the rest of Africa? Of course not, unless political pressure forces him to be any better, and there's some danger that journalists, Africa advocates, and peace and social justice advocates won't keep their eyes on him as they might have on Susan Rice. As a unified nation, D.R. Congo has the resources, including its Atlantic port on the mouth of the Congo River, to become a global powerhouse – much as a unified Sudan did, with its vast resources including its port on the Gulf of Aden. Is it in the USA's geostrategic interest to see any African nation emerge as a global powerhouse? Especially one where so much of the mineral wealth essential to weapons manufacture is so densely concentrated, as it is in Congo? That's certainly not in the interest of what we call "the U.S." as it is now. In a U.S. committed to global community, it might be, but that's obviously not the U.S. we live in. At the Democratic Convention this year, Kerry's most notable remarks celebrated the extrajudicial, summary execution of the U.S.' best excuse for squandering trillions on imperial wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan: "Ask Osama bin Laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago?" However, though there's no reason to expect John Kerry to be any better, Susan Rice's withdrawal of her name is still a victory for Africa peace and social justice activists. It symbolizes recognition that Rice has been protecting Kagame's Rwandan regime and Museveni's Ugandan regime from being named as the aggressors in Congo and protecting their top military and police officers from being subjected to targeted sanctions in U.N. Security Council resolutions. Is it in the USA's geostrategic interest to see any African nation emerge as a global powerhouse? Especially one where so much of the mineral wealth essential to weapons manufacture is so densely concentrated, as it is in Congo? In 2011, Rice flew to Libya after Gaddafi's extrajudicial, summary execution to say the U.S. got it right this time – that we'd stopped genocide – before flying to Rwanda to say the same. And, like Kagame, she delivered a solemn eulogy at the funeral of brutal Ethiopian autocrat Meles Zenawi. So her appointment would have been a slap in the face of African people well beyond the Great Lakes region. In one of the contradictions so prominent in Obama's America, some said that the Republican attacks on her were racist and sexist, and they probably were, but that's not what kept her from following in the path of Madeline Albright, Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton. As Milton Allimadi wrote in the Black Star News, "What Rice would not have been able to surmount is her support for Rwanda's dictator, Gen. Paul Kagame, especially given the humanitarian catastrophe created in Congo by M23, the terrorist army that invaded from Rwanda in what amounts to a war of aggression from a neighboring country." KPFA Morning Mix host Sabrina Jacobs and Friends of the Congo Executive Director Maurice Carney Delaware Congressman Christopher Smith began his opening remarks at the Dec. 11 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing by saying that the U.S. now stands alone in its support for Rwanda: "Today's hearing will examine U.S. policy regarding the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This conflict was exacerbated by Rwanda's interventions in neighboring eastern Congo, as documented by the release of three United Nations reports this year. These reports confirmed Rwanda's support of militias that have ravaged and continue to plague this region. "The State Department was unavailable to testify at our Sept. 19 hearing on this issue, and the subcommittee promised at that time the follow-up when State was available to testify. "In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, successive administrations have turned a blind eye to reports of Rwanda plundering the DRC and supporting rebels who have devastated Congo and its people. It seems that guilt over the Clinton administration's colossal failure, responding effectively, as they did not, to the genocide in Rwanda, has led to subsequent administrations being reluctant to criticize the government of Rwanda. "We must overcome our regret over what happened 18 years ago. As an NGO letter to President Obama points out, the United States is now out of step with our European allies, who have cut aid to Rwanda because of their 'interference' in the DRC." After claiming that the State Department was doing all it could by talking to everyone, Under-Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson indignantly dismissed the suggestion that the administration had delayed release of the Group of Experts report and gone out of its way to protect the USA's longstanding ally and "military partner" Rwanda. Congressman Smith turned to Carson asked: "There are rumors – maybe they're just rumors – that the administration sought to delay the U.N. Group of Experts report on the DRC this past summer and attempted to soften criticism of Rwandan involvement with M23. Can you speak to that? "I reject that out of hand," responded Carson. Displaced women sort beans in front of their shelter in Mugunga III refugee camp near Goma, within Congo's borders. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that 900,000 people have been displaced since April. – Photo: UNHCR The Group of Experts recommended sanctions – specifically travel bans and asset seizures – targeting top Rwandan and Ugandan officials. Carson's response to Congressman Smith's question regarding sanctions was that the Administration would welcome Rwanda onto the U.N. Security Council, as a member in good standing, with high hopes. "The Rwandans join the U.N. Security Council next year. Does that have any bearing on what our policy will be, particularly when it comes to sanctions, since they will be on the Security Council?" asked Congressman Smith. "Ah, no, it does not," Carson answered. "I would just hope that the Rwandans, when they join the council, will carry out their duties in a responsible and thoughtful way." John Prendergast, a former National Security Council adviser to President Bill Clinton while Susan Rice was his under-secretary of state for African affairs, claimed that no one doubts the administration's commitment to peace in the Great Lakes Region, most of all that of Under-Secretary of State Johnnie Carson and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice: "No one is questioning the hard work and the dedication, decades long commitment, that key administration officials have exhibited on behalf of peace in Congo," Prendergast declared. "I would particularly point out for special commendation Ambassador Johnnie Carson and Ambassador Susan Rice at the U.N." Even Prendergast knew that this was his own wishful thinking, however, because in the same breath he decried those who do indeed doubt that commitment, particularly those who doubt Ambassador Rice's commitment. A mother, shot in the hip five years ago, her husband killed, supports her seven children in Mugunga III camp for internally displaced people by begging in nearby Goma. According to UNHCR, families have reported 751 missing children since April. – Photo: Frédèric Noy, UNHCR "I'm particularly saddened by the personal attacks we've seen against Ambassador Rice, in the press and the blogosphere, over the past couple weeks over issues related to the Congo," Prendergast said. "Knowing Johnnie and Susan, and working with them for over the past 16 years, I can tell you from personal experience that they've worked tirelessly for peace in the Great Lakes Region." Curious comment, coming from someone who so recently, writing in Foreign Policy, urged Obama to "unleash the dogs of war and let them hunt" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and the Central African Republic. Before the hearing was over, Congressman Thomas Marino, R-Penn., called out the Obama administration for its unwillingness to impose sanctions to stop Rwanda and Uganda in Congo, but, true though that was, he should, to be honest, have acknowledged that the unwillingness has been a bi-partisan effort. Neither Clinton, Bush nor Obama – yet – has been willing to stop Rwanda and Uganda in Congo, despite similarly damning U.N. reports since 1998. Two days after the hearing, Ambassador Susan Rice publicly withdrew her name from consideration to become secretary of state on NBC. The network reported, however, that they do not expect her to leave the Obama administration and imagine that she will stay on as U.N. ambassador or perhaps join Obama's National Security Council in a powerful post that Congress would not have to approve. In President Obama's statement on Susan Rice, issued the same day, Dec. 13, he praised her work advancing America's interests and specifically mentioned her efforts regarding Iran, North Korea, Libya, South Sudan, Israel and the U.N. He did not mention Rwanda, Uganda or the Democratic Republic of Congo. San Francisco writer Ann Garrison writes for the San Francisco Bay View, Global Research, Colored Opinions, Black Star News and her own website, Ann Garrison, and produces for AfrobeatRadio on WBAI-NYC, KPFA Evening News and her own YouTube Channel, AnnieGetYourGang. She can be reached at ann@afrobeatradio.com. If you want to see Ann Garrison's independent reporting continue, please contribute on her website at anngarrison.com. Friends of the Congo's Maurice Carney talks to KPFA Morning Mix host Sabrina Jacobs about the eastern Congo conflict, broadcast Dec. 17, 2012 The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee's Dec. 11, 2012, hearing on eastern Congo and U.S. relations with Rwanda and Uganda, reported by Ann Garrison, also broadcast on the KPFA Morning Mix, Dec. 17, 2012   You may also like - Congo: What's Rwanda got to do with it? Rwanda's Kagame, keynote speaker at a Sac State genocide conference? White man's burden: Affleck and Prendergast in Congress for Congo Share on yahoomailShare on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailMore Sharing Services Related Posts Congo, AFRICOM and the U.S. Corporate Council on Africa Withhold U.S. aid to speed end of atrocities in Congo White man's burden: Affleck and Prendergast in Congress for Congo Who benefits from sexual violence in eastern Congo? Cui bono? U.N. on Congo: Dodd-Frank conflict minerals law increases conflict

U.S. under pressure over Rwanda involvement in Congo fighting

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-congo-rwanda-20121221,0,5006126.story U.S. under pressure over Rwanda involvement in Congo fighting As evidence mounts of Rwandan backing of eastern Congo rebels, pressure is on the U.S. to cut aid for the regime. Comments 0 Email Share 33 A youth identified as a 16-year-old corporal in the Rwandan armed forces sits with other prisoners in Kinshasha, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government accuses Rwanda of supporting rebels fighting in eastern Congo. (Junior D. Kannah / AFP/Getty Images / December 11, 2012) Former Rwandan minister sentenced to 35 years on genocide charges Uganda, Rwanda deny U.N. accusations of backing DRC rebels A chance for calm in Congo By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times December 20, 2012, 6:05 p.m. GOMA, Congo — It was not the bullet lodged in the officer's gut, or the botched operation he'd had in a field hospital, that made the case so difficult for doctors in a Goma hospital. It was trying to save the life of a Rwandan officer injured in the recent Congolese battle for the eastern city when Rwanda's government insisted it wasn't involved in the Goma fighting. Doctors were convinced the officer would die if he wasn't sent home to Rwanda, where he could get better medical care. "His family in the military in Rwanda came and took him from here," Dr. Jo Lusi, founder of the Heal Africa Hospital, said in an interview last month. He said the hospital treats wounded people from all military groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The move apparently infuriated the Rwandan military. "They said, 'Why did you allow this [officer] to go to Rwanda? If you take back wounded to Rwanda, it's like proof,' " Lusi said. The Rwandan government has long denied it is supporting rebels in eastern Congo, its neighbor. That assertion conflicts with the reports of outside observers. A November report by United Nations experts on the conflict in eastern Congo said Rwandan authorities had frequently facilitated the evacuation of casualties to Rwanda. It accused the regime of Rwandan President Paul Kagame of arming and commanding a group known as M23, associated with war crimes suspect Bosco Ntaganda. The British government said it had "compelling" evidence of such a link. "The government of Rwanda continues to violate the [U.N.] arms embargo by providing direct military support to the M23 rebels, facilitating recruitment, encouraging and facilitating desertions from the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and providing arms, ammunition, intelligence and political advice," the report says. "The de facto chain of command of M23 includes Gen. Bosco Ntaganda and culminates with the minister of defense of Rwanda, Gen. James Kabarebe." Analysts say that without Rwandan forces, M23 would not have made its recent territorial gains. In a report leaked this month, the U.N. experts alleged that Rwandan forces took part in M23's October attack and capture of Goma. "If it was difficult before, now it is almost impossible to justify this belligerence from Kagame's government," Congo analyst Jason Stearns said in a recent article in Foreign Policy magazine. Critics and human rights groups have criticized the Obama administration's support for Rwanda despite evidence of chronic interference in Congo, where conflicts have killed more than 5 million people. However, there are signs of change in Washington's position. President Obama called Kagame this week and asked him to end support for any rebel groups in Congo, according to a White House statement. Rebels tied to M23 have perpetrated atrocities and human rights abuses, including recruitment of child soldiers, among them girls, the burning of houses and the killing of hundreds of people in ethnically motivated attacks, according to Human Rights Watch and the U.N. report. Dozens of forced recruits and prisoners of war were executed by M23, the report alleges. Human Rights Watch also reported in September that M23 rebels were involved in killings, rape and forced recruitment of child soldiers, and summary executions of men and boys who tried to escape forced recruitment. The group has called for sanctions against Rwandan officials it says are responsible for backing the movement. Human rights advocates have strongly criticized Susan E. Rice, American ambassador to the U.N., saying she was among those most responsible for America's support for a government that continues to fuel the Congolese conflict. Rice, who is close to Kagame, met with British and French diplomats in New York in October to discuss the crisis in eastern Congo, according to another article in Foreign Policy magazine last month. She also strongly opposed a push by France's U.N. ambassador, Gerard Araud, for the U.N. to implicate Rwanda as a supporter of the rebels and hold up the threat of sanctions, according to the article. "Gerard, it's eastern Congo," Rice said, according to the article. "If it were not the M23 killing people, it would be some other armed groups." America has long held that it's better to work with Kagame than to alienate him with sanctions, but critics see the chronic fighting in eastern Congo as proof that protecting the Rwandan president from international censure hasn't worked. Obama made his call a week after 15 prominent think tanks and rights organizations wrote him saying that the policy of quiet diplomacy had failed to stop Rwanda from incursions into eastern Congo and support for rebel groups. The U.N. Security Council has condemned M23 and issued sanctions against its Congolese leaders, including Ntaganda. Last month the council said further sanctions against M23 and its supporters would be considered — without naming Rwanda. Analysts accuse Rice of delaying the release of the U.N. report on the conflict and intervening to prevent a council resolution on the Congo crisis from naming Rwanda. An October report by the International Crisis Group, a think tank, called on the international community to suspend assistance to Rwanda, which relies on foreign aid to support its budget, and to consider a weapons embargo against it. The British government last month cut aid to Rwanda, citing evidence that the regime in Kigali, the capital, backed the M23 rebellion. The U.S. has also cut some military aid, but it continues to provide substantial assistance. In June, Human Rights Watch reported that 200 to 300 Rwandans were recruited in their homeland in April and May and taken across the border to fight alongside M23 forces. "Rwandan military officials have continued to recruit by force or under false pretenses young men and boys, including under the age of 15, in Rwanda to augment the M23's ranks. Recruitment of children under age 15 is a war crime and contravenes Rwandan law," it said in a later report, in September. Rice's intervention to protect Rwanda left Kagame's government confident that international criticism would be minimal, according to a Rwandan official quoted in Stearns' article. "The question is not whether Rwanda is the Beelzebub or the savior of Central Africa; it is neither," Stearns wrote. "But given the gravity of the crisis, and the significant support the United States was providing to the Rwandan government, simply giving Kigali a pass for repeated mass abuses was unacceptable and sent the wrong signal." robyn.dixon@latimes.com Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times __._,_.___ Reply via web post Reply to sender Reply to group Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity: Visit Your Group Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use • Send us Feedback . __,_._,___

Prevent the the cessation of refugee status for Rwandans fearing return

Petition to sign Prevent the the cessation of refugee status for Rwandans fearing return To: UNHCR The petition is really important and could use our help. Click here to find out more and sign: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Prevent_the_invocation_of_the_Cessation_Cause_for_Rwandan_refugees/?eEobOdb Thanks so much, seth hakizimana

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Ben Affleck urged Washington to use its “unique” influence on the presidents Kagame and Museveni | The Rwandan

http://www.therwandan.com/blog/ben-affleck-urged-washington-to-use-its-unique-influence-on-the-presidents-kagame-and-museveni/

ACTOR and director Ben Affleck has appealed to US law-makers to back a stronger mandate for the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying Washington needed to flex its diplomatic muscle to protect the country's population.

"I'm not here to ask for American tax dollars. I'm here today to respectfully request that you use the most important power you have, your collective voice as representatives," Affleck told the House Armed Services Committee.

"We can help and we should," Affleck said, making the case that Washington could not afford to ignore the long-running violence in DR Congo.

Similar to fellow actor George Clooney's effort to raise awareness of the conflict in Sudan, Affleck in 2009 founded the Eastern Congo Initiative advocacy group.

The M23 rebel group "is just the latest in a long list of armed groups who have destabilised Congo since 1994″, said Affleck, who appeared before the panel along with two other experts.
"With the latest violence, the world is reminded that the systemic sources of instability in this region have yet to be addressed," he said.

The M23 rebels' capture of the mining hub of Goma on November 20, less than eight months after they launched an uprising against the government, has raised fears of a wider war and a major humanitarian crisis.

The M23 fighters, army mutineers mostly from the ethnic Tutsi community, pulled out of Goma 12 days later but still control large parts of the mineral-rich eastern DR Congo.

Some members of the house committee openly admitted they knew little of the conflict or the region but Affleck displayed a familiarity for the subject, citing first-hand conversations with Congolese on the ground and a summary of recent diplomatic history.

"We have seen this cycle repeat itself too many times," he said.

"Violence flares up and the international community turns its attention for a moment to this part of the world, violence recedes and the world turns away in relief without addressing the systemic issues that must be dealt with in order for a lasting peace to be established and maintained."

Affleck, saying M23 fighters enjoyed backing from Rwanda and Uganda, urged Washington to use its "unique" influence on the presidents of the two countries to end their governments' support of the rebels.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama called on his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame to stop all support for rebel groups operating in DR Congo, including the M23.

Affleck also urged the US to endorse a resolution that would enhance the mandate of the 17,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission.

"At a minimum, the mandate must be strengthened to enable whatever force remains to actually keep the peace and protect the people," he said.

He said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should appoint a special envoy under the auspices of the UN and the African Union to bring all parties together "to craft real, implementable solutions".

Affleck, who won an Oscar for the screenplay of "Good Will Hunting", has won rave reviews for his latest movie "Argo", which recounts the true story of how six Americans were spirited out of Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis.

Affleck directed and starred in the film, which has drawn big audiences at the box office since its US debut in October.

AFP