TORONTO: LE PRÉSIDENT KAGAME ACCUEILLI PAR DES MANIFESTANTS EN COLÈRE

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LE PRÉSIDENT KAGAME ACCUEILLI PAR DES MANIFESTANTS EN COLÈRE

02 octobre 2013

Emmanuel Hakizimana et Gallican Gasana

Tel que cela avait été annoncé, le président Paul Kagame a tenu une conférence à Toronto ce samedi 28 septembre dans le cadre de l'événement «Rwanda Day 2013». Étant donné qu'aucun hôtel n'avait accepté d'héberger cet événement de peur de nuire à ses affaires en raison du lourd dossier criminel du président rwandais, celui-ci a dû prononcer son discours dans un hangar d'un marché du parc Downsview en banlieue de Toronto. Il a dû également faire face à des manifestants en colère dont certains n'ont pas pu se retenir et lui ont lancé des œufs et des pierres.

La visite du président Kagame avait été dénoncée par des organisations de ressortissants de la région des Grands Lacs Africains qui avaient demandé au gouvernement canadien de ne pas lui accorder de visa d'entrée en raison de crimes de guerre, de crime contre l'humanité et de génocide dont il est accusé.

Ces graves violations des droits de la personne sont très bien documentées par des experts des Nations Unies ainsi que par de grandes organisations de défense des droits de la personne. Le président rwandais ayant malgré tout pu entrer au Canada, les opposants à sa visite se sont organisés pour lui exprimer leur indignation. Le moins que l'on puisse dire, c'est qu'ils ont gagné leur pari.

De nombreux ressortissants de la région des Grands Lacs africains, Burundais, Congolais, Rwandais, Tanzaniens ainsi que des Canadiens de souche ont mené une intense campagne d'information, et tous les hôtels qui avaient été approchés pour héberger la conférence du président Kagame ont décliné l'offre.

Après avoir essuyé ce revers, les organisateurs du «Rwanda Day 2013» ont dû se rabattre sur un hangar du marché situé au parc Downsview en banlieue de Toronto. Les opposants à la visite de Kagame s'y sont rendus et se sont scindés en plusieurs groupes pour pouvoir être présents à chacune des nombreuses entrées qui y donnent accès.

Leurs pancartes montraient des images de victimes du régime de Paul Kagame. Nombre de ces images, telle que celles de scènes de torture et de femmes qu'on amenait violer, étaient insoutenables. Certains manifestants congolais racontaient, les larmes aux yeux, que leurs mères et leurs sœurs avaient été victimes de viols collectifs de la part des rebelles du M23 soutenus en hommes, armes et munitions par le régime de Paul Kagame.

En signe de protestation contre ces actes ignobles faites aux femmes, trois jeunes membres du mouvement « Femen » du Québec (deux jeunes dames québécoises et un jeune homme québécois) se sont dénudés le haut du corps. Sur leurs poitrines on pouvait lire : "Kagame coupable de viol" en langue anglaise (Kagame guilty of Rape).

La manifestation de Toronto vient s'ajouter à la liste de beaucoup d'autres qui ont accueilli le président rwandais dans ses déplacements en Amérique du Nord et en Europe. Mais cette fois-ci, contrairement à ses habitudes, M. Kagame n'a dénigré ni les manifestants, ni ses opposants, dans le discours de circonstance qu'il a prononcé devant ses partisans dont beaucoup l'avaient accompagné à partir de Kigali. Il a même mentionné qu'un « cadre pour débattre des idées est nécessaire et personne ne peut s'y opposer».

Bien que timide, ce changement de ton en a surpris plusieurs qui l'appellent désormais «l'effet Kikwete». De fait, en marge du 21^ième sommet de l'Union Africaine du 26 mai 2013 à Addis-Abeba, le président Jakaya Kikwete de la Tanzanie avait soutenu que, pour ramener la paix dans la région des Grands Lacs africains, il fallait que tous les pays impliqués dans la guerre au Congo acceptent d'engager un dialogue avec les rebelles opposés à leurs régimes.

Face à cette proposition, le régime de Kigali avait réagi avec virulence et le président Kagame avait même publiquement menacé d'attenter à la sécurité du président Kikwete.

Cependant, la proposition de négociations générales est prise très au sérieux par les acteurs impliqués dans la recherche de solution à la crise au Congo. Le président Kagame serait-il en train de se rendre à l'évidence qu'il ne pourra pas continuellement refuser de s'assoir à la même table que l'opposition? Ce serait une évolution positive et un pas vers la paix dans la région des Grands Lacs Africains.

Congolese nun wins UN award for helping LRA victims

The UN refugee agency has awarded Angelique Namaika for helping thousands of women who had been abducted, raped and abused by the LRA rebels in northeastern Congo. She, too, was once been a victim of the conflict.

"I was very happy about this prize, but I was also very surprised," says Sister Angelique. She looks a little tired, it hasn't been long since she landed in Geneva, where she is to receive on Monday (30.09.2013), this year's Nansen Refugee Award from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

It was a long journey for Angelique Namaika. From her town of Dungu, she travelled the vast expanse of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the capital Kinshasa. That's where she took her plane to Switzerland. "When I heard that I was selected among all the candidates around the world, at first I could not accept the prize, because I 'm so far away and the world couldn't possibly know anything about me," she said. "God has given me everything, but somehow it still sounded so unreal."

The 46 -year-old nun with a warm open smile is full of vitality. This is the same strength that she inspires in others - women who have experienced unimaginable suffering.

Sister Angelique (standing) believes in helping women take back control of their lives

For the last 30 years, rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have spread terror and and wreaked havoc in the border region between Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic. The LRA conflict has displaced approximately three and a half million people from their villages. The rebels are notorious for kidnapping children. The girls are raped and tortured.

Sister Angelique helps such victims to cope with what has happened to them. She also teaches them a trade so they can earn a living. She knows too well the fear and pain of being on the run. As a young woman she had to flee her home village and hide in the bush for a year.

One of the LRA's victims is 18 -year-old Monique. She was only 14 when they abducted her. "One boy tried to escape, they whipped us and said we should kill him. We beat the boy until he was dead." Then we were made to line up and they told us the same fate would await us if we ever thought of trying to escape. " It took one and a half years before Monique was finally liberated by the Congolese army.

Monique's freedom was tinged with bitterness. Her family didn't want to have anything to do with their traumatized pregnant daughter. She had been struggling to make ends meet until she met Sister Angelique. The Catholic nun has taught Monique not only how to read and write but also how to sew. Today Monique earns money by making school uniforms. She can take care of herself and her child.

Helping people help themselves

Sister Angelique has helped some 2,000 women to become self-reliant.

"These women have died an inner death, their dignity has been destroyed. That's why I organize the training," she said. "My aim is to bring out the intelligence of women who have never been to school and help them to learn how to read and write. Then they can forget about how the LRA abused and violated their bodies," she added.

Helping the women has not been an easy task. Since her project had only meagre financial resources, it took all the determination she could muster just to carry on and not give up.

Sister Angelique works in places where there is no electricity, running water or roads

For a long time she had to travel many kilometers by bicycle from camp to camp. A special center to help the women reintegrate, offering them courses in sewing and baking, was only opened recently. .

Breaking the cycle of violence

Angelique wants to break the cycle of violence that has plagued northeastern DRC. Only the women who have taken control over their own lives can raise their children with love and affection. Many women find it difficult to accept children born out of sexual violence. Such kids are left traumatized, making them easy prey for rebels.

Sister Angelique has helped more than 2,000 women regain their independence and diginity

Thus the cycle of violence is repeated over and over again, said Sister Angelique.

That's why for many years she has been taking care of abandoned children. "Sometimes I had no money to take these orphans, who had been left in the bush, to the doctor," she said while admitting that she cried a lot in those days. "But with God's help I summoned up courage and asked other people for help."

Sister Angelique says as a child she was inspired by a German nun who worked in Kembisa her home village in northeastern Congo. The German nun used to take care of the sick in the village. "Her work and dedication to the sick impressed me, and I wanted to be a nun - without knowing whether Africans could also become nuns, "she said.

Sister Angelique is a member of the Augustine Sisters of Dungu and Doruma.

With the prize money of 74,000 euros ($100,260), she hopes to buy a semi - industrial baking system for the reintegration center. With this, she said, more women will be able to earn their living from the sale of bread and thereby put their past behind them.

DW.DE

Congolese doctor honored for his work to help rape victims

Despite threats to his personal safety, Denis Mukwege continues to help women victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is one of the recipients of the 2013 Right Livelihood Award. (27.09.2013) 

Africa's rebels turn to ivory trade

The demand for ivory has increased worldwide. Rebel groups in central Africa have joined the trade.They are killing elephants and sell their tusks to get money for better weapons. (05.09.2013) 

Hunt for rebel leader Kony put on hold

A coup in central Africa has eased the pressure on indicted war criminal Joseph Kony. Until the political situation in the Central African Republic is clarified, an international manhunt for Kony has been suspended. (05.04.2013) 

• Date 30.09.2013
• Author Katrin Matthaei / cm
• Editor Mark Caldwell
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MORE CONTENT

http://www.inyenyerinews.org/amakuru-2/rwandas-kagame-sees-influence-in-the-drc-take-a-hit/

Rwanda's Kagame Sees Influence in the DRC Take a Hit

When the M23, a Rwanda-backed militia, launched a rebellion last year in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), few could have guessed the fallout it would cause in Kigali.

For years, credible reports had documented a host of Rwanda-sponsored abuses in the region, from civilian massacres to the plundering of minerals. Yet Rwanda's Western backers, wary of undermining a countryconsidered a major development success, generally looked the other way.

But when a series of U.N. Group of Experts reports found evidence of systematic Rwandan support for the rebels, including the provision of weapons and troops, and direct Rwandan command over rebel operations, international condemnation was swift. Several Western donors cut or suspended aid, which makes up approximately 40 percent of Rwanda's budget. The about-face was shocking for President Paul Kagame, who has long deflected criticism of an unsavory human rights record by citing his engineering of Rwanda's dramatic rebirth from genocide.

Though livid, Kagame got the message, reducing—if not entirely eliminating—support to the rebels, and watching his aid money gradually return. Yet the episode continues to have critical implications. With donors looking closely over his shoulder, his rebel ally weakened and a new robust U.N. intervention force arriving in eastern DRC, Kagame's ability to influence events in the region has taken a major hit.

From Kigali's perspective, this is worrying for several reasons. Since Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) seized power following the 1994 genocide, it has viewed the neighboring Congolese provinces of North and South Kivu as part of a critical security buffer, where a strong projection of power, either by direct military engagement or by proxy, would help keep its enemies on foreign soil and the Rwandan homeland safe.

In the second half of the 1990s, Rwanda twice launched wars in the DRC in an effort to neutralize the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group founded by perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, and shift the balance of power in Kinshasa to Kigali's liking. When the DRC's new leaders proved less malleable than expected, Rwanda turned to ethnic Tutsi proxies—first Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) and later its M23 offshoot—which created enough instability in the Kivus to prevent the consolidation of an already weak Congolese state.

This enabled Rwanda to maintain its security buffer and facilitated the continued flow of minerals to Kigali's political, military and economic elites, shoring up budgets and fostering intraparty loyalty. It all came at a terrible cost to civilians in the region, which is now 17 years into a seemingly unending humanitarian crisis. For Rwanda, however, a strong foothold in eastern DRC remained at the crux of national security policy.

But now that foothold is uncertain. In addition to demands from donors, Kigali is confronted with new African boots on its doorstep—part of the U.N.'s "intervention brigade" designed to shore up the long-struggling $1.4 billion-a-year MONUSCO peacekeeping mission. Approved by U.N. Resolution 2098 in March, the new force consists of 3,069 South African, Tanzanian and Malawian troops and is tasked with conducting "targeted offensive operations" against the M23 and dozens of other rebel outfits—the most explicitly offensive mandate in U.N. peacekeeping history.

In its first months of deployment, the brigade has already battled the M23 with its infantry, artillery and air force, forcing a rebel retreat at the end of August and at least a temporary cease-fire. By December, the U.N. expects surveillance drones to aid the effort. This boost in U.N. firepower, combined with searing internal divisions among the rebels and little chance of a boost in support from Rwanda, suggests the M23 is likely to further weaken.

For now, these shifting security dynamics do not pose a major threat to Rwanda, whose main enemy in eastern DRC, the FDLR, is thought to be relatively weak and incapable of orchestrating a major offensive. Still, although Rwanda—currently a member of the U.N. Security Council—voted in favor Resolution 2098, it remains uneasy with the U.N.'s strengthened presence. This sentiment is magnified by the involvement in the intervention brigade of South Africa and Tanzania, which both maintain links to a pair of high-profile Rwandan dissident exiles, former Army Chief Kayumba Nyamwasa and Head of External Security Patrick Karegeya. Although the South Africa-based duo lacks the means to launch a rebellion, Kigali remains wary of their influence among critical members of the diaspora as well as would-be mutineers from within the Rwandan army. According to journalist and commentator Charles Onyango-Obbo, some within Rwanda also fear that Pretoria, which has growing energy and mining interests in the DRC, may have larger "designs against the Kagame government."

Despite Rwanda's weakened regional position, the RPF's grip on power at home remains tight. As expected, the ruling party and a host of smaller allies dominated mid-September elections for the lower house of parliament—a poll conducted, like the last presidential election, with critical opposition figures sidelined.

Still, events in the DRC have caused some unease inside Rwanda. During the M23 offensive in August, a series of artillery shells landed across the Rwandan border, killing a woman and her baby in a market. Kigali blamed the mortars on the Congolese army. The U.N., however, reported that many came from M23 positions—perhaps as part of an effort to drag Rwanda openly into the conflict.

Although Rwanda responded by mobilizing troops to the border, an outright Rwandan invasion is unlikely, given watchful Western donors, the beefed-up U.N. presence and strong diplomatic engagement by several African regional bodies. So is a wider regional war, similar to that which occurred from 1998 to 2002 and split much of east and southern Africa between allies and enemies of Kinshasa.

Nonetheless, further provocation of Kigali by an increasingly desperate M23 remains possible, Kris Berwouts, an independent analyst on Central Africa, told World Politics Review. This would be a critical test for a Rwanda unaccustomed to its current position of weakness. Should Kagame overplay his hand, he could risk derailing his grand development project.

Author: Jon Rosen is a freelance journalist and independent consultant focusing on East Africa and Africa's Great Lakes region.

Source: http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/

BANYARWANDA MWIHANGANE KANDI MWISUGANE: TUZATSINDA!

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Theogene Rudasingwa

20 hours ago

BANYARWANDA MWIHANGANE KANDI MWISUGANE: TUZATSINDA!

Nkuko bimaze kuba akamenyero, abanyarwanda bifatanije nabanyekongo, abarundi, abanyafurika, abanyacanada nabandi benshi kuvugiriza Kagame induru, bamagana ubwicanyi bukorwa nawe nagatsiko ategeka. Toronto ije ikurikira London aho Kagame yatewe amagi n'amase.

Kagame yaje Toronto kandi avuyeyo imbokoboko. Nta mutegetsi wa Canada bahuye, nyamara Perezida wa Tanzania, Bwana Kikwete, yakiriwe nicyubahiro gikwiriye umukuru w'igihugu. Kagame we yatubereye urukozasoni kuko aho kwakirwa mu cyubahiro, yakirwana induru. Toronto ntako Kagame n'intore ze batakoze bihisha, bomongana bashaka aho bahungira induru. Yewe, iminsi yira ari myinshi! Muribuka ukuntu Kagame n'Intore ze bazaga bidegembya, abanyarwanda bakajya kwihisha, none nibo bihisha bakubitwa imijugujugu!!

Hano New York, Kagame yibasiwe namahanga ( harimo na USA ) yongera kumwihanangiriza ngo navane abo yita ingabo ze muri Congo. Uretse abanyecongo, abapfa buri munsi nabana b'urwanda, abenshi muri bo abatutsi ( bo mu Rwanda na Congo), ahora abeshya ngo aharanira inyungu zabo)

Mwakwibaza muti Kagame agenzwa niki kandi ko azi ibiba bimutegereje?

Icya mbere: uretse ubugizi bwa nabi ahoramo iyari mu gihugu, mubyukuri nta kazi kandi abafite. Iyari mu Rwanda arara ijoro ategura kandi akora amarorerwa mu Rwanda no mu karere. Ubundi y'irirwa y'iryamiye. Ubwo aba aje hanze guta akuka, guhunga imizimu yabo yishe.

Icya kabiri: we n'umugore baba baje gusura abana babo, barerwa na ambasaderi i New York, Eugene Gasana, wagororewe ubuministiri (inyongera) kubera akazi akora ko kunezeza Kagame na madamu we ( abashakira ibinezeza amaso n'umubiri).

Icya gatatu: Indege akoresha yita ize, yaguze akoresheje umutungo wabanyarwanda, azikodesha leta. Uruzinduko nkuru rushobora gutwara hafi million imwe yamadolari agomba kuva mwisanduka ya leta akajya mu mufuka we.

Icya kane: abaje kujijisha abanyarwanda, kubashinyagulira no kubishongoraho mubyo yise Rwanda Day. Muribuka London avuga ngo abamuteye amagi iyaba bayaryaga kuko abona ari abashonji? Erega Kagame wahoze uri umushonji. Ababukuvanyemo bakagutereka kuri iyo ngoma wegamyeho ihirima, nibo wahemukiye. Icyakora nubwo ufite ubutunzi wasahuye, ufite ubushonji k'umutima. Ntacyaguhaza kuko ufite ubutindi bukabije.

Icya gatanu: ubundi hari igihe akunze kugenda gufata za mpamyabushobozi ( degree) abavukanye imbuto nkawe babona bataruhiye. Zimufasha gushakisha uko yaziba icyuho kinini mu buzima bwe.

Icya gatandatu: hambere yakundaga kuza kubeshya amahanga, none abakuru bayo bamugendera kure nk'umunyabibembe.

None se Kagame n'agatsiko ke babaye abande? Abanyarwanda turamwamagana. Abaturanyi baramuvuma. Abanyafurika bati hoshi. Abanyamahanga barijujuta bati rekeraho gutera akaduruvayo mu baturanyi.

Banyarwanda, Banyarwandakazi: mwitaze Kagame nagatsiko ke, ibyaha byabo bizababarweho bonyine.

Mwarakoze rero bavandimwe b'Ihuriro, Amahoro, FDU-inkingi, PS-Imberakuri,namwe mushyigikiye FDLR, muharanira uburenganzira bwa buri munyarwanda. Mwarakoze banyarwanda mwese induru mwavugirije Kagame nagatsiko ke, Mwarakoze banyecongo. Mwarakoze barundi. Mwarakoze abanyacanada. 

Ubufatanye bwacu twese, ducisha mu kuri, nibwo buzatuma dutsinda vuba,

Abo mu Rwanda no hanze yarwo mwese mutegereje impinduramatwara, mwihangane kandi mwisugane. 

Ni muze mu nkuge, Kagame na gatsiko bazarohame bonyine.

Dusangiye amateka mabi n'ameza. 

Twe duhanze amaso imbere, twatangiye kubaka ibyiza bifitiye akamaro abanyarwanda nabaturanyi bacu bose, ntavangura.

Tuzatsinda! 

Theogene Rudasingwa 

( UWABA UZI IGIFARANSA, IRINGARA, N'IGISWAHILI YANKORERA TRANSLATION)

Mozambique: Govt Open to French Investment

1 OCTOBER 2013

Photo: Port Maputo

MV Linares alongside at Port Maputo

President Armando Guebuza declared in Paris on 27 September that Mozambique is open to new French initiatives in various spheres of cooperation, particularly in economic matters and in security in the Mozambique Channel.

President Guebuza expressed this openness in meetings he held on the first day of a three-day working visit to France, with his host, French President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace, and later with representatives of dozens of French companies.

Briefing journalists, Deputy Foreign Minister Henrique Banze said it had been agreed to deepen cooperation between Mozambique and France in various spheres.

"This is a very fruitful and promising visit", said Banze. "Our President has shown openness and the two sides have agreed that cooperation should be deepened. The assessment is that relations are good, but there is space to expand them".

As for security in the Mozambique Channel, Banze said this is important both for Mozambique and for France, which has several island possessions in or near the Channel, such as Reunion and Mayotte.

As for the Mozambican order for the construction of 24 fishing boats and six patrol vessels at a shipyard in Cherbourg, Banze said "this shows concern about activities such as fishing - it is known that we are interested in developing fishing as it is vital in the fight against poverty".

He added the boats were also "an important component in controlling the security of the Mozambique Channel".

The purchase of the boats was announced in the French press, before any Mozambican source had mentioned it. The order represents two years' work for the Cherbourg shipyard. The official announcement was made by the French Minister of Industrial Renewal, Arnaud Montebourg.

The French media put the cost of the vessels at €200 million (about $267 million), although in some of the French sources the figure rises to €300 million.

The money will come from a $500 million bond issue by a new Mozambican company EMATUM (National Tuna Company). To all intents and purposes, EMATUM is a state company. The major shareholder in EMATUM is the Institute for the Management of State Holdings (IGEPE) with 34 per cent. The other shareholders are the state fishing company Emopesca and GIPS (Management of Investments, Holdings and Services), with 33 per cent each. GIPS was set up in December 2011, and its main shareholder is the social services of the State Intelligence and Security Service (SISE).

Previously, Finance Minister Manuel Chang assured reporters that none of the money would come from the Mozambican state budget. The Mozambican state only entered the deal as a guarantor of the bonds, he said.

During his meeting with the business representatives, President Guebuza praised the work of some of the French companies already operating in Mozambique, said Banze. He also noted that others want to enter the Mozambican market, including Air France.

Banze added that President Guebuza has invited Hollande to visit Mozambique on dates to be agreed through diplomatic channels.

Source:

http://allafrica.com