Tuesday, 23 September 2014

September 22, 2014

KPFA Evening News, Sept. 20, 2014

00:00

"In this case African governments have a few million ripped from the hide of their suffering people to spend on PR, you know. And the Black political class wants a cut of that." – Bruce Dixon

Transcript

KPFA Evening News Anchor Cameron Jones: The City of Atlanta hosted the fourth international Rwanda Day today, at the Georgia International Convention Center. Rwanda Day celebrations were held in Chicago in 2011, Boston and London in 2012, and Toronto in 2013.

Bruce Dixon

Rwandan and Congolese exiles and refugees have appeared to protest each time, as they did again today. Rwanda's sizable public relations apparatus bills Rwanda Day as a celebration of Rwandan culture and recovery from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and a chance to invest in Rwanda, which means, in large part, investing in Rwanda's illegal trade in the resource riches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Bruce Dixon, Atlanta resident and managing editor of the Black Agenda Report, attended the protest and produced a flyer stating that "Rwanda's Paul Kagame did NOT end a genocide in 1994. He brought the genocide with him and then brought it to Congo." KPFA's Ann Garrison spoke with Bruce Dixon.

KPFA/Ann Garrison: Bruce, I know that Atlanta has one of the highest concentrations of both Black Americans and Black immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean and that today's protest was organized by both Friends of the Congo and The Committee for the Unity of Black Immigrants and Americans. Could you talk about how you discussed this with these various African communities who might not know the recent history of Rwanda.

Bruce Dixon: Somebody needs to explain to folks what's going on when you've got a thing here from the government of Rwanda, and why should we be suspicious when the Black Caucus or the mayor opens his doors and invites African dignitaries in – and with supposedly representatives of the do-gooder organizations here in the United States there at the same table.

What's really happening here? Is it sweetness and light and acknowledgement of our African heritage? Is that what's going on? Or is there something sinister going on? And how do we explain that? So, this has been an interesting series of lessons and I'm going to try to address some of that in the piece that I'm doing.

Bruce Dixon, Atlanta resident and managing editor of the Black Agenda Report, attended the protest and produced a flyer stating that "Rwanda's Paul Kagame did NOT end a genocide in 1994. He brought the genocide with him and then brought it to Congo."

What are the ties here between our Black political class and the representatives of African states who are here? And what do those ties mean? In this case, African governments have a few million ripped from the hide of their suffering people to spend in PR, you know. And the Black political class wants a cut of that. They want to do that.

And then of course you've got the examples of people like Jendayi Fraser and Susan Rice and that whole core. And I've never heard Susan Rice speak to Black people, but I do know that some of the people in academia who are here at Georgia State University and Emory, they'll go around and mumble words about Pan Africanism, while they try to get a contract with the DRC government or the Kenyan or Ugandan or Rwandan government.

Sign held aloft outside Rwanda Day in London, 2012

And then they'll turn around to Black Americans and the Africans and mumble some BLEEP! about Pan-Africanism and the good of the motherland and how they're serving all this kind of bull-BLEEP!

KPFA: They're trying to get PR contracts?

Bruce Dixon: Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're trying to get PR contracts.

KPFA: What about the need to put Black faces on corporate resource interests in Africa?

Bruce Dixon: These are multinational companies here that are doing business. When the affirmative action thing was up before Congress and Republicans were marshaling their forces against it, then what happened was the Pentagon came forward and lots of Fortune 500 corporations came forward.

And the Pentagon says: "Wait, wait, wait, wait, we need high ranking, well-educated, accomplished Blacks and Latinos to front for what we're doing here, for our long term plans. We can't be an all-white military and carry on what we've got to carry on in Africa."

And the companies said: "Wait, wait, wait, wait, there's emerging markets here that we want to control and African and Latin American and Asian governments that we've got to deal with. We can't look like we're all white. We can't do that. We've got to have Black faces. And it's important to our long term survival and viability."

This is an empire, you know. This is an empire, and the empire needs Black faces representing it.

KPFA: And that was Bruce Dixon, managing editor of the Black Agenda Report. His essay on Rwanda Day in Atlanta will appear later this week in the Black Agenda Report. The flyer he created for the event is included in "Kagame started the genocide in Rwanda, then Congo," a statement signed by Rwandans and Congolese in Africa, Europe, and the U.S. and published on the website of the San Francisco Bay View, sfbayview.com.

For Pacifica, KPFA and AfrobeatRadio, I'm Ann Garrison.

Oakland writer Ann Garrison contributes to the San Francisco Bay View, Counterpunch, Global Research, Colored Opinions, Black Agenda Report and Black Star News and produces radio news and features for Pacifica's WBAI-NYC, KPFA-Berkeley and her ownYouTube Channel. She can be reached atanniegarrison@gmail.com. If you want to see Ann Garrison's independent reporting continue, please contribute on her website,anngarrison.com, where this story first appeared.

Share on facebook Share on twitter

Share on email More Sharing Services 7

Sunday, 21 September 2014

[Includes Audio] Bruce Dixon on Rwanda Day in Atlanta

http://www.anngarrison.com/audio/2014/09/20/526/bruce-dixon-on-rwanda-day-in-atlanta

Bruce Dixon on Rwanda Day in Atlanta

Submitted by Ann Garrison on Sat, 09/20/2014 - 21:18

pause

stop

mute

00:16

04:39

KPFA Evening News, 09.20.2013

In this case African governments have a few million ripped from the hide of their suffering people to spend on PR, y'know. And the Black political class wants a cut of that. -Bruce Dixon

Transcript:

KPFA Evening News Anchor Cameron Jones: The City of Atlanta hosted the fourth international Rwanda Day today, at the Georgia International Convention Center.Sign held aloft outside Rwanda Day in London, 2012Rwanda Day celebrations were held in Chicago in 2011, Boston and London in 2012, and Toronto in 2013. Rwandan and Congolese exiles and refugees have appeared to protest each time, as they did again today. Rwanda's sizable public relations apparatus bills Rwanda Day as a celebration of Rwandan culture and recovery from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, and a chance to invest in Rwanda, which means, in large part, investing in Rwanda's illegal trade in the resource riches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bruce Dixon, Atlanta resident and Managing Editor of the Black Agenda Report, attended the protest and produced a flyer stating that "Rwanda's Paul Kagame did NOT end a genocide in 1994. He brought the genocide with him and then brought it to Congo." KPFA's Ann Garrison spoke with Bruce Dixon.

KPFA/Ann Garrison: Bruce, I know that Atlanta has one of the highest concentrations of both Black Americans and Black immigrants from African and the Caribbean, and that today's protest was organized by both Friends of the Congo and The Committee for the Unity of Black Immigrants and Americans. Could you talk about how you discussed this with these various African communities who might not know the recent history of Rwanda.

Bruce Dixon: Somebody needs to explain to folks what's going on when you've got a thing here from the government of Rwanda, and why should we be suspicious when the Black Caucus or the mayor opens his doors and invites African dignitaries in, and with supposedly representatives of the do-gooder organizations here in the United States there at the same table. What's really happening here? Is it sweetness and light and acknowledgement of our African heritage? Is that what's going on? Or is there something sinister going on? And how do we explain that? So, this has been an interesting series of lessons and I'm going to try to address some of that in the piece that I'm doing. What are the ties here between our Black political class and the representatives of African states who are here? And what do those ties mean? In this case African governments have a few million ripped from the hide of their suffering people to spend in PR, y'know. And the Black political class wants a cut of that. They wanta do that.

And then of course you've got the examples of people like Jendayi Fraser and Susan Rice, and that whole core. And, I've never heard Susan Rice speak to Black people, but I do know that some of the people in academia who are here at Georgia State University and Emory, they'll go around and mumble words about Pan Africanism, while they try to get a contract with the DRC government, or the Kenyan, or Ugandan or Rwandan government. And then they'll turn around to Black Americans, and the Africans, and mumble some BLEEP! about Pan-Africanism and the good of the motherland and how they're serving all this kind of bull-BLEEP!

KPFA: They're tryiing to get PR contracts?

Bruce Dixon: Yesh, yeah, yeah, they're trying to get PR contracts.

KPFA: What about the need to put Black faces on corporate resource interests in Africa?

Bruce Dixon: These are multinational companies here, that are doing business. When the affirmative action thing was up before Congress, and Republicans were marshaling their forces against it, and then what happened was, the Pentagon came forward and lots of Fortune 500 corporations came forward. And the Pentagon says ''Wait wait wait, wait, we need high ranking, well-educated, accomplished Blacks and Latinos to front for what we're doing here, for our long term plans. We can't be an all white military and carry on what we've gotta carry on in Africa.' And the companies said, 'Wait wait wait, wait, there's emerging markets here that we wanta control, and African and Latin American and Asian governments that we gotta deal with. We can't look like we're all white. We can't do that. We gotta have Black faces. And it's important to our long term survival and viability.' This is an empire. Y'know? This is an empire and the empire needs Black faces representing it.

KPFA: And that was Bruce Dixon, Managing Editor of the Black Agenda Report. His essay on Rwanda Day in Atlanta wiil appear later this week in theBlack Agenda Report. the flyer he created for the event is included in "Kagame started the genocide in Rwanda, then Congo," a statement signed by Rwandans and Congolese in Africa, Europe, and the U.S.. and published on the website of the San Francisco Bay View, sfbayview.com.

For Pacifica, KPFA and AfrobeatRadio, I'm Ann Garrison.

Tags:

Rwanda

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Committee for Black American and

Saturday, 20 September 2014

Atlanta, USA: Kagame started the genocide in Rwanda, then Congo

http://sfbayview.com/2014/09/kagame-started-the-genocide-in-rwanda-then-congo/

Kagame started the genocide in Rwanda, then Congo

September 19, 2014

In protest of Rwanda Day, Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 20, 2014

Click to enlarge

To the City of Atlanta, former Mayor Andrew Young and Bernice King:

Individuals and organizations listed below have come to know that the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, is organizing what he calls Rwanda Day, a meeting with the Rwandan Diaspora and the American public in the city of Atlanta.

We, the Congolese and Rwandan Diaspora, indigenous of the Congo and Rwanda, together with friends of these two countries, denounce and strongly condemn the fact that the president of Rwanda is allowed to organize such a meeting on American soil with the blessing of the authorities of the City of Atlanta.

Our condemnation is based on the fact that the people of the African Great Lakes regions have suffered from the abuses committed by Paul Kagame and his government for 24 years now.

We would like to bring the following basic facts about Paul Kagame to the attention of all Americans who are committed to peace and social justice:

In 1990, Gen. Paul Kagame invaded Rwanda heading a detachment of the Ugandan army dominated by Rwandan Tutsis like himself. He destabilized the country and committed numerous mass murders in the north of Rwanda.
In 1994, when the city of Kigali was surrounded by camps filled with desperate refugees fleeing Kagame's army in the north, President Kagame pushed the country into a state of panic, terror and genocidal violence by ordering the assassination of the Rwandan and Burundian presidents as they returned from peace talks in Arusha, Tanzania, which were meant to end the conflict.
Rwandans and Congolese joined forces to protest the first Rwanda Day, held in Chicago, Illinois, in 2011, and at each Rwanda Day since.
In 1996 and 1998, Gen. Paul Kagame joined Gen. Yoweri Museveni in invading the Democratic Republic of the Congo, creating havoc in the country which resulted in deaths that the International Rescue Committee estimated to be as high as 5.4 million between January 1997 and January 2008. Since at least seven years of war and conflict were not counted in the IRC's epidemiological study, the death toll is no doubt much higher.
Gen. Paul Kagame has never stopped plundering the Democratic Republic of the Congo since his first raids and today Rwanda is a major exporter of coltan (ore used in the manufacture of mobile phones, playstations and military electronics), although Rwanda itself has no coltan reserves.
Gen. Paul Kagame has fueled wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by creating and supporting proxy militias such as the M23 that have helped him cover up his plundering of the country.
Gen. Paul Kagame rules Rwanda with an iron fist. Political space is locked down favor of a minority. Nonviolent political challengers to Kagame, including Victoire Ingabire and Deo Mushayidi are incarcerated.
A protester at Rwanda Day in Boston in 2012 held up a poster calling for the freedom of Rwandan political prisoner and opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza.
Gen. Paul Kagame does not hesitate to resort to political assassination inside and outside Rwanda's borders. In 2010, journalist Jean Leonard Rugambage was gunned down in the streets of Kigali, after letting the editor of the publication he wrote for know that he was about to release evidence of Kagame's complicity in the attempt to assassinate his former general, Kayumba Nyamwasa, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Kagame's former intelligence chief, Patrick Karegeya, was the last known to pay with his life for becoming a critic of the Kagame regime. Karegeya was found hanging in a Johannesburg hotel on New Year's Day this year. This case is still under investigation, but Kagame's response to the murder was to warn Rwandans, in a public speech, that "you can't betray Rwanda without paying the price."

All statements mentioned above have been duly documented by various U.N. reports, documented news reports including video footage, and legal judgments:

In July 16, 1997, the U.S. House of Representatives hearings before the Committee on International Relations about the Democratic Republic of the Congo revealed that Paul Kagame's RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) had invaded Congo-Zaïre and that it was assassinating Hutu refugees in Eastern Congo-Zaïre. In 2006, President Obama, who was then a senator from Illinois, authored the Congo Relief Security and Democracy Promotion Act. Section 101(5) and (6) of Obama's 2006 Congo legislation reads:"(5) The most recent war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which erupted in 1998, spawned some of the world's worst human rights atrocities and drew in six neighboring countries."(6) Despite the conclusion of a peace agreement and subsequent withdrawal of foreign forces in 2003, both the real and perceived presence of armed groups hostile to the Governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi continue to serve as a major source of regional instability and an apparent pretext for continued interference in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by its neighbors [Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi]."
Rwanda Day protest, London 2012
In 2008, The Spanish National Court indicted 40 Rwandan officers on charges of mass murder, crimes against humanity, terrorism, genocide against Rwandans, Congolese and Spanish citizens in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Judge Fernando Andreu of Spain's National Court also declared that he had sufficient evidence to implicate current Rwandan President Paul Kagame, but he also added that he could not indict him because of his presidential immunity.
The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) issued a report on the Congo called "The United Nations Mapping Exercise Report." This report affirms that the Rwandan government is responsible for the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the Congo. Moreover, the observation of some of the crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has led investigators to say that some elements "if proven before a competent court, could be characterized as crimes of genocide."
On April 15, 2013, the Report of Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) expresses concerns about the political space in Rwanda. It observes that there are many political constraints and that freedom of association and expression is not guaranteed. It also raises the question of the imprisonment of opposition leader Madame Victoire Ingabire.
In a letter dated Dec. 12, 2013, from the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo addressed to the chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to Resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the U.N. experts argue that Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe was commanding the M23 militia then terrorizing DR Congo and that Rwanda provided continuous support to M23 from Rwandan territory. The most consistent forms of support were through recruitment and provision of arms and ammunition, particularly during periods of combat. M23 also received troop reinforcements directly from the Rwandan army in August. During the October fighting, Rwandan tanks fired into DRC in support of M23.
On Sept. 10, 2014, Magistrate Stanley Mkhari sentenced four men each to eight years in prison in a South African court, saying that they had been proven guilty of a ''politically motivated'' attempt to assassinate Kayumba Nyamwasa, Paul Kagame's former defense chief, in June 2010. The plot, the judge wrote, originated in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

Kagame Day protest, Toronto 2013

The United States, which takes pride in its democratic history, and the City of Atlanta, which played such a proud role in the American Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, cannot want to appear to the world as supporters of dictatorship and mass murder, but allowing Paul Kagame to organize "Rwanda Day" in Atlanta tells the world that they are.

The violation of human rights is no more acceptable in Africa than in the United States or anywhere else in the world. We like to believe that human beings, wherever they are, are entitled to justice and that it is a denial of justice to host an event created to let a regime with bloody hands promote itself, while the millions it killed remain compelled to silence in death because we do not have the courage to speak for them and say enough is enough.

A message from a Congolese citizen, Philippe Lomboto Liondjo: "Please do not insult Martin Luther King's memory and the spirit of the honorable struggle for Civil Rights by allowing a killer such as Gen. Kagame to organize his Rwanda Day in Atlanta."

Coalition

BK Kumbi, spokesperson, Don't Be Blind This Time (Switzerland-DRC)
Don't Be Blind This Time, Swiss citizen movement
Bruce Dixon, Managing Editor, Black Agenda Report (USA)
Glen Ford, Executive Editor, Black Agenda Report
Milton Allimadi, Editor-in-Chief, Black Star News (USA)
Frank LeFever, retired neuroscientist, Pacifica WBAI Local Station Board member (USA)
Ann Garrison, Journalist and Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prize Winner (USA)
Maurice Carney, Executive Director, Friends of the Congo (USA)
Kambale Musavuli, Student Coordinator and Mining Researcher,Friends of the Congo (USA-DRC)
Kweku Lumumba, Secretary General, World African Diaspora Union, Georgia (USA)
Christopher Black, ICTR Defense Counsel (Canada)
David Peterson, co-author of the upcoming book, "Enduring Lies: The Rwandan Genocide in the Propaganda System, 20 Years Later" (USA)
Claude Gatebuke, Rwandan Genocide survivor, Executive Director, African Great Lakes Action Network
Theophile Murayi, Foundation for Freedom and Democracy in Rwanda
June Terpstra (USA)
Lisanga, Congolese political association (France)
La LUCHA, mouvement citoyen RD Congo
Soledad Mora, Comités Umoya-Madrid (Spain)
Magloire Mpembi, doctor and novelist (Canada-DRC)
Jean-Mobert N'Senga-la, LUCHA, (DRC)
Momi M'Buze Noogwani Ataye Mieko, Congolese writer and activist
Monique Mbeka, Congolese film maker (Belgium-DRC)
Philippe Lomboto Liondjo, Congolese performer, actor and activist (Switzerland-RDC)
Olivier Mukuna, Journalist (Belgium)
Lopango Ya ba Nka, Congolese music band (Germany-RDC)
Willie Ratcliff, Publisher, San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper
Mary Ratcliff, Editor, San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper
JR Valrey, Producer, Block Report Radio, Associate Editor, SF Bay View (USA)
Anne Onidi, Journalist (Switzerland)
Nicolas-Patience Basabose (RSA)
Elengo (Switzerland-DRC
Victoria Dimandja (GB-DRC)
Youyou Muntu-Mosi (France-DRC)
Nadine Bena (France-DRC)
Jean-Jacques Tadoum (USA)
Leopold Mbala (USA-DRC)
Ekutsu Mambulu (DRC)
N'siala Kiese Patrick (Belgique-Drc)
Meta Nabou Cisse (Belgique)
Derrick Onyeri (Denmark-Uganda)
Nadia Nsayi (Belgiques-DRC)
Jean-Baptiste Paul (France-Haïti)
Rosa Moro, Journalist (Spain)
Flavia Garrigos Cabanero (Spain)
Dina Martinez (Spain)
Damiàn Socías Picornell (Spain)
Pedro Espinosa Bote (Spain)
Ana María Martínez Rodamilans (Spain)
Fuencisla de Andrés (Spain)
Ana Espinosa González (Spain)
Pedro Espinosa (Spain)
Maite Cobas (Spain)
Jaime Lara (Spain)
José Hernández (Spain)
Mingu Haro (Spain),
Marlene Ibarra (Ecuador)
Nella Azana (GB-DRC)
Vincent Conrad Ball (GB)
Kibsoo Diallo (Egypt)
Djallil Saada (Switzerland)
Benjamin Itzkovich (Switzerland)
Dieudonne Aoche (USA-DRC)
Lucie N'goma (France)
Paul Alain (France)
Judith Bass (Switzerland)
Juan Carlos Hernandez (Switzerland)
Mang Holenn Christian (RSA)
Leslie Luboloko Lusinda (RSA)
Patrick Kegbia (RSA)
Billy Lukinu (Angola)
Stacey Koyenyi (GB)
Kitondua Diasivi (France)
Ive Mass (GB-RDC)
Matondo Kapella (RDC)
Gloria Omoyi (France-RDC)
Gugu Ngwenya (RSA-RDC)
Owandji Olenga Lokolo Lopaka (RDC)
Sosthene Banda Badou (Poland-Tchad)
Bebelle Dembo (North Irland)
Anthea Harris (GB)
Claudine Mamona-Cullin (Austria)
Sala Naambwe (Canada)
Demunga Hassani (Canada)
S. Mathieu Gnonhossou (USA-Rwanda)
Philippe Faradja Byaombe , Congolese Student Organisation-Pretoria (RSA)
Aimant Lutonadio (Germany-RDC)
Sophie Teuwen (Senegal)
Ibrahim Touré (Algeria-Mali)
Dadao Mupulu (RDC)
Kalengula Wha Kalengula (USA-RDC)
J.L. Bondoko Ekolonga (RDC)
Motaouakkil Abdellatif (Morocco)
Paul Otshudi Loma (GB)
Dolly Kimpiatu Fofo Lukata (USA-DRC)
Raphaël Berland (France)
Beatrice Léonard Lomami (USA-DRC)
Freddy Aigle (DRC)
Ambrose Nzeyimana (GB-Rwanda)
Dady Dalla (USA-DRC)
Dalila Choukri (France)
Kakiese Nicole (Belgium-DRC)
Dominique Diomi (USA-DRC)
Joachim Mbala (GB-DRC)
Patience Ngoba-Mushidi (Germany-DRC)
Joyce Mbaya (USA-DRC)
Yiokito Ilangwa (RSA-DRC)
Patricia Athena (Sweden
Yaa-Lengi Ngemi, President, Congo Coalition
Nii Akuetteh, Founder, The Democracy & Conflict Research Institute (DCRI)
Ed Herman, co-author of the upcoming book, "Enduring Lies: The Rwandan Genocide in the Propaganda System, 20 Years Later"
Keith Harmon Snow, human rights investigator and war correspondent, Conscious Being Alliance
Robin Philpot, Baraka Books Publisher, author of "Rwanda and the New Scramble for Africa"
Kevin Alexander Gray, author of "The Decline of Black Politics: From Malcolm X to Barack Obama," contributor toCounterpunch and The Progressive
Nita Evele, Congo Coalition – Stop the Genocide in Congo-Zaire
Phil Taylor, Taylor Report Producer and Host, CIUT 89.5 FM, University of Toronto, former defense investigator for the ICTR
Kumbi Bénédicte Ndjoko, historian and activist, Don't Be Blind This Time
Jean Nepomuscene Manirarora, Secretary-General, Foundation for Freedom and Democracy in Rwanda
Jennifer Fierberg, Contributor, African Global Village

For more information, contact Friends of the Congo, 202-584-6512or 718-865-6512 and Committee for Unity of Black Immigrants and Americans, 404-401-8817.

Share on facebook Share on twitter

Share on email More Sharing Services 18

Lake Rweru’s grim mystery haunts locals

Lake Rweru's grim mystery haunts locals - Africa | IOL News | IOL.co.za

Lake Rweru's grim mystery haunts locals

September 19 2014 at 12:32pm
By Esdras Ndikumana Comment on this story

IOL pic sep18 yellow police tape multiple

Getty Images File picture: Getty Images

Lake Rweru - Fishermen say the corpses started coming some two months ago: rotting bodies with bound limbs or stuffed in sacks, floating on the glittering waters of Lake Rweru on the border between Burundi and Rwanda.

Where they have come from and why they are there remains a mystery. Investigations have stalled as the case embarrasses Burundi and its powerful neighbour denies all knowledge.

Officially, just four bodies were found tied up in sacks last month - already enough to set alarm bells ringing in a region scarred by decades of political unrest and serious rights abuses.

Fishermen report seeing as many as 10 times that number, carried by the currents in the lake 270km north-east of Bujumbura.

Late last month a joint Burundi-Rwanda commission was set up to find the origin of the bodies, and Burundi's presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe repeated this week that the two countries were working together on the case.

But on the ground, little seems to be done to unravel the mystery.

"On our side, we investigated by asking leaders in the area if there were any missing people, and they said no," said local Burundian governor Aline Manirabarusha.

One diplomat in Burundi's capital Bujumbura says the bodies were buried without an autopsy.

"It means that the people can never be identified, or know where they come from," the diplomat said.

In 2006, the bodies of Burundian opponents murdered in political violence were thrown into various rivers in the country.

That was the year Burundi emerged from more than a decade of brutal civil war, and its political climate remains fractious ahead of presidential polls due next June.

Neighbouring Rwanda is led by strongman President Paul Kagame, who despite being credited with overseeing dramatic economic advances while in office, has also come in for mounting criticism for suppressing dissent, including the alleged assassinations of exiled opposition figures.

On both banks of Lake Rweru, which is 10km long, residents say they are sure the bodies were washed downstream by the Nyabarongo-Kagera river.

The river originates in Rwanda before flowing into Lake Rweru, on into Burundi and Tanzania, and emptying into Lake Victoria.

It has a grim history: during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, the bodies of some of those massacred floated down the river.

Near the water, a young Rwandan farmer describes how the main river, which splits into different channels, has in recent months taken a new path.

That is why the bodies have appeared in the lake, he says.

"Had they remained in the Kagera river, the injustice would never have come to light," said the farmer, who lives with his family in a small hut at the edge of the river, a short boat ride from the border with Burundi.

"It was God who wanted these crimes not to go unpunished."

The farmer says he has seen around 20 bags containing bodies flowing downstream in the river.

Local residents say the bodies started coming in mid-July. But after discovering them, they pushed them back into the water, for fear of bringing trouble on themselves.

Local official Manirabarusha also insisted the bodies come "down the Kagera river".

But asked if that means the bodies come from Rwanda, the governor declined to comment.

"I do not know where exactly the Kagera is... I forget, ask geographers who have studied this," she said, visibly embarrassed.

A senior Burundi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the case may never be brought to light because "Burundi will sacrifice the truth on the altar of its relations with Kigali".

"It is crucial, because Burundi cannot afford to antagonise its powerful neighbour," he said.

When contacted by AFP, Rwandan police spokesman Damas Gatera dismissed any suggestion the bodies have come from his country.

"There were no dead bodies in Rwanda or found in Rwanda, the ones we are talking about were found in Burundi," he said.

When asked why Rwandan farmers have been ordered not to talk to journalists in the area, he said he did not know. - Sapa-AFP

-“The root cause of the Rwandan tragedy of 1994 is the long and past historical ethnic dominance of one minority ethnic group to the other majority ethnic group. Ignoring this reality is giving a black cheque for the Rwandan people’s future and deepening resentment, hostility and hatred between the two groups.”

-« Ce dont j’ai le plus peur, c’est des gens qui croient que, du jour au lendemain, on peut prendre une société, lui tordre le cou et en faire une autre ».

-“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”

-“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.”

-“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

Rwanda History

Pages

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

[AfricaRealities] Rwanda Day: Black faces of empire

Rwanda Day: Black faces of empire

Transcript

Bruce Dixon, Atlanta resident and managing editor of the Black Agenda Report, attended the protest and produced a flyer stating that "Rwanda's Paul Kagame did NOT end a genocide in 1994. He brought the genocide with him and then brought it to Congo."

Like this:

Tags

Sunday, 21 September 2014

[Includes Audio] Bruce Dixon on Rwanda Day in Atlanta

Bruce Dixon on Rwanda Day in Atlanta

Saturday, 20 September 2014

Atlanta, USA: Kagame started the genocide in Rwanda, then Congo

Kagame started the genocide in Rwanda, then Congo

In protest of Rwanda Day, Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 20, 2014

Like this:

Tags

Lake Rweru’s grim mystery haunts locals

Lake Rweru's grim mystery haunts locals

READ MORE RECENT NEWS AND OPINIONS

Popular Posts

WebMD Health Channel - Sex & Relationships

Love Lectures

How We Made It In Africa – Insight into business in Africa

David DeAngelo - Dating Questions For Men

Christian Carter - Dating Questions For Women

Women - The Huffington Post

Recent Articles About Effective Communication Skills and Self Development

Useful Links

African Development Bank - News & Events

African Development Bank - Current Vacancies

Pages

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

[AfricaRealities] Rwanda Day: Black faces of empire

Rwanda Day: Black faces of empire

Transcript

Bruce Dixon, Atlanta resident and managing editor of the Black Agenda Report, attended the protest and produced a flyer stating that "Rwanda's Paul Kagame did NOT end a genocide in 1994. He brought the genocide with him and then brought it to Congo."

Share this:

Like this:

Tags

Sunday, 21 September 2014

[Includes Audio] Bruce Dixon on Rwanda Day in Atlanta

Bruce Dixon on Rwanda Day in Atlanta

Saturday, 20 September 2014

Atlanta, USA: Kagame started the genocide in Rwanda, then Congo

Kagame started the genocide in Rwanda, then Congo

In protest of Rwanda Day, Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 20, 2014

Share this:

Like this:

Tags

Lake Rweru’s grim mystery haunts locals

Lake Rweru's grim mystery haunts locals

READ MORE RECENT NEWS AND OPINIONS

Popular Posts

WebMD Health Channel - Sex & Relationships

Love Lectures

How We Made It In Africa – Insight into business in Africa

David DeAngelo - Dating Questions For Men

Christian Carter - Dating Questions For Women

Women - The Huffington Post

Recent Articles About Effective Communication Skills and Self Development

Useful Links