France ‘enabled’ 1994 Rwanda genocide, report says

Study commissioned by Rwandan gov’t alleges France ‘did nothing’ to prevent ‘foreseeable’ April and May 1994 massacres.

 

An estimated 800,000 people were slaughtered in the genocide [File: Baz Ratner/Reuters]

The French government bears “significant” responsibility for “enabling a foreseeable genocide,” a report commissioned by the Rwandan government concludes about France’s role before and during the horror in which an estimated 800,000 people were slaughtered in 1994.

The report, which The Associated Press has read, comes amid efforts by Rwanda to document the role of French authorities before, during and after the genocide, part of the steps taken by France’s President Emmanuel Macron to improve relations with the Central African country.

The 600-page report says that France “did nothing to stop” the massacres, in April and May 1994, and in the years after the genocide tried to cover up its role and even offered protection to some perpetrators.

It is to be made public later on Monday after its formal presentation to Rwanda’s Cabinet.

It concludes that in years leading up to the genocide, former French President Francois Mitterrand and his administration had knowledge of preparations for the massacres – yet kept supporting the government of then-Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana despite the “warning signs.”

“The French government was neither blind nor unconscious about the foreseeable genocide,” the authors stress.

The Rwandan report comes less than a month after a French report, commissioned by Macron, concluded that French authorities had been “blind” to the preparations for genocide and then reacted too slowly to appreciate the extent of the killings and to respond to them.

It concluded that France had “heavy and overwhelming responsibilities” by not responding to the drift that led to the slaughter that killed mainly ethnic Tutsis and the moderate Hutus who tried to protect them. Groups of extremist Hutus carried out the killings.

‘A common understanding of the past’

The two reports, with their extensive even if different details, could mark a turning point in relations between the two countries.

Rwanda, a small but strategic country of 13 million people, is “ready” for a “new relationship” with France, Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vincent Biruta told AP.

“Maybe the most important thing in this process is that those two commissions have analysed the historical facts, have analysed the archives which were made available to them and have come to a common understanding of that past,” he said. “From there we can build this strong relationship.”

The Rwandan report, commissioned in 2017 from the Washington law firm of Levy Firestone Muse, is based on a wide range of documentary sources from governments, non-governmental organisations and academics including diplomatic cables, documentaries, videos and news articles.

The authors also said they interviewed more than 250 witnesses.

In the years before the genocide, “French officials armed, advised, trained, equipped, and protected the Rwandan government, heedless of the Habyarimana regime’s commitment to the dehumanisation and, ultimately, the destruction and death of Tutsi in Rwanda,” the report charges.

French authorities at the time pursued “France’s own interests, in particular the reinforcement and expansion of France’s power and influence in Africa”.

In April and May 1994, at the height of the genocide, French officials “did nothing to stop” the massacres, says the report.

Operation Turquoise, a French-led military intervention backed by the United Nations which started on June 22, 1994, “came too late to save many Tutsi,” the report says.

Authors say they found “no evidence that French officials or personnel participated directly in the killing of Tutsi during that period”.

This finding echoes the conclusion of the French report that cleared France of complicity in the massacres, saying that “nothing in the archives” demonstrates a “willingness to join a genocidal operation”.

French gov’t ‘distorted the truth’

The Rwandan report also addressed the attitude of French authorities after the genocide.

Over the past 27 years, “the French government has covered up its role, distorted the truth, and protected” those who committed the genocide, it says.

The report suggests that French authorities made “little efforts” to send to trial those who committed the genocide. Three Rwandan nationals have been convicted of genocide so far in France.

It also strongly criticises the French government for not making public documents about the genocide.

The government of Rwanda notably submitted three requests for documents in 2019, 2020 and this year that the French government “ignored,” according to the report.

Under French law, documents regarding military and foreign policies can remain classified for decades.

But things may be changing, the Rwandan report says, mentioning “hopeful signs”.

On April 7, the day of commemoration of the genocide, Macron announced the decision to declassify and make accessible to the public the archives from 1990 to 1994 that belong to the French president and prime minister’s offices.

“Recent disclosures of documents in connection with the (French) report … may signal a move toward transparency,” authors of the Rwandan report said.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda praised the report commissioned by Macron as “a good thing,” welcoming efforts in Paris to “move forward with a good understanding of what happened.”

Félicien Kabuga, a Rwandan long wanted for his alleged role in supplying machetes to the killers, was arrested outside Paris last May.

And in July an appeals court in Paris upheld a decision to end a years-long investigation into the plane crash that killed Habyarimana and set off the genocide.

That probe aggravated Rwanda’s government because it targeted several people close to Kagame for their alleged role, charges they denied.

Last week, a Rwandan priest was arrested in France for his alleged role in the genocide, which he denied.

 

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Rwanda becomes first African nation to use Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

Rwanda began its COVID-19 vaccine campaign on Friday, becoming the first nation in Africa to use pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s doses that require ultra-cold storage.

Authorities began transporting Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots round the hilly nation of 12 million people after they arrived earlier this week, using helicopters to reach far-flung parts.

“This means that I will die when God wants because the coronavirus cannot kill me now,” 90-year-old Stephanie Nyirankuriza said, leaning on a walking stick after her shot at a health centre just east of the capital Kigali.

As in most nations, health workers and the elderly are first in line as President Paul Kagame’s government plans to vaccinate up to 30% of Rwandans by the end of this year.

The Kagame government, which prides itself on efficiency and technological prowess but is often criticised as authoritarian, has installed special infrastructure to keep the Pfizer vaccine at the required -70 degrees.

‘LENGTHENING MY LIFE’

At some centres, people were required to sign consent forms before receiving the shots.

Sitting in a makeshift tent awaiting her turn, Urusaro Ntoranyi, 70, said she was confident the vaccine was safe. “I have children who got COVID-19,” she added, saying that they survived but two other relatives had died.

Those vaccinated were required to stay for about 15 minutes in case of side effects.

“This is like lengthening my life span,” 69-year-old Sisiyani Rusenyanteko, a community health worker and father-of-nine, exulted after an AstraZeneca shot.

Rwanda has so far received 102,960 and 240,000 doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines respectively via the global COVAX facility.

Rwanda’s Health Minister Daniel Ngamije said he expected to get more but did not say from where. “The turnout is good,” he said, shortly after receiving his Pfizer shot, adding the doses had been distributed to over 500 health facilities countrywide.

Rwanda has reported just over 19,000 cases and 265 deaths.

 

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Rwanda's economy in recession

 

 

Rwanda’s economy

Rwanda’s economy is in a recession. Restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus is piling pressure on the economy. Thousands face unemployment and there’s risk of more Rwandans falling into poverty. That’s why analysts are urging the government to take additional measures to spur growth in this East African nation. Retail trade, leisure, hospitality and conference tourism are key sectors hard hit.

The country of 12 million people has seen strict coronavirus-prevention measures in place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Rwandan population has felt the effects of these measures - with 5% more unemployed since the start of the health crisis i.e. 550,000 people in 2021.

Over 80% of those recently out of work are in rural areas, according to data published by the World Bank this week. The pandemic has affected all sectors in the nation - including services, small to medium enterprises and the leisure and tourism industry.

There has been a significant drop in activity as Africa’s technology hub has been in lockdown - leading to a notable decline in growth.

The government has adopted an economic recovery plan estimated at 900 million USD - whose implementation will span the two fiscal years 2019/20 and 2020/21.

"Tourism has been the top foreign exchange earner, and when the pandemic kicked in, this sector was heavily affected. If you look into the growth that we experienced in 2019, you are talking about where the economy grew by 9.4 percent, but if you go into the numbers from 2020, we are projecting to receive a growth rate that is going to be even less than 2 percent’’, Zephanie Niyonkuru, Deputy CEO, Rwanda Development Board tells Ignatius Annor.

 

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Rwanda Official Admits Legal Violations in ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Case

A video, aired by Al Jazeera English, shows that the attorney general intercepted legal materials from Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the movie “Hotel Rwanda” and is accused of terrorism.

Paul Rusesabagina in court in Kigali this month.Credit...Simon Wohlfahrt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Rwanda’s attorney general inadvertently revealed that he had intercepted privileged and confidential legal materials in the ongoing terrorism case against Paul Rusesabagina, the prominent dissident whose efforts to save more than 1,200 people during the country’s genocide was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda.”

In a video interview published by Al Jazeera English, Johnston Busingye, who is both justice minister and attorney general, rejected accusations that authorities had confiscated Mr. Rusesabagina’s papers or trampled on attorney-client privilege.

But in an hour-and-half-long preparation video that his public relations team accidentally sent to the media outlet, Mr. Busingye contradicted himself, saying that the prison authorities had intercepted correspondence between Mr. Rusesabagina and his lawyers and children, some of which included escape plans.

Mr. Busingye also discussed with the team how to respond to questions about whether the Rwandan government had paid for the flight that in August brought Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali, where he was arrested on charges including murder, armed robbery and being a member of a terrorist organization.

The latest revelations came just hours after a Rwandan court on Friday ruled that it had jurisdiction to try Mr. Rusesabagina — a Belgian citizen and permanent resident of the United States. It also came as the trial faces widespread condemnation from entities including rights groups, members of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament.

The latest disclosures, his lawyers say, also cloud the prospects of Mr. Rusesabagina’s getting a fair hearing, given that his international lawyers have not been permitted into Kigali to represent him and prison officials continue to confiscate his case files. Mr. Rusesabagina, a former hotelier, has told his lawyers that he is afraid to die of a stroke in prison, and his family members have said they remain concerned about his deteriorating health.

During the interview with Al Jazeera, Mr. Busingye denied that Mr. Rusesabagina’s communication with his lawyers had been intercepted. But “if that has happened, it will be raised in the courts and the courts will address it fairly,” he told the Al Jazeera interviewer, Marc Lamont Hill, on the “UpFront” show.

 

Johnston Busingye, Rwanda’s justice minister and attorney general, rejected accusations that the authorities had confiscated Mr. Rusesabagina’s papers.Credit...Cyril Ndegeya for The New York Times

In another clip aired by Al Jazeera, Mr. Busingye is seen receiving advice on how to respond to queries about who paid for the private jet that brought Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali. In the video, the public relations consultant can be heard warning the minister to be “cautious” because the interviewer was “looking for something they can put out in a news release about the interview — looking for nuggets of hard stuff.”

When Mr. Hill from Al Jazeera queried him about who had paid for the jet, Mr. Busingye said the Rwandan government had done so.

Ever since Mr. Rusesabagina was presented to the press handcuffed in Kigali on Aug. 31, questions have swirled about how he ended up there.

He left his home in San Antonio, Texas, and arrived in Dubai on an Emirates flight from Chicago on the evening of Aug. 27. He then checked into the Ibis Hotel in Dubai, according to a document from the United Arab Emirates mission in Geneva, and five hours later boarded a private jet that he believed was headed to Burundi, where he planned to speak to churches at the invitation of a local pastor.

The next day, the plane, operated by the Greece-based charter firm GainJet, landed in Kigali, where he was arrested, bound and interrogated.

The Rwandan authorities have, including in interviews with The New York Times, previously confirmed that they had leased the charter service for government operations, but never explicitly confirmed having hired the exact flight that brought Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali.

In December, Mr. Rusesabagina and his family sued GainJet over its role in the episode.

After his arrest, President Paul Kagame — whose government had been trying to apprehend the 66-year-old Mr. Rusesabagina for years — dubbed the operation “flawless” and said that it was not a kidnapping.

As for Mr. Rusesabagina’s escape plans, his daughter Carine Kanimba said she had received WhatsApp and Twitter messages since November of a person claiming to be one of her father’s prison guards. The messages, both audio and written and reviewed by The Times, described Mr. Rusesabagina’s routine and suggested ways of helping him escape.

“I never responded,” Ms. Kanimba said in a telephone interview. “My fear was that I would respond and that they would use that against my father.”

In December, the family also shared the material with the F.B.I., the U.S. State Department, and the Belgian foreign ministry.

On Friday, the Rwandan authorities doubled down on their position, calling the arrest “legal and proper.” In a statement, the Justice Ministry said that Mr. Busingye had become aware of a “possible violation” in December with regards to privileged documents, and that he had instructed that they be returned to Mr. Rusesabagina.

Kate Gibson, Mr. Rusesabagina’s lead counsel, contested the statement, saying that his papers “continue to be routinely and systematically confiscated, including his privileged and confidential materials.” Ms. Gibson is one of three lawyers awaiting permission to represent the former hotelier in Kigali.

As late as this past week, she said, Mr. Rusesabagina was denied from going to his cell with his documents.

“We now see from the Al Jazeera preparation video that the content of privileged and confidential legal documents are making their way to the highest levels,” she said in an email. “The right to confidential communication is at the heart of legal representation. Without it, it is impossible to consider proceedings fair.”

 

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Hutu rebels accuse DRC, Rwanda over Italian's killing

Congolese and UN forces secured the scene of the attack ALEXIS HUGUET AFP

Rwandan Hutu rebels Tuesday denied allegations they were behind the killing of the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo and instead accused the armies of the DRC and Rwanda.

Luca Attanasio died of his wounds on Monday after a World Food Programme convoy came under fire near the eastern city of Goma while he was on a field trip, according to a senior diplomatic source in Kinshasa and the WFP.

The Italian government confirmed the death and said an Italian policeman, Vittorio Iacovacci, and a driver it did not identify, had also died.

The DRC interior ministry blamed the killings on "members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)," a Rwandan Hutu rebel group that has plagued the region for more than a quarter of a century.

But the FDLR rejected the allegation, in a statement received by AFP on Tuesday.

It said the ambassador's convoy was attacked near the Rwandan border, "not far from a position of the FARDC (DR Congo armed forces) and Rwandan soldiers...

"The responsibility for this despicable killing is to be found in the ranks of these two armies and their sponsors who have forged an unnatural alliance to perpetuate the pillaging of eastern DRC", it said.

The FDLR denied "being involved in the attack" and called on Kinshasa and UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO to "shed light" on the killings "instead of resorting to hasty accusations."

The DRC and Rwanda authorities have not reported the presence of any regular Rwandan troops in the DRC.

An expert at the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a US monitor, told AFP: "The FDLR are near the place where the attack took place. It's in the realm of possibility that the Rwandan rebels are responsible for this attack."

Attanasio, 43, had been representing Italy in Kinshasa since 2017, first as head of mission, and then as ambassador from October 2019.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella confirmed what he called a "cowardly attack."

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a statement urging the DRC to swiftly investigate a "heinous targeting" of a UN mission.

Scores of militias roam the DRC's four eastern provinces, many of them a legacy of wars in the 1990s that sucked in countries around central-southern Africa and claimed millions of lives.

Monday's attack occurred in thickly forested, mountainous terrain north of the North Kivu capital of Goma, in Nyiaragongo Territory -- one of the most dangerous parts of the country.

Some of the group's founders were involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide during which the Hutu majority slaughtered 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis but also Hutu moderates.

The group is opposed to the current Rwandan government, but has not launched any large-scale offensive in Rwanda since 2001.

 

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Rwanda Opposition Figure Killed in South Africa

South African authorities said that for now they were treating the case as a robbery, but the political allies of the man who was shot, Seif Bamporiki, had their suspicions of an assassination.

Seif Bamporiki, right, a Rwandan opposition figure living in exile, was killed in Cape Town on Sunday. “He was the kind of human being who understood the kind of struggle we are in,” said Serge Ndayizeye, left.Credit...Serge Ndayizeye

A Rwandan opposition figure was shot and killed in South Africa on Sunday in what the police said was most likely a robbery but that political allies said resembled earlier assassinations of government critics.

Seif Bamporiki was shot in Cape Town sometime after 4 p.m. while making a delivery, his political party, the Rwanda National Congress, said in a statement.

Accompanied by a friend, Mr. Bamporiki, a 49-year-old Rwandan exile, arrived in Nyanga township to hand over a bed from his store to a client when two men approached his truck and one of them shot him, the party said. The men took him out the vehicle and fled with it along with some belongings, the South African police said.

Mr. Bamporiki’s friend, another Rwandan, was reported to have escaped unharmed.

On Monday, the police said they were investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing and had yet to apprehend any suspects. “We have reason to believe that the motive for the murder was robbery,” Col. Andrè Traut, the provincial commander for media communication for the Western Cape province, said in a statement.

But the Rwanda National Congress, an opposition group in exile formed by former members of President Paul Kagame’s inner circle, said the killing was reminiscent of past cases in which critics of President Kagame were lured to “a compromising and insecure environment” and then murdered.

“While investigations are going on to determine the exact circumstances of Mr. Bamporiki’ s assassination, the incident resembles assassinations that happened before, where the victims were lured by people they knew; but who fatally betrayed them to death,” Etienne Mutabazi, the R.N.C. spokesman, said in a statement.

Human rights groups have often accused the Kagame government of reaching beyond Rwandan borders to target opponents, including through spyware attacks, kidnapping and assassination.

Mr. Kagame, who officially became president in 2000, but has held power in Rwanda since 1994, has denied these allegations,

In 2014, a former Rwandan intelligence chief, Patrick Karegeya, was found dead in a hotel room in Johannesburg after he went to meet a friend; he had been strangled.

 

In 2010, another member of the R.N.C., a former army chief named Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, was shot and wounded in Johannesburg.

The killings of Rwandan dissidents in South Africa had led to diplomatic strains between the two countries, including the expulsion of diplomats, before a thaw in relations under the current South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa.

Lunga Ngqengelele, a spokesman for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said that South Africa and Rwanda continue to enjoy “good working relations.”

Of Mr. Bamporiki’s killing, Mr. Ngqengelele said, “We are being led by the police, and so far they have not indicated that this is a political killing.”

Beyond South Africa, Rwandan government critics have also been targeted elsewhere. In Kenya, a former minister was shot dead in 1998 months after he said he was afraid for his life. In Belgium, a former government official’s mangled body was found floating in a canal in 2005.

And last August, after an elaborate ruse that Mr. Kagame called “flawless,” Paul Rusesabagina, a government critic who was credited for saving 1,268 lives during the Rwandan genocide, was arrested and charged with terrorism. That case has drawn worldwide condemnation.

In the case of Mr. Bamporiki, the man who ostensibly lured him to his death had been calling him consistently for a week, insistent that he wanted to buy a bed from his shop, Mr. Mutabazi, the R.N.C. spokesman, said on Monday. Mr. Bamporiki was at a party conference in Johannesburg at the time, but did not suspect anything untoward, Mr. Mutabazi said.

“Bamporiki was the kind of peaceful man who could not believe that one would plan to kill him,” he said.

Mr. Bamporiki, who was among a group of Rwandans who sued their government over the invalidation of their passports and won, was a permanent resident in South Africa at the time of his death.

Mr. Bamporiki had only just returned to Cape Town on Sunday morning when the supposed customer, a South African, called him again. he set off to deliver the bed, just over a mile from his shop.

Nyanga, the township where the murder took place, has some of the highest murder rates in South Africa. Wary of the neighborhood, Mr. Bamporiki parked his delivery truck in a position where he could quickly leave if there was trouble. But he was not prepared for the two men who sneaked up on him, Mr. Mutabazi said.

On Monday, those who knew Mr. Bamporiki said they would miss his rousing speeches and his activism.

“I have been crying since yesterday when I got the news,” Serge Ndayizeye, who manages the party’s official radio station, said from Washington, D.C. “He was the kind of human being who understood the kind of struggle we are in.”

 

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World Food Programme (WFP) cuts refugees' food rations in Rwanda as funding declines

Today, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced it would reduce food assistance to refugees in Rwanda by a dramatic 60 percent, as of March 2021. Some 135,000 Burundian and Congolese refugees in camps in Rwanda rely on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic food needs each month.

“This is a desperate situation and, without an immediate response from donors, we simply have no choice but to reduce our assistance to the refugees,” said WFP Country Director Edith Heines. “While WFP appreciates the support received so far, we are urgently appealing to donors to quickly come to the aid of the refugees and provide additional funding so that we can return to full rations and avoid any prolonged negative impacts.”

WFP provides refugees with a monthly cash transfer to buy food in local markets.  Each person receives RWF 7,600 (US$ 7.72) under a full ration allocation, which provides the basic foods to meet minimum nutrition requirements for that person.

WFP requires US$9 million to avert ration reductions from March through June 2021, and US$20.6 million to continue full assistance to refugees throughout 2021. If no new funding is received, deeper reductions will be necessary in the coming months.

Despite the reductions, WFP will maintain full rations of targeted nutrition support to refugees identified as particularly vulnerable, such as children under two years, schoolchildren, and pregnant and nursing mothers, as well as people living with HIV and tuberculosis patients under treatment. A total of 51,000 refugees including 37,000 schoolchildren are being assisted.

This comes at a time when many refugees have been particularly hard hit by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.  WFP data from June and November 2020 noted an increased reliance on external aid among refugees since the onset of the pandemic.

Ration reductions are likely to cause widespread food insecurity and potentially lead to increased tensions within the refugee community.  In late 2017 through mid-2018, WFP was forced to reduce rations by twenty-five percent due to funding shortfalls. A WFP survey in 2018 found that as a result the percentage of refugee families with poor household eating habits doubled.

In 2021, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and WFP are jointly moving towards needs-based humanitarian assistance instead of the current blanket assistance for refugees.  This exercise will further allow scarce donor resources to be prioritized for the most vulnerable.  The strategy will also strive to create more access to livelihood opportunities for refugees.

“This new approach will allow us to prioritise funding and focus on those refugees who need our help the most,” said Heines.  “But in order for it to be successful, the refugee operation must be fully supported at this critical stage to ensure we have the support of the refugee community as we transition to this new way of programming.”

The Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) outlines a commitment of the international community to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of the refugees to ease the burden on Rwanda. Additional support is needed to support the host government and its goodwill and to not undermine developmental gains.

 

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UK extends travel bans as United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda added to red list to prevent spread of new variant

United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda added to travel ban.

 

entry to the UK is banned for visitors arriving from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Burundi and Rwanda from 29 January 2021 at 1pm – British, Irish and third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK will be allowed to enter

 

from 4am on Friday morning all arrivals who have, in the 10 days before their arrival in the UK, been in these destinations, and their households, will have to self-isolate immediately, and will not be eligible to use Test to Release

 

move is in response to new evidence showing the likely spread of a coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa

The government has today (28 January 2021) taken the urgent decision to ban travel to the UK from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Burundi and Rwanda to prevent the spread of the new variant originally identified in South Africa into the UK.

From 1pm on Friday 29 January, passengers who have been in or transited through the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda in the last 10 days will no longer be granted access to the UK.

This does not include British and Irish nationals, or third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK, who will be able to enter the UK but are required to self-isolate for 10 days at home, along with their household. Passengers returning from these countries cannot be released from self-isolation through Test to Release.

There will also be a flight ban on direct passenger flights from the UAE.

The decision to ban travel from these destinations follows the discovery of a new coronavirus variant, first identified in South Africa, that may have spread to other countries, including the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda.

Any exemptions usually in place will not apply, including for business travel.

British nationals currently in the UAE should make use of the commercial options available if they wish to return to the UK. Indirect commercial routes that will enable British and Irish nationals and residents to return to the UK continue to operate.

British nationals should check Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) travel advice and follow local guidance. The FCDO will continue to offer tailored consular assistance to British nationals in country in need of advice on a 24/7 basis.

Today’s action follows new measures announced by the government yesterday to minimise travel across international borders and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, including managed isolation in hotels and the need to declare a reason for travel. More details on these measures will be set out next week.

 

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Rwandans To Celebrate Heroes Day Despite Lockdown

 

KIGALI - On Monday February 1, Rwandans will wake up to observe a national Heroes Day despite this taking place at a time all 30 districts are detached from each other while the Capital Kigali is frozen into a Lockdown.

Heroes Day allows Rwandans to reflect on the country’s heroes classified into three categories named in Kinyarwanda as Imanzi, Imena, and Ingenzi.

Celebrations are scheduled to take place at village level across the country to pay tribute to the heroes that have shaped the future of the country.

Imanzi:
This is the highest order that is bestowed upon people that pushed to limits and even sacrificed their own lives in the interest of Rwanda.

For example, Major-General Fred Rwigema that led exiled Rwandan refugees to forcefuly return home by use of arms. He died in action on the battle front during first days of the liberation war.

“Unknown Soldier” represents all soldiers who lost their lives in the liberation.

Imena:

This is a category reserved for people with proven track record such as King Mutara III Rudahigwa, Agathe Uwilingiyimana and Nyange Secondary School students who were killed by militias after refusing to divide themselves along ethnic lines.

Ingenzi:
This is a category reserved for living heroes – However, the list is yet to be made public.

 

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RWANDA: Hotel Rwanda 'hero' sues Greek airline for 'aiding kidnap'

Paul Rusesabagina is now in detention facing terrorism charges in Rwanda

 

The man portrayed as a hero in a Hollywood movie about the Rwandan genocide, Hotel Rwanda, says he is suing a Greek charter flight company for aiding his alleged kidnap.

Paul Rusesabagina says that in August he intended to visit Burundi but after he boarded a private flight in Dubai he was instead flown to Rwanda.

He was arrested for leading "terrorist movements", Rwandan officials said at the time.

His lawyers denied the charges.

An ethnic Hutu, Mr Rusesabagina became well known after the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda depicted his efforts a decade earlier during the genocide to save hundreds of Tutsis at a hotel where he was a manager.

He is a fierce critic of President Paul Kagame and is the leader of the opposition MRCD group.

It is said to have an armed wing, the National Liberation Front (FLN), which stages attacks on Rwanda.

He had been living in exile and has Belgian citizenship and a US green card.

But he says he was tricked by a pastor into taking a trip to Burundi for speaking engagements.

Rwanda has charged him with terrorism, financing terrorism, recruiting child soldiers, kidnapping, arson, and forming terror groups.

In September, a Rwandan court heard allegations that the FLN had received help from Zambia's President Edgar Lungu because of his close friendship with Mr Rusesabagina.

His lawyers denied the charges against him and Mr Lungu's spokesman denied the allegation in a BBC interview.

Mr Rusesabagina is currently in prison in Rwanda awaiting trial.

'Bound and gagged'

He has filed a lawsuit in Texas, where he has been living, against the charter company GainJet, alleging the company agreed to facilitate the plane journey because of its close relationship with officials in Rwanda.

"Paul was bound and gagged before the plane landed in Rwanda," said his lawyer Robert Hilliard.

"The pilots have an international responsibility to every single one of the people on the plane. They cannot be complicit with kidnappers and say go ahead and tie him up, go ahead and drug him, go ahead and bind him, go ahead and bind his feet and his hands and we'll get you to Rwanda where you can then pretend he's going to get a fair trial," he added.

A similar case is expected be lodged in Belgium where Mr Rusesabagina holds citizenship, reports the BBC's Africa correspondent Catherine Byaruhanga.

GainJet has not responded to the BBC's requests for comment.

Rwanda's Justice Minister Johnston Busingye has denied that Mr Rusesabagina was kidnapped and insisted he will get a fair trial on 26 January.

What is Hotel Rwanda about?

 

Don Cheadle (L) played Mr Rusesabagina (R) in the film

The 2004 film Hotel Rwanda told the story of how Mr Rusesabagina, a middle-class Hutu married to a Tutsi woman, used his influence - and bribes - to convince military officials to secure a safe escape for an estimated 1,200 people who sought shelter at the Mille Collines Hotel in Kigali.

Don Cheadle played Mr Rusesabagina in the film.

Rwandan genocide survivors' group Ibuka has in the past said that he exaggerated his own role in helping hotel refugees escape the 100-day slaughter.

SOURCE: BBC 

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Regional military chiefs meet in Kigali

Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) member states are meeting in Kigali to among other tasks draft a concept on countering security threats that have regional and international dimensions.

The 28th Ordinary Policy Organs Meetings, which started earlier this week with a meeting of experts, has attracted defence chiefs and later convene the Council of Ministers of Defence and Security.

Opening the session of Chiefs of Defence and Security, on Wednesday, December 16, Lt Gen Jean Jacques Mupenzi, the Chief of Staff of Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), admitted that the region continues to face challenges of conflict that impact peace and stability in some of our member states.

Acts of violence, terrorism, and violent extremism, especially in the horn of Africa region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he said, continue impacting the region and call for concerted effort.

"The EASF had made several achievements during the last thirteen years, including attaining full operational capability and contributing to capacity building of our forces in terms of training. It is important that these achievements are maintained and consolidated," Mupenzi said.

 The EASF is a regional organisation whose mandate is to enhance peace and security in the Eastern Africa region. It comprises 10 active member states:  Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

All partner states are represented at the meeting apart from Burundi and Seychelles.

"It is therefore in our interest that we move forward speedily but in a pragmatic and professional manner in order to reinforce the larger efforts of our continental organisation, the AU," Mupenzi said.

In the spirit of shared responsibility and in recognition of the fact that the security of one state is inextricably linked to that of the other, Mupenzi said, "we must spare no effort to collectively address the problems" related to peace and security.

The regional Standby Force is one of the five regional multidimensional forces of the African Standby Force (ASF) comprising military, police and civilian components. The components stay on standby for rapid deployment at appropriate notice as provided for in the peace support operations scenarios of the ASF.

 In an August 2014 pledging conference, held in Kigali, countries committed to raise a military fighting force of 5,000 troops.

 EASF declared full operational capability in December 2014 with an equipped multidimensional and multinational force of 5,200 personnel - military, police and civilian components.

 Wednesday's session was the start of the CDFs' policy organ meeting.

 Ministers will meet on Friday.

 

Financial constraints

 According to Brig Gen Fayisa Getachew, the EASF Director said they have been able to achieve several objectives including maintaining force readiness for deployment, but "the financial status of the organisation is currently poor."

 

Each member state is required to contribute an annual assessed contribution. Lately, Rwanda’s assessed contribution is 9.3 percent of the total annual assessed contribution by all countries.

"Only two member states have so far submitted their annual assessed contributions for 2020. However, I am glad to have received information that the Republic of Rwanda has dispatched their contribution and is expected in our accounts soon," Getachew said.

"We understand the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on our economies. However, as we allocate the little resources we have, I kindly request that we also consider EASF."

 According to the EASF's 2019 annual report, the approved budget for the financial year 2019 was $7.4 million.

But member states' actual remittances for the same financial year totalled $4.5 million.

On September 25, military, police and civilian personnel from seven member states completed a two-week training course that integrated mission planning at the Rwanda Peace Academy in Musanze District.

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South Africa sends new envoy to Rwanda after row

Mandisi Bongani Mabuto Mpahlwa presented credentials to Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta

 

South Africa appointed a new envoy to Rwanda, the Foreign Ministry announced Thursday, two years after recalling its ambassador because of a political row.

The Rwandan Foreign Ministry said new South African High Commissioner-designate Mandisi Bongani Mabuto Mpahlwa presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta at a ceremony in Kigali.

It was an occasion to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, it said.

In 2014, South Africa and Rwanda issued diplomatic expulsions, amid a row concerning the attempted assassination of Johannesburg-based former Rwandan army chief Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, who Kigali authorities accused of using South Africa as base for subversive activities against the government.

Rwanda expelled six South African diplomats after Pretoria gave two Rwandan officials 48 hours to leave the country.

Rwandans have since had difficulties acquiring visas to visit South Africa.

Mpahlwa replaces George Twala who was recalled in December 2018 as the diplomatic row escalated.

 

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Rwanda ranked second peaceful country in the East Africa region by latest index

 By Emmanuel Côme Mugisha

 

According to the latest Global Peace Index (GPI), Rwanda rose four positions from the past year, ranking 81st out of 163 countries studied worldwide, with an overall score of 2.049. 

The rise also makes Rwanda the fourteenth most peaceful country in Africa, from the 17th position in the previous report.

GPI is a peace metric produced by the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP), a global think tank dedicated to analyzing peace and quantifying its economic benefits. 

The index defines peace as the harmony achieved by the absence of violence or fear of violence.

It uses qualitative and quantitative indicators grouped into three key domains: ongoing conflict, safety and security, and militarisation.

The 2020 GPI released Wednesday, June 10th revealed that, of the three domains, Rwanda performed best in militarization with a score of 1.6, ranking 34th globally. 

This domain includes various indicators such as military expenditure, weapon imports and armed forces rate among others.

According to the report, the economic cost of peace in Rwanda was $1.4 billion or 5 percent of its GDP. 

Regionally, Rwanda is the second most peaceful country after Tanzania which has maintained the top position since 2008. 

Uganda, Kenya and Burundi follow in that order. 

The Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and South Sudan came in the nine least peaceful countries in the world.

Mauritius is the most peaceful country on the continent and 23rd globally, followed by Botswana, Ghana and Zambia.

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded a slight decline in the index due to post-election disputes and demand for political change, says the report. 

Also, the sub-region saw an 800 percent increase in civil unrest, from 32 riots and protests in 2011 to 292 in 2018.

Worldwide, Iceland leads the global ranking, a position that it has held since 2008. 

It is joined at the top by New Zealand, Austria, Portugal, and Denmark. Afghanistan remains as the least peaceful country, a position it has held for two years, followed by Syria, Iraq and South Sudan.

The economic impact of violence in 2019 fell to $14.5 trillion, equivalent of 10.6 per cent of the world's GDP.

Impact of Covid-19

The 2020 GPI shows that the world is now less peaceful than it was in 2008. Global peacefulness has been dropping over the last decade. 

Civil unrest has doubled since 2011, writing a sustained rise which is set to worsen with the economic impact of COVID-19 take hold.

IEP says the economic downturn as a result of the pandemic pause a significant threat to peace. Many African countries are expected to face famine conditions, creating further stress in fragile populations. 

However, the report notes that countries able to maintain peace have higher resilience to absorb, adapt and recover from shocks, such as COVID-19 and the ensuing recession.

 

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Rwanda registers first COVID-19 death

Victim, 65, returned to Rwanda after falling ill in neighboring country, says health ministry

 Rwanda registered its first fatality Saturday from COVID-19 as , according to health officials.

A truck driver, 65, who returned to Rwanda after falling ill in a neighboring country, died from severe respiratory complications, said the health ministry. The victim had been receiving intensive care treatment at a specialized COVID-19 facility.

Global COVID-19 cases topped 6 million Saturday, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.

Rwanda eased a coronavirus lockdown May 4, allowing businesses to resume with essential staff.

But restrictions on movement to and out of the capital of Kigali is expected to be eased June 1 as well as lifting restrictions on the operation of commercial motorcycles. The country’s borders also remain closed.

Four new COVID-19 cases were registered Saturday bring the number to 359 with 250 recoveries. The country has 108 active cases.

At least 66,976 tests have been conducted, according to the country’s health ministry.

 RELATED NEWS:

Rwanda coronavirus cases rise to seven

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Ex-mayor in Rwanda sentenced to life imprisonment for role played in 1994 genocide

Ladislas Ntaganzwa convicted for plotting to exterminate Tutsis and ordering the killing of more than 25,000 people.

Ladislas Ntaganzwa handed life term for his role in the genocide in which more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutus who tried to protect themselves were killed [File: Cyril Ndegeya/AFP]

A Rwandan court has handed a life sentence to a former politician found guilty of orchestrating the killing of tens of thousands of people during the 1994 genocide in the country, a court spokesman said.

Ladislas Ntaganzwa, a former mayor of Nyakizu in southern Rwanda, was indicted in 1996 by the Arusha, the Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, on charges of direct and public incitement to commit genocide, murder and rape.

"Ladislas Ntaganzwa was today sentenced to life imprisonment over genocide crimes committed during the genocide against Tutsi in 1994," court spokesman Harrison Mutabazi said on Thursday.

According to the indictment, he addressed the surrounded Tutsis and told them to lay down their arms. Then he gave the order for the massacre to begin, "whereupon the gendarmes and communal police shot at the crowd".

The tribunal's indictment accused Ntaganzwa of plotting to exterminate Rwanda's Tutsi population and personally ordering the massacre of more than 25,000 Tutsi civilians in his town in April 1994. It then passed the case to a Rwandan government court.

The tribunal closed five years ago and was replaced by a successor body, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, with offices in Arusha and The Hague, Netherlands.

About 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed during the genocide, which took place during the last four months of the Rwandan Civil War.

Alexis Musonera, Ntaganzwa's lawyer, said he planned to appeal the ruling.

"We plan to appeal because evidence in the hearing was based on witnesses' testimony but that was not enough as some witnesses were contradicting themselves. We are not happy about this lengthy life jail term," Musonera told the Reuters news agency. 

The judgement was announced via video conference while Musonera used Skype to follow it with Ntaganzwa at Mpanga prison in the country's southern province.

Ntaganzwa was arrested in December 2015 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda took him into custody in March 2016.

RELATED:

French court rejects request to release Rwandan genocide suspect

The United States had offered up to $5m for information leading to his arrest.

The sentencing comes shortly after Felicien Kabuga, the top-most fugitive from the genocide, was arrested in France last week after 25 years on the run.

The wealthy businessman is accused of supplying machetes to the killers in the genocide and broadcasting propaganda urging mass slaughter.

On Wednesday, Kabuga appeared in a French court and denied the charges. His request for bail was denied. He seeks trial in France and not in Africa.

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals also announced last week that it had concluded that former Defence Minister Augustin Bizimana, another of the most-wanted fugitives, had died.

The remaining high-profile genocide suspect at large is Protais Mpiranya, a former commander of the Presidential Guard of the Rwandan Armed Forces.

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At least 55 people killed in Rwanda heavy rains

 

Fifty-five people were killed in Wednesday's heavy rains in different parts of Rwanda, a senior Rwandan official said Thursday.

The victims were killed by floods and landslides triggered by the rains, and four others were injured, Minister in charge of emergency management Marie Solange Kayisire said during a live news program on Rwanda Television.

The death toll could rise, she said

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Rwanda coronavirus cases rise to seven

The worldwide death toll from the disease has surpassed 6,000.

An aerial view of Kigali. Rwanda now has seven confirmed coronavirus cases. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

Rwanda has confirmed two more coronavirus cases, bringing the tally of infections in the country to seven.

The country's Ministry of Health on Monday evening confirmed the additional cases.

One is a 32-year-old Rwandan woman whose husband previously tested positive for the viral disease after arriving in the country from Fiji via US and Qatar.

The second confirmed case is a 61-year-old German man who arrived in Rwanda on March 13 from Germany via Istanbul. He took himself to a health facility on March 15 after developing a cough.

"Heightened vigilance is required from all residents of Rwanda. Continue to observe the instructions of health authorities, particularly washing hands regularly, avoiding large gatherings, and limiting unnecessary movements. Note that face masks do not provide protection against coronavirus and should only be used by patients and those in contact with patients," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Rwanda confirmed its first case on March 14, an Indian who arrived in the country from Mumbai on March 8.

The man had no symptoms on arrival but took himself to a health facility.

Of the confirmed cases in Rwanda, one is a 30-year-old local man with no travel history, puzzling local authorities.

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Public events suspended in Rwanda over coronavirus

Kigali also announced a suspension of entertainment events and exhibitions.

Several hand washing units have been installed in the main commuter parks in Kigali. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA | NMG

By MOSES K. GAHIGI

The hospitality industry in Rwanda is counting losses as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the country not having reported a single infection.

A number of events have been postponed or cancelled following a government directive as precautionary measure. They include the Great Lakes Investment and Trade Conference 2020, which was scheduled for March 17-20 and the Cybertech Africa slated for March 11-13.

The City of Kigali also announced a suspension of entertainment events and exhibitions. Churches, hotels, bars and restaurants, offices and other public places around Kigali have put in place hand sanitisers for public use, while the government has installed mobile handwashing equipment at the main bus terminus downtown, in a public campaign on how to prevent contracting the Covid-19.

Hobe Agency, a local events company, and hosts of Africa in Colours slated for March 26-28 in Kigali, is counting losses. Chief executive Raul Rugamba, says they had already paid all vendors and suppliers of sound systems’ aeroplane tickets.

“I had already spent up to $60,000 before it was cancelled. In an event like this, everything is paid upfront,” he said.

He added that the loss is not just financial, as such events are scheduled on a global calendar, and postponing makes it costlier and even harder to get the targeted audience.

“In other countries, event organisers insure their events, but we don’t have that here, although it would really help in such a situation,” he said.

Freddie Kanani, a service provider who offers branding, accreditation and protocol services to event organisers says business has stalled arising from the complications in the industry.

Although he could not provide exact numbers because there is no data yet, Nsengiyumva Barakabuye, the president of Rwanda Hospitality Association, confirmed that hotels are increasingly getting cancellations.

After suspending its flights to Guangzhou, China in February, the national carrier, RwandAir has also suspended its flights to Tel Aviv, Israel.

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