HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------Before and after coming to power the RPF has engaged in a horendous policy of denying democracy and a US backed expansionist campaign to consolidate its hold over larger and larger portions of Central Africa. However, even former RPF allies have now begun turning against its genocidal policies both within and outside of Rwanda. Nonetheless Kagame's illegitimate regime continues to receive one of the largest US assistance packages - including military - on the African continent.
In a message dated 22/04/02 12:48:32 Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Subj:[AfricaT] Important: Police arrest former Rwanda president Bizimungu
Date:22/04/02 12:48:32 Eastern Daylight Time
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----Original Message Follows----
Subject: important: Police arrest former Rwanda president Bizimungu
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 00:27:59 -0400
Police arrest former Rwanda president Bizimungu
KIGALI, April 20 ‹ Rwanda's former president turned opposition
leader
Pasteur Bizimungu has been arrested over what police said on
Saturday was
illegal political activity.
Police spokesman Tony Kuramba said Bizimungu's right-hand
man
Charles Ntakirutinkad has also been detained.
''They're both helping police with enquiries concerning
the illegal
political activity they've been carrying out clandestinely,''
Karumba told
Reuters.
Bizimungu, an ethnic Hutu, resigned as president in March
2000 after
falling out with leading members of the country's
Tutsi-dominated ruling
party, and was replaced by military strongman Paul Kagame.
''You remember they were advised to wait for the end of
the
transition period before carrying out political activity, but
they did not
heed that advice,'' Kuramba said.
The detention follows a search of the men's homes on
Friday.
''They'll be charged under Article 166 of the penal code
concerning
breach of security and spreading harmful propaganda against the
state,''
Kuramba said, adding that the investigation was still underway.
''After the investigation we'll forward the case to the
Prosecutor's
Office,'' he said, adding that it would be up to the prosecutor
to decide
whether the two would remain in custody or be released on bail.
Rwandan state radio reported that if the charges against
the former
president are confirmed he will be liable to a prison sentence
of between
two and 10 years.
Bizimungu, in his early fifties, joined the Rwandan
Patriotic Front
(RPF), then a rebel group fighting to overthrow the regime of
late president
Juvenal Habyarimana, in 1990.
He lived in exile in Belgium from 1990 to 1994 and served
as an RPF
representative to peace negotiations in Tanzania in 1993.
When the RPF took power in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide,
Bizimungu was
appointed president. He resigned in March 2000.
In May of last year he formed a political party called
Ubuyanja, or
the Democratic Party for Renewal, which was promptly outlawed.
Ntakirutinka,
a former minister, was secretary general of the party.
WARNING
Two weeks ago, in a speech to mark the eighth
commemoration of the
1994 genocide Kagame issued his most forceful warning to date to
Bizimungu
not to dabble in divisive politics.
''I think that after the president's warning, Bizimungu's
arrest
should come as no surprise,'' said one observer.
While he was president, Bizimungu had been held up as a
powerful
symbol of reconciliation between Hutus and Tutsis in a country
still coming
to terms with its 1994 genocide.
Before his resignation, Bizimungu had become increasingly
unhappy
with the direction the government was taking and the suppression
of internal
dissent, deciding the only option was to launch his own
opposition party,
supporters said. > Rwanda's government is nominally a
coalition of
all the country's main political parties, but in practice it is
dominated by
the RPF which took power in 1994 to end the genocide.
During Rwanda's genocide, extremists from the Hutu
majority
massacred an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus
in just
three months before the RPF took power.
Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited.
--------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST
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--- Begin Message -------Original Message Follows---- Subject: important: Police arrest former Rwanda president Bizimungu Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 00:27:59 -0400 Police arrest former Rwanda president Bizimungu KIGALI, April 20 ‹ Rwanda's former president turned opposition leader Pasteur Bizimungu has been arrested over what police said on Saturday was illegal political activity. Police spokesman Tony Kuramba said Bizimungu's right-hand man Charles Ntakirutinkad has also been detained. ''They're both helping police with enquiries concerning the illegal political activity they've been carrying out clandestinely,'' Karumba told Reuters. Bizimungu, an ethnic Hutu, resigned as president in March 2000 after falling out with leading members of the country's Tutsi-dominated ruling party, and was replaced by military strongman Paul Kagame. ''You remember they were advised to wait for the end of the transition period before carrying out political activity, but they did not heed that advice,'' Kuramba said. The detention follows a search of the men's homes on Friday. ''They'll be charged under Article 166 of the penal code concerning breach of security and spreading harmful propaganda against the state,'' Kuramba said, adding that the investigation was still underway. ''After the investigation we'll forward the case to the Prosecutor's Office,'' he said, adding that it would be up to the prosecutor to decide whether the two would remain in custody or be released on bail. Rwandan state radio reported that if the charges against the former president are confirmed he will be liable to a prison sentence of between two and 10 years. Bizimungu, in his early fifties, joined the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), then a rebel group fighting to overthrow the regime of late president Juvenal Habyarimana, in 1990. He lived in exile in Belgium from 1990 to 1994 and served as an RPF representative to peace negotiations in Tanzania in 1993. When the RPF took power in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, Bizimungu was appointed president. He resigned in March 2000. In May of last year he formed a political party called Ubuyanja, or the Democratic Party for Renewal, which was promptly outlawed. Ntakirutinka, a former minister, was secretary general of the party. WARNING Two weeks ago, in a speech to mark the eighth commemoration of the 1994 genocide Kagame issued his most forceful warning to date to Bizimungu not to dabble in divisive politics. ''I think that after the president's warning, Bizimungu's arrest should come as no surprise,'' said one observer. While he was president, Bizimungu had been held up as a powerful symbol of reconciliation between Hutus and Tutsis in a country still coming to terms with its 1994 genocide. Before his resignation, Bizimungu had become increasingly unhappy with the direction the government was taking and the suppression of internal dissent, deciding the only option was to launch his own opposition party, supporters said. > Rwanda's government is nominally a coalition of all the country's main political parties, but in practice it is dominated by the RPF which took power in 1994 to end the genocide. During Rwanda's genocide, extremists from the Hutu majority massacred an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in just three months before the RPF took power. Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL to this page: http://www.egroups.com/group/africat L'utilisation du service Yahoo! Groupes est soumise à l'acceptation des Conditions d'utilisation et de la Charte sur la vie privée, disponibles respectivement sur http://fr.docs.yahoo.com/info/utos.html et http://fr.docs.yahoo.com/info/privacy.html--- End Message ---
