"The Congolese government seems to be saying that Nkunda is the problem.
They seem to be building the case against him.
This is a case of lack of logic, lack of fairness.
Nkunda is someone who says, 'I'm here because these forces kill my people.
Please, deal with these forces. . . .'
But instead of dealing with what caused him to be what he is today,
you want to deal with him."
CONGO WRONG ON NKUNDA
"It's like saying, if we didn't have these Tutsis,
the ex-FAR would not have people to kill.
It is an ugly way of seeing things."
~ Rwandan Foreign Minister
To Orwell Today,
re: KILLED AT KIBEHO and LUMUMBA-LIKE LAURENT NKUNDA
Dear Jackie,
You can like, love, even cry for Laurent Nkunda but for the majority of
Congolese People, especially Hutus living in Kivu, your hero is a war criminal.
For me he is a genocidaire. He is killing children and women in Rutshuru,
Kitchanga, Masisi.
I hope that one day he will be brought to justice and respond to his crimes.
Check out this link:
Congo war criminal left operating by govt, UN. afrol News, Feb 1, 2007
Best regards,
Kamanzi
To Kamanzi,
Laurent Nkunda is NOT a war criminal. In reality, he's a warrior AGAINST
criminals. He's the head of an army that opposes other armies that are
committing genocide against his people - the Tutsis of Eastern Congo. He's the
only one standing up to the Rwandan Hutus (and their Congo Army and UN Army
supporters) who are continuing with the genocide of Tutsis left unfinished in
1994. If Nkunda's opponents succeed in their war against Tutsis in the Congo,
they'll next move against the Tutsis in Rwanda.
Will the world then say that, in defending itself, Rwanda is guilty of war
crimes?
I don't think so, because the world has seen what happened to Rwanda's Tutsis
and moderate-Hutus when there was no one there on their side until the
"renegade" army of Paul Kagame - the RPF - "came to the aid of their country".
In our previous email exchange I proved to you that what you said about the
RPF Army at Kibeho was lies and that the Hutu Army and its Interahamwe were
behind the killing at Kibeho.
You and your group - the "Paternariat Intwari of CNA-Ubumwe, FDRL-CMC and
PDN" - also accuse Rwanda's general - who has been appointd as Deputy Commander
of the AU/UN forces to Darfur - of being a war criminal in the Congo. And again
you've been proven wrong, as articles quoted explained.
I notice in today's news that your organizations - the ones whose
press-releases you sent me - have admitted they are a group of Rwandan Hutus
who hate the present government in Rwanda and plan to join as one to overthrow
it:
Rwanda: Guerrillas, Political Opposition to Merge. Rwanda News Agency, Aug
28, 2007 (...Brussels based Paternariat Intwari of CNA-Ubumwe, FDRL-CMC and PDN
of former Rwandan Defense Minister Gen. Ben Habyalimana and journalist Deo
Mushayidi say they want to merge with the guerrillas to oust the Kigali
government....)
So now things are out in the open and the whole world can see that the war in
Eastern Congo is being waged by Rwandan Hutus and their Congolese and UN
supporters against Tutsis and their protector - Laurent Nkunda - as a step
toward returning to Rwanda to overthrow the government.
It never ceases to amaze me how the United Nations forces - wherever they are
- always either remain neutral and do nothing (except 'pick up the pieces'), or
they take sides helping the bad guys. The 17,000 UN-force in the Congo (MONUC)
isn't stopping genocide of Tutsis there, just as they didn't stop genocide of
Tutsis in Rwanda. Is war, to the UN, nothing but a "make-work project" like
what Orwell described in the Ministry of Plenty?
Sitting on the sidelines ten thousand miles away - watching another genocide
unfold - I've definitely chosen sides. I'm with (in my prayers and my pen) the
armies of Laurent Nkunda in the Congo and Paul Kagame in Rwanda. "Let's hope"
(to quote Rwanda's Foreign Minister) "that which is just will prevail."
~ Jackie Jura
Reader says that for many Congolese "banyarwanda", Nkunda is their Hope
Guerrillas, Political Opposition to Merge
Rwanda News Agency, Aug 28, 2007
As Tripartite Plus army chiefs map out strategies to do away with Democratic
Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) guerrillas in D R Congo, political
opposition parties in Europe have announced a plan to cooperate with the
rebels, RNA reports. Brussels based Paternariat Intwari of CNA-Ubumwe, FDRL-CMC
and PDN of former Rwandan Defense Minister Gen. Ben Habyalimana and journalist
Deo Mushayidi say they want to merge with the guerrillas to oust the Kigali
government.
"Those people (FDLR) are fighting because they have a reason. So because we
all have the same case we want to come together to solve the same cause",
Mushayidi said yesterday on a BBC great lakes program. The FDLR are Rwandans,
the RPF are also Rwandans and all the parties you hear about are Rwandans as
well - so all we are saying is that we have the right to meet, he said.
Army chiefs from the four-member countries under the tripartite plus
commission framework are in Kigali for a two-day meet. The countries are
Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and DR Congo. "More pressure is needed to flush out
FRDL and ex-FAR insurgents that are undermining peace and security not only in
Rwanda but also the Great Lakes Region," Dr Charles Murigande - Rwandan Foreign
Affairs Minister told delegates that included US Defence and Military Attache
in Kigali Maj. Ronald Miller. "Although we have much success to celebrate in
the joint effort to end insurgency in the region, ex-FAR/Interahamwe that
participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which about a million people were
massacred are very active in the DRC."
In attendance are Rwandan army chief Gen. James Kabareebe, DRCs Gen. Deodone
Kayembe and the Burundian army boss Godfrey Niyombare and the DRC UN mission -
Monuc - Liason Officer in Kigali Mr. Joe Felli. The Ugandan Chief of Defence
Forces Gen. Aronda Nyakairima was represented by the Ambassador to Rwanda
Richard Kabonero. In the previous meeting in April, Rwandan officials managed
to get agreement giving Congo two months to crack down on a host of FDLR
forces, Uganda militia groups and Burundian Hutu forces roaming free in the
dense forests of its mineral-rich east.
In early August, a senior DRC army officer said military operations against
FDLR were to be suspended in an effort to avoid further ethnic tension in the
lawless Kivu region....
The public record of these parties operating outside the country - Alliance
for Democracy and the National Reconciliation (ADRN Igihango), Initiative for
Dialogue (GID), Union of Rwandese Democratic Forces (UFDR) and the Rwanda
Democratic Alliance - RDA Isangano - has been tarnished by the conduct of their
leaders, a 2006 Great Lakes Center for Strategic Studies (GLCSS) assessment of
the region says. The UK-based think-tank says most of them worked with the
government after the 1994 genocide and were engaged in gross misconduct.
Government has also publicly accused some of them of incompetence, corruption
and divisionism. The center says the only viable option for these parties
operating outside Rwanda is to return and help in the reconstruction of their
nation. However, the groups have vowed to return to overthrow the government.
"Their continued rhetoric as a means of gaining sympathy from the
international community will only serve to negate positive policies the
government of Rwanda is initiating as well as tarnishing its image", the
assessment released July 14 2006 notes. The Executive Secretary, Rwandan
Consultative Forum of Political Organization Mr. Anicet Kayigema has accused
opposition political parties operating outside the country of basing their
political platform on ethnic ties and promoting one group over another. "Our
political organizations are prohibited from basing themselves on race, ethnic
group, tribe, clan, region, sex, religion or any other division which may give
rise to discrimination," GLCSS quotes him and he recalls that that this was one
of the causes of the 1994 genocide.
According to numerous accounts, some of these individuals have run away from
responsibility as well as justice. As former head of the Rwanda Journalists
Association (ARJ), Mr. Deo Mushayidi stands accused to have fled the country in
the year 2000 with funds meant for the organisation. The UN agency UNESCO had
been funding the organisation along with the Press house in Kigali. President
Paul Kagame told journalists in June last year that opposition parties and
individuals operating abroad have not got any potential to jeopardize Rwanda's
relations with the donor community. And indeed, contrary to threats to withdraw
aid as is the case when donor countries are unhappy with the course of events
in any country, Rwanda is tapping massive monetary support generously with
praises of superb performance. "Let me hope you know all these people who claim
to have fled political persecution; don't you know that (Deo) Mushayidi run
away with money of his colleagues in the media
organizations? And for Rwigema, don't you remember him stealing people's
cattle? How about his scandals when he was still the Minister of Education?" he
asked, and added: "for Habyarimana I don't really know why he escaped." Mr.
Rwigema Celestin was a former Prime Minister and Gen. Ben Habyarimana acted as
Defence Minister before fleeing claiming witch-hunt.
Interview with Charles Murigande, Rwandan Foreign Minister
by Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post, Aug 2, 2007
...Q: How big a threat do you consider the ex-FAR?
A: According to our intelligence and MONUC [the U.N. mission in Congo], these
are people who are still armed, in military formation, and have commanders at
the level of division, brigade, company and battalion. It is a very well
organized army, estimated to be from 6,000 to 10,000 strong. . . . We also have
information that they've been recruiting and training. . . . I do not know any
country in the world which would not be worried about having a force 8,000
strong, well trained -- and a force determined to harm you -- on your border. .
. . I do not even think bin Laden commanded such a huge military force. The
fact that this force is not about to fight and defeat us does not mean it is
not a threat. Bin Laden was never in a position to fight and defeat the U.S.,
but he was still considered a threat. I wonder why people don't apply the same
logic when it's a situation that doesn't effect them.
Q: So how do you deal with the problem of the FLDR?
A: We think that a level of forceful disarmament must be applied. We need to
break the grip of the commanders. The problem is, who should apply that force?
Who should carry out this forceful disarmament?...
Q: What is Rwanda's relationship to Laurent Nkunda, [a renegade Congolese
general]?
A: Rwanda has no relationship with Nkunda. In 1994, when the genocidal forces
came to eastern Congo, they did not abandon their genocidal ideology. They
began a campaign of ethnic cleansing, killing Tutsis in North Kivu including
the parents of Laurent Nkunda. . . . As long as these ex-FAR are around, [the
Tutsis] have nowhere to go unless they can defend themselves. And that led to
Nkunda. And if you look at what caused Nkunda, the problem was when he refused
to be deployed. He said, how can I leave when my people are threatened? He
said, no, I can't be deployed. He said, I will be in the army if I am deployed
here, where my people are threatened. . . . So that's the problem. Of course
because Nkunda is [a speaker of the Rwandan language] and a Tutsi, it is easy
for people who do not do a deep analysis to conclude that there's no way Rwanda
could not be sympathetic to his case. And then they conclude there's a
relationship between Rwanda and Nkunda. Rwanda cannot
establish a relationship with such a person, but we can understand why Nkunda
is Nkunda. We can understand his argument. Because at least he and the people
he is with would be willing to die to protect their people. Which is not the
case with everyone. . . . The major root cause of instability in eastern Congo
is the ex-FAR. It is the inaction and irresponsibility of the international
community that has created this mess here. The Congolese government seems to be
saying that Nkunda is the problem. They seem to be building the case against
him. This is a case of lack of logic, lack of fairness. This is someone who
says, I'm here because these forces kill my people. Please, deal with these
forces. . . . But instead of dealing with what caused him to be what he is
today, you want to deal with him. It's like saying, if we didn't have these
Tutsis, the ex-FAR would not have people to kill. It is an ugly way of seeing
things. But, let's hope that which is just will prevail.
Q: What about the suggestion some analysts have made, that the Congolese army
might use the ex-FAR to attack Nkunda . . . ?
A: A lot of people are worried that as has happened in the past, the
government forces might link up with the ex-FAR and I know the ex-FAR would not
be unhappy with an opportunity to kill Tutsis. If that happens, that will start
worrying us seriously. And that is the message we have been giving. . . . That
might be a disaster. Because we are also able to fight.
RWANDA'S GOOD MAN KAGAME and HOW KAGAME BECAME LEADER
Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events
~
website: www.orwelltoday.com & email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
email: Orwell Today
[input]
http://www.cndp-congo.org/
Sharangabo Rufagari
Montreal,Canada.
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