AfroAmerica Network
Correspondent in Kigali, Rwanda
08.12.00
Major Paul Kagame plans to visit the United States of America on September 7, 2000. He will address the UN Assembly General in New York before heading South to Washington, DC, where he will have contacts with World Bank and International Monetary Fund leaders. The visit follows a series of explosive articles in international media, testimonies, and claims accusing General Kagame of assassinating the former President of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyalimana, multiple assassinations, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
In the United States, General Kagame will find several prominent former Rwandan leaders who fled his regime, accusing him of ruthless repression, persecution, and corruption. Among staunch opponents are former Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Kabuye Sebarenzi. Others are former justice Minister Mr. Augustin Ntezilyayo and former Prime Minister Mr. Pierre Celestin Rwigema.
Mr. Sebarenzi who fled to USA earlier this year navigates between the states of New Hampshire and Virginia and is believed to promote the monarchy, along with Mr. Ndahindurwa Kigeli, the former Rwandan King. Recently, human rights organizations have formally written letters to request that the US government deny asylum to Mr. Pierre Celestin Rwigema for leading a government responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression and genocide.
Several Tutsis and Hutus, including those not long ago close friends of General Kagame have been steadily fleeing the country accusing the government of repression, lack of democracy, and corruption.
This is the first visit to the United States of America by General Kagame since he became president of Rwanda in April 2000. Apart from the accusations, General Kagame and his government face many challenges. Rwandan Patriotic Army officers on the Southern battle front in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, extending from Kabalo to Pepa rebelled and wrote a letter to the Parliament to request that they be sent back home. The troop moral is at all time low with several soldiers dying from AIDS, diseases, and deadly attacks by Mayi-Mayi fighters. This, as well as the planned visit, prompted Kagame to make a sudden proposition to the UN to unilaterally disengage his troops from battle fronts. Last week, battalions including the officers who rebelled were redeployed to Rwanda. Officers who have signed the so-called Declaration de Nyunzu, have since disappeared. These include: Afande Steaven, Afande Kayijuka, Afande Ndoli, Afande Nyankoma, Mulokole, Rugazura, Rusagara, Yalala, Ntambara, Kamanayo, Musoni, Mutesi, and Sezikeye.
Recently, due to budget constraints, the Rwandan Government decided to close several Embassies, including those in Canada, France, Egypt, and Israel. The former Ambassador of Canada John Nkongoli along with his staff had not receive their salaries for more than three months before the closing. Students who rely on Rwandan government aid have been waiting for their stipend for several months.
"Basically, [former Ambassador] John Nkongoli is in the process of applying for asylum in Canada. He already started to contact Rwandan exiles to ask for forgiveness for mistreatment, spying on them, and any negative information gathered on their activities against the Rwandan Patriotic Front Government" , said a source close to the former Ambassador.
Recently, in May 2000, an armed political opposition, called the Forces Democratiques pour le Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), held its meeting in Nasho, Kibungo and promised to overthrow Kagame's government. According to the meeting account, a copy of which AfroAmerica Network received, the meeting in Nasho was attended by delegates from America, Europe, Asia, and all over Africa and Rwanda. Sources in Rwanda confirm that the FDLR have been actively recruiting all over the country, including the capital Kigali and seem to be very well organized both militarily and politically. The meeting in Nasho prompted the Rwandan Patriotic Front militia, the so-called Local Defense Units (LDU) to massacre families suspected of supporting the armed political party, in early June 2000. Bodies of those massacred were dumped in the River Akagera. These massacres sent thousands of Refugees to Tanzania.
The visit of General Kagame to the United States may be a test on how determined is the US Government in applying the law regardless of the friendship.
There are mountains of evidences, including the report by the International Non-Government Independent Commission set up by the United Nations to inquire on crimes committed in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The report concluded that the Rwandan Patriotic Army has committed acts of genocide in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1996-1997. If these evidences are worthy of anything, then General Kagame is a national and international criminal should be treated as such.
@AfroAmerica Network, August 12, 2000.
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