Slowly but Surely, The US is Isolating the Warmonger Regime of Kigali - GUEST BLOG

Slowly but Surely, the US is Isolating the Warmonger Regime of Kigali

By Rev. Innocent Justice

On October 3, 2013 the State department announced the sanctions against Rwanda due to its support of the M23 rebel group that uses child soldiers in its rebellion in Eastern DRC. During the announcement of sanctions, Marie Harf who is the spokesperson of the State Department said, "Our goal is to work with countries that have been listed to ensure that any involvement in child soldiers, any involvement in the recruitment of child soldiers, must stop. In this case, it was related to M23, and we will continue to have discussions with the Rwandan government on that issue." It’s no surprise now to see the US linking the Rwanda with the league of human right abuser countries (Burma, Central African Republic, Sudan and Syria) because it’s where Rwanda belongs.

Since the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s military victory in 1994, the Great Lakes region of Africa experienced endless wars waged by the regime of Paul Kagame. The United States trained the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) for almost two decades despite allegations of horrendous crimes committed by the RDF in Rwanda while they were rebels and DRC since 1996.  I was a refugee in Mugunga refugee camp when the RDF invaded the DRC in 1996. Despite the evidence we saw on the ground where the RDF was fighting along the with its creation of Tutsis rebels that was known as Alliance of Democratic Forces for Liberation of Congo (ADFL), the Kigali regime was arguing that it had no troops in the DRC. Since 1996 the Kigali regime created at least three proxies: the RCD, CNDP, and M23. All of these rebel proxies dominated by Tutsi extremists caused death of more than 7 million of Congolese and hundreds of thousands of the Rwandan Hutu refugees.

The generals from the RDF continued to wage wars against the DRC because they want control of its mineral resources. Furthermore, they knew that they could get away with any crime because of the relationship between the Rwandan regime and Washington. The RDF’s generals fought in three countries and claimed citizenship in all those countries. For instance, General James Kabarebe fought in Uganda with Yoweli Museven, he served in Uganda after the war, he became one of the key officers in Rwanda after they capture power in 1994, and eventually he was the chief of staff in DRC during the beginning of President Laurent Desire Kabila’s presidency.  This is one example, but other warlords such as General Bosco Ntaganda, Gen. Laurent Nkunda, and Gen. Sultan Makenga fought in two or three countries of the Great Lakes Region. These guys like to fight, they are ruthless and nothing will stop them unless the International Community will follow suit of the US and apply arms embargo to Rwanda and put in place other sanctions.

The RDF has used the Hutu rebels from the Force Democratique for Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) as a pretext to cause instability in the DRC. Furthermore, the poor Hutu refugees have been used as scapegoat by the regime of Kigali that sponsor different proxies, which loot and kill innocent civilians. The current regime of Kigali started as a rebellion that was known for using child soldiers known as Kadogo (http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/rwanda0403/rwanda0403-03.htm, Kagodo within the RPF Guerilla Army 1990-1994). It’s clear that the former Tutsi rebels left the life of jungle and Guerilla, but the jungle and guerilla behaviors are still vivid after almost two decades of their military victory.  I commend the US for the baby steps it’s taking in isolating and holding accountable the regime of Kigali, which is led by Paul Kagame a warlord who only understands the language of war and killing of his opponents.

Reverend Innocent N. Justice is a clergy in the United Methodist, a human Right Activist and the founder and President of Refugees Rescue Mission, Inc.

GUEST BLOG - Never-ending Reichstag fires in Fascist Rwanda

Never-ending Reichstag fires in Fascist Rwanda

BY- The Communist Party of Rwanda

In the run up to the sham parliamentary elections in Rwanda, Paul Kagame has once again used his infamous abominable Reichstag Fire tactic against the Rwandan people. With the aim of creating an atmosphere of fear within the Rwandan populace, grenade attacks here have developed a predictable pattern and show the complete disregard and disdain Kagame and his lumpenbourgeosie cabal have for the common Rwandan.

Kigali’s security grid is one of the most rigid in the entire world. It is impossible for anyone to be able to carry firearms, grenades, explosives or weapons of any kind and use them without the prior knowledge of the security apparatus. Even smuggling or peddling a few pounds of marijuana in and around Kigali is a near impossible feat and yet somehow RPF wants the world to believe the FDLR, the opposition or dissenters continuously use grenades within open areas like Kigali market places where surveillance is round the clock. The latest grenade attacks were simultaneous adding more to the absurdity of RPF’s claim that the government itself is not responsible.

On the international front, these attacks play into the narrative of the FDLR bogeyman used by Kagame as a pretext for maintaining a police state inside Rwanda while locally they serve as a sadistic reminder to the population that Kagame has the life of every single Rwandan in the palm of his hand. But these recent attacks were also a knee jerk reaction by RPF to what they saw as a rare moment of resistance from a completely fearful and subjugated populace.

Our clandestine party cells had attempted and managed to get as many people as possible to try and avoid participating in the sham elections and the campaigns leading up to them as much as possible. A recent RPF rally in Musanze district did not happen as embarrassingly no one showed up. The people of the area bravely avoided attending and the rally was cancelled two days in a row. On the third day, the police rounded up 30 young men for no reason and held them for four days. Nonetheless, a small step in terms of standing up to State intimidation had been made. The recent grenade attacks were the culmination of the tactics RPF immediately employed to counter what it perceived as any form of resistance from the population as had been demonstrated in Musanze district.

ARRESTS MADE AFTER EVERY BLAST

As for the innocent people usually arrested after the blasts, they always end up at Kami military camp that hosts the most barbaric of torture chambers where they are forced to make false confessions. Many are usually youths already at odds with the law for minor offenses having previously come under scrutiny and surveillance from both local defense militias and Rwandan police. Their movements and connections known beforehand.

The Kami military camp and it’s torture complex are under the direct command of the Ministry of Defense. All surveillance is precided over by this same ministry. The late General Gapfizi who “accidentally” died in a road accident in June this year had been accused of blackmail by officers based in Kami camp. As an opportunist and careerist, it would not have been the first time Gapfizi had used blackmail within officer circles but it was the first time it was against influential Kami based officers. It also happened after grenade blasts earlier this year. His long connections with Kagame might have spared him direct repercussions but if what he was blackmailing them following the grenade attacks earlier this year had in fact something to do with those same attacks, his borrowed time seems to have been put to a halt in the “accident” where the only person who had witnessed it, Ambrose Agaba, has emerged as non-existent.

These non-stop grenade attacks which for Kagame and his cohorts are mere grass-trampling come at a heavy price to the Rwandan psyche. The notion that any day, at any moment, the State which is above you, governs you, watches you, can snuff out your life has slowly taken it’s toll on common Rwandans who are overwhelmed with fear and a sense of complete helplessness. It’s a psychological intimidation tactic that is forcefully forced into the Rwandan subconscious that Kagame and his cabal have complete god-like control and we Rwandans as a completely subjugated people better know what’s best for us.

The stance in Musanze has however not gone unnoticed. The grenade attacks might have Rwandans shaken for the moment but the small act of resistance is still spreading by word of mouth and Rwanda has only so many hills before many know. We might be rattled for now but we made two steps forward. May those who have lost their lives so far rest in peace. A luta continua.

Source: http://communistpartyofrwanda.tumblr.com/