Rwanda. Read it and weep

Blogger Willis Shalita is happy, very happy, infact I would go so far as to say insanely happy. 

RWANDA ELECTED TO THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL.

Posted on October 18, 2012 | 3 Comments

Rwanda has been overwhelmingly been elected to sit on the U.N. Security Council for the next two years.

By a vote of 148 out of 193 members of the U.N., Rwanda joins this crucial world body. NO OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRY CONTESTED RWANDA’S BID.

Actually on this and this alone I think Shalita might be right. The official UN record disagrees giving the first round result as.

First Round Voting Results

African and Asia-Pacific States
Number of ballot papers:	193
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	193
Abstentions:	1
Number of Members present and voting:	192
Required majority:	128
Number of votes obtained by country:
Rwanda	148
Republic of Korea	116
Cambodia	62
Bhutan	20
United Republic of Tanzania	3
Democratic Republic of the Congo	1

From the UN results we could legitimaly make the assumption that both the DR Congo and Tanzania had stood for the African seat. Had that been the case then there is no way in the world Rwanda would have won outright on the first ballot, The DR Congo would have attracted many Francophille votes and Tanzania would have likewise recieved Commonwealth votes. Rawanda is a member of the Commonwealth  as well joining in 2009. From Wikipedia

" Gained ( Rwanda ) independence from Belgium on 1 July 1962. The second country (after Mozambique) to be admitted to the Commonwealth without any former colonial or constitutional links with the United Kingdom."

The Britsh Empire might have faded away but if Tanzania was running for a seat it would have carried the Commonwealth vote in a show down with Rwanda.  So while I agree with Shalita, I would suggest he has failed to understand the import of no other African nation contesting the African Security Council seat. 

Others elected include Argentina, Australia, South Korea and Luxembourg.

Off the subject a bit but it was great to see the Australians get on although it will complicate our New Zealand 2016 attempt. On that note the Australian achievement running against Luxembourg and Finland and winning through on the first ballot with 140 votes, puts  Rwanda's " overwhelming " result against no opposition firmly into perspective as very pedestrian, that 45 countries didn't vote for Rwanda out of 193 when they had no alternative puts the result into perspective and probably explains why the official UN figures are such a dogs breakfast. 

The implications of Rwanda’s election cannot be minimized. This is a vote of confidence in our leadership and governance, and President Kagame deserves our admiration and respect for having steered us thus far.

Well I have just minimised it with out having to go to too much effort. It is infact a sad inditement on both Rwandan leadership and governance, unfortunatly it is also an inditement on the judgement of the many nations that did vote for Rwanda including I suspect New Zealand I haven't managed to run that information to ground yet.

This cannot be good news to our detractors. The DRC made some under the table noises to Rwanda’s bid but it fell on deaf ears. How long can lack of leadership in the DRC be blamed on Rwanda?

Now from this point on Shalita  Willis, lets call him Willis, goes  from very happy to insanly happy  bat shit crazy. " The DRC made some under the table noises ?" 

You mean the DR Congo said it didn't support the Rwandan bid I assume, the DRC said that quite publically, unlike a significant number of UN member states who couldn't bring themselve to hold their noses and vote for Rwanda, so didn't say anything and didn't vote for Rwanda.

Funny how people distort the truth, yes Willis I am talking about you but not only you. With regard to the DR Congo leadership I have critised it often as have many observers both within and outside the DR Congo none of us hold Rwanda accountable for the mistakes Kinshasa has made. We hold however Kilgali and the administration of President Kagame directly responsible for the situation in the eastern DR Congo and you Willis, you might well ask what I hold you responsible for well Willis I hold you and your ilk responsible for Louise and that seems only fair.

I guess that the human face of Rwandas action in the eastern DR Congo is something that doesn't concern you. But you Willis and your nation will be held accountable for this. 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) – or HATE RWANDA WICKEDLY – has egg on their face. Philippe Bolopion, UN Director of the New York-based campaign group wimply complained about Rwanda’s election, but nobody is listening. HRW has annoyingly tried to elevate their stature by demonizing our leadership and minimizing our achievements. Who made them boss of us, I ask?

Your wrong Willis the world is listening. The eyes of the world are watching Rwanda and that should scare the crap out of you. Don't for a second think that we weren't watching you yesterday Your leadership is being demonised by far more than HRW nobody is minimising the havoc Rwanda has achieved in the DR Congo  you see Willis it is personal.

Today is a great day for Rwanda. To our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo, under whose office the task of Rwanda’s election fell, I say, JOB WELL DONE. You make us proud.

Now as far as comedy goes this is Willis at his best Louise Mushikiwabo is a joke on Wednesday she said.

The Government of Rwanda is set to pursue legal action against a United Nations-appointed Group of Experts that has accused Rwanda of fermenting dissent and political chaos in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Now given that that group of experts reports directly to the UN Security Council her only option is at an employment law level is to take legal action against the Security Council if that isn't enough comedy enough for you I can't for the life of me figure out what court she plans to litigate this in. I look at this issue in the Mushikiwabo link above.

 
In spite of attacks from all corners, the truth has prevailed, and Rwanda’s record speaks for itself. Much has been achieved. But, the job just begun.

The truth is something Willis you wouldn't recognise if it bit you on your arse.

Rwanda. Victoire Ingabire awaits a crocodile

IOL News reports

Rwandan opponent’s verdict postponed

Kigali - A Rwandan court on Friday put off its verdict in the trial of opposition figure Victoire Ingabire, accused of bankrolling terrorism and denying the 1994 genocide, until October 30, the third such postponement.

The court justified this latest postponement by saying it had expected to have two clear weeks after a Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of one of the laws under which Ingabire is being prosecuted.

Interesting to note that once again justice has been denied again in Rwanda, that the eyes of the world are of course focused on Rwanda at the moment no doubt has influenced this decision. The result is probably a foregone conclusion,   President Crocodile  Paul Kagame does not tolerate any opposition as the Guardian reminds us. 

" All four of those sentenced are safely outside Rwanda, but the severity of the sentences,which range from 20 to 24 years, was startling. The defendants were Kagame's former chief of staff and ambassador to Washington, Theogene Rudasingwa; Gerald Gahima, Rwanda's former prosecutor general and vice president of the supreme court; Col Patrick Karegeya, former director of Rwanda's external security services; and Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa, a former army chief of staff who survived an assassination attempt in South Africa last year."

" The four were found guilty of forming a terrorist group, threatening state security, undermining public order, promoting ethnic divisions and insulting the president. Evidence was taken in part from a "Rwanda Briefing" they issued as their former boss began his second term, describing him as "a callous and reckless leader" shaped by "greed for absolute power". They asserted that there is "more to Rwanda and Paul Kagame than new buildings, clean streets, and efficient government … Rwanda is essentially a hard-line, one-party, secretive police state with a façade of democracy." To avoid future conflict, they urged Kagame to convene a "genuine, inclusive, unconditional and comprehensive national dialogue" with the aim of creating a new "national partnership government".

" In one passage, which the court cited as a criminal attempt to stir communal hatred, they warned of another ethnic explosion in Rwanda. "The Tutsi minority cannot hope to impose their will on the Hutu majority forever," they warned. "The military victory of Hutu insurgency could, in turn, conceivably lead to the genocide of the remaining Tutsi population of Rwanda."

These are essentially the same charges that Ingabire faces.

But the Supreme Court decision was postponed for two weeks and was not issued until Thursday, rejecting Ingabire's case.

As I mentioned the eyes of the world are focused on Rwanda at the moment following the countries undeserved success at gaining a place on the UN Security Council.

" Philippe Bolopion of the advocacy group Human Rights Watch criticized the inclusion of Rwanda on the Security Council

"After blatantly violating the Security Council's arms embargo and undermining the work of the U.N. by propping up the abusive M23 rebels, Rwanda is rewarded with a seat at the table," he said.

"Kigali is now in a position to try to shield its own officials implicated in abuses from U.N. sanctions, which is a flagrant conflict of interest," Bolopion said in a statement. "Other Security Council members now have an even greater responsibility to hold Rwanda to account."

I will blog on this separately given the Rwandan spin that the win has generated. This from blogger Willis Shalita.

" The implications of Rwanda’s election cannot be minimized. This is a vote of confidence in our leadership and governance, and President Kagame deserves our admiration and respect for having steered us thus far."

It is of course the interpretation that I would have expected from Rwanda. Kagame is constructing a " cult of personality " style of politics that would garner applause from Stalin and Mao.

“It is in this context that we need more time to come up with a clear verdict that is in line with the Supreme Court decision on genocide ideology,” judge Alice Rulisa said Friday.

When you have had two years to do something I guess a couple of more weeks is no problem if it takes that amount of time to get the international press looking else where. 

Ingabire, who has been in custody for two years, had filed a suit in March contesting the legality of Rwanda's genocide ideology laws.

The Supreme Court said Thursday it found no contradiction between the genocide ideology law and the constitution. “It is true the constitution grants freedom of expression and speech but the genocide ideology law puts limitations to avoid violations of the freedoms,” the nine-man panel of judges said.

Which sort of begs the question why bloody well bother with a constitution ?

The Guardian piece above gives us far more insight into the Kagame regime than the eventual decision of the court which will rubber stamp the regime view.

The genocide denial charges against Ingabire were triggered by remarks she made in January 2010 at the memorial to the estimated 800,000 people, the majority of them Tutsis, who were killed in the slaughter.

The remarks were actually so far from the " hate speak "  legislation that some western governments have as to be laughable. Judge for yourself. This from Jambo News

The speech
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza  arrived in Rwanda on the 16^th of January 2010, From the airport she went straight to the memorial of the genocide to pay respect to Tutsi victims of genocide. She made a speech in which she called for justice to bring to book those who committed genocide against Tutsi and those who committed other crimes including war crimes and crimes against without fear or favour, irrespective of ethnic or political affiliation. She considered equitable justice as a solid foundation for national reconciliation and durable peace and development. After this speech she was accused of having and spreading  Genocidal ideology, negationism and divisionism.

Despite overwhelming evidence regarding war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly genocide, committed by members of the RPF, the latter have remained immune from prosecution”.

As I have said President Paul Kagame leader of the RPF brooks no dissension and is worthy of his place amongst the African Crocodiles.  Another example here.

Ingabire, herself a Hutu and the leader of the Unified Democratic Forces (FDU), a political grouping that has not been allowed to register as a party, said it was time Hutu war victims were also commemorated. - Sapa-AFP

How ironic.