RFIENACTION.com vous informe que le rapport du senateur Joseph KERGUERIS  (  photo à droite)  sur  ”L’action audiovisuelle extérieure” rédigé pour la Commission des affaires étrangères,dans le cadre du projet de loi de finances 2010 sera disponible au plus tard le vendredi 20 novembre sur  www.rfienaction.com . Selon nos informations, le rapport a été déjà déposé et il sera examiné par la Commission affaires étrangères le mercredi  18 novembre après-midi .

Dans ce rapport,le senateur du Morbihan détaillera:la situation globale de l’audiovisuel exterieur dans le cadre du “nouveau programme 115″,le travail accompli  jusqu’à présent par la direction de la holding “Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France”,le dossier concernant RFI RadioFrance Internationale avec attention pour sa réforme et sa crise sociale.Joseph KERGUERIS analysera aussi  l’action de France24 et son développement à l’échelle mondiale  et  bien sur le renforcement  de TV5Monde.

 Un rapport à lire et à commenter bientôt sur notre site internet www.rfienaction.com: Votre site internet sans cesse renouvelé pour comprendre la vie au quotidien de RFI Radio France Internationale et de l’Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France.

Restez avec nous.

Mardi 9 novembre, les antennes de l’Audiovisuel Exterieur de la France (RFI,France24 et TV5Monde) proposeront chacune avec leur spécificité une journée spéciale consacrée au 20ème anniversaire de la Chute du Mur de Berlin. Pendant près de 30 ans, ce Mur a déchiré l’Allemagne en deux blocs.

 Il y a 20 ans jour pour ce jour ce mardi 9 novembre, Berlin et l’Allemagne se réunifiaient avec la Chute du Mur de Berlin, un événement suivi en direct par les télévisions du monde entier. Décidée par Khroutchev, alors président de l’URSS, la construction du Mur séparant Berlin Est et Berlin Ouest est réalisé en une nuit, le 13 août 1961. Durant ces 28 ans de séparation, plusieurs allemands seront tués en tentant de rejoindre Berlin Ouest. A l’occasion du 15ème anniversaire de la Chute du Mur de Berlin:

RFI,la radio mondiale,propose une journée spéciale et diffusera des émissions consacrées à cet événement, des reportages historiques et des entretiens avec des spécialistes de l’Allemagne.A 8h18, dans “L’invité de la rédaction”, Hélène da Costa recevra Andreas Schockenhoff, député CDU et président de du groupe d’amitié France-Allemagne au Bundestag. Enfin, les auditeurs de la station internationale seront invités à réagir aux conséquences de la Chute du Mur de Berlin à partir de 10h10 dans “Appel sur l’actualité”, une émission animée par Juan Gomez.

France 24, la chaîne d’information internationale en continu a prévu 11 heures de programmes (de 12H00 à 23H00) en français, anglais et arabe, à l’occasion de l’événement. Elle installera notamment un plateau surplombant le Reichstag où se succéderont artistes et leaders politiques pour livrer leur expérience.

TV5Monde,la chaîne francophone met à l’antenne dimanche 8 novembre à 21H00 une émission spéciale “1989, quand tombent les murs…”: 100 minutes de témoignages et reportages exclusifs présentés depuis Berlin par Philippe Dessaint afin de mieux comprendre le genèse et les conséquences de la chute du mur au-delà de la capitale allemande.

En France comme dans de nombreux pays européens l’information est en danger. Baptisée “Stand up for journalism” à l’initiative de la Fédération européenne des Journalistes, cette journée du 5 novembre est l’occasion pour nous d’attirer votre attention et celle de l’ensemble des citoyens de notre pays sur cette situation extrêmement préoccupante.

Depuis votre élection à la présidence de la République, les syndicats de journalistes (SNJ, SNJ-CGT, USJ-CFDT) constatent que la situation des médias s’est sensiblement aggravée. Il n’est pas un jour sans qu’un journal, un hebdomadaire, une radio, une télévision ne licencie des journalistes en prétextant la crise économique.

Parallèlement, des journaux disparaissent. La presse gratuite – longtemps présentée comme “La” solution à la désaffection du lectorat – est dans le rouge. Les quotidiens à faible revenu publicitaire connaissent d’amples difficultés.

Les plans « sociaux », les plans de départs volontaires, les licenciements se sont multipliés tout au long de l’année. 2300 journalistes – c’est un premier bilan – seraient venus gonfler les rangs des chômeurs. Pour une profession regroupant 38.000 salariés la saignée est énorme.

De plus, un cinquième de la profession est précarisé. Certains pigistes gagnent à peine le Smic, contraignant la Commission de la carte d’identité des journalistes professionnels à abaisser à un demi-Smic le minimum requis pour leur reconnaître l’appartenance à la profession. Peut-on vivre décemment avec un tel revenu ? Peut-on exercer sérieusement la profession de journaliste dans un tel état de dénuement ?

Cela n’empêche pas un dirigeant d’un grand groupe de presse magazine de revendiquer une prime de départ de 2 millions et demi d’euros !

Cela n’empêche pas non plus la plupart des dirigeants d’entreprises de presse, auxquels vous avez accordé des aides substantielles, par le biais des Etats généraux de la presse écrite, de continuer à mener des politiques managériales qui amenuisent les moyens des rédactions et les empêchent de remplir correctement leur mission, réduisant l’information à l’état de marchandise insipide, compromettant la qualité des contenus et, par là même, l’avenir de leurs médias.

Le pluralisme est atteint en son coeur. Les fusions, les rachats, les concentrations au profit de grands groupes de presse dont vous vous félicitez d’être proche (Lagardère, Bolloré), ou du Crédit Mutuel (groupe EBRA), ne contribuent pas à sauver, ni même à conforter les titres. Au contraire, elles en font disparaître l’identité et la diversité. Les lecteurs ne s’y retrouvent pas, délaissant de plus en plus l’information spectacle, la « pipolisation » croissante, l’infomerciale et l’uniformisation.

Regagner des lecteurs, retrouver la confiance de ceux qui nous lisent ou nous écoutent, exige une réflexion sur le contenu et la qualité de l’information. Voilà qui nécessite de mobiliser toutes les compétences : celles des journalistes “d’expérience”, que les coupes claires faites dans les effectifs des rédactions poussent irrémédiablement vers la porte. Et celle de jeunes journalistes motivés, diplômés, mais cantonnés dans des contrats sans lendemain, à faire, devant leur écran, du journalisme loin du terrain.

Lorsque la seule préoccupation des actionnaires est de rentabiliser les « tuyaux », sans se soucier de la qualité des contenus du moment qu’ils en gardent le contrôle, cela conduit à une politique dangereuse pour l’information.

Les syndicats de journalistes (SNJ, SNJ-CGT, USJ-CFDT), concernés depuis toujours par la déontologie et les principes professionnels, affirment haut et fort que l’intégration d’une charte dans la convention collective des journalistes serait un signal fort en direction de l’opinion publique, lassée des dérives récurrentes et des approximations. Hélas, tous leurs efforts pour faire partager ce souci aux représentants des éditeurs sont restés vains.

Un projet de code de déontologie vient d’être rendu public. Permettra-t-il enfin d’engager la discussion entre représentants des journalistes et des patrons ? C’est une question ! Cette discussion sera-t-elle ouverte et sincère ? C’en est une autre.

En tout cas, les syndicats de journalistes ne pourront accepter un code qui n’engagerait pas la responsabilité de tous les acteurs de la chaîne éditoriale, du plus humble des rédacteurs jusqu’au directeur de la publication, en passant par tous les stades des hiérarchies rédactionnelles.

Ils ne sauraient accepter un code qui cherche à faire porter le chapeau au seul journaliste de terrain, dont la tâche est déjà rendue plus que difficile par les dérives éditoriales et économiques imposées par les éditeurs, ainsi que par des conditions de travail considérablement dégradées.

Ils ne sauraient accepter non plus un code où les responsabilités devant les citoyens ne seraient pas une priorité.

Oui les journalistes ont le devoir d’informer. Mais pour ce faire il faudrait leur reconnaître des droits et des conditions de travail compatibles avec un vrai travail d’investigation et de vérification. Une information de qualité se doit d’être libérée du poids des actionnaires, des fonds de pension, des publicitaires et des politiques. Qu’attend la France pour reconnaitre par la loi l’indépendance des rédactions face aux groupes industriels qui contrôlent notre profession ?

Les journalistes dans ce pays n’ont toujours pas la garantie de voir leurs sources protégées, alors que la loi et la justice européennes l’imposent. Ils risquent de voir débarquer la police dans leur rédaction, comme au Canard enchainé, à l’Equipe, au Point, à Midi libre, à la Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest, à la République du Centre, etc.

Dans l’audiovisuel public la situation n’est guère plus brillante.

L’avenir de France-Télévisions, de Radio France, est obéré par la suppression de la publicité sans la garantie de moyens équivalents « à l’euro près ». 900 emplois sont déjà dans le collimateur à France Télévisions, soit 10% de l’effectif.

Parallèlement le contrôle du pouvoir devient de plus en plus prégnant à la suite de votre décision de nommer vous-même les dirigeants des chaînes, exemple unique en Europe.

Le temps de l’ORTF où le ministre de l’information dictait sa loi ne semble plus si lointain.

L’audiovisuel extérieur est également menacé, après le rapprochement en une seule entité de France 24, RFI et TV5.

Faut-il rappeler qu’un plan de 206 licenciements est programmé à RFI sans la moindre justification sérieuse, et sans que les salariés et leurs syndicats, malgré leur longue grève, aient pu être entendus.

A France 24, on propose aux pigistes le statut d’auto-entrepreneur, contraire à la convention collective des journalistes. Il est choquant que le service public, où l’Etat est le principal actionnaire, donne le mauvais exemple de la précarisation des emplois !

Et que dire encore du rôle que vous voulez assigner à l’AFP en optant avec la direction de cette agence mondiale, la seule non anglo-saxonne, pour son étatisation après avoir mis à l’encan son statut qui depuis un demi siècle a préservé son indépendance. Le porte-parole de l’UMP Frédéric Lefebvre avait lancé l’offensive il y a quelque temps contre cette rédaction, libre de tout capital et actionnaires, pour tenter en vain d’en faire « la voix de son maître » ? Alors étatisation de l’AFP avant sa privatisation ? Comme à GDF ? Comme à La Poste ?

Comment ne pas être scandalisé par les licenciements chez Gamma, une agence photo de renom mondial grâce à ses photographes. Où est la réaction indignée de votre gouvernement et de vous-même devant ce bradage du patrimoine national par un fonds d’investissement pour lequel les rendements financiers sont plus importants que la culture et le patrimoine ?

Monsieur le Président, en cette journée européenne pour la défense du journalisme, les trois syndicats français membres de la FEJ vous demandent :
- nd’accéder à leur demande d’une réforme législative qui viserait à reconnaître enfin l’indépendance juridique des équipes rédactionnelles quelles que soient la forme de presse et la taille de l’entreprise médiatique ;
- de veiller à ce que les aides publiques à la presse ne servent plus seulement à enrichir des actionnaires ni à regarnir provisoirement des trésoreries, mais accompagnent des politiques volontaristes privilégiant la qualité de l’information et la sauvegarde des emplois ;
- nde garantir des ressources pérennes pour que les services publics de radio et de télévision remplissent pleinement l’intégralité de leurs missions ;
- de confirmer à l’audiovisuel extérieur de la France ses missions dans toute leur plénitude ou leur diversité.

Alain GIRARD, premier secrétaire national du SNJ
Dominique CANDILLE, secrétaire générale du SNJ-CGT
Nicolas THIERY, secrétaire général de la USJ-CFTDT

In the 3 years plus that I’ve read the Financial Times daily in some form, Tuesday 29th September was the first time I remember a story about Nigeria as the front page lead article in the paper.

The article by the FT’s Lagos correspondent, Tom Burgis reported that CNOOC, the Chinese state-owned oil company “is seeking to acquire 6billion barrels of oil, equivalent to one in six barrels of Nigeria’s proven reserves”.

In a follow-up piece on page 9,  the story appears to have been based on a letter by Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, the president’s oil adviser, in which he asked CNOOC to make an improved offer swiftly “due to time constraint”.

The FT reports that “the urgency is well placed” as extensions to 16 leases held by Shell, Mobil & Total amongst others will expire before the end of 2009.

It appears this story is causing jitters in some western capitals where they fear a big push by China for the biggest prize in Africa’s oil game.  French TV channel – France24 also featured this story on Tuesday evening’s Business Bulletin.

With the deal making still going back and forth, the lines between Abuja and Beijing, Paris, London & Washington will no doubt be buzzing over the coming weeks. But  more importantly – will any of these deals improve the quality of  life of the people in the oil producing communities and the rest of Nigeria? 

Answering that question in the affirmative  should be the priority of the Nigerian government.

Par Giovanni Lombardo

Aujourd’hui c’est déroulé le le Conseil des ministres parmi les sujets abordés:l’audiovisuel extérieur de la France et le plan social à RFI.Malgrè la lutte des salariés,les nombreux appels à la médiation le gouvernement semble bien vouloir valider les choix stratégiques de la direction de la société Holding Audiovisuel Exterieur de la France et de RFI soit sur le plan social soit sur le plan de développement et les synergies entre RFI,France24,MonteCarlo Doualiya et TV5 MONDE.

Le ministre de la Culture et de la Communication, Frédéric Mitterrand, a présenté une communication relative à l’audiovisuel extérieur de la France.

Décidée à l’été 2007 par le président de la République, Nicolas Sarkozy, la réforme de l’audiovisuel extérieur a pour objectifs d’améliorer la cohérence de la politique audiovisuelle extérieure de la France, la lisibilité de ses orientations stratégiques et l’efficacité de chacun de ses opérateurs.

La mise en œuvre de cette réforme a d’ores et déjà connu des étapes importantes :

-la constitution du groupe audiovisuel extérieur de la France autour d’une société holding, dénommée Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France (AEF), est aujourd’hui achevée : la holding détient 100 % de Radio France Internationale (RFI)  et France 24, ainsi que 49 % de TV5 Monde ;

­- la loi du 5 mars 2009 relative à la communication audiovisuelle et au nouveau service public de la télévision a tiré les conséquences de cette réforme en faisant d’AEF la société nationale de programme chargée de l’audiovisuel extérieur de la France dont la gouvernance est déterminée par la loi du 30 septembre 1986 à l’instar de celle de France Télévisions et de Radio France. A ce titre, AEF et ses filiales chargées de  missions de service public seront soumises à des obligations définies par un cahier des charges fixé par décret. La négociation d’un contrat d’objectifs et de moyens avec l’État est en cours.

Par ailleurs, les dirigeants de l’audiovisuel extérieur ont déjà engagé d’importants chantiers.

Le projet de plan global de modernisation de RFI, actuellement soumis à la consultation des salariés de la société, devra permettre de redresser la situation financière critique de RFI. Cette réforme est indispensable à la survie de la société et ne peut plus être différée.

Une redynamisation des antennes du groupe a également été amorcée en mettant notamment l’accent sur le développement des nouvelles technologies. Le gouvernement a manifesté son soutien à cet élan en préemptant des fréquences pour la diffusion de RFI en radio numérique terrestre à Paris, Marseille et Nice.

Enfin, des synergies entre les différentes entités se mettent en place, tant au niveau des programmes qu’en ce qui concerne les fonctions supports.

The world today is a gloomy vault because it overshadows reality. The innocent man and woman is the bearer of all political leaders’ vices. There are but very few courageous persons to shine in defence for the innocent. The innocent therefore dies and their life is valueless. The world evolves but with aggravating realities. Our children will ask our graves when we will be no more what we meant to leave the world in such a mess. They will desire to die before their days. They will ask our graves why we failed to teach them the right way. The world will be messy and will be like a forest of sharp thorns in which everyone will fear to tread.

Human persons have lived in tunnels of different realities. In all their life history, human beings have survived in organised communities with leaders to direct, to rule and to guide. Leaders have reigned over their subjects in all communities tyrannically, democratically and divisively in some states or communities. Leadership is not a yesterday or today phenomenon. They date as far back as before Christ. Everyone is familiar with kings in the holy Bible, chiefs, priests and other church or religious leaders in their respective communities of all kinds. Leaders are as old as the human race is and so is leadership. Their characteristics are not different although they may vary from one leader to the other. In the world of politics, the common person, the innocent one, who lives one day at a time, bears all the iniquities of their leaders. The “I” and “my” are the driving forces in all the leadership activities. There is little consideration for the “other”. Wealth is key and takes the first place in leadership affairs. The human person is of no value in the face of leaders. The good person outside leadership is contaminated once they join the leadership world. He who remains good will have to pay the cost for it. They are like the torch in the gloomy vault. They have little to do like a torch may not satisfactorily shine in the gloomy wide vault. In fact the darkness might overshadow the torch.

The world today is a gloomy vault because it overshadows reality. The innocent man and woman is the bearer of all political leaders’ vices. There are but very few courageous persons to shine in defence for the innocent. The innocent therefore dies and their life is valueless. The world evolves but with aggravating realities. Our children will ask our graves when we will be no more what we meant to leave the world in such a mess. They will desire to die before their days. They will ask our graves why we failed to teach them the right way. The world will be messy and will be like a forest of sharp thorns in which everyone will fear to tread.

I realise the need to save our graves from being dug by our grand children to ask our bones all those questions. Obama, the American president of our time, one of the shining torches of his time in his speech called upon the nationals of America and the entire world to realise the need for every people in their successive generations to be willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk – to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of our time.

I have a dream which will have to be realised through people of my own, people of the Ugandan origin, the children and grand children of my own who I share the same nationality with. Uganda my homeland, the land of resources that cannot be found in many world’s lands, a country whose people have seen days of struggle in the political arena, a country that has been typified by tyrannical, selfish and corrupt leaders will be made better. Time will come when the bondage in which the Ugandan nationals sail will be no more when there will be a torch that will overpower the gloom in the vault. It will be a time when everyone will be really human and all human rights will be so. The courts of law will have to serve their purpose, the top leaders will feel for the nationals and the resources that have been in the hands of a few conceited leaders will be for all.

The cost of achieving this is high but in our reach. Today the sun shines but there is only darkness that we can see. The moon at night is like a candle in the stadium while the stars cannot be recognised at all. Theft is a type of employment today, lawlessness is the only means to achieve an end, and “courts of law” are mere words while the good is very far from our reach.
I chose to write about this situation in my country at this moment in history to call upon fellow states men and women to join hands because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren.
Uganda must change. The change must be worked for. The initiators of this change must be among us because what is good is clear and distinct in our minds and can be found. However, only a brazen man or woman will dare to stand for the idea herein. The coward will leave it to God while he who has no meaning in life will take the situation normal and fated.
I am the son of a Ugandan man who worked for the country and survived death in the early times before I came to see what the world looks like. He never taught me to love my country but he talked of a better Uganda he desired to see. I studied in one of the poorest schools of Uganda as well as in the best institutions for higher learning. I have lived in one of Uganda’s poorest villages where life meant a lot to me yet I learnt there to analyse situations and to object to what is not justice. I have befriended a simple but open minded lady who I think is best for me during the rest of my lifetime. She has a dream that Uganda will be a better place one day. I have grand parents, biological and foster parents, consanguine brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins upon whom my narrative bases whose miserable life has coerced them to hate their country but cannot do anything. They have witnessed all the grief of belonging to a poor family. I have friends who I have struggled with to make ends meet whose desire has remained to see a changed and a better Uganda for every national.
This is a yarn that tries to remind the fellow Ugandans of the need to throw aside our bedspreads and wake up from the long been unending snooze of cowardness. Conservatism should be shown a path and embrace a liberal mind ready to help us focus ourselves for a better nation. The yearn herein should provoke every Ugandan who loves to see his coming generations live a dignified life. It calls for a wide-eyed liberal state made of people ready to defend their fellow nationals that cannot raise their voices in the polluted political environment as it is in our day. The narrative is not an incendiary tool for violence but rather a voice that calls upon those in fear, bewilderment and hopelessness to stand up and bring back that hope that has for long been lost.
As such, my expression of grief should not be divisive with regard to the leaders of the time and we who suffer the consequences of their seemingly inadvertent actions. It is a means to call them to mind the reality in place, the undesirable situation in the country that they have caused by themselves. It is the time we need them to hearken the voices of those who cry for a unified state where everyone is human. The story reveals the fact that it is the time now to come together to solve a set of enormous troubles: the Northern war of Joseph Kony, a deteriorated economic standard of our nation, regional imbalances, corruption, stealing the property of the poor especially land, a chronic health care crisis, the potentially devastating climate change and tyrannical rule among other outstanding troubles of our time. It is no work for one tribe- the Baganda or the Banyankole, the Karimajong or the Bakiga. It is a task for all Ugandans who love a changed state for the better. Every national should be a torch that shines to overcome the gloom in the vault to be able to make a difference that is positive.
The words in the narrative are based on my moral stand, my professed values and principles, which I believe will not go unexamined by those who will find them worthy of examination. While I bear in mind that many will laugh me to scorn and while I realise that there will be many that will not see sense in the story and those who will be offended, I stand to defend what I think is important not only for me but also for those who are open minded. He who declines to understand the reality in place and the other who fails to understand it will never be put on the same platform. Surely there will be those who will refuse or decline to understand what is conveyed herein while there are those who might fail to comprehend it but seek to find its meaning. However few the former will be we shall have a made a step.
What has not been clear in the last and present regimes that need to be explained for slow analysts to understand? What is not clear about the land issues, the recent issue of our time that I need to elaborate upon so that everyone can see the significance of my story? Who was deaf to hear the Ttemangalo issues and their resolutions? Who did not know about the lives of our beloved brothers and sister that perished in the hands of Kibwetere yet the murderer never got what he deserved? Who was too young to read and or hear the stories of those who perished in the thickets of Luwero and Northern Uganda that needs a story teller to recount for him the whole story to understand what is being advocated in here? Who has not experienced the pinch of corruption in all the public institutions to the very homes where we stay? Who has been blind that has not seen the tear gases in the city of Kampala when people have always tried to raise their voices? Who did not read or hear or even see innocent people being arrested with no offence committed? How clear should I be for one to heed the call for a change that I advocate herein? I think clarity lies in the mind that is clear.
I continue to dream of a day when my hope will come to reality. People will talk about me and my offsprings who will be agents and in fact torches that will shine in gloom of the vault. I will make stories of their time. Radios will broadcast news about me drawing from what I write today herein. Every Ugandan should be aware that everyone that has suffered physically, mentally, or psychologically, everyone whose blood spilled to the ground because of our leaders’ misdeeds was our own brother and the blood shed was our own the tears our own tears. Everyone who passed away because of the inattentive actions of our leaders will rise to be close at hand when we shall stand up to defend our state for the better. Every one of them will be ready to support us in the struggle to restore our rights and dignity from the grave where they are buried. The story must extend to all the generations of our time and those to be after we will have departed. Our struggles to overcome the present reality and our triumphs after the peaceful but focussed battle will become at one time real and widespread.
There is no way we can deny our Ugandan citizenship and nationality by origin. We belong to Uganda and she is our motherland who we should rebuild, take care of, and love with all our whole being. Understanding the reality upon which I base myself to advocate a change that is real requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point of suffering. However, it will provoke callous actions that will result in an objectionable state of being since many have had harder days than I have had which they may not wish to revisit even in a mere story like this since the past remains new in the minds of he who experienced it. William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history the suffering Ugandans have passed through, the injustices in this country that have been and are still a reality, and the many inhuman activities that have been witnessed by many of you. Nevertheless we need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the Ugandan community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery, tyrannical, self-centred and happy-go-lucky leadership regimes that have been vivid realities to the present day.
“Deliberated discrimination” in the job market where the so-called “technical know-who” is the method for awarding job posts must come to an end so that the children of the poor who have no one to recognise them in the competitive market can have a chance of getting better employment opportunities. Shadow investors in whose name people’s property is destroyed to create space for their arcades instead of serious investments should come to an end. The misuse of power to keep in a political position even when the majority or the minority do not see the reason for it should be condemned and brought to an end. Time will come when elections will be free and fair- where Ugandans will be able to say YES to mean YES that will from their own free will without coercion.
I dream of a new Uganda where lack of economic opportunity among men and women, among tribes, and among regions and among individuals and shame and frustration that comes from inability to raise and look after family members will come to a close. I hope for a state where the leaders will be able to provide for those who may not be able to meet their basic needs because there will be proper accountability and transparency. Moreover, there will be enough resources to cater for the nationals because corruption will be no more while human rights defence will take precedence over any other issues.
We should be aware that there are quite a number of possibilities that can lead to our failure to achieve this. But still for all those who will unite and claw their way to get a piece of the dream I promulgate herein will have started the battle. However, he who will block the move towards the realisation of the dream will be like a ferocious beast that devours every creature and forgets about its survival tomorrow and that of its little ones. In the end it devours itself.
I have asserted a firm conviction of the realisation of my dream based on my belief in change and God’s care for us all. I also assert my conviction basing on the trust I have in my fellow Ugandans who have experienced the pinch and I am sure they will see it necessary to change for the better. Together we can move beyond what we expect today in view of attaining that which we think is better for us and for our generations.
I call upon every Ugandan to be firm and advocate the change we want our children and grand children to see. What we begin today may fail to be realised tomorrow but the other day, through our children and grand children, our real blood who we shall have taught to continue with the struggle, it will be realised and the mission will be accomplished leaving us or them the responsibility to maintain it to the end. Our hope should be placed in ourselves as well as those to come after we shall have parted.

POVERTY AND CORRUPTION
We are gathered to share ideas, to provoke ourselves and learn to question the status quo with the aim of making our mother Uganda a better place for you and for your grand children. Lamentations should be considered historical while action with determination should be embraced. I want to remind each one of you that if I fail to acknowledge the good things my leaders have done for my country, then I would not be realistic. However, when I raise you about that which needs change, I should not be blamed because the good must be advocated. In my first speech which most of you based to call upon me to join the political arena I asserted the need for a change which must be worked for. Tonight, am advocating the need to realise the goodness of combined efforts towards achieving a specific goal.
Tonight am calling upon members to tread where I wand us all to tread for a better Uganda. It is time to wake up from sleep and become bold to pour scorn on those who have toppled our nation through corruption which has lead to unending poverty. This poverty you experience, will extend to your forth generation and it will be worse compared to what you see today. Poverty the fourth generation will experience will force them to bear children for commercial affairs because the goods for sale will not be other than their fellow human beings. This is the reality. You have already savoured this when you have heard about child sacrifice. It is now on a smaller scale, later it will expand if we do not stand up today and set up strategies through active participation with a patriotic spirit.
Corruption in the government institutions, corruption which is knocking at the doors of religious institutions and even on the doors of our churches, corruption which is seen as a new way of earning a living has let down so many of our friends and has rendered them poor because they have failed to fight it. We should acknowledge the fact that, those to fight corruption and those who perpetuate it are equally corrupt. Now who will deliver the state from such chaos? It is the time now to start and change our mentality and develop some love for our mother Uganda.
My audience today, ladies and gentlemen, children and youth, here is the moment to convey to you a message that must enkindle in each of us a fire of hope, a fire that will bring light to see what has been invisible, a fire that will never die unless it brings us to a new Uganda- a changed Uganda. Each of us here is a national, each of us here is aggrieved by the state in which we live today because of corruption, lawlessness, injustice, political instability that is the order of the day since 1966, poverty which has its roots in careless and lack of concern for the nationals by their leaders and aimless taxes that you pay hopping to get better services in your country. We have seen and heard of accidents, in fact fatal accidents on highways; people have lost their life while others have lost their dear ones on Uganda roads. Death today is no issue to discus yet it claims productive nationals who would liberate our state. The education today from the grass root level is a complete mess; high school drop out rate is no phenomenon to wonder about. This results in quite a number of problems such high way robbery, rebel activities, insecurity in our local areas and moreover uneducated generations will rarely educate their children- we are adding injuries to insults. Poverty is a song today but the annual budget shows different things. People die today of poverty in a state that is not desirable for human beings. The rich continue to grow richer and richer while you the poor like me continue to grow poorer and poorer. Even the little we have is taken away through purposeless taxes imposed upon us. Yes, we must pay taxes because we are nationals who love to see our Uganda develop, but should we leave things to God when even the little we sacrifice to develop our mother Uganda benefits only a few nationals? What is wrong with the Uganda of today? Land theft is an issue you all know today, child sacrifice is nearly a song, and unexplainable murder here and there fills the news papers every day.

Am not in favour of blaming those who lead us, but I want to bring to your awareness that of which you seem to have already been aware but have not been able to react to it. I am not calling upon a violent reaction but rather a rational reaction that will reawaken our minds to embark of developmental activities. This call is meant to provoke each of you to wake up from the sleep you have been in since the country started to go astray. This call is meant to mind the need to rebuild Uganda my mother country, to make it better for ourselves and the children of our own that will live after we shall be no more. On the other hand, you need not to look at me as one who appreciates no work done by those who have led you and me. Surely they have brought us to this point which cannot fail to notice. However, we must stand together and challenge them for the many mistakes they have done for quite a number of years which have led our country to be a lair for corrupt citizens. It is the time to revitalise our patriotism spirit which we ought to pass on to our children and grandchildren. We must educate our children to love and work for their country. We should teach them to respect each other and also teach them to respect what they write down to direct their country. It is time now to revisit the early ages which we, who think are modern, call primitive ages of our grand parents. They lived a harmonious and respectful life with regard to one another. They shared the few resources that they could access and worked hard to preserve them for us who are the present generations. This they did through creating proverbs, fables, songs, poems and legends. In fact they played their part. They did not go for the education we go for today but they were more educated than we are. They seem to not to have reached the level of civilisation we think we have reached yet they were more civilised than we are, they seem not have studied moral ethics the way we do it to day, yet they were more ethical than we are today. Life to them was a gift from God and so was revered but today life means nothing compared to wealth. Who is more civilised, them or you and me?

The time is now when you and I have to stop slumbering. Time is now when we should say NO to what degrades our human nature. Uganda is among the third world countries, yet it has lots of resources. Our leaders have sold those resources which we would have used to develop ourselves. They have shared our country amongst themselves without consulting us. For we are only saying: God will see them on the last day. God played his part and the rest is left to you and me because he endowed us with reason, the capacity to differentiate the good from the bad. The work is for you and me. It should be a collective effort. We must be bold enough to challenge our leaders without sparing any of them. You are very aware of the situation in government hospitals where we all go and find no medicine, or where we go and find no personnel or where we are treated as though we were not taxpayers. You know very well of our transport systems in the country where we suffer as if there were no people to defend us. Christmas comes and everyone hikes the transport fares when our leaders are just seated in their offices. We are aware of the so-called road repairs which are done today and tomorrow pot holes are back in the roads. We are very much aware of the buildings under which many Ugandans, your brothers and sisters have perished and the constructors have gone unquestioned. We are all aware of the traffic lights that function only when there is an important person from outside coming in the country. We have heard of theft cases which have been reported in the courts of law but the laws have not been observed. I think we have seen and heard of many events which call each one us to get angry and start up a battle that will change the situation.

The 10th July 2008 is a very remarkable day in my life. It is the day I first stood before a person who was said to be a lawyer/judge in Lukaya trading centre on Masaka Kampala High way. The case that was reported against me was over speeding. I acknowledged it. But one thing that made me uncomfortable was the amount of money the gentleman and his co-worker a lady asked for as a penalty. They took 500,000/= which in fact they shared amongst themselves. The lawyer was an aged man with grey who seemed to be sane and in fact a man of integrity. To my surprise, he did not act to my expectations based on the way I negotiated with him to be able to leave the place. This is the Uganda that we must liberate. It is a task for us all which we must do collectively with a spirit of love for our state. Children have suckled corruption, theft, shamelessness and duplicity from their mothers’ breasts. It is because of this that you have been able to hear or witness different outrageous events such the embezzlement of the NSSF money, the Global Fund saga, and many other scandalous events of our time that have been silenced. We the Ugandans have kept quiet and no one dares to stand up to call for justice. On the other hand, justice is just a word. It makes no meaning within our country. It is today that we should stand up to give justice meaning and teach it to our children and grand children.

I believe, the so-called developed states have reached where they are because the nationals therein have the love for their states. It is a result of the efforts of the parents who instil in their children that patriotic spirit which I advocate now. Dying intestate should not be heard of anymore because we all have what we can put in our will: the reminder to our children and grand children to be patriotic, to grow with a spirit of upholding their mother state-Uganda. In fact this is a task for each of us. Before one should entrust his/her material property to his/her children or and grand children, one must begin his will by calling upon them to love their nation and protect it jealously. It is through this that Uganda will be one day a country where every citizen will desire to be. We do not need to purchase arms to do this, but words, action, determination and focus will prove what I advocate herein.

When I advocate the need to join hands and work for a better Uganda, am not asking for charity but rather there is a genuine cause that needs your attention. The cause that I talk about here is the preservation of our mother Uganda through hard work.

Rick Harris brings it to our awareness that the America Spirit was conceived when the American founding fathers embraced their highest vision of what their country could be. They formed these ideals so all Americans could have a level playing field in which to pursue happiness and to find fulfilment in life. They knew all humans were created equal, and so have the right to share equal opportunities wherever they are. This should inform us of the fact that we are the founding fathers of a habitable Uganda which our children and grand children will live to enjoy. We therefore need to devise a system that recognizes our creative potential and create an environment which provides freedom for us and our children to express our individual talents and unique differences.

we should aim to work for a peaceful country free from corruption and where rational freedom will flourish. It is that we the founding fathers want our children and grand to have because Uganda in Africa was a peaceful country free tyrants, corruption, tribalism and class struggle. Our country will stand strong because of people like you and myself who have a vision. It will stand strong because we the founding fathers will have kindled a light that will not die for the centuries to come.

My words today are meant for you who listen to me. You possess a patriotic spirit for Uganda. I who am a staunch catholic hail the forefathers in my faith, the Uganda martyrs, who are our ancestors in faith. Every catholic honours them and cherishes their brave actions of choosing what they though was the right path. We should emulate them not on spiritual grounds though. We should lay a foundation for a better Uganda as they did for the Catholic Church in Uganda for me who am a catholic. They made history, history that is still stand so long as the church stands. They made sensible and memorable history which we should make for our ourselves and our grand children to come.

we have leaders who have no idea of what was sacrificed to make our fore fathers who shaped our Uganda to the time we have spoiled it. Whatever culture we are from comes next and not the other way round.

we need to move from a tribal or cultural mentality to a collective culture. However, there is no way we shall have that collective culture unless we educate ourselves and erase that mentality of “you are a Muganda and you are a Munyankole or Karimajong” among other tribes. I believe, ladies and gentlemen that we can aspire to be whatever we are capable of being so long as we are united. I am hopeful that from the talk we read now all listen to we have started to feel the pressing need to pass on to the younger generation an appreciation and a love for this country.

it is time ladies and gentlemen to learn to say NO to corruption, dictatorship and unlawful governance which prevail in your offices and homes. It is time to see value in my fellow human being and learn to respect him or her. It is time now to learn to be shameful for any malpractice in our areas of work.
We should work for a better Uganda bearing in mind that even if we do not enjoy the fruits of our sweats, we shall be remembered even on the national calendar for the work done to liberate our mother Uganda. I have already started my part by calling upon you all to join the march on the way to a better Uganda through speech and boring talks which may be meaningless to many of my dear friends I share ideas with but who cannot say “stop” because they fear to lose the bread they get from me or because they are cowards. Surely, I am not here to amuse any one of you but to agitate you so that you wake leave here with a changed mind and ready to embark on the task.

Memorial Day represents a day of national awareness and reverence, honouring those Americans who died defending our Nation and its values. And while we should honour these heroes everyday for the profound contribution they have made securing our Nation’s freedom, we should honour them most especially on this day.

Memorial Day solemnly reaffirms from year to year a national act of faith, determination, and will of the American people. It embodies in the most impressive form our belief that to act with strength, courage, and faith is the condition for acting with greatness.

As I said earlier, the condition of the American family is the condition of our country, just as the health of our individual cells determines the health of our bodies. I can remember when there was a time in our family discussions to talk about our country, “the land of the free and the home of the brave” and that patriotic spirit would be passed along to young and enthusiastic listeners.

it is only in Ugandans, be they immigrant but working to develop Uganda, that the spirit of Uganda lives. We are the liberators or betrayers of our mother country.

If we do not pass on to the younger generation an understanding and appreciation for the principles upon which our grand fathers founded Uganda, we might eventually lose our country. Uganda may end up slowly sinking, and that is the stated goal of our enemies.

To me, as I look to the future, I want to serve the spirit of Uganda. I want to know the spiritual intent of our founding fathers ad understand the values and principles they used to construct the Constitution that guided them to live humanly free from corruption, aimless wars, tyranny and terrorism. I should not be held wrong to believe that our founding fathers and mothers knew the value of personal freedom and felt that humans were endowed by God with certain rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is what we have lost and now in the struggle to get back.
God bless us and help us know the good and give us the strength to distinguish it from the evil. For God and my country.

By
Jude M.DK

Foknieuws.nl:

18-07-2009,

Financieel journalist Max Keiser ging deze week compleet uit zijn dak in een interview op financieel nieuwszender France24 over het handelen van de grootste Amerikaanse zakenbank Goldman Sachs. De bank rapporteerde afgelopen dinsdag een recordwinst van 3,4 miljard dollar.

Goldman are scum
Keiser noemde de bank ’scum’ en zegt dat Goldman samenwerkt met de Amerikaanse overheid, het ministerie van Financiën, de Amerikaanse centrale bank de Fed en de Obama-regering: “Barack Obama danst op de Goldman Sachs-tune.”

Op een opmerking van de interviewer dat de vorige minister van Financiën Hank Paulson een ex-CEO van Goldman was zei Keiser: “Het zijn allemaal Goldman-scum, of het nu Hank Paulson is, of de huidige minister van Financiën Timothy Geithner, ze hebben allemaal diepe banden met de zakenbank.”…

Lees het volledige artikel op:  frontpage.fok.nl

Deel 1:

Deel 2:

SOURCE:HUMANITE’.FR PAR MAUD DUGRAND

Par François Pierre Barriaux photographe et chroniqueur musical de Rouen  | www.rfiengreve.info
 
Sale temps pour les radios, pourtant premier média libre, immédiat et populaire [...] voici un monument de la bande radiophonique mondiale qui est en danger.

Radio France Internationale est une radio à part par sa forme. Radio Internationale, elle constitue une première source d’information “étrangère” dans bien des pays, où de plus la francophilie est de mise. En Amérique du Sud, en Afrique et en Europe de l’Est, elle est considérée comme indispensable.

La radio constituait également petit un de mes premiers fantasme de web à l’époque où celui-ci n’était que rangé dans des cartons poussiéreux de la défense américaine : en regardant le vieux poste de ma grand -mère, je voyais des noms de villes étrangères : Bruxelles, Moscou, Budapest.. Et j’imaginai qu’un jour je pourrai entendre ces radios avec ce poste. Aujourd’hui, je le fais, avec un poste wifi, un peu moins joli mais tellement plus efficace.

RFI a une place à part lorsqu’il s’agit de penser radio. La radio locale que j’ai contribué à construire avec des amis et que je rejoins certainement de nouveau à la rentrée doit beaucoup à RFI qui à travers le réseau EPRA nous a permis d’avoir un vrai journal international de qualité à diffuser et de voir des programmes de notre production (les miens, parfois) diffusé dans le réseau, y compris sur RFI. Ce journal est le seul qui me permettait de savoir tel coup d’état ou telle manifestation, tel évènement ou tel vote dans des pays improbables pour les 20h télévisés qui se repaissent de la faisande pipolesque.

Aujourd’hui, RFI est malade. Pas d’une maladie qu’on attrape, mais de celle qu’on vous inocule. RFI crève d’un dogmatisme exacerbé et d’une vision assez italienne des médias publics qui veut imposer des choix , au profit d’une chaine de télévision ; France 24, gadget de bric et de broc que personne ne regarde, ou juste pour se rendre compte de sa vacuité et de sa complaisance (voir notamment l’enterrement mondialement primordial de Bongo diffusé durant deux heures dans le monde entier…). Malade parce que en déficit, selon le bon dogme économique du “si tu veux tuer ton chien, dis qu’il a la rage”, si l’on en croit Bakchich.

Malade aussi parce que l’odeur fétide de la Françafrique semble s’emparer de plus en plus de l’antenne, si l’on en croit le Diplo. Au delà des licenciements, c’est la possibilité d’entendre une radio qui soit une vraie radio internationale en langue française fait par des journalistes libre qui est en danger… Au profit d’un mainate médusé de la “Voix de la France” ?

Puisse la lutte des salariés de RFI porter ses fruits.

Plus d’info sur www.rfiengreve.info

Paul Kagame is a War Criminal

The arrest was a surprise because Rwanda ’s military and Kagame, himself, had been supporting Nkunda’s “terror” in the eastern Congo for years. The Times later reported that Nkunda is not actually imprisoned in Rwanda , and that the real reason for the “arrest” may have been that he had become a political liability for Kagame. He simply knows too much about Rwandan crimes in the Congo and during the 1994 Rwandan “genocide” for Kagame to permit him to remain “on the loose.”

And, with good reason.

Over the past two years, many different sources have exposed the ongoing crimes of the Kagame government and military, both before and after Kagame seized power in Rwanda in July 1994. Long a favorite of the Clinton and Bush administrations (U.S. diplomatic recognition was immediate, and U.S. military advisors were in Rwanda within days), Kagame’s crimes are reaching huge proportions that require him, and his U.S. admirers, to do something to divert attention from Kagame’s own responsiblity for Nkunda’s crimes, as well as many, many others, committed over the past two-decades, including “genocide.”

UN and Media Confirm: “Kagame is the Author of Massive Congo Crimes”

In addition to the Times article, in early December Kagame’s Congo crimes were further documented in a December 12, 2008 UN Security Council-commissioned report that describes Rwanda ’s 12-year occupation of a huge part of the Congo 5-times larger than Rwanda , itself. The UN report, which was also widely reported by the international media, makes clear that the Kagame’s Rwandan-elites, and well-connected Ugandans in the north, are getting rich on the resources of the Congo , while killing more than 6-million Africans in the process.

More people are being killed in the Congo every 4-6 months than the 250,000 that have been killed in Darfur in the past 10-years, allegedly by a Sudanese government the U.S. opposes.

A fact that raises disturbing questions about why the international “human rights” community has been relatively quiet about the massive crimes in the Congo , by surrogates the U.S. supports.

But this is not really new information for anyone paying close attention to the tragedy unfolding in the Congo . According to Security Council reports in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2008; reports by third-world “raw-materials watchdog” Global Witness; and, even President Clinton’s former Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Herman J. Cohen, (IHT December 13, 2008), Rwandan and Ugandan invasions of the Congo since 1996 have been fueled by the grab for Congo’s raw materials, and that neither Nkunda nor “hutu-militias” are the real reasons for the decades-long war, that again threatens to explode, in a repeat of the1998-2002 “First “World War of Africa.”

Kagame’s “About Face” on Nkunda: A Strategy for His Own Survival

The four UN reports, make clear that Rwanda has used the presence of Rwandan refugees in the Congo as justification for Rwanda ’s “resource grab.” Of the 2-million Rwandans who fled Kagame’s regime, only a small number could possibly have been involved in 1994 crimes and it is their sons and grandsons who are in the camps in the Congo , today. The arrest of Nkunda is yet another fig-leaf to cover the naked plunder that preceded Nkunda’s Congo adventure, and will go on after his “arrest”, at least until Kagame of Rwanda and Museveni of Uganda, are compelled to withdraw from the Congo fields of “blood-diamonds,” “blood-casserite (tin)” and “blood-coltan (cellphones)” that have turned their respective capitals into international trading centers for mineral riches not found in either country….as UN reports over many years have described.

Kagame’s abrupt “about face” in supporting Nkunda does nothing to reduce Rwanda’s long-established resource grab-inspired military dominance of the eastern Congo, but does show that Kagame is being forced to change his tactics, to disguise Rwanda’s actual role in the creating and supporting violence wracking the African Great Lakes region. The most recent invasion to arrest Nkunda is a clever diversionary tactic. But, the UN report and Nkunda’s “bad press” are not Mr. Kagame’s only problems of late.

Kagame’s Problems Deepen as Proof of His Own Crimes Grows

Following the December 2008 UN report, the Netherlands and Sweden cut-off all foreign aid to Rwanda , and others are considering doing so too. Other EU countries are taking their own actions as the true nature of the Kagame regime is being revealed. In early 2008, Spain indicted 40-leading members of Kagame’s government which followed a late 2006 French indictment charging Kagame and his followers with assassinating former Rwandan and Burundian presidents, the crime that triggered 1994 civilian-on-civilian killings in Rwanda.

The Spanish indictment details genocidal-style killings of more than 300,000 civilians by Kagame’s troops during, and after, the 1994 war. Before this indictment, the defendants in the dock at the ICTR had been blamed for all the mass-killings in Rwanda . But, because only the losing-side in the Rwanda war are in the dock, it is clear that the story of the “Rwanda-genocide” will have to be re-examined.

Particularly after it was revealed last year that U.S. Ambassador Pierre Prosper ordered ICTR prosecutor Carla Del Ponte to be removed from office, when she insisted on prosecuting Kagame for the assasination of the former president, the crime that touched-off the “Rwanda genocide” because U.S. policy was to protect Kagame, despite the evidence of his guilt.

In November 2008, Germany also arrested one of Kagame’s retinue under INTERPOL warrants based on the Spanish and French indictment. But, perhaps the least noticed, but potentially most important exposure of the manipulation of the ” Rwanda genocide” story to “cover-up” the crimes of Kagame’s military and government occurred at the UN Tribunal for Rwanda in December 2008.

The UN Rwanda Tribunal December 2008:

“No Genocide Conspiracy or Planning”

On December 18, 2008, a three-judge panel in the Military-1 case at the UN tribunal acquitted the top four military officers of the former Rwandan government of charges of “conspiracy to commit genocide” and “genocide planning”…which completely rejects the whole “Rwanda-story” that has been told by the Kagame regime July 1994, as a way of explaining the massacres that occurred during the 100-assault to seize power that began with Kagame’s assassination of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi on April 6, 1994.

Not only were the four officers acquitted of conspiracy and planning genocide, including “architect of the genocide” Col. Theoneste Bagosora, the highest ranking officer, General Gratien Kabiligi, was acquitted of all charges and was released from more than 10-years of custody. The three-judge panel in the Military-1 case was the first to in the history of the Tribunal to have been presented with long-suppressed UN and US government files that make clear that Kagame and his RPF were the aggressors and Kagame’s military-strategy actually prevented both sides from using troops to stop the massacres the assassination of the two presidents touched off.[2]

The recently revealed documents, and testimony at the UN Tribunal ,confirm that massive civilian-on-civilian violence was predicted to erupt in Rwanda as a consequence of war, because of similar massacres that occurred in neighboring Burundi in late 1993, when the first popularly-elected Burundian president was assassinated by Kagame’s Burundi-military allies. In fact, in late 1993 the US ambassador to Rwanda personally warned Kagame that he would be responsible for the same kind of massive violence, if he resumed the war.

Now evidence ICTR evidence shows that Kagame not only resumed the war, but assassinated two presidents as the opening shot, triggering the same massive killings that had already happened in Burundi six months before.

Previously suppressed UN documents also show that two-weeks after he assassinated Rwandan President Habyarimana…along with a second Burundian president, Kagame told UN General Dallaire that he would not use his troops to stop the massacres because he was winning the war, and the civilian deaths were only “collateral damage for his their war-plan. The April 22, 1994 memo reporting this conversation is in the ICTR evidence.

Kagame also repeatedly refused a ceasefire, proposed by the former military to use troops to stop the massacres touched-off by Habyarimana’s assassination. Documents from the former government repeatedly asking for a ceasefire, and Kagame’s rejections, are also in the ICTR record that the 3-judge panel had before it.

The Unraveling of U.S./UK-Assisted “Cover-up” of Kagame’s Crimes

But, the formerly suppressed documents also reveal that U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher knew of Kagame’s mass-crimes no later than Sept 17, 1994. Other documents confirm a U.S.-engineered “cover-up” of Kagame’s crimes has been going on since that time. UN documents confirm that the UN knew about mass civilian-killings by Kagame’s forces by May 17, 1994, at the latest.

The documents also establish that the UN prosecutor and former Canadian Supreme Court Justice, Louise Arbour, knew that Kagame had assassinated the former President in 1997, but refused to act despite the recommendation a former FBI agent; an Australian Queen’s Prosecutor; and UN Gen. Dallaire’s own Chief of Military Intelligence. First she refused to prosecute, then shut down the investigation team completely. All of this was merely prelude to Bush administration Ambassador Pierre Prosper removing Ms. Del Ponte from office in 2003, because of his usefulness to the U.S.

Now we know that, because Kagame’s Rwanda crimes were covered-up by the U.S. in 1994, and because he was not prosecuted at the ICTR for the assassination of the previous president in 1997 (when Bagosora and other Military-1 defendants were arrested) he has been free to rape the Congo of its riches and to massacre millions. The thousands of pages of UN and U.S. government documents in ICTR evidence, and subsequent events in the Congo will require re-writing the entire story of the “ Rwanda genocide.”

IF Kagame was the “good-guy” in Rwanda (despite the ICTR evidence that the 100-days of hell that his assassination of Habyarimana triggered, and which he told Dallaire in April 1994 was all part of his war-plan), the 2001-08 UN-Security Council reports of Kagame’s crimes in the Congo show that he and his military must have done complete “about-face” of another kind, as soon as they took power in Rwanda in July 1994.

Kagame Has Found Nkunda Expendable – Will President Obama Continue U.S. It “Kagame Impunity” Policy?

Mr. Nkunda must now appreciate the well-known risks of relying on a patron for one’s own power…the patron may no-longer have need of the client’s services. Nkunda has merely found himself in a situation similar to Panama ’s U.S.-sponsored dictator Manuel Noriega, whose arrest was used to justify the invasion of Panama by the Bush-1 administration, when Noriega outlived his Cold War usefulness.

And, this is not even the first time that Rwanda has invaded the Congo remove a “no-longer-useful” leader. In 1996, Congo ’s president for 30-plus “Cold War” years, Mobutu Sese Seko, was removed in a joint Rwanda/Uganda U.S. and U.K.-supported invasion, and replaced by Ugandan-client Joseph Kabila, once Mobutu’s value as an anti-communist “bulwark” was outweighed by the public relations-downside of his well-known criminal rule.

At least Nkunda can be grateful that he didn’t meet the same fate as another leader who ran afoul of U.S. interests in the Congo in an earlier era. In 1961 Patrice Lumumba was assassinated, not arrested. Of course, if Nkunda begins to spill what he knows about Kagame’s crimes in Rwanda and the Congo ….”accidents” can happen.

The most recent Rwandan invasion to throw Nkunda “under the bus” in an effort to shore-up Kagame’s image is actually an admission of the deep trouble in which Kagame finds himself, and the deep embarrassment he is becoming to his U.S. and U.K. patrons, who have protected him for over a decade. The December 2008 UN report; the European indictments; and, the formerly suppressed documents in ICTR evidence, taken together, raise the real possibility that the Obama administration may find that Mr. Kagame has also outlived his usefulness. When that day arrives, Paul Kagame’s name will be added to the long list of former U.S. clients who outlived their usefulness and paid the price, like Noriega and Mobutu, but also, lest we forget….Saddam Hussein.

THE ONLY MORAL U.S.-AFRICA POLICY: END SUPPORT FOR KAGAME

Cutting off all western aid to Rwanda, like the Dutch and the Swedes; arresting Kagame and his henchmen under existing INTERPOL warrants, like the Germans; and prosecuting Kagame at the UN Rwanda Tribunal, or the International Criminal Court, will save far more African lives than any “foreign-aid for Africa” program than President Obama or Secretary of State Clinton could possibly conceive. One difficulty, of course, is that the “cover-up” of Kagame’s 1994 crimes in Rwanda was initiated under her predecessor Warren Christopher….Bill Clinton ’s Secretary of State. Which, in turn, raises difficult questions about Clinton ’s foreign policy in central Africa , as well.

If Mr. Kagame ever does find himself in the dock, after having been “Saddamized” by his former patrons, it will be very interesting to learn what he will have to say about his own crimes in the Congo and in Rwanda…and his “special relationship” with several US administrations that has assisted the “cover-up” of those crimes.…which, may have something to do with why the “Kagame Impunity” policy as continued this long..

On January 24, Rwandan President Paul Kagame sent 4,000 troops into the Congo to arrest rebel “tutsi”-warlord, Laurent Nkunda, and wipe-out the remaining “hutu-genocidaires” lurking in the eastern Congo . As the New York Times reported in early December 2008, Nkunda is a former Rwandan Army officer and many of his troops also came from Rwanda , including child-soldiers recruited with Rwandan assistance.

The arrest was a surprise because Rwanda ’s military and Kagame, himself, had been supporting Nkunda’s “terror” in the eastern Congo for years. The Times later reported that Nkunda is not actually imprisoned in Rwanda , and that the real reason for the “arrest” may have been that he had become a political liability for Kagame. He simply knows too much about Rwandan crimes in the Congo and during the 1994 Rwandan “genocide” for Kagame to permit him to remain “on the loose.”

Prof. Peter Erlinder teaches at the Wm. Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul , MN

[1] Prof. of Law, Wm. Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, MN; past-President, National Lawyers Guild, NY; President, ICTR-ADAD (Association des Avocats de la Defence), Arusha, TZ; Lead-counsel, ICTR-Military-1 Trial, Ntabakuze Defence. 651-290-6384/ peter.erlinder@wmitchell.edu

[2] In the interests of full disclosure: As Ntabakuze Lead Defence Counsel, these documents were unearthed and put into ICTR evidence for the first time by the author between 2005 and 2007.