IGIHE

Author: IGIHE

  • Bujumbura Accused in Geneva

    {The Commission of Inquiry on Burundi presented its report to the Human Rights Council. It talks about ongoing serious crimes.}

    “A deep and widespread sense of fear,” this is evidenced by the testimonies gathered by the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi. During the 35th session, an oral report was submitted. This is a second report because the first one was presented at the March session.

    The chairman of the commission, Fatsah Ouguergouz, talks about fear and persecution. He also mentions cases of people who are afraid of testifying for fear of reprisals and those who are reluctant to return home despite repeated calls by the Government. “The scope and gravity of human rights violations and abuses in Burundi since April 2015 have been confirmed,” he said.

    Because of the lack of access to Burundi, the commission traveled extensively into the countries of the sub-region. Many Burundians in exile were interviewed. In total, more than 470 testimonies of human rights violations have been gathered since April 2015. And since the end of 2016, these violations have been committed in a more discreet but equally brutal way.

    The commission reported extrajudicial executions, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary arrests and forced detentions and disappearances, often accompanied by demands for ransoms.

    The commission said many of these violations have been committed by members of the National Intelligence Service and Police, sometimes assisted by members of the youth league of the ruling party, the Imbonerakure.

    The victims are essentially the opponents of the government in place, including members of FNL and MSD political parties. They are targeted regardless of their ethnicity.

    {{Torture}}

    The description of torture sessions contained in the report is horrible: use of clubs, rifle butts, bayonets, iron bars, metal chains and electric cables with the result that some victims’ bones were broken and other victims lost consciousness; needles stuck into victims’ bodies or unidentified products injected into them; nails ripped out with pliers; burns; and many abuses inflicted on male detainees’ genital organs. “In several cases, acts of torture and ill-treatment were accompanied by violent insults and death threats, including of an ethnic nature”, said Fatsah Ouguergouz.

    {{“Nothing good for Burundi”}}

    No delegation from Burundi was sent to Geneva except its Ambassador dispatched to the scene to represent Burundi. The government said it didn’t expect anything good from this session of the Human Rights Council. “After analyzing the first oral report, we note that this is an extension of the report by the United Nations Independent Investigation on Burundi-UNIIB,” declared the Minister of Human Rights, Martin Nivyabandi, the day before the release by the commission. According to him, the government found it biased and politically oriented. The government has refuted what it describes as untruths contained in these reports and their biased character. This is another reason for Bujumbura to believe that the Thursday’s report was a copy of that of UNIIB. For Bujumbura, the objective is to incriminate by all means the highest authorities of the country.

    The government made cutting remarks to the European Union. It accused EU of forcing the establishment of the current Commission of Inquiry contrary to the practices of the Council which favors consensus for the adoption of resolutions on a country. It said the commission of inquiry has no raison d’être. It would not add new elements to the UNIIB report. For the Government, Burundi remains ready to cooperate with anyone for the defense and promotion of human rights “provided that professionalism is de rigueur and that relations respect the sovereignty of the country”. This is essentially the position of Bujumbura.

    Source:Iwacu

  • South Africa, Rwanda sign environmental cooperation agreement

    {The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Eda Molewa, and the Minister of Natural Resources of the Republic of Rwanda, Dr Vincent Biruta, have signed an environmental cooperation agreement between the two countries.}

    Ministers Molewa and Biruta met in Kigali, Rwanda, on 16 June 2017 to discuss the significance of sustainable development in the protection and enhancement of the environment, as well as the importance of a clean environment on the health and well-being of the peoples of the two countries, and the African continent.

    In signing the Letter of Intent, the Ministers have agreed to share the commitment to implement the principles set of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development’s (UNCED) Agenda 21 developed in 1992. The Minister have also undertaken to work towards the effective implementation of the UN Sustainable Development agenda through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) signed at the UN General Assembly in September 2015.

    The agreement notes that South Africa and Rwanda are aware of the regional and global nature of environmental issues and the need to find cost-effective and long-term solutions in addressing these issues through international cooperation and the importance of coordinating joint activities of the two Parties.

    “South Africa and Rwanda share the common concern and responsibility to enhance cooperation in the fields of environmental protection and sustainable development for present and future generations,” said Dr Molewa.

    The Minister added that cooperation with regard to environmental protection us of mutual benefit, and enhances the friendly relations between the two countries.

    In terms of the Agreement, South Africa and Rwanda will cooperate in the fields of biodiversity conservation and the sustainable utilisation of biological resources; protected areas management; the illegal wildlife trade; environmental monitoring, compliance and enforcement, sustainable consumption and cleaner consumption, the development of the green economy in both countries, and other areas mutually agreed upon.

    A heard of elephants in Akagera National Park.Countering illegal wildlife trade is part of agreements signed between Rwanda and South Africa.

    Source:All Africa

  • Rwanda and Zambia have re-committed to strengthen bilateral ties

    {The two countries made the vow yesterday as President Paul Kagame kicked off a two-day state visit to Zambia.}

    On the first day of his visit, President Kagame held bilateral talks with his host President Edgar Lungu. The two leaders discussed areas of shared interests.

    “Rwanda and Zambia have a lot in common, despite the distance between our two countries. We both aspire to a higher quality of life for our people, and our continent. Our capitals are now linked by RwandAir. We should look forward to increased ties,” President Kagame said.

    The two Heads of State noted that trade between the two countries is still significantly small and can be enhanced through increased mutual export and import. They vowed to encourage more interactions between their respective people towards building strong economic ties.

    Trade between the two countries has been on an upward trend with imports from Zambia averaging $11.6 million (Rwf 10 billion) last year up from $2.8 million (Rwf 2.4 billion) in 2015. Zambia is among the top exporting countries to Rwanda, ranking 8th, which represents almost three percent of total imports in 2016.

    President Kagame further thanked the Zambian government for the hospitality shown to Rwandan refugees who have lived in the country for over two decades, and called on them to repatriate.

    “We have been a country that has produced a big number of refugees because of our tragic history and politics. Our message to our people is that we want all of them to come back. To those abroad, do not abuse the hospitality given,” the President added.

    The delegations of Rwanda and Zambia in bilateral talks yesterday.

  • Poor adolescent diet may influence brain and behavior in adulthood

    {Adolescent male mice fed a diet lacking omega-3 fatty acids show increased anxiety-like behavior and worse performance on a memory task in adulthood, according to new research published in The Journal of Neuroscience. The study suggests adequate nutrition in adolescence is important for the refinement of the adult brain and behavior.}

    The structure and function of the brain continue to change throughout adolescence, at the same time that teenagers gain increasing independence and begin to make their own food choices. Since high-calorie, low-quality diets tend to be more affordable than healthy ones, teenagers may opt for foods that lack key nutrients important for brain health such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), which cannot be produced by the human body and must be obtained from foods such as fish and vegetables.

    Oliver Manzoni and colleagues fed mice a balanced diet until early adolescence, when some mice were switched to a diet lacking n-3 PUFAs. Mice fed the poor diet during adolescence had reduced levels of n-3 PUFA in the medial prefrontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens in adulthood compared to control mice. The low-quality diet impaired the brain’s ability to fine-tune connections between neurons in these regions.

    The study suggests adequate nutrition in adolescence is important for the refinement of the adult brain and behavior.

    Source:Science Daily

  • Youth in Eastern Province urged to be agents of positive change

    {The youth from the Eastern Province have been encouraged to be agents of positive change to ensure safer societies, and be part of Rwanda’s transformation.}

    The call was made by the Governor of the Eastern Province, Judith Kazayire on June 18 while meeting over 400 youths in Mukarange Sector.

    The Governor noted that young people have been key players in the transformation of the country including taking a leading role in its liberation.

    Flanked by the Regional Police Commander (RPC) Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dismas Rutaganira, Governor Kazayire, said that the prevailing peace and security was brought about by young people and “should be maintained by young generation of today.”

    She pointed out that new emerging security threats such as cybercrimes, human trafficking and money laundering target or are carried out by unguided young generations.

    ACP Dismas Rutaganira on his part urged them to shun from any unlawful conduct which may lead them into conflict with the law.

    He urged the youth to make their communities crime-free to pave way for sustainable development activities.

    “Prosperity cannot be registered in an insecure community,” said the RPC

    He further appealed to them to increase neighbourhood watch as a measure of prevention of any potential criminals who may hide among the community.

    ACP Rutaganira sternly warned them against abusing psychotropic substance abuse which has serious legal and health imprecations.

    Source:Police

  • 5 things that cause you pimples and how you can rid your face of them

    {Pimples are small rashes that appear on the body, especially on the face, as a result of irritation. Pimples are annoying, nobody likes them, and they affect people of all ages, although they’re more common with teenagers and younger adults.
    }

    Like I already mentioned, pimples are caused by irritation on (in) the skin, so to avoid them, you simply must avoid possible irritation and causal agents.

    These things that mostly cause irritation include;

    {{Body lotion (or cream) }}

    As we differ in our thinking and functionality, we are also different in the ways we react to things. The body is built to fight harmful chemicals and germs, but it’s not everything that it can fight in the long run, so you have to be careful what you apply and put on your body so you do not endanger yourself.

    Body lotions are made with all sorts of chemicals and ingredients. Some of these, our bodies can handle and accept well, and others, it can’t. When the body doesn’t accept something, it shows as irritation, which could be pimples. So you must be wary of what lotions and body creams you use. If you notice you suddenly start to suffer pimples after using a particular beauty product, you might want to stop and try another before things get out of control.

    {{Insufficient water intake }}

    Water is important for the body’s health, not just because it helps digestion, but because it also helps maintain the temperature level of the body. Pimples can be caused by heat, drinking enough water can make the story different.

    {{Overexposure to Sunlight,stress and sex }}

    Stress is unhealthy. It can lead to a young death, but asides that, it can cause a great deal of pimples. The more you subject yourself to stress, the more pimples you’re likely to get. The same applies to sunlight. I did mention before now that heat causes pimples too. Avoid these things and excessive sex because it’s been said that the more sperm you release from your body, the more likely you’re to suffer pimples attack.

    {{Bathroom habits }}

    You don’t clean up well when it’s shower time? You don’t use the sponge responsibly in the bathroom? You could be handing out an invitation to pimples. Clean up well in the bathroom and don’t scrub too hard on your face. Scrub gently, and you’ll see how good your face will look.

    {{What you eat }}

    Foods like margarine (butter), groundnut, chips, can increase your chances of getting pimples in a minute. The main reason is that these foods contain a certain kind of acid which increases the chances of an inflammation happening on your skin.

    It’s advised you stay away from these types of food, and consume more foods containing omega-3 fatty acids, like fish for example. This is to balance your consumption of butter, groundnut etc which contain omega- 6 fatty acids.

    Source:Elcrema

  • Community policing:A people centred policing in Rwanda

    {Rwanda National Police (RNP) was formed in the year 2000 with the responsibility to uphold the law, prevent crime, pursue and bring to justice those who break the law, protect, help and reassure the people and do this with integrity, and sound judgement. At the time, RNP had about 3500 officers to Police a population of nearly 10 million. Achieving such a mission with relatively few staff required well thought strategies, dynamic and actionable plans that would address contemporarily policing challenges and emerging security threats particularly so in a post genocide environment. The method that was chosen and that was to remain the backbone of RNP policing style to date was the Community Policing strategy.}

    Community Policing is a philosophy premised on Police Public Partnership and characterised by proactive approaches and activities that combine awareness campaigns against crime with human security initiatives which create opportunities for Police- Public interaction. This helps to uplift the quality of life for the communities and addresses concerns that would otherwise give rise to security issues and crime. A Community Policing model has been illustrated by the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

    RNP Community Policing is hinged on core values of: Justice and respect for human rights, gender sensitivity, Integrity, teamwork and partnership, openness accountability, community relations focus, Professional conduct, efficiency and effectiveness.

    In this context the Community Policing Department has initiated the following activities: Social media interaction and engagements, a website, electronic and print publications, toll free telephone lines for emergence in partnership with Telephone Service Providers, groups of active community policing partners have been composed. They include over 1500 Youth Volunteers in Community Policing (YVCP), Anticrime Ambassadors, 150,000 Community Policing Committees (CPCs), 1640 Anti-clubs in schools, transport associations, media fraternity, artists, faith based organizations and government and private institutions that have signed 45 MoU with RNP.

    In the same vein, Human security activities geared towards improving the well being of communities and promotion of positive attitude have been initiated. They include but are not limited to : Construction of houses for the vulnerable households, participation in “Girinka” national project, supporting motorcyclist cooperatives to build their capacities, afforestation- 500 Ha were planted by Police countrywide, helping vulnerable families to pay health insurance ( Mutueelle de santé), distribution of solar systems to the needy in the framework of the national policy of off grid rural electrification and construction of football pitch among others.

    The results have been tremendous!!

    Crime prevention, reporting, and the spirit and will of the people to be involved in securitization initiatives is undoubtedly on the positive note.

    The bigger picture attests to these facts: Rwanda was ranked the 1st country in Africa and 21st globally where citizens trust and rely on Police services to enforce law and order, according to the 2014-2015 World Economic Forum-Global Competitiveness Report.

    Again, in the 2015 Gallup report on Law and Order which measured people’s sense of personal security as well as their experiences with law enforcement, Rwanda and Indonesia tied in 4th position globally at 85%. Singapore, Norway, and Spain led.The report was based on more than 142,000 interviews with adults in 141 countries. Again, the recent Report by Rwanda Governance Board published on 14 November 2016 ranked Rwanda National Police Public trust at 97.4 %, and the global competitive index of 2015 reported Rwanda as the best place for woman in Africa and sixth globally- an attribute to which RNP has made its contribution.

    Through Community Policing, combined with other positive governance measures of which Rwanda has no shortage, Rwanda National Police aspires to compare security and crime rates with Switzerland, Singapore, Hongkong, Bahrain, Luxembourg, Japan and others at that level.

    Police joining citizens in community work to create a road.

    Source:Police

  • How viewing cute animals can help rekindle marital spark

    {One of the well-known challenges of marriage is keeping the passion alive after years of partnership, as passions tend to cool even in very happy relationships. In a new study, a team of psychological scientists led by James K. McNulty of Florida State University has developed an unconventional intervention for helping a marriage maintain its spark: pictures of puppies and bunnies.}

    The study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

    Previous research has shown that, in many instances, marriage satisfaction declines even when day-to-day behaviors stay the same. This led McNulty and colleagues to hypothesize that an intervention focused on changing someone’s thoughts about their spouse, as opposed to one that targets their behaviors, might improve relationship quality.

    Specifically, the research team wanted to find out whether it was possible to improve marital satisfaction by subtly retraining the immediate, automatic associations that come to mind when people think about their spouses.

    “One ultimate source of our feelings about our relationships can be reduced to how we associate our partners with positive affect, and those associations can come from our partners but also from unrelated things, like puppies and bunnies,” McNulty explained.

    Repeatedly linking a very positive stimulus to an unrelated one can create positive associations over time — perhaps the most famous example of this kind of conditioned response is Pavlov’s dogs, who salivated at the sound of a bell after being exposed to multiple pairings of meat and the bell sound.

    McNulty and colleagues designed their intervention using a similar kind of conditioning called evaluative conditioning: Images of a spouse were repeatedly paired with very positive words or images (like puppies and bunnies). In theory, the positive feelings elicited by the positive images and words would become automatically associated with images of the spouse after practice.

    Participants in the study included 144 married couples, all under the age of 40 and married for less than 5 years. On average, participants were around 28 years old and around 40% of the couples had children.

    At the start of the study, couples completed a series of measures of relationship satisfaction. A few days later, the spouses came to the lab to complete a measure of their immediate, automatic attitudes toward their partner.

    Each spouse was asked to individually view a brief stream of images once every 3 days for 6 weeks. Embedded in this stream were pictures of their partner. Those in the experimental group always saw the partner’s face paired with positive stimuli (e.g., an image of a puppy or the word “wonderful”) while those in the control condition saw their partner’s face matched to neutral stimuli (e.g., an image of a button).

    Couples also completed implicit measures of attitude towards their partner every 2 weeks for 8 weeks. To measure implicit attitude, each spouse was asked to indicate as quickly as possible the emotional tone of positive and negative words after quickly glimpsing a series of faces, which included their partner’s face.

    The data showed that the evaluative conditions worked: Participants who were exposed to positive images paired with their partner’s face showed more positive automatic reactions to their partner over the course of the intervention compared with those who saw neutral pairings.

    More importantly, the intervention was associated with overall marriage quality: As in other research, more positive automatic reactions to the partner predicted greater improvements in marital satisfaction over the course of the study.

    “I was actually a little surprised that it worked,” McNulty explained. “All the theory I reviewed on evaluative conditioning suggested it should, but existing theories of relationships, and just the idea that something so simple and unrelated to marriage could affect how people feel about their marriage, made me skeptical.”

    It’s important to note that McNulty and colleagues are not arguing that behavior in a relationship is irrelevant to marital satisfaction. They note that interactions between spouses are actually the most important factor for setting automatic associations.

    However, the new findings suggest that a brief intervention focused on automatic attitudes could be useful as one aspect of marriage counseling or as a resource for couples in difficult long-distance situations, such as soldiers.

    “The research was actually prompted by a grant from the Department of Defense — I was asked to conceptualize and test a brief way to help married couples cope with the stress of separation and deployment,” McNulty said. “We would really like to develop a procedure that could help soldiers and other people in situations that are challenging for relationships.”

    Golden retriever puppy. Do you think of puppies and bunnies when you think of your spouse?

    Source:Science Daily

  • Rubavu: Police in campaign against teenage pregnancy

    {Police in Rubavu District have called upon the public especially parents, guardians, teachers and youth from different groups to join efforts in eradicating causes of unplanned and teenage pregnancies.}

    The call was made on June 18 by the District Community Liaison Officer (DCLO) Inspector of Police (IP) Solange Nyiraneza while addressing hundreds of students of Amahoro Secondary School located in Gisenyi Sector during a community outreach exercises.

    The exercise to sensitize the students was organized in conjunction with the Anglican Church of Rwanda, Kivu diocese.

    Nyiraneza urged the schoolgirls to focus on their education and so no to any temptations from men, who try to seduce them.

    She said that to avoid the consequences, interventions have to be made and identify the roles each and every one should play to prevent it.

    “This matter is both an individual and community issue. We can prevent teenage pregnancies and ensure a good future for the children if we all work together and focus on your dreams,” said IP Nyiraneza.

    She added that the issue has caused untold pain to parents, whose dream for their children are shattered, and for victims who sometime choose to use clandestine and self induced abortions methods leading to complications and some resulting into death.

    “Abortion itself is a crime punishable by the law,” she told the students.

    She urged them to report gender and domestic violence, child abuses and sexual related crimes they either witness and experience.

    Claudine Ahimana, the chairperson of Mothers Union, on her part, called upon parents to take full responsibility in raising their children to be responsible citizens and live exemplary lives.

    She said immoral conduct will always be copied by young people

    “If Drunkenness and infidelity is taken as a normal or right way of living, young people will definitely duplicate such conduct consequently leading them into trouble such us unwanted pregnancies” Ahimana noted.

    She also explained that as a results this may lead to abortion, infanticide arguing that often times; the person responsible for the pregnancy refused to take responsibility and that they are not able to give a child basic necessities.

    Source:Police

  • Ancient DNA reveals role of Near East and Egypt in cat domestication

    {DNA found at archaeological sites reveals that the origins of our domestic cat are in the Near East and ancient Egypt. Cats were domesticated by the first farmers some 10,000 years ago. They later spread across Europe and other parts of the world via trade hub Egypt. The DNA analysis also revealed that most of these ancient cats had stripes: spotted cats were uncommon until the Middle Ages.}

    Five subspecies of the wildcat Felis silvestris are known today. All skeletons look exactly alike and are indistinguishable from that of our domestic cat. As a result, it’s impossible to see with the naked eye which of these subspecies was domesticated in a distant past. Paleogeneticist Claudio Ottoni and his colleagues from KU Leuven (University of Leuven) and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences set out to look for the answer in the genetic code. They used the DNA from bones, teeth, skin, and hair of over 200 cats found at archaeological sites in the Near East, Africa, and Europe. These remains were between 100 and 9,000 years old.

    The DNA analysis revealed that all domesticated cats descend from the African wildcat or Felis silvestris lybica, a wildcat subspecies found in North Africa and the Near East. Cats were domesticated some 10,000 years ago by the first farmers in the Near East. The first agricultural settlements probably attracted wildcats because they were rife with rodents. The farmers welcomed the wildcats as they kept the stocks of cereal grain free from vermin. Over time, man and animal grew closer, and selection based on behaviour eventually led to the domestication of the wildcat.

    Migrating farmers took the domesticated cat with them. At a later stage, the cats also spread across Europe and elsewhere via trade hub Egypt. Used to fight vermin on Egyptian trade ships, the cats travelled to large parts of South West Asia, Africa, and Europe. Bones of cats with an Egyptian signature have even been found at Viking sites near the Baltic Sea.

    “It’s still unclear, however, whether the Egyptian domestic cat descends from cats imported from the Near East or whether a separate, second domestication took place in Egypt,” says researcher Claudio Ottoni. “Further research will have to show.” The scientists were also able to determine the coat pattern based on the DNA of the old cat bones and mummies. They found that the striped cat was much more common in ancient times. This is also illustrated by Egyptian murals: they always depict striped cats. The blotched pattern did not become common until the Middle Ages.

    These are several cats buried in a 6000-year-old pit in Hierakonpolis, Egypt.

    Source:Science Daily