IGIHE

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  • Iran Anger Over US Visa Refusal

    Iran Anger Over US Visa Refusal

    {{Iran has accused the US of acting illegally by refusing a visa to the new Iranian envoy to the UN in New York.}}

    Iran’s UN mission spokesman Hamid Babaei called the decision to bar Hamid Aboutalebi “regrettable”, but did not specify any action Tehran might take.

    The US accuses Mr Aboutalebi of links to the group that seized the US embassy in 1979, an incident that soured ties between the two countries for decades.

    Mr Aboutalebi says he only acted as a translator for the group.

    Congress passed a bill last week that would allow the US to refuse an ambassadorial selection if the candidate posed a security risk.

    Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif condemned the move by Congress.

    He characterised those in favour of the bill as “a group of radicals” and said the move would not influence Iran’s policies.

    Although the bill still requires the signature of the president before it can become law, Congress appears to have succeeded in getting Mr Aboutalebi barred.

    White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president “shared the intent of the bill”, and would not issue a visa.

    Mr Babaei said the White House decision was “in contravention of international law, the obligation of the host country and the inherent right of sovereign member states to designate their representatives to the United Nations”.

    Under international law, the US as the host nation for the UN is obliged to grant visas to states’ representatives.

    In the most high-profile similar case, the US refused a visa to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to speak at the UN in 1998. The UN condemned that decision.

    The UN has not yet commented on Mr Aboutalebi’s situation.

    Mr Aboutalebi has previously served as Iran’s ambassador to Belgium, the European Union, Italy and Australia.

    He has said said he was not part of the group that took over the US embassy, and was only later asked to translate for the students.

  • Ukraine Looks to Europe for Gas

    Ukraine Looks to Europe for Gas

    {{Ukraine said on Friday it would turn to Europe for gas and won a promise of help from Brussels after Russia warned it could cut supplies over Kiev’s refusal to pay Moscow’s “political, uneconomic price” for supplies.}}

    Presenting a united front a day after President Vladimir Putin wrote to the European Union warning that its supplies could be disrupted if Ukraine failed to cover its bills, European officials said they had little to fear and would help Ukraine pay.

    With Russia increasing the pressure on Ukraine’s faltering economy, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan told parliament the EU would stand in solidarity with Kiev if Russia reduced supplies, making sure Moscow could not increase flows through alternative pipelines to bypass its neighbor.

    “Ukraine cannot pay such a political, uneconomic price, so now we are negotiating with the European Union about reverse deliveries into Ukraine,” Prodan said.

    “We will make gas purchases from reverse flows urgently. On the conditions offered by European gas companies. We plan that they will be Germany’s RWE and a French gas company.”

    The ministry’s spokeswoman confirmed the French company was GDF Suez, adding no agreement had been signed as yet.

    wirestory

  • G20 Gives U.S. Year-end Deadline for IMF Reforms

    G20 Gives U.S. Year-end Deadline for IMF Reforms

    {{Finance chiefs from around the globe on Friday gave the United States until year-end to ratify long-delayed reforms to the International Monetary Fund and threatened to move forward without it if it fails to do so.}}

    The inability to proceed with giving emerging markets a more powerful voice at the IMF and shoring up the lender’s resources appeared the most contentious issue for officials from the Group of 20 leading economies and the representatives for all IMF member nations who met with them.

    In a final communiqué, G20 finance ministers and central bankers said they were “deeply disappointed” with the delay.

    “I take this opportunity to urge the United States to implement these reforms as a matter of urgency,” Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey told reporters on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank spring meetings.

    The reforms would double the Fund’s resources and hand more IMF voting power to countries like the so-called BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

    The U.S. Congress has refused to sign off on the overhaul, which was agreed to in 2010, and the failure overshadowed even the crisis in Ukraine and the spillover effects of ultra easy monetary policies in advanced economies in the discussions.

    Some Republicans have complained the changes would cost too much at a time Washington was running big budget deficits. The reforms also ran afoul of a growing isolationist trend among the party’s influential Tea Party wing.

    If Washington does not ratify the reforms this year, the G20 advanced and emerging economies said they would ask the IMF to develop possible next steps.

    A source said Brazil had pushed for a harder line. It wanted to require the Fund to begin work now to determine options to be implemented if the United States failed to act, a notion that was floated in an early draft of the communiqué.

    {reuters}

  • Kwibuka20: Statement by ICTR Chief Prosecutor

    Kwibuka20: Statement by ICTR Chief Prosecutor

    {{STATEMENT BY JUSTICE HASSAN B. JALLOW, CHIEF PROSECUTOR, ICTR & MICT ON THE COMMEMMORATION OF THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE}}

    Mr. President, ICTR,
    Mr. Registrar,
    Honourable Minister of Justice of Rwanda,
    Your Excellencies Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    This week, the international community marks the commencement, some twenty years ago, of one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times and pay their respects to its victims, survivors and indeed to all the people of Rwanda.

    During a period of just a hundred days from 6th April 1994 up to a million people, non-combatant men and women, young and old were slaughtered because of their Tutsi ethnicity in the course of the Rwandan genocide. With them too, perished courageous members of other ethnic groups who had stood up against the killings, for the protection of the innocent victims.

    Since, and as a result, of that great tragedy, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has in collaboration with Rwandan and other national jurisdictions, been part of a truly global process of bringing justice to the victims and survivors and ensuring the accountability of the perpetrators of the genocide.

    Indeed in 2006 the Appeals chamber of the ICTR in taking judicial notice of the occurrence of the genocide as a fact of common knowledge requiring no proof held that “there is no reasonable basis for anyone to dispute that during 1994, there was a campaign of mass killing intended to destroy, in whole or at least in very large part, Rwanda’s Tutsi population…

    That campaign was to a terrible degree successful; although exact numbers may never be known, the great majority of Tutsis were murdered, and many others were raped or otherwise harmed… The fact of the Rwandan genocide is a part of world history, a fact as certain as any other, a classic instance of a “fact of common knowledge”.

    Established by the UN Security Council in 1994 to prosecute not all the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide but only those who played a leading role in its planning and execution, the ICTR has indicted 93 such leaders including former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda, former Cabinet Ministers, Senior military officers, senior administrators, leaders of the then ruling MRND political party, media people, clergy and ordinary civilians notorious for their participation in the killings.

    As the ICTR moves towards closure in 2015, it will be recalled that it has, with the cooperation of several member states and international agencies, arrested all but 9 of these indictees. It has now concluded all trials at first instance of those arrested and is focussing on the completion of the appeals by next year.

    The tribunal has transferred 10 (ten) cases to national jurisdictions, principally Rwanda and France, for trial. Of those prosecuted by the ICTR, 61 have been convicted of the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. 14 have been acquitted and discharged by the tribunal.

    Several other national jurisdictions – amongst them Canada, USA, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland – have been prosecuting suspected genocidaires and in some instances extraditing or deporting them to Rwanda for trial.

    Thus the legal process in the ICTR has amongst others contributed to this global struggle by reaching and bringing to account top level planners and executioners who are often beyond the reach or will of national jurisdictions;

    by closing the door, through its judicial notice of the genocide, to denial and revisionism and through its transfer of cases to Rwanda given an international judicial approval of the effectiveness and fairness of a legal system which had in 1994 been totally destroyed and took several years to rebuild.

    As we commemorate this monumental tragedy of the genocide, we seize the opportunity to pay our deepest respects to the victims and to the survivors of the Rwandan genocide; our gratitude to the thousands of survivors who have, despite numerous challenges, came forward and testified at the ICTR and in that way assisted the tribunal with the indispensable material for the execution of its mandate to render justice;

    our appreciation to the government and people of Rwanda for their support of and collaboration with the tribunal not only in the investigation and prosecution of these serious crimes but also in the reform and capacity building of the Rwandan legal system culminating in the referrals and extradition of genocide cases to Rwanda; to the member states and to the rest of the international community for their vital support to the tribunal and to the global process of accountability particularly in the tracking and arrest of fugitives, the provision of evidence and the national trial or transfer/extradition of suspected genocidaires.

    We must however recognise that much still remains to be done. The nine fugitives who remain at large – including Félicien Kabuga, Protais Mpiranya – former commander of the Presidential Guard, and Augustin Bizimana former Minister of Defence – need to be arrested and brought to justice; the three of them before the Residual Mechanism and the remaining six before the Rwandan courts to which their cases have been transferred by the ICTR.

    This can be done only through the active collaboration of all states to secure the arrest and transfer of these fugitives for trial.

    Several suspected genocidaires whom the ICTR has not been able to prosecute due to the limitation of its mandate must in accordance with the requirements of international law, be prosecuted by the host countries or extradited to Rwanda to stand trial.

    The international obligations to protect the witnesses who have testified at great risk and to attend to their welfare need to be respected.Accused persons, who have been released by the Tribunal – either on acquittal or conclusion of service of their sentences, need to be relocated to where they can resume their normal lives.

    As the ICTR, together with other ad hoc and hybrid tribunals stand on the verge of closure, the lessons that can be drawn from their operations over the past two decades can provide valuable guidance to future efforts in combatting impunity and promoting accountability.

    The OTP of the ICTR has already made considerable progress in this area with the compilation of Manuals on tracking and arrest, on the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence and the compendium of best practices.

    Much similar work in other aspects of our work needs to be done and can be undertaken successfully, with the required financial support of states and international organisations.

    These lessons need, with the support of member states, to be compiled/documented and made accessible to both national and international jurisdictions and all others involved in the investigation and prosecution of international crimes.

    Our ultimate goal must however be to give concrete realisation to the deep seated yearning for “Never again”. The implementation of effective international and national preventive strategies for the avoidance of mass atrocity must rank as a global priority.

    The international community needs to live up to its obligation to protect communities in danger of such mass atrocity.

    Above all we must create within each of our national communities an environment of good government based on respect for the rule of law, justice, democracy and human rights without discrimination, respecting the equality and equal rights of all persons.

    We must build communities of peace and reconciliation based on continuous dialogue. Such an environment is the strongest bulwark against the strife and conflict which often is the setting for the great tragedy that the world witnessed in Rwanda in 1994.

    I thank you for your attention.

  • Rwandans in Arusha Commemorate Genocide

    Rwandans in Arusha Commemorate Genocide

    {{Rwandans living in Tanzania gathered in Arusha city for the 20th Commemoration of Genocide against ethnic Tutsi.

    The commemoration events also included walk to remember .

    Former Presdient of Tanzania Benjamin Mkapa, East African Secretary General Dr. Richard Sezibera and Rwanda’s High commissioner to Tanzania including representatives of Non governmental organisations were also present.}}

  • Samsung Galaxy S5 Makes Global Debut

    Samsung Galaxy S5 Makes Global Debut

    {{The latest version of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy smartphone went on sale worldwide Friday, days after the electronics giant announced it was facing a second consecutive quarter of profit decline.}}

    The Galaxy S5 has a lot riding on it to steer the South Korean firm’s profit making machine back on track as growth in smartphone sales slows, with mature markets like North America and Europe near saturation.

    Reviews of the S5 have mostly concluded that it is one of the best high end smartphones on the market, but there is also a general consensus that it lacks the “wow” factor needed to differentiate it from its predecessors and competitors.

    “It can swim, but it won’t make any waves,” was the verdict of the Wall Street Journal, referring to one innovation in the S5′s waterproof covering.

    “The Galaxy S5 is a good phone. It earns an unreserved recommendation,” said the Washington Post.

    “But the truth of the matter is that there’s really nothing here that’s worth breaking your contract to buy,” it added.

    Samsung’s mobile unit has been the driving force behind the record profits of recent years, and it needs the S5 to perform well as a retort to doom mongers who say the company lacks a clear strategy to flourish in an increasingly competitive, saturated market.

    Samsung made more than 30 percent of all smartphones sold in the world last year, nearly twice the share of its arch rival Apple.

    But on Tuesday, the company estimated its first quarter operating profit at 8.4 trillion won ($7.96 billion), marking a second straight year-on-year decline.

    As well as the constant challenge from Apple, Samsung has had to face the rapid expansion of smaller rivals like China’s Huawei, which has pressured it into rolling out cheaper handsets to woo consumers in emerging markets, especially China.

    – Falling smartphone prices –

    In a sign of the challenge the company faces, the S5 was priced lower at its commercial launch Friday than the previous S4 model.

    Research firm IDC estimated the average selling price of smartphones will fall to $265 globally by 2017 from $337 in 2013 and $387 in 2012.

    Samsung is believed to have reduced its marketing spend on the S5 and is also under pressure to set aside more cash for legal bills as years-long patent battles against Apple continue.

    The two have locked horns in patent suits in several nations involving design and technologies on their smartphones and tablet computers.

    A fresh patent trial opened in the United States last week, with Apple vowing to prove that Samsung flagrantly copied iPhone features and should pay more than $2 billion in damages.

    Major handset makers have recently stepped up efforts to develop wearable devices, seen as a new source for growth though few have managed to garner large consumer excitement or sales.

    Samsung’s first Internet-enabled smartwatch, introduced last September, was greeted coldly by consumers who viewed it unfashionable. Its second edition, the Gear 2, was launched in February.

    Apple is believed to be planning its own smartwatch launch soon, while Google is moving towards a wider consumer launch of its Internet enabled eyewear Glass.

    wirestory

  • Kenya Troops Free Aid Workers in Somalia

    Kenya Troops Free Aid Workers in Somalia

    {{Two aid workers have been rescued by Kenyan troops in Somalia following their 2011 kidnapping by Al Shabaab militia.}}

    According to the Kenya Defence Forces spokesman Colonel Willy Wesonga, Daniel Njuguna and James Kiarie were working with an aid organisation near the Kenya-Somali border at the time of their abduction.

    “The two aid workers were working near the border when they were kidnapped. Our soldiers working in Sector Two managed to rescue them last evening and they were airlifted to Dhobley,” he stated.

    Wesonga told a local radio that the two are now at a hospital in Somalia town where they are being observed and receiving treatment.

    He says following this, they will be transported back to Kenya to be reunited with their families.

    A coordinated military operation began on October 2011, when troops from Kenya crossed the border into the conflict zones of southern Somalia.

    The soldiers were in pursuit of Al Shabaab militants that are responsible for kidnapping several foreign tourists and aid workers inside Kenya.

  • FDLR Rebels Claim Want to Handover Mudacumura to ICTR

    FDLR Rebels Claim Want to Handover Mudacumura to ICTR

    {{Sylvestre Mudacumura the acting president of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), is willing to cooperate with international justice, The rebels have said.}}

    However, the DRCongo government spokesman Lambert Mende says, ” FDLR is looking to save time”.

    Mudacumura accused of Genocide is wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The United States placed a $5Million bounty on Mudacumura’s Head to anyone who would help in his arrest.

    The surrender message was first announced by Victor Byiringiro an FDLR member who said , “We discussed for several months within the FDLR to handover Mudacumura”.

    Earlier this year the same Byiringiro had also announced that FDLR were putting down arms but refused to surrender to the UN mission in congo (Monusco).

    The Congolese forces FARDC allied to Monusco intervention brigade have recently launched an offensive against the rebels.

  • Smuggled Liquors Intercepted

    Smuggled Liquors Intercepted

    {{The Revenue Protection Department (RDP) has intercepted a vehicle in Rubavu district loaded with boxes of liquors valued in millions of francs, which were being smuggled into the country from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo through porous borders.}}

    The vehicle was intercepted on April 10 at about 8:30 am in Nkamira sector along Rubavu-Kigali highway.

    Chief Inspector of Police, Ildephonse Rutagambwa, the deputy Commanding Officer of RPD, said those seized include 116 bottles of black label, 24 bottles of golden, 30 bottles of Amarula and 11 bottles of jack Daniel.

    Also seized are 228 sachets of sky vodka, an illegal gin in Rwanda and seven boxes of caro-light, a bleaching lotion also banned in the country.

    “We acted on the credible information provided by informers and intercepted the vehicle which was headed to Kigali from Rubavu carrying the smuggled and some illegal goods,” CIP Rutagambwa said.

    He identified owners of the goods as Janvier Mukamana and one only identified as Mahoro.

    He said that the duo had evaded taxes amounting to over Rwf3.3 million.

    He also disclosed that other seven carton and 58 pieces of salsa tomato sauce were intercepted the previous day in Kagarama cell, Gishyita sector of Karongo district as they were being smuggled into the country from DRC, through Lake Kivu.

    “These are illegal acts which have an impact on the economy through tax evasions and can bring into the market counterfeit products, which pose ill-effects on people’s health,” he observed.

    CIP Rutagambwa also said in partnership with the public, they have been able to crackdown on people involved in these illegal acts.

    “We have stringent strategies in place to fight fraud, and at this point, we are seeing a steady decrease in fraud-related cases,” he noted.

    He called upon the general population to fight smuggling and counterfeit products by providing timely information to security organs on those involved.

    The Revenue Protection Department is a Rwanda National Police unit attached to Rwanda Revenue Authority to help the tax body in preventing, detecting and investigating cases related to tax evasion and smuggling.

    RNP

  • Students Challenged on Fighting Negative Ideologies

    Students Challenged on Fighting Negative Ideologies

    {{Students of the College of Arts and social sciences (CASS), Huye Campus have been challenged to spearhead the transformation of the country by fighting any sort of negative ideologies and crimes in general.}}

    Assistant Commissioner of Police, Damas Gatare, while briefing students on the security status in the country, on April 10, at their campus in Huye, said there is security and safety in the country, but added that there is need to strengthen cooperation to fight few security threats that still exist.

    “As we remember the tragedy that befell Rwanda 20 years ago, we should maintain a spirit of joint efforts, through community policing, to fight negative ideologies which could lead the country into another genocide,” ACP Gatare, the Commissioner for Public Relations and Community Policing in Rwanda National Police, told students.

    “Police and army cannot work independently; you should play your role towards your country’s security and development,” ACP Gatare, who doubles as RNP spokesperson, added.

    He also briefed them on the forces policies to improve security in and outside the country including working with the youth and the general public to share information to prevent criminal acts like drug abuse, training and equipping officers with relevant skills to deal with modern policing challenges and partnering with regional and international police forces and organizations to fight transnational crimes.

    The Rwanda National Police is currently a member of various regional and international police organizations like EAPCCO, EASFCOM, Interpol and is engaged in eight peacekeeping missions.

    The force, he said, also established an anti-corruption unit, toll-free lines to fight graft within the force and also ease the police-public communication in crime prevention.

    ACP Gatare thanked those students in anti-crime clubs and challenged them to concentrate their studies to be future drivers of the country’s development.

    Brig. Gen. Joseph Nzabamwita, the Military and Defence spokesperson, who also briefed the students on the pre-conflict Rwanda and the role of RDF and RNP in stabilising the country, said the genocidal forces hauled-up in the jungles of the eastern DRC are not “threat to the development of Rwanda.”

    He instead outlined genocide ideology, illiteracy, and diseases as some of the threats that the country is addressing.

    “As academicians, you should mind more about these and other similar threats to further liberate the country. We cannot forget what happened in our country in 1994; as we mourn our loved ones, let’s continue to be active citizens and remember you are the mantle of the post-genocide Rwanda,” Brig. Gen. Nzabamwita said.

    Naome Nayebare, a third year Law student commended security organs for their role in maintaining safety in the country.

    She also lauded RNP’s Community Policing strategies to prevent crimes and appealed to fellow students and the youth give no ears to rumours and misleading information on internet.

    RNP