{(Kigali, Rwanda) December 6, 2014: This week, 11 international tour operators with offices in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will visit Rwanda for as part of a Rwanda Development Board (RDB) initiative to increase awareness of the country’s diverse tourism opportunities and generate more tourism sales.}
“The East African Community is an important growth area for Rwanda’s tourism industry”, said Ambassador Yamina Karitanyi, Head of the RDB’s Tourism & Conservation Department. “The goal of this guided trip is to demonstrate to these high-value tour operators that Rwanda is a multi-day destination with a rich selection of cultural and natural experiences.”
Visiting tour operators will eyewitness that beyond gorillas’ visit, Rwanda offers varied and easily accessible experiences which expand visitors stay thanks to new and well packaged tourism products. There are now more than five globally renowned hotels, and together with the private sector there is a will to transform Rwanda into a high end tourism destination as important tourism infrastructure is being developed.
The RDB has set an ambitious goal of 10% increase in visitation year-over-year and wants to see tourism revenue increasing at 25% in 2020. The East African market is an essential component in meeting this target. The timing of this particular effort is strategic.
Rwanda provides an exciting destination for many of the tour operators that are visiting. The country’s perception as a safe and clean destination provides a desirable sales alternative or contemporary products for travel companies that have heavily relied on safari bookings and Indian Ocean beach trips.
The international tour operators will visit Kigali, Rubavu, Musanze, Volcanoes National Park, and Nyungwe National Park. The program will conclude with a networking session with local Rwandan tour operators, hoteliers, and tourism service providers in order to create new working business relationships.
The regional tour operators visit is sponsored by the Hôtel des Mille Collines by Kempinski, RwandAir, Serena Kivu, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, Republika Lounge, Volcanoes Safaris and Primates Safaris.
{Dr. John Rutayisire, the Chairman of the National Commission for the fight Against Genocide (CNLG) said BBC documentary “Rwanda’s Untold Story” is a tool used to deny and rewrite the genocide against Tutsis for political interests.}
Dr. Rutayisire made the accusations this Monday while appearing before the Inquiry Committee on the BBC’s controversial documentary.
Flanked by CNLG’s officials, including among others, the Commission’s Executive Secretary Jean de Dieu Mucyo and Commissioner Prof. Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, Dr. Rutayisire categorically called for legal action against the BBC saying the documentary is “aimed at destabilizing Rwanda’s development achievements and there is no way they can disassociate this from President Paul Kagame and RPF.”
He requested the probe committee to dig deeper and discover the force behind the production and airing of the contemptuous documentary by a reputable media house like the British public broadcaster.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide, Jean de Dieu Mucyo said “the documentary categorically denies and minimizes the genocide against Tutsis and spreads the genocide ideology.” Mr. Mucyo said the documentary “intentionally revises the history of the genocide since it turns liberators who stopped the genocide into killers.”
Prof. Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, a commissioner at CNLG and the President of IBUKA, an umbrella organization for genocide survivors’ Associations on his part said ” BBC’s documentary is an abuse of the rights of genocide survivors and the memory of genocide victims, therefore legal action must be taken against the BBC to defend genocide survivors’ rights.”
He criticized the BBC for being unbalanced in the documentary since it relied on one sided sources and never gave a voice to genocide survivors to tell their own story, yet the major theme in the documentary is about the genocide which they lived through.
The documentary aired on BBC2 on 1st October has so far sparked outrage among many people including ordinary Rwandans, international scholars, researchers and journalists.
{Gen. Jean Bosco Kazura, Force Commander of integrated multidimensional United Nations Mission for Stabilization in Mali (MINUSMA) has bid farewell to the UN force and the regional authorities, IGIHE has learned on Tuesday.}
General Jean Bosco Kazura conducted a tour last Friday in Timbuktu, at the head of a large delegation of nine people, including the Deputy Force Commander, General Omar Bikimo and the Chief of Staff, General Christian Thiebault, MaliActu reported.
“At the end of my term, I am a happy but we faced difficult times,” he says by observing a minute’s silence in honor of the peacekeepers “who sacrificed themselves for peace and stability not only in Mali but for the entire African continent and elsewhere in the world, “he said.
The visit of General Jean Bosco Kazura has served the dual purpose of addressing the words of farewell and introducing the new commandment (ad interim) of the UN Force in Mali, General Omar Bikimo from Chad.
MINUSMA supports the Malian authorities in the stabilization of the main northern cities by carrying out patrols long spans, especially in areas where civilians are at risk.
Addressing the peacekeepers, General Kazura urged discipline, determination, vigilance and focus on their roles in the peace process in Mali despite asymmetric threats they face.
“… I ask you then to redouble efforts and to be very careful, “said Mr Kazura.
General Jean Bosco Kazura met among others, two leading figures in Timbuktu: the Governor of the region, Colonel Mamadou Mangara Staff and the Grand Imam Abdrahamane Ben Essayouti of the Great Mosque Djingarey Ber.
The discussions focused on the security situation and strengthening collaboration between Malian forces and those of the MINUSMA to better support the cease-fire and protection of civilians.
The Head of the Regional Office of the MINUSMA in Timbuktu, Cecilia Piazza, thanked the Force Commander for his commitment and his support in the strengthening of the peacekeeping presence in the northern region.
In office since 1 July 2013 to the Force command in the MINUSMA, General Kazura officially ends his term on December 14, 2014 to take on other responsibilities in his country.
{Members of the former Congolese rebel group M23 say they should not be sent back from Uganda until the Kinshasa government honors all the terms of a peace deal. }
M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said Monday that “nothing had been done” to convince them that Congo’s government is ready to receive them. Hundreds of M23 rebels fled to Uganda and Rwanda late last year amid a U.N.-backed Congolese military offensive in eastern Congo, where the rebels once controlled territory.
Congo’s government and the rebels signed a peace agreement in December 2013 that urged the repatriation of all fighters by the end of 2014. M23 wants a blanket amnesty for all fighters but Congo’s government insists some rebels must face trial for alleged crimes.- FOX4
{A Rwandan woman convicted of killing a toddler in a Westwood crash is scheduled for sentencing Monday.}
Sheba Basabose was convicted in November of vehicular homicide in the death of 3-year-old Rodriguez Taylor.
Basabose drove her car off the road at McHenry and Sunshine back in October of 2012.
Her car struck a woman and her three young children, ages 5, 3 and 1 year old.
Rodriguez Taylor was killed, his younger brother was hurt.
Basabose avoided a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide that would have carried even more serious prison time.
Jurors found her guilty of vehicular homicide, not guilty of aggravated vehicular assault and vehicular assault and could not reach a decision on an aggravated vehicular homicide charge.
Their mother, Jocelyn Austin was not happy with the conviction. Some of the charges against Basabose were rejected by the jury in part because of questions about the accuracy of the Breathalyzer she took.
“I’m a little satisfied, I just wish she could have gotten more because we all got hit and my baby was hurt and she was drunk,” Austin said.
Basabose could get up to a five-year sentence. She has been held in lock-up for more than two years already.
In addition, Basabose, who is originally from Rwanda, has an immigration hold on her case. Her attorney said she came to the United States seeking political asylum.
{{Two unidentified bodies were found Friday, December 5, in Ndera Sector in Gasabo district. The two bodies were respectively found in the cells of Mukuyu and Cyaruzinge.}}
One body has been found in a mine pit located in Gashure village, Cyaruzinge cell while another was found undressed in Mukuyu cell.
A local official says they are yet to source the address of the duo due to the fact that the later are not residents of the said cells.
Meanwhile Kayitankore Alphonse who heads Cyaruzinge cell told this websites that one of the deceased had an ID card that was issued in Kimironko Sector.
He said the person was not killed by the sliding mine adding that his lifeless body had no injuries.
Residents suspect that the man was strangled and later thrown in a mine pit.
The police spokesperson confirms the incidences adding that investigation on the matter is being carried out.
Sex Mountain in Indonesia attracts thousands of Muslim pilgrims, who believe having sex out of wedlock at this holy site will bring them wealth and good fortune. Dateline follows them as they take part in this unusual ritual.
Married men, cheating housewives, government officials and prostitutes revelling in a mass ritual of adultery and sex. This is what happens on Gunung Kemukus in Indonesia, otherwise known as Sex Mountain.
“I come here to seek good fortune,” regular visitor Mardiyah told me as I follow her journey on tonight’sDateline at 9.30pm on SBS ONE.
She is one of thousands of pilgrims who journey to a mysterious hilltop in Java to perform this ancient ritual. Most of those who take part in the ritual consider themselves devout Muslims
Mardiyah prays at Sex Mountain, in the hope that the ritual will help provide money to pay her debts.
There are several versions of the mythic tale that date back to the 16th century. Legend has it a young Indonesian Prince Pangeran Samodro had an affair with his stepmother.
They ran away and hid on Gunung Kemukus. One day, while mid-coitus, they were caught, killed and buried atop the mountain. It’s now an Islamic shrine where this sex ritual takes place.
The story goes: pilgrims must copulate on the mountain every 35 days for seven consecutive times and blessings and wealth should come their way.
But for the magic to work and the money to flow, it’s believed their sex partner for the ritual should not be their spouse.
Gepeng travelled hundreds of kilometres to reach Gunung Kemukus, or Sex Mountain.
I meet Gepeng, who like many others has travelled hundreds of kilometres from across the archipelago to get to sex mountain.“You go there to look for a different partner, not the one you have at home. Historically that’s how it works,” he said.
Another man travelling with him explained: “I don’t tell my wife. There’s no way my wife will find out.”
Pilgrims first pray and make offerings at the grave. They then must wash themselves at sacred springs nearby and once that’s been completed, they have sex.
This ritual isn’t seen anywhere else in Indonesia or the rest of the Muslim world. It’s a very Javanese blend of religious ideals with Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist influences.
A visit to Sex Mountain includes rituals combining Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist influences.
Professor Keontjoro Soeparno, a social psychologist from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, has been studying the ritual for more than 30 years.
“It’s a strange thing. A paradox: there’s a mosque, shrine – but outside – there’s a place for having illicit sex,” he said. “The fact is – it’s hypocritical.”
It’s impossible to ignore that the ritual is riddled with contradictions. Islam views adultery as a sin, so the ‘out of wedlock’ sex clearly goes against the mainstream law of the religion.
Karaoke bars and ‘sex shacks’ line the hillside. Some are privately owned, others built and funded by the local government. But they’re loathe to publicly admit there is any sex going on at Gunung Kemukus.
‘Sex shacks’ offer rooms by the hour for those who’ve found a new partner to have sex with.
“Pilgrims should come here with pure hearts and clean bodies,” a gatekeeper employed to look after the mountain shrine said.
“We’ve never said the sex is a condition of the pilgrimage. It’s what they want to do.”
The territory has become prime real estate for commercial sex workers. Professor Keontjoro estimates about half of the women who show up now are prostitutes.
“The government facilitated the rise of prostitution. The Islamic religion forbids all this, but the government would rather not know about that. Because they’re more interested in profit – they leave their religion behind,” he said.
Some say if you pay for sex the ritual doesn’t work. The reality is the local government makes a sizeable profit from sex mountain. They charge the stalls to set up shop and the pilgrims pay a toll to enter the site.
With up to 8,000 pilgrims arriving on the busiest nights and an entry fee of around 5000 rupiah, or 50 cents, a time, it’s big business in Indonesia.
So it’s not surprising officials and religious leaders turn a blind eye.
Up to 8,000 people visit Sex Mountain on its busiest nights, with seven visits required to complete the ritual.
The question remains though – how do we know this ancient tradition actually works. Does sex with a stranger really boost your bank account?Mardiyah genuinely believes it does, attributing sex mountain and its spiritual powers to her recent success.
“Praise be to God, after coming here, even though I have a few debts, my business is making a bit of a profit. Even though it’s small, I still give thanks that I’ve received blessings from here,” she said to me.
I don’t know how willing I am to believe in the legacy of Prince Samodro and his stepmother lover, but I can understand the attachment to the myth.
{China has condemned eight to death for attacks in the Xinjiang region. Five others were given suspended death sentences – a penalty normally commuted to life in prison – with another four jailed.}
On Monday, the state broadcaster China Central Television reported that a court had sentenced eight people to death for involvement in two attacks that killed 46 people earlier this year in the far western region of Xinjiang. The sentences, handed down by the Intermediate People’s Court in Urumqi, represent the Chinese government’s latest move in a harsh crackdown on unrest in the vast resource-rich region.
In one incident (pictured), assailants armed with knives and explosives attacked a train station in the regional capital, Urumqi, in April, killing one person and wounding 79 on the final day of a visit to the area by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Two assailants also died.
The following month, attackers killed 39 people and wounded 90 when they threw explosives and plowed two vehicles through a market in Urumqi, state media reported. Police killed four attackers on the scene.
In October, China sentenced another dozen people to die for their roles in a July melee with police that left up to 100 people dead. At least 200 people have died in a year of clashes and attacks in and around Xinjiang, including four people just last month in an attack on food stalls – and 11 assailants killed by police immediately after.
Beijing blames “separatists,” but rights groups charge that China’s repression of cultural and religious minorities has fueled unrest in Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia and is home to the Uighurs, a largely Muslim group who speak a Turkic language. Chinese authorities argue that the country’s policies have boosted economic development in Xinjiang and that Beijing has upheld minority and religious rights in a country that has 56 officially recognized ethnic groups.
In September, China sentenced Uighur scholar and prominent dissident Ilhan Tohti to life in prison for “separatism.”
{Armed men have freed more than 200 prisoners from a jail in central Nigeria, in the third mass prison break in the country since November, police said.}
More than 200 inmates were freed in the attack in Tunga, 250km northwest of the capital Abuja. At least 10 were recaptured by Sunday morning, Deputy Superintendent Ibrahim Gambari told the Associated Press news agency.
Saturday’s incident was the third of its kind in the past two months in Nigeria, where jailbreaks are frequent and police only find a fraction of those who escape.
More than 300 inmates broke out of a prison bombed by gunmen in southwest Ekiti state this month and 144 escaped from south-central Kogi state on November 3 when gunmen bombed a prison wall.
Blame for many of the attacks has been levelled at Boko Haram. It is not known how many hundreds of Boko Haram suspects are held in Nigerian jails.
Herman Cohen, former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, told Al Jazeera it was what unlikely Boko Haram were behind the raid, and since it was outside of the groups geographical area of operations, it was most likely orchestrated by corrupt officials and involved pay-offs.
“It looks like a standard prison break, organised from within,” Cohen said.
“Ever since the civilian government came to power in 1999, the military and police have been neglected, with salaries not being paid… there needs to be a re-organisation otherwise the security situation will continue to deteriorate,” he added.
Only 18,042 of 56,785 inmates have been convicted of a crime, according to statistics dated June 30 and posted on the website of the Nigeria Prisons Service.
Officials have said how appalled they are about conditions in the jails, where inmates often sleep on cement floors without mattresses or bedding, food is in short supply and most medical services are non-existent.
The vast majority of people held in Nigerian jails are awaiting trial, some of them for many years, even though it is illegal to hold someone for more than 48 hours without bringing charges or presenting them to a magistrate.
{Master Records boss and Crackers comedy CEO Alex Muhangi has vowed to kill all Rwandans living in Kigali with his rib cracking jokes come December 13, at Kigali Serena hotel.}
“Am pleased to perform in Kigali again but this time I will kill everyone with an overdose of laughter from my fresh rib cracking jokes,” Alex Muhangi exclusively revealed to Red Pepper online snoops.
Alex will be curtain raised by Rwanda’s local based comedians led by the comedy president of Rwanda, Kagame.
Burundi’s best comedian Kigingi will also be in the house to set the audience ablaze with his hot crazy jokes.
Alex is one of the most travelled comedians in Uganda and he has performed in countries like US, UK, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and United Arab Emirates.
