Rwandan President Paul Kagame's Presence Protested in Paris and Pittsburgh
Submitted by annie on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 16:57
WBAI-N.Y.C. AfrobeatRadio News, 09.17.2011
Transcript:
Wuyi Jacobs: And now Ann Garrison has this report of protests against Rwandan President Paul Kagame, organized by Rwandan and Congolese people, first on Monday in Paris, and yesterday in Pittsburgh, outside Carnegie Mellon University:
Paris Demonstration Chants: Assassin!!! Assassin!!! Genocidaire!!! Genocidaire!!! Genocidaire!!!
AfrobeatRadio/Ann Garrison: That’s the sound of over 1,300 protestors most of them survivors of Rwandan and Congolese wars, chanting first “Assassin!!!”, French for assassin, then Genocidaire!!!”, French for person who commits or advocates genocide, during Monday’s protest of French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s welcome to Kagame and Kagame’s presence in France. Spanish organizer Susana Sanz Guardo of Basta de Impunidad en Ruanda, said that the turnout, and the unity of Rwandan and Congolese people victimized by Kagame’s regime was unprecedented, and, that nothing will stop them now that they have lost their fear.
Five days later, on Friday, after short notice, of Kagame’s visit to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, 50 protestors including Rwandan and Congolese survivors, gathered from around the U.S. to meet their supporters in Pittsburgh. This is a clip of Pittsburgh Channel 4 WTAE’s coverage:
WTAE: Well, the protest is underway right now on Forbes Avenue, across from University Center on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University. About 50 people are over directing their efforts across traffic. Nearby the Rwandan President speaks inside the university center. Many of these people say they survived the 1994 genocide Rwandan President Paul Kagame is offering a keynote address, right now, on his country's strategy for growth in the global economy. Now we spoke with one man leading this protest against the university:
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Rwandan President Paul Kagame
Claude Gatebuke: The University is entering into an agreement with a war criminal, a mass murderer, and someone whose military is accused of genocide.
AfrobeatRadio: Protestor, Rwanda Genocide survivor, and University of Memphis law student Claude Gatebuke’s statement, that President Kagame has been accused of genocide, refers to the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights October 2010 Mapping Report on Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1993 - 2003, to the indictments brought by the Spanish court of Fernan Andreu, the French court of Jean-Louis Bruguiere, to the civil lawsuit,Habyarimana vs. Kagame brought in a federal district court in this country, and scholarly investigations by Professors Allan Stam and Christian Davenport, Law Professor Peter Erlinder, and others.
Despite all that, former President Bill Clinton will introduce Kagame as a featured speaker in the plenary session of his Clinton Global Initiative, an annual gathering of the global elite, at 9:00 am on Thursday, September 22nd, at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers. The title of the Clinton plenary session is “Engaging Boys and Men as Allies for Long-term Change,” billed as an argument for male allies, who are critical to the sustainable empowerment of girls and women worldwide.”
AfrobeatRadio: Protestor, Rwanda Genocide survivor, and University of Memphis law student Claude Gatebuke’s statement, that President Kagame has been accused of genocide, refers to the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights October 2010 Mapping Report on Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1993 - 2003, to the indictments brought by the Spanish court of Fernan Andreu, the French court of Jean-Louis Bruguiere, to the civil lawsuit,Habyarimana vs. Kagame brought in a federal district court in this country, and scholarly investigations by Professors Allan Stam and Christian Davenport, Law Professor Peter Erlinder, and others.
Despite all that, former President Bill Clinton will introduce Kagame as a featured speaker in the plenary session of his Clinton Global Initiative, an annual gathering of the global elite, at 9:00 am on Thursday, September 22nd, at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers. The title of the Clinton plenary session is “Engaging Boys and Men as Allies for Long-term Change,” billed as an argument for male allies, who are critical to the sustainable empowerment of girls and women worldwide.”
Boston-based Congolese American, social worker, and activist Eric Kamba says it’s galling, to African people, that Clinton would include Kagame in such a forum, less than one year after the shocking UN documentation of his crimes in Congo:
Eric Kamba
Eric Kamba: The UN Mapping Report said that Kagame’s army committed civilian massacres, and sexual atrocities, including mass rape and the intentional infection of targeted communities with HIV, in the Congo. Bill Clinton has been Kagame’s ally in all this through the Congo wars of the 90s, when Clinton was in power, and he now he continues to be Kagame’s most powerful supporter, with the help of his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to this day.
AfrobeatRadio: President Barack Obama did not closely associate his name and image with Kagame’s, as the Clintons have, until last week, when he requested immunity for Kagame in Habyarimana versus Kagame, the civil lawsuit alleging Kagame’s responsibility for the assassination of the Rwandan and Burundian presidents, and millions of war dead in the Rwanda Genocide and Congo Wars.
For further information on Obama’s request for Kagame’s immunity, the French and American protests, and protest being organized in New York City on Thursday, see afrobeatradio.net and sfbayview.com.
For Pacifica, WBAI and AfrobeatRadio, I’m Ann Garrison.
Eric Kamba
Eric Kamba: The UN Mapping Report said that Kagame’s army committed civilian massacres, and sexual atrocities, including mass rape and the intentional infection of targeted communities with HIV, in the Congo. Bill Clinton has been Kagame’s ally in all this through the Congo wars of the 90s, when Clinton was in power, and he now he continues to be Kagame’s most powerful supporter, with the help of his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to this day.AfrobeatRadio: President Barack Obama did not closely associate his name and image with Kagame’s, as the Clintons have, until last week, when he requested immunity for Kagame in Habyarimana versus Kagame, the civil lawsuit alleging Kagame’s responsibility for the assassination of the Rwandan and Burundian presidents, and millions of war dead in the Rwanda Genocide and Congo Wars.
For further information on Obama’s request for Kagame’s immunity, the French and American protests, and protest being organized in New York City on Thursday, see afrobeatradio.net and sfbayview.com.
For Pacifica, WBAI and AfrobeatRadio, I’m Ann Garrison.
