11 septembre : Une serie de mensonges entourés de mystères

11 septembre : Une serie de mensonges entourés …, posted with vodpod

RD Congo – Rwanda : «La fin de seize ans d’impunité pour les vainqueurs au Rwanda»

André Guichaoua, sociologue, sur le rapport de l’ONU sur les exactions en RDC

Dix ans de meurtres, de viols et d’exactions en république démocratique du Congo (RDC) et une accusation d’éventuel génocide à l’encontre du Rwanda d’aujourd’hui : c’est ce que contient la version provisoire d’un rapport de 545 pages que n’a pas encore publié le Haut-Commissariat des Nations unies aux droits de l’homme (HCDH), mais dont les fuites sont parvenues jeudi à la presse. Le document revient sur ce qui s’est tramé dans l’ex-Zaïre entre mars 1993 et juin 2003. Une période qui couvre les deux guerres du Congo, qualifiées de «guerre mondiale africaine» en raison du nombre de pays impliqués – 9 selon le rapport – mais aussi de victimes, qui se comptent par millions.
Rejeté jeudi comme «balivernes» par le gouvernement rwandais, le document met Kigali dans l’embarras. Il ouvre la voie à d’éventuelles poursuites pour «crimes contre l’humanité, crimes de guerre, voire de génocide». Si tous les regards se tournent de nouveau vers le Rwanda, il ne s’agit pas, cette fois, de se souvenir du génocide de 800 000 Tutsis par des milices hutues en 1994 mais du massacre systématique et prémédité par l’armée rwandaise, en territoire congolais, de dizaines de milliers de Hutus qui avaient fui le Rwanda par crainte de représailles tutsies. Le régime de Paul Kagame dément toute exaction en RDC, et affirme n’avoir fait que poursuivre dans l’ex-Zaïre les miliciens hutus génocidaires. Or, ce rapport du HCDH change un rapport de force et une écriture de l’Histoire, que décrypte pour Libération le sociologue français André Guichaoua, spécialiste de la région des Grands Lacs.

Pourquoi des fuites de ce rapport parviennent-elles maintenant à la presse ?

En fait, le rapport est congelé depuis plusieurs mois. Ces fuites sont habituelles, sur ce type de document, mais le plus surprenant aujourd’hui, c’est la réaction indignée des autorités rwandaises, alors qu’elles font pression depuis plusieurs semaines pour bloquer le rapport !
Que pensez-vous de l’accusation de génocide formulée à demi-mots par le rapport, à l’encontre d’une armée
rwandaise accusée d’avoir massacré des Hutus en RDC ?
Des actes génocidaires ont été commis, c’est indéniable. Mais de tels actes ne font pas génocide. Si toutes les fois que des actes génocidaires étaient commis, on utilisait le terme de génocide, nous en aurions dix ou vingt par an. L’utilisation du terme est d’ailleurs laissée à l’appréciation des juristes par le rapport, qui n’a pas voulu franchir ce pas.
Quoi qu’il arrive, il me paraît très difficile de mettre sur le même plan la reconnaissance d’un éventuel génocide des Hutus au Congo avec celui des Tutsis au Rwanda. Il n’y avait pas les mêmes objectifs, la même finalité. Ce qui est plus ennuyeux encore, c’est le risque de globalisation de toutes les victimes des deux guerres du Congo. Entre 1998 et 2003, la grande guerre africaine a fait entre 3 et 4 millions de victimes, essentiellement civiles, dont on ne peut pas attribuer la responsabilité au seul Rwanda. Or, l’amalgame risque d’être fait dans les comptes rendus et l’utilisation politique du rapport.
Paul Kagame va-t-il de devenir un paria sur la scène internationale ?
Son affaiblissement est déjà réel. La dernière présidentielle au Rwanda, qu’il a remportée avec 93% des voix, n’a pas été une fête, en grande partie à cause de la manière dont la campagne a été menée. Les motifs d’énervement du candidat-président tenaient déjà à l’actualité qui se profilait, avec ce rapport. Il existe par ailleurs un désenchantement des bailleurs de fonds. Le département d’Etat américain a adressé des critiques au Rwanda. Or, ce pays ne tient que grâce à deux ressources : l’aide extérieure et les minerais du Kivu, région de la RDC située à la frontière du Rwanda. C’est le fait de le dire qui pose problème aujourd’hui.

Pourquoi les autorités rwandaises se montrent-elles aussi nerveuses concernant ce rapport ?
Parce qu’il met fin à seize ans d’impunité du camp des vainqueurs au Rwanda. Si le Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda (TPIR) avait joué son rôle et lancé des procédures sur les massacres de Hutus, des actes connus et documentés, le sentiment profond d’une incroyable injustice n’existerait pas aujourd’hui. Parce que le Rwanda a bénéficié du laxisme de la communauté internationale, il se retrouve dans une situation très complexe aujourd’hui. Des Rwandais, mais aussi des pays comme l’Espagne ou le Canada, dont des ressortissants ont été tués, et qui n’ont jamais osé porter plainte, vont pouvoir le faire.
Le rapport de forces idéologique a changé, et risque de se solder par une multiplication des procédures. Même des observateurs des Nations unies ont été assassinés par le Front patriotique rwandais [FPR, au pouvoir à Kigali, ndlr], et les dossiers ont ensuite été enterrés. Tout cela peut ressurgir. On a mis sous le boisseau un nombre incalculable de procédures, alors que tout le monde savait que des crimes importants avaient été commis. On a construit une success story rwandaise, un noyau de croyances qui s’est consolidé avec la caution tacite des Nations unies. Si le TPIR avait fait son travail, on n’en serait pas là.

Liberation.fr

Le rapport intégral des Nations Unies sur la RDC 1993-2003

Telecharger le rapport Mapping final sur les massacres commis en RDC :

Rapport en Français (Pdf)

Rapport en Francais (word)

English version (pdf)

ICI LE RAPPORT FINAL PUBLIE LE 1 OCTOBRE 2010

Kagame Criminal Confession, posted with vodpod

Atrocities in Congo could be “genocide” – UN report

(Reuters) – Crimes committed by Rwanda’s army and Congolese rebels in Congo during the 1990s could be classified as genocide, a leaked draft U.N. report says, a charge that will stir tensions between Kigali and the U.N.

A Congo expert said diplomats were wrangling over whether to include the highly sensitive genocide accusation in the final version of the document.

The report details crimes committed in the former Belgian colony between 1993 and 2003, a period that saw the fall of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and a five-year conflict involving six foreign armies, including Rwanda’s Tutsi-led force. Millions of people died, most from hunger and disease rather than violence.

After quashing the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda, Kigali’s army invaded Congo, ostensibly to hunt down Hutu fighters who had taken part in the killings and then fled into the east of Congo, known then as Zaire.

In the process, Rwandan forces swept the Congolese AFDL rebels of Laurent Kabila to power in Congo. Both forces have been accused of a string of rights abuses against Hutu soldiers and civilians across the country.

“The systematic and widespread attacks (against Hutus in Congo) described … reveal a number of damning elements that, if proven before a competent court, could be classified as crimes of genocide,” said the report, seen by Reuters on Thursday.

“The extensive use of edged weapons … and the systematic massacres of survivors after (Hutu) camps had been taken show that the numerous deaths cannot be attributed to the hazards of war or seen as equating to collateral damage.”

France’s Le Monde newspaper said Kigali had threatened to withdraw peacekeepers from Sudan over the charges, but Rwandan officials were not available for comment to Reuters.

A spokesman for the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), which drafted the 545-page report, said the leaked document was a draft, and had some errors.

ROCKING RWANDA ?

The report details some 600 serious crimes committed by various forces from a number of nations but Congo expert and author Jason Stearns said Rwanda comes off worst.

“The allegation that the Rwandan army could be guilty of acts of genocide against Hutu refugees will greatly tarnish the reputation of a government that prides itself of having brought to an end the genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda,” he said.

The final report is due to be presented next week by the UNHCHR, but Stearns said that there was still debate over the inclusion of the genocide accusation, which risked hurting Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has just won re-election but faces unprecedented dissent within the Tutsi elite.

“While most of the dissenting officers were also involved in these alleged massacres in the Congo, this report could further rock the regime,” he said.

The report was intended as a mapping exercise of the most serious crimes committed in Congo, which is still seeking political stability, battling economic woes and debating the future role of U.N. peacekeepers ahead of elections next year.

Congo’s President Joseph Kabila, who took over when his father Laurent was assassinated, wants U.N. troops out of the country next year but also regularly calls on them to help his weak army face down local and foreign rebels still active there.

It is intended as a historical document to detail the most serious crimes and provide the Congolese authorities with information that they can use to seek justice.

Congo’s last main war, which ran from 1998-2003 and at times turned into a scrap for the vast nation’s minerals, inflicted so much damage it became known as Africa’s World War.

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva); editing by Andrew Roche)

Tensions emerge between Rwanda and Western backers

By Linda Slattery and Ann Talbot
26 August 2010

Tensions began to emerge between President Paul Kagame and his Western backers in the course of the recent elections. Media reports criticised the exclusion of opposition parties from the poll and physical attacks on Kagame’s opponents.

Kagame has received extraordinarily high levels of aid from the West since he came to power in 1994 and has previously been virtually immune from criticism in the press. The shift in attitude can best be traced to the welcome that Kagame has extended to China’s growing investment in Africa. A warning is being delivered to Kagame’s regime that the tolerance he has enjoyed to date will not continue if he aligns himself with interests hostile to those of the United States and other Western powers.

Writing in the Financial Times on August 19, Kagame acknowledged the changing attitude that emerged in the course of the election and defended his brand of politics, claiming that it was essential if Rwanda was to be stable:

“Some in the media and the international community seem uninterested in fact-checking, and simply invented stories that play to damaging historic prejudices. It is a shame that some so casually disregard the views of the majority of Rwandans and prefer to elevate the dangerous opinions of fly-by-night individuals, which in turn threaten to reverse our hard-earned stability”.

Rwanda has become the gateway through which the strategic mineral resources of the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo reach the international market. A United Nations Panel of Experts found that Rwanda was responsible for the illegal trafficking of gold, coltan and cassiterite from areas of the DRC controlled by Rwandan-backed militias. All these minerals are vital for mobile phones and other modern electronic devices.

In the year 2000 alone, the Rwandan army is thought to have made $250 million out of this trade. Despite the evidence that the civilian population of the Congo has been abused, the US has made no criticism of Rwanda’s role in the DRC. The Congo Conflict Minerals Act passed by Congress in 2009 with the ostensible aim of putting an end to the looting makes no mention of Rwanda.

Following Kagame’s re-election, however, the National Security Council (NSC) failed to congratulate him on his victory and issued a press statement expressing concern about “disturbing events” that had preceded the election. “We remain concerned, however, about a series of disturbing events prior to the election, including the suspension of two newspapers, the expulsion of a human rights researcher, the barring of two opposition parties from taking part in the election, and the arrest of journalists”, it declared.

“Democracy is about more than holding elections”, said Mike Hammer, spokesman for the NSC. “A democracy reflects the will of the people, where minority voices are heard and respected, where opposition candidates run on the issues without threat or intimidation, where freedom of expression and freedom of the press are protected”.

Kagame’s response came in the Financial Times. He rejected the US criticism of his election and insisted that he was pursuing a form of government suited to Rwandan cultural traditions.

“For decades, one-size-fits-all development and democratic prescriptions have been imposed on Africa, with unsatisfactory, sometimes tragic, results”, he wrote. “Yet to break from the cycle of underdevelopment we must seek innovative, home-grown solutions. Rwanda is one of the countries that have chosen to apply unconventional mechanisms to solve daunting challenges. And it is working”.

Hinting at Rwanda’s importance for the export of minerals, Kagame said that those who accepted his methods would reap the economic benefits. He knows that he has the support of the major mining companies and can look to China as an alternative source of aid. In January 2009 Kagame signed a new trade deal with China, and a new Chinese embassy was opened in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

Speaking to the German business paper Handelsblatt, Kagame praised the role of China in bringing investment in infrastructure to Africa. He recognised the potential for playing off one potential investor or donor against another. “There are new players, developing countries like China, India, Brazil and Russia”, he said. “That opens new possibilities for new relationships. Suddenly, the Americans and Europeans discover that they don’t want to be left out”.

At the China-Africa summit Kagame pointed out that trade between Rwanda and China had quadrupled over the previous four years.

Kagame has been sharply critical of the new US Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act, which contains a clause obliging companies to demonstrate that their minerals have not come from the DRC. Major electronics companies such as IBM, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, Intel and Apple will be hit by this provision. Kagame may hope to bypass this legislation by turning to the Asian market and Asian electronic companies.

Kagame supposedly won 93 percent of the votes in the election on August 9. International observers reported no overt sign of violence or voter intimidation, but all the opposition candidates were former allies of Kagame. Three potential candidates were barred from standing. Leading oppositionist Andre Kagwa Rwisereka of the Democratic Green Party was found dead shortly before the election. The party is linked to Lt. Gen. Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, who is in intensive care in South Africa after being shot. Nyamwasa fled to South Africa earlier this year after accusing Kagame of using an anti-corruption campaign to frame his political opponents.

Reporters have been subject to intimidation. Jean Leonard Rugambage was gunned down in Kigali after his paper Umuvugizi was closed by the government. Its editor Jean Bosco Gasasira had already fled to Uganda.

In June, American lawyer Peter Erlinder, who is representing defendants at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on trial for their alleged part in the genocide, was arrested. He was accused of denying the 1994 genocide on the basis of remarks he made at the tribunal, although the defence lawyers are supposed to be protected by diplomatic immunity. Other lawyers at the ICTR responded to Erlinder’s arrest by asking for postponements until their safety could be guaranteed.

These are the “disturbing events” that have caused concern in Washington. But they are hardly new.

In 1995 the journalist Manesse Mugabo disappeared in Kigali, followed in 1996 by the first post-genocide Minister of the Interior Seth Sendashshonga and businessman Augustin Bugirimfura, who was shot dead in Nairobi. In 1998 journalist Emmanuel Munyemanzi disappeared from Kigali, and Theoneste Lizinde, MP and government intelligence chief before the genocide, was assassinated in Nairobi. In the year 2000, first post-genocide President Pasteur Bizimungu’s adviser, Asiel Kabera, was shot dead in Kigali. In 2003 top judge Augustin Cyiza and magistrate Eliezar Runyaruka disappeared from Kigali, as did opposition MP Leonard Hitiman.

The US has been prepared to turn a blind eye to Kagame’s record of repression until now because it has been useful to American interests. TheFinancial Times Africa editor William Wallis acknowledged the impact that the presence of China has had on Western influence in Rwanda. But he also blamed the West for the lack of democracy in Rwanda.

“With one hand the US”, Wallis wrote, “the [European Union] and other donors encourage and finance elections. With the other, they routinely accept the outcome regardless of how dubious the manner in which it is achieved”.

The process of formally democratic elections merely added a semblance of legitimacy to “a contemporary form of one-party rule, in which incumbents use patronage, oppression and control of electoral machinery to maintain power”.

Rwanda will receive an estimated $208 million in aid from the US this year. This includes the cost of military aid—the Rwanda army is US trained. Britain contributes £46 million, or $73 million, in humanitarian aid. Unusually for a country that does not have a history as a British colony, Rwanda joined the British Commonwealth this year. Membership will allow Rwanda to play a more prominent role in East Africa, where most of the large states are former British colonies and give its political and business elite access to the English-language education that is vital for the global market.

Kagame has been advised by ex-President Bill Clinton, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and has developed close relations with Bill Gates. UN chief Ban Ki-Moon even appointed Kagame to co-chair a committee of “superheroes to defeat poverty” to help push for progress in achieving the UN’s Millennium Development goals. Activists from the British Conservative Party regularly visit Rwanda to take part in aid projects. The country has been held up as a role model for other African countries to follow.

Despite the massive influx of aid into Rwanda, more than half of its 9.7 million population live on about 43 cents a day. Malnutrition is endemic. Almost half its children are malnourished, according to the World Food Programme. Rwanda is one of the poorest countries in the world and ranks 167 out of 182 countries on the UN Human Development Index.

wsws.org

“Le nuove schiavitù” – Il dossier di Save The Children sulle vittime di tratta

Tratta e sfruttamento di minori: per lo più nigeriane e ragazze dell’Est nella tratta a scopo di sfruttamento sessuale, mentre afgani, egiziani e bengalesi sono i più a rischio di sfruttamento. In aumento il traffico di minori egiziani

Almeno 50.000 in Italia le vittime di tratta e sfruttamento fra il 2000 e il 2008, di cui 986 minorenni.

“Se vogliamo aiutare veramente le vittime di tratta e sfruttamento – minori o adulti – bisogna garantire un’adeguata presenza di unità di strada che le aggancino e che, guadagnando la loro fiducia, possano offrire una prima assistenza e orientamento. Inoltre bisogna mettere una maggiore attenzione anche nelle azioni di pubblica sicurezza per non vittimizzare ulteriormente minori e adulti già vittime di tratta e sfruttamento. Spesso, infatti, i minori presi in operazioni di polizia, si sentono criminalizzati e anche per questo scappano dalle strutture protette in cui vengono inseriti”.

Valerio Neri, Direttore Generale di Save the Children per l’Italia, guarda all’attualità per introdurre il dossier “Le nuove schiavitù”, diffuso dall’organizzazione internazionale che dal 1919 lotta per i diritti dei bambini, alla vigilia della Giornata Onu in Ricordo della Schiavitù e della sua Abolizione (il 23 agosto).

“Il dato che emerge dal nostro dossier è l’allargamento del bacino di minori sfruttati o potenziali vittime di sfruttamento, mentre la tratta sembra sempre più circoscritta al gruppo delle ragazze nigeriane e dell’est Europa”, prosegue il Direttore Generale di Save the Children per l’Italia. “Nel caso di minori sfruttati o a rischio, parliamo di ragazzi fra i 12 e i 17 anni, soprattutto afgani, egiziani e bengalesi ma anche rumeni. Sono minori stranieri non accompagnati che si lasciano alle spalle situazioni così difficili da essere disposti a tutto pur di non tornare indietro e pur di pagare i trafficanti che li hanno portati qui. Sono ragazzi messi talmente alle strette dalle loro condizioni da accettare di prostituirsi, di lavorare in nero nel settore orto-frutticolo e della ristorazione, di spacciare, chiedere l’elemosina, compiere attività illegali”.

E tenendo conto che, secondo i dati del Comitato Minori Stranieri, i minori stranieri non accompagnati presenti in Italia sono 4.466 “il bacino di minori potenziali vittime è ampio”, spiega ancora Valerio Neri. “Molti di questi ragazzi e ragazze spesso scappano dalle comunità e tornano a vivere su strada in una condizione di semiclandestinità. Inoltre un significativo numero di quelli che arrivano da soli in Italia, non entrano in contatto con le comunità d’accoglienza e i servizi sociali, quindi non vengono registrati dal Comitato Minori Stranieri, e rimangono esposti a molti rischi. Save the Children fino ad ora ne ha intercettati e seguiti circa 2.500 con le sue attività su strada, di mediazione e informazione nei porti e nelle comunità per minori, in Sicilia, Puglia, nelle Marche e a Roma. E di recente abbiamo avviato delle attività rivolte a minori stranieri non accompagnati prevalentemente esterni al circuito dell’accoglienza e protezione anche in Lombardia e a Torino ”.

I numeri Si stimano in almeno 50.000 le vittime di tratta e sfruttamento in Italia che hanno ricevuto protezione, assistenza e aiuto fra il 2000 e il 2008. Nello stesso intervallo di tempo risultano 986 i minori di 18 anni vittime di tratta e grave sfruttamento inseriti in programmi di protezione . Nigeria, Romania, Moldavia, Albania, Ucraina le nazionalità prevalenti delle vittime di tratta, a scopo di sfruttamento sessuale. Anche se non mancano vittime di sfruttamento lavorativo (163 fra il 2007 e il 2008) . 5.075 fra il 2004 e il 2009 gli indagati per riduzione o mantenimento in schiavitù e per reato di tratta di persone.

La tratta e lo sfruttamento sessuale Sono per lo più ragazze, in gran parte di nazionalità nigeriana e rumena e di età compresa tra i 15 e i 18 anni, le vittime di tratta a scopo di sfruttamento sessuale in Italia. In ripresa sono gli arrivi in aereo, il che comporta un debito più elevato da ripagare, mentre su strada si continuano a intercettare le ragazze giunte in Italia via mare, in Sicilia e poi spostatesi sull’intero territorio nazionale, ad esempio a Torino, Milano, Napoli o sulla costa adriatica. Una forte presenza di ragazze nigeriane si registra nell’area di Castelvolturno, dove la loro situazione rimane critica. Le giovani rumene o di altri paesi dell’Est Europa, sono una presenza costante su strada. Molti operatori rilevano ancora la prostituzione indoor, cioè al chiuso, ma più come un’alternativa per evitare che le ragazze siano fermate e multate dalle forze dell’ordine mentre si prostituiscono per strada.

Minori coinvolti in attività illegali e accattonaggio Il coinvolgimento in attività illegali riguarda prevalentemente bambini e adolescenti di ambo i sessi per lo più rumeni ma anche di origine nord-africana, alcuni con non più di 14 anni e quindi non perseguibili penalmente. Reclutati nei paesi di origine o in Italia, vengono costretti a compiere furti e scippi. Nel nord Italia si sta radicando il fenomeno dello sfruttamento di minori senegalesi nello spaccio di stupefacenti. In particolare nella zona torinese è in aumento il numero di ragazzi, dai 14 ai 18 anni, provenienti principalmente dell’area di Louga in Senegal, coinvolti nello spaccio.

Gli egiziani: qualsiasi lavoro per ripagare gli smugglers Lavoro sottopagato, in nero, nei mercati, nei ristoranti. Vita su strada, perfino prostituzione. I minori egiziani sono un gruppo particolarmente a rischio di sfruttamento perché la necessità di ripagare il debito per il viaggio in Italia li spinge a lavorare a qualsiasi condizione. Per mandarli nel nostro paese le loro famiglie contrattano e pagano mediamente agli smugglers (trafficanti, secondo i minori, appartenenti alla mafia egiziana e italiana) una cifra che va dai 4.700 ai 5.500 €. Recenti casi seguiti da Save the Children in Sicilia sembrano indicare un incremento della cifra fino a 8.000 €. Tale cifra garantisce l’arrivo nel nostro paese attraverso la Sicilia, mentre per ulteriori spostamenti interni, fino al luogo finale di destinazione, pare che i minori debbano pagare una cifra aggiuntiva di circa 200 €. Pur trattandosi di un contratto fittizio, la famiglia del minore si trova costretta a pagare, spesso attraverso delle cambiali, entro i termini stabiliti. Il mancato rispetto dei “termini di pagamento” può comportare un’azione penale e nei casi più gravi, la detenzione dei genitori debitori. Il minore in Italia, schiacciato dal senso di responsabilità verso i genitori, è indotto a cercare qualsiasi opportunità di guadagno e di lavoro.

Minori bengalesi: rischio di sfruttamento per sopravvivere Vengono ospitati in abitazioni di connazionali, pagando 250€ al mese per il posto letto. È possibile che i minori coprano il costo dell’ospitalità lavorando come venditori ambulanti di collanine, giocattoli, ombrelli ecc., per conto di chi ha in affitto la casa. Si teme, inoltre, che i minori bengalesi paghino la consulenza sulle procedure da seguire per ottenere il permesso di soggiorno in Italia nonché per ottenere documenti che attestino la loro identità.

Dall’Afghanistan, via per sempre E’ nel loro lunghissimo e pericolosissimo viaggio che si annidano esperienze e rischi di sfruttamento: vita su strada, lavori pericolosi, affidamento alla rete di trafficanti. L’Italia costituisce, nel progetto migratorio dei ragazzi afgani, più un paese di transito verso il Nord Europa che di destinazione: si stima che per arrivare illegalmente in Norvegia dall’Italia il costo sia di 2.500 €. Il pagamento avviene ad ogni tratta – paese o frontiera che si attraversa – del lungo viaggio che conduce questi ragazzi via dall’Afghanistan. Per procurarsi i soldi necessari i minori afgani solitamente si affidano ai genitori o a parenti che pagano i trafficanti con il sistema della hawala (il trasferimento del denaro avviene al di fuori del sistema bancario, sulla base di una rete di dealer e sulla fiducia). I problemi cominciano quando le famiglie non hanno più i soldi e il ragazzo è a metà del viaggio. Si ritrova così alla mercé del trafficante che oltre ad avere il controllo sui suoi movimenti, può costringerlo a lavorare per saldare il debito contratto e non saldato dai genitori.

Le raccomandazioni di Save the Children “Per aiutare e proteggere chi è vittima di tratta bisogna identificarlo tempestivamente”, spiega Valerio Neri. “E’ fondamentale che gli operatori, le forze dell’ordine, i magistrati e tutti coloro che a vario titolo e in vari momenti – in frontiera, nei porti, sulle strade delle nostre città, nei mercati, nelle campagne – entrano in contatto con le potenziali vittime, abbiano le competenze e un’adeguata formazione per identificarle e conseguentemente inserirle in progetti di protezione”.

Save the Children, insieme ai partners del progetto AGIRE, quali il Servizio Centrale Operativo della Polizia di Stato, ha redatto un manuale per l’identificazione delle vittime di tratta e sfruttamento, utilizzato in seminari formativi in varie città italiane: il prossimo seminario è in programma in autunno a Roma, per la Polizia di Stato.

“E’ poi necessario potenziare il sistema nazionale antitratta e sfruttamento, dotandolo di adeguati finanziamenti. I tagli che alcune amministrazioni locali stanno operando su servizi quali le unità di strada, non vanno purtroppo in questa direzione”, conclude Valerio Neri.

Meltingpot EUROPA

John Legend : wake up ft. Melanie Fiona & Common

Voici le nouveau single de John Legend en collaboration avec The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common. Bonne ecoute

Paul Kagame: America’s Genocidaire in Central Africa

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

Precisely like his predecessor, President Obama empowers a pro-western Murder Inc. in Black Africa, a roster that includes the most vicious mass murderers and assassins on the continent. One of them, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, who is culpable in the death of millions in Congo, recently held an election in which he got 93 percent of the vote. But you won’t hear any complaints from the White House.

“Paul Kagame and Woseri Museveni are the two main architects of the genocide in the eastern Congo.”

One of the United States’ main allies in Black Africa recently declared himself the winner of a farcical presidential election with 93 percent of the vote. But there will be no outcry from Hillary Clinton’s State Department or Barack Obama’s White House, or even much of a fuss from the New York Times, because President Paul Kagame, of Rwanda, serves U.S. interests. You will never hear western governments and media call Kagame by his true name: a dictator and warlord from the minority Tutsi tribe that holds sway over the majority Hutu population through a reign of terror. Instead, western capitalists shower his regime with money and high praise as an example of how Africa should be governed.

Paul Kagame and his mentor and fellow warlord in neighboring Uganda, President Woseri Museveni, were given the green light by the West to kill and steal at will in Central Africa. They are the two main architects of the genocide in the eastern Congo, where some estimate six million people have died since Rwanda and Uganda invaded the region, in the mid-Nineties. The soldiers of these two U.S. henchmen are still there, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, looting precious minerals for sale to multinational corporations under cover of tribal warfare – wars created and nurtured by Kagame and Museveni, themselves, for the sake of power and profit and the favor of the United States and Europe. Kagame and Museveni have more blood on their hands than any combination of men in Africa – which makes them heroes to the West.

“Kagame and Museveni have more blood on their hands than any combination of men in Africa.”

Compared to the Congolese genocide, stealing an election in Rwanda is child’s play. The majority of the Hutu population lives in terror of the Tutsi-dominated regime, which is rooted in the guerilla army that invaded Rwanda from its bases in Uganda and set off the genocidal tribal violence that killed hundreds of thousands of Tutsi and Hutus – although the Hutu victims of Paul Kagame’s army must be mourned in silence. It is a crime in Rwanda to even raise the question of mass killings of Hutus during the violence of 1994, as Kagame fought his way to power. Indeed, any criticism of Kagame’s regime is guaranteed to get one branded as a genocidaire – an advocate of genocide – or a proponent of “divisionism,” which means saying anything that might tend to undermine the people’s obedience to Paul Kagame. You might just turn up dead, as did several of the regime’s opponents in the run-up to the sham election. No serious opposition was allowed to compete. The Kagame police state has ways to ensure that almost everyone votes for The Leader. Voters mark their ballots with their fingerprints next to the chosen candidate, so no one’s vote is a secret.

The two African heads of state most despised by the United States, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, have held elections that were far more fair and credible than Rwanda’s Paul Kagame. Presidents Mugabe and Bashir would never arrange for themselves to get 93 percent of the vote, because they would be denounced as vote thieves by the West. But the genocidal dictator and Paul Kagame flaunts his disregard for the democratic processes, and the West loves him for it. He is doing the U.S. and Europe’s killing for them, and they are pleased. For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to www.BlackAgendaReport.com.

Rwanda protests new US mineral policy

EABW REPORTER

KIGALI, RWANDA- The short period the US has given countries to prove their minerals are not from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will disrupt supply and hurt economies, a Rwandan geologist has said.

On July 20, 2010, the US President passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

A key provision in the law requires companies to disclose whether they use minerals from DRC or neighbouring countries within nine months.

The aim is to cut the source of funding that allowed rebel groups to terrorize communities, use sexual violence as a weapon of war and cause millions of deaths in Eastern DRC.

Tantalum is used to make electrical capacitors that go into phones, computers and gaming devices. Tungsten creates vibrations in cell phones, tin goes into circuit boards and gold is used to coat wiring.

This new law affects companies like IBM, Intel, Motorola, Apple and HP, but there is fear these companies may source their suppliers from other mineral producing countries to avoid being associated with conflict minerals and to costs involved in carrying out private audits.

These companies are large consumers of Tin, tungsten tantalum, 3T’s and gold from the DRC and neighbouring countries.

Now they will have to submit annual detailed report on supply chains, backed by independent audits are to be reported to the US Congress.

The speculation is rife that the companies may chose to avoid the expenses of dealing with DRC’s neighbours. “It is easy for the producers of electronics destined for the US to obtain their “conflict minerals” from other sources,” a commentator in Kigali said.

Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania are bound to be affected by this law in the short run.

In an interview with Dr. Michael Biryabarema, Director General Rwanda Geology and Mines Authority believes many countries have no capacity and resources to implement the certification process within the required nine months as the US Congress wants.

He argues that enough time is required for companies to put the mineral tracing processes in place since the legislation implies that even minerals produced in countries neighbouring DRC have to be certified.

“This calls for the mineral sector in Rwanda to strengthen its capacity in documentation and be in position to satisfy the consumer community. The timing for implementation should be clearly studied to avoid hurting the industry that has no connection to the conflict source whatsoever,” Biryabarema says in a statement.

Rwanda has started a certification process where mining companies in the country that comply with internationally accepted standards are to be graded and issued with a certificate of compliance by the end of this year in an effort to improve the performance of the sector.

La Côte d’Ivoire a cinquante ans

TV5MONDE

Protectorat puis colonie française, le pays a acquis son indépendance en 1960 grâce à Félix Houphouët Boigny. D’abord prospère, la Côte d’Ivoire s’est ensuite engluée dans la crise économique et la dictature.Cinquante ans après, c’est l’heure du bilan de cette indépendance.

TV5MONDE : La Côte d’Ivoire a cinquante ans, posted with vodpod