Posted by News on Jun 6th, 2010 and filed under POLITICS, WORLD.
[Since 1994, the world witnesses the horrifying Tutsi minority (14%) ethnic domination, the Tutsi minority ethnic rule, tyranny and corruption in Rwanda. The current government has been characterized by the total impunity of RPF criminals, the Tutsi economic monopoly, the Tutsi militaristic domination with an iron hand, and the brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Rwandan people (85% are Hutus), mass-arrests and mass-murder by the RPF criminal organization.=>ASIF]
KIGALI (Reuters) – Three Rwandan opposition parties have asked the United States to use its influence to help resolve social and political tension in the country before the presidential election in August.
In an open letter last week to the U.S. ambassador in Kigali, Stuart Symington, and seen by Reuters on Sunday, the three-party coalition said: “We strongly believe that your leverage as the ambassador of the United States of America in Rwanda can help diffuse tensions as the presidential elections loom and… (the) military crisis deepens.”
Regional analysts say the flight of a former army chief, the arrest of two senior officers and a military reshuffle since the beginning of the year are signs of a growing rift between Kagame and top aides in the RPF and the army.
The parties in the coalition, the Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda, are PS Imberakuri, the Democratic Green Party and the United Democratic Forces. PS Imberakuri is the only registered party in the group.
The coalition asked for U.S. assistance in opening up politics, changing anti-genocide legislation and guaranteeing the security forces remained outside politics, and sought a postponement of the ballot, due take place on August 9, to allow more time to ensure it is transparent and free.
“Unless (development) efforts are underpinned by democracy, freedom and the rule of law, the achievements in that area will not be sustainable,” the parties said.
In recent months, a series of unexplained grenade attacks in the capital have killed several people and injured dozens.
Kagame has rejected the allegations of discord with his generals and has said the officers who had been exiled and arrested were guilty of corruption.
“There should be accountability at every level. It doesn’t matter whether you are a general, a president, an ordinary citizen, an MP or a minister, there should be a sense of accountability,” he told a Ugandan newspaper last month.
In Washington, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson told Congress last month Rwanda had suspended two independent newspapers, arrested a high-profile opposition figure, expelled a human rights researcher and prevented two opposition parties from registering.
Rwanda rejects accusations of clamping down on opponents and says the government has pursued dialogue and accepted opposing views since the 1994 genocide.
(Editing by Andrew Dobbie)
© News Blog
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a “time”, yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
