Igihe

Blog

  • Slow Translation Problems Delay ICTR’S Longest Case

    After a trial that took ten years, the “Butare case” before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda could also be its longest at the Appeals stage.

    One year after the judgment of the six accused, their appeals procedure has hardly got started because of translation problems.

    On June 24, 2011, the ICTR sentenced former Women and Family Affairs Minister Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, her son Arsène Ntahobali and former mayor Elie Ndayambaje to life imprisonment for their role in the 1994 genocide in the southern Rwandan prefectureof Butare.

    Another former mayor, Joseph Kanyabashi, was sentenced to 35 years, while former prefects Sylvain Nsabimana and Alphonse Nteziryayogot 25 and 30 years respectively.

    They all decided to appeal, but they are still waiting for the French version of the judgment.

    Although some members of the defence teams speak English, the working language of the six convicts is French.

    On June 24, 2011, presiding judge William Hussein Sekule read out only a summary in English of the court’s conclusions.

    The full judgment in English was distributed to the parties three weeks later. It consists of 1,500 pages, over which the translators are still sweating.

    “We are working tirelessly. It’s not easy to translate a text full of judicial terms,” said one of the translators who asked to remain anonymous.

    “And then in judicial matterseven more than in other areas you have to be very careful when you translate.But we hope to be finished in a few weeks time.”

    Cameroonian translator François Bembatoum told Hirondelle in February 2010 that this invisible but indispensable team were already struggling.

    “Translation, it’s not like photocopying,”he said.

    “There are well known international standards for translation. Unless we get sufficient resources in relation to the workload, well itis just going to take time.”

    Since then, according to a memberof the Registry, the language section has not been spared in the gradualstaff cuts as the ICTR prepares to close by December 2014.

    The Court has advised the defence teams with members who understand English to prepare provisional appeals on the basis of the English judgment, which can be adjusted once the Frenchis available.

    Nsabimana’s lawyer Josette Kadji says her team has been doing just that. “We have worked with the English version, while we wait for the French.

    When we get it, we’ll have 60 days to finalize our written appeal.”
    Kanyabashi is waiting for the translation of another document as well as the judgment, since the Prosecutor has also decided to appeal in his case only.

    Once the convicts have filed theirwritten arguments, the Prosecutor will be given the necessary time to respondin writing.

    It is only after the judges have read all these documents that the Chamber will set a date for an appeals hearing. “Maybe towards the end of this year, maybe next year,” says Kadji.

    Hirondellenews

  • Analysts Say Tsvangirai Comments on Draft Constitution Misleading

    Legal and political analysts say politi­cal party leaders have authority to effect changes to the Zimbabwe draft constitu­tion con­trary to what MDC-T leader Mor­gan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday after meeting South African President Jacob Zuma.

    The Sadc-appointed facilitator was in Harare on Wednesday to meet leaders of parties to the GPA to assess progress made in the implementation of the accord.

    Tsvangirai, who is Prime Minis­ter in the inclusive Government, claimed principals had no “veto power” over Copac.

    However, analysts said Copac’s role ended with the handing over of the draft constitution to the management committee — which was set up by the principals and not by the GPA.

    Harare lawyer Mr Farai Mutamangira said the basis upon which the entire constitution-making process is premised is, article 6 of the GPA.

    “Put differently the constitution making exercise derives its mandate from a political agreement, and the Principals as the parties to the GPA, have the privilege to affirm an agreement or lack thereof, as among themselves in respect of the draft constitution,” he said.

    “In doing so they do no more than exercise the contractual mandate they derive from the GPA. You will recall that the same Principals had previously drawn up and signed off as agreeable the Kariba Draft, which is annexure ” B” to the GPA.

    “Clearly the new draft is intended to supplant the Kariba Draft, and its political and legal significance is no more than the Kariba Draft, and in any event much weaker because it has not garnered a consensus of all the Parties to the GPA.

    “Unfortunately the legal significance of the new draft is that it can not assume an importance beyond that of the GPA, until the principals accept it and integrate it with the GPA and initiate the formal referendum process through parliament.”

    Mutamangira said the involvement of the select committee of parliament does not change, this position, in the absence of an Act of Parliament constituting the select committee by law, such as the select committee of Kenya which was constituted under the Constitution of Kenya Review Act number 9 of 2008.

    Prominent Harare lawyer, Mr Jonathan Samkange concurred saying referring a document to someone subjects it to the whims of the person or people it has been referred to.

    “The fact that this draft was referred to the management commit­tee which was created by the princi­pals means that the management committee was supposed to carry their mandate on behalf of the princi­pals.

    “This is just basic logic that the man­agement committee will then have to submit the document to the principals so that they can audit to see if they fol­lowed the instruction.”

    Samkange said the principals had the mandate to effect changes to the draft constitution if they felt their emis­saries did not capture what they wanted.

    He described the principals as the highest political offices with the final say on the draft constitution.

    Political analyst and Zanu-PF polit­buro member, Cde Jonathan Moyo said Tsvangirai’s statement was mislead­ing.

    He said the final draft constitution was not a product of Copac but the management committee.

    “What the Prime Minister said reflects either ignorance about Copac and its composition or a dishonest attitude and his disrespect of Sadc because everybody except the Prime Minister knows that the July 18 draft constitution was prepared by the management committee which is a forum of negotiators and not part of Copac,” Prof Moyo said.

    He said the management commit­tee was not Copac contrary to what Mr Tsvangirai said.

    “Ministers Patrick Chinamasa, Nicholas Goche, Tendai Biti, Elton Mangoma, Priscilla Misihairabwi, Moses Mzila Ndlovu and Eric Mati­nenga are the management commit­tee and none of them is a member of Copac.

    “Only Copac co-chairpersons, Paul Mangwana, Douglas Mwonzora and Edward Mkhosi are members of Copac but they had no role in the preparation of the final draft.

    “They were just used as messengers between the management committee and the drafters. It is common knowl­edge that when the management committee finished the draft, they sent it to Copac and Copac members were made to endorse it without read­ing its contents.

    Copac neither crafted this draft nor read it before their endorsement.

    “For the PM to say this is a Copac draft which cannot be amended by principals, it is either ignorance of the actual process or an expression of his disrespect of Sadc because the facts speak for themselves.

    “All along until yesterday (Wednes­day) when he met President Zuma, Tsvangirai has been saying the draft constitution would be a negotiated document.

    “Copac is not a negotiating forum but a Parliamentary Select Commit­tee which was supposed to produce a people-driven constitution and not a negotiated constitution.

    “Copac failed to do that and it also failed to publish the people’s views and the result was the draft constitu­tion was negotiated by the manage­ment committee which is a forum of GPA negotiations and that com­mittee reports directly to political principals who created it,” Prof Moyo said.

    He said the principals and their political parties would have a final say about the fate of the draft constitu­tion.

    Prof Moyo urged Mr Tsvangirai to help the process by getting his politi­cal party “to play ball”.

    Herald

  • Ethiopian Orthodox Church Leader Dead

    The head of Ethiopian Orthodox Church,His Holiness Abune Paulos, Fifth Patriarch and Catholicos of Ethiopia, Ichege of the See of St Tekle Haymanot, Archbishop of Axum Abune Paulos, has died at the age of 77 in an Addis Ababa hospital.

    The sudden death of the controversial leader could add to tensions in the influential church that is already divided both at home and abroad.

    The church’s public relations office said Thursday that the synod and other leaders would meet to arrange the funeral and transitional leadership.

    Unlike his predecessor, Abune Paulos was a handpicked Patriarch, chosen by prime minister Meles Zenawi in an apparent bid to defuse opposition by Christians to his rule.

    Around half of Ethiopia’s 85 million population are orthodox Christians and traditionally, the Orthodox Church plays an important role in Ethiopian political life.

    Abune Paulos survived an assassination attempt in the mid 1990s inside the church.

  • Koffi Olomide Gets 3 Months Prison Sentence

    A DRC court has given Koffi Olomide a three-month suspended prison sentence Thursday for injuring his producer in a fight in a Kinshasa hotel.

    Olomide fought in a hotel room with his music producer Diego Lubaki who was then visiting kinshasa for a few days.

    Gombe court in Kinshasa heard that Olomide went to the hotel and confronted the producer, better known as “Diego Music”.

    Olomide wanted to discuss Euros6000 he had paid the producer for a video that was never produced. In the process a fight broke out and several hotel security agents had to intervene. Olomide was subsequently arrested.

    Lubaki said Thursday he wanted to drop the charges against Olomide, the judge continued the trial.

    “He wanted to withdraw charges in favour of social peace and peace between him and the one he calls his big brother,” said one of Lubaki’s lawyers.

    Still, Olomide was convicted of assault and battery but acquitted of another charge of malicious destruction, after the hotel room door was damaged in the fight.

    A conviction on that charge could have earned him a much tougher sentence — up to five years in prison.

  • Gay Activists Hack into Uganda Prime Minister’s Website

    Uganda has reportedly tightened its Internet security after hackers attacked the prime minister’s website posting statements supporting gay rights, the country’s Internet regulator said Friday.

    Its alleged that Activists hacked into the website of the prime minister’s office earlier this week and posted a fake press release announcing the minister’s support for a gay pride parade.

    “Our first priority is to apply all necessary resources to give all institutions, the tools, processes and support they require to strengthen the security of their IT systems in case of any incident,” Uganda’s National Information Technology Authority said in a statement.

    Pro-gay activists targeted Uganda after a controversial bill that would see certain homosexual acts punished by the death penalty was re-introduced to parliament earlier this year.

    Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, but the proposed legislation has previously attracted heavy criticism for the draconian penalties it proposed.

    It would introduce the death sentence for anyone caught engaging in homosexual acts for the second time, as well as for gay sex where one partner is a minor or has HIV.

    The statement posted online claimed to be from the prime minister’s office and condemned widespread homophobia in Uganda.

    “We have got to expel the narrow mindedness from this country, and begin afresh, starting with a full and formal apology to all homosexuals living in Uganda today,” the statement, purporting to be from Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, said.

    The statement had been removed from the website as of Friday.

    AFP

  • Congolese Opposition Party Wants US Force Deployed on Rwanda-DRC Border

    The Leader of Congolese opposition party-Alliance for Development and the Republic (ADR), François Muamba Tshishimbi has proposed deployment of Africom, U.S. military force along the Rwanda DRC border to contain M23 rebels, Democratic Forces for Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and other armed groups in the région.

    Muamba made the proposition 16 August during a press conference in Kinshasa he organized to mark the first anniversary of his political party.

    “We also believe that our country should pursue the question of securing its eastern borders to bilateral relations with partners such as the U.S., already have a neutral safety mechanism called Africom “said Muamba.

    He said his party supports the view of deploying an international force between the DRC and Rwanda which should remain neutral.

    The Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Ntumba Lwaba said the quotas of the international force will be essentially the Great Lakes region and the entire African region.

    The deployment of the international force was approved in mid-July by Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame during the summit in Addis Ababa.

    Okapi

  • Businessman Takes Rat Poison, Hangs Dead

    Twagiramana Innocent 24, a businessman and resident of Muhanga district was found dead in his shop after committing suicide in the night of August 15.

    This is the second suicidal case in Shyogwe in just two months.

    Reasons for this suicidal action have not yet been established. He was residing at Kabungo in Kinini at Shyogwe Sector.

    Neighbours told IGIHE that on saturday morning they knocked on Twagiramana’s shop door in need of buying machandise but there was no responce apart from the noisy television in the room.

    During the fateful night before Twagiramana took his life, he had threatened his wife Mutoniwase Yvonne saying if she didnt leave the house, there would be two deadbodies.

    Mutoniwase heeded and escaped to neighbours house where she spent the whole night as her husband hanged himself using a rope.

    The wife to the diceased said she didnt expect her husband would take his life.

    However, local residents said Twagiramana was always jealous and never liked seeing his wife in company with other men saying this could have caused him to end his life.

    Another Version allegs that Twagiramana had consumed Marijuana early that day and had been randomly beating people.

    Its also alleged by 9:00PM he closed shop after serving clients and turned on television with high volume. He is alleged to have taken rat poison and later hanged himself using a rope.

    Peeping through under the door, they saw his lifeless body. His body was taken to Kabgayi Hospital for a postmotem. He will be burried at his birth place in Mbuye, Ruhango district.

    Niyonsaba Dancille a local leader at Kinini in charge of development told IGIHE that Twagiramana had previously suffered from mental illness saying he once undressed and walked naked in public until Police dressed himup.

    It had been assumed that he had recovered.

  • Rwanda Enticed to Join Senates Association

    An association of senates ASSECA has enticed Rwanda to join saying it would benefit from sharing best practices with other countries that have bicameral parliaments.

    Gabriel Ndizeye Burundi’s Senate President also the current chair of ASSECA was in the country acompanied by ASSECA Secretary General Ali Abdul Yousuf.

    They met Rwanda’s Senate President Dr. Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo who said his institution will consider the proposal in consultation with the executive since there is a cost implication in form of membership contributions.

    “I do not see the problem with Rwandan Senatebecoming a member of ASSECA,” Dr. Ntawukuriryayo said.

    ASSECA operates in 22 Sub-Sahara African and Arab countries.
    nbv-2.jpg

  • Sudan Currency Loses Value, Black Market Hikes US $ Rates

    Sudan is experiencing financial constraints as the price of the U.S. dollar on black market for hard currency jumped on Thursday to 5.95 as the country’s central bank further devalued the local pound in renewed efforts to plug the gap with the unofficial trade.

    The Central Bank of Sudan CBS announced on Thursday that it was fixing a new exchange rate of 5.65 for commercial banks and Forex bureaus alike in order to narrow the gap with the black market rate.

    CBS said the new rate will be followed by decreasing it to 4.4 following the Eid holiday.

    Commercial banks have already started using the new rate but there is no information on whether Forex offices did too.

    CBS allowed in May government-licensed Forex bureaus to determine their own rates in buying and selling currencies.

    However, the situation changed little as Forex offices kept hiking their rates to match value in the unofficial trade while failing to meet the demand due to the small supply they receive from CBS.

    Sudan has been struggling to narrow the gap between the official and black market rates of foreign currency exchange which has been widening since the country lost its main source of hard currency revenues due to the secession of the oil-rich South Sudan last year.

    ST

  • Rwandans Protest Against Congolese-led Attacks

    Rwandans in Belgium (DRB-Rugari asbl) are extremely concerned about the growing violence targeting its members in Belgium perpetrated by small groups of Congolese origin.

    Several cases of beatings resulting in serious injuries and hospitalization have been reported.

    On Saturday, July 28, 2012, one more incident occurred: The young man who we will call J. M. to protect his identity (22) was attacked in the subway station Merode and ended up in hospital with a fractured jaw. For the Rwandan Diaspora this was the last straw.

    Such violence is committed in broad daylight, in public places (in the streets or in subways) by organized gangs of “combatants” who are claiming to seek a solution to the war raging in Eastern Congo.

    DRB-Rugari is appealing to the Belgian authorities and the Belgian public to address the seriousness of these barbaric acts which constitute a flagrant violation of human rights, compounded by racist and xenophobic verbal aggressions.

    These actions are creating a climate of fear and mistrust that undermine the social cohesion that the Belgian government and multiple social welfare associations – including our organization – are working on.

    DRB-Rugari request to the Belgian authorities that they take all measures to ensure the safety of its members, as they do for every Belgian citizen or any other person living in its territory.

    It is for all these reasons that the Rwandan community in Belgium decided to peacefully protest this outrage on Saturday, August 18, 2012 at Place de la Monnaie (1000 BXL) from 2pm to 4 pm.

    DRB-Rugari appeal to the members of the Congolese community involved in the violence and hope they will understand that Rwandans living in Belgium are not protagonists of the conflict in eastern Congo and they are, in no way, related to the stakes of this war. Attacking them will bring no solution.

    Finally, the Rwandan Diaspora in Belgium, invites the Congolese community for a constructive dialogue in order to improve the cohabitation and the relations between the two communities in Belgium.

    We hope it will be possible before one more victim suffers as a result of these tensions.