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The U.S. government has welcomed convictions by the Arusha Based international Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) of the leaders of a political party tied to the 1994 Rwandan Tutsi genocide.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda announced the convictions of former National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development President Mathieu Ngirumpatse and former MRND Vice President and Minister of Interior Edouard Karemera on charges of genocide.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that while at least nine fugitives are still on the run, the ruling was a positive development.

“The United States welcomes this ruling as an important step in providing justice and accountability for the Rwandan people and the international community,” he said.

Both of the leaders were key figures in the interim government that helped establish the Interahamwe militia that played a dominate role in the execution of 1994 Tutsi Genocide.

ICTR found both leaders responsible for sexual violence committed against Tutsi women and girls during the Genocide.

Both men were convicted for their role in criminal acts meant to destroy the Tutsi population in Rwanda. Both men were sentenced to life in prison for their role in the genocide.

French government has announced that effect from January 1, next year a special court to try Rwandan genocide cases will commence.

The latest development follows the approval of a law on December 13, 2011 to establish the tribunal.

Rwanda’s Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga commended the move saying, “I understand there has been a plan in France to set up a special chamber to deal with genocide cases, I’m unaware it is now done, nevertheless if France implements the plan it will most likely help to move forward the process of these cases that are many in France where the country has done badly on this subject .”

He added, “of course lack of such an arrangement cannot constitute a serious excuse for what they have not been doing, but setting up a special chamber would demonstrate more than ever before a new chapter of seriousness that should be attached to a problem of that magnitude.”

When fully operational, the Paris based court will prioritize on concluding 20 genocide cases piled in France’s several intermediary courts.

Indeed, among the Rwandan genocide offenses include, war crimes, torture, both genocide ideology and denial.

Yet in order to strengthen its capacity, the court will work jointly with the international criminal court to gather more evidence especially from recent captured suspects who have worked with Rwandan rebels based in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) who are also suspected to have contributed largely to the genocide.

Meanwhile Political leaders in France have condemned the recent attack of their colleague who spearheaded the formation of this special court.

Last month, the French Minister of Justice told Hirondelle News Agency that four examining judges will be exclusively assigned to the special genocide unit of Paris Tribunal de grande instance that will commence duties in January 2012.

The French Assembly passed the law creating this special unit on November 16. It will serve as a special forum to deal with crimes against humanity, crimes of war, and acts of torture.

Along with the four magistrates, one judge from the office of the Prosecutor, two Registrars and six other employees coming from the Minister of Foreign Affairs will also be assigned to the special unit, the Minister of Justice’s spokesman Bruno Dabre said.

The unit will have to handle in priority twenty Rwandan cases out of a total of 340 files. Bruno Dabre added that the financial resources of the unit have not been yet disclosed.

According to the new law, examining judges will be entitled within the frame of a Rogatory letter and with the approval of the concerned state to conduct hearings in that territory.

The special unit will also inherit the case opened against French soldiers for alleged rapes committed in 1994 during Operation Turquoise.

Proceedings in this case are slated to be transferred from the Army Court on January 1st, 2012.

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Uganda’s based Jose Chameleon is expected to rock Kigali City in a concert scheduled at The Manor Hotel in Nyarutarama for two days to end the year 2011.

Chameleon will perform tomorrow Thursday 29 and Friday 30 and then invited by Quelque Part Bar & Restaurant.

According to the event organizers, Chameleon will perform along with popular local artists including Kitoko and Dream Boyz.

Joseph Mayanja aka Jose Chameleon was born 1979. He mainly sings in Luganda, English and Swahili and has become a Pop Idol in Africa with several of His songs popular on Radios and Tvs, in Bars and Clubs all over the continent.

Several of His songs have turned into popular dialect such as Basiima Ogenze, Shida Za Dunia, Nekolera Maali, and Mama Mia among Others.

He is generally credited with the rejuvenation of Popular Local Music in Uganda at the turn of the Century.

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The media bills have been tabled in the lower chamber of parliament again by Political Affairs and Gender Committee following the approval by the plenary session in August.

Protais Musoni, Minister in charge of Cabinet Affairs, has said that there were clauses hampering the media which had to be removed.

Some articles include the one that require a certain amount of money to set up a media house and specified academic qualifications requirements for journalists to practice journalism.

“There are some who have not been trained in journalism and can do or may do better than those qualified in journalism,” Musoni told the member of parliament before taking on the the scrutiny which is supposed to be completed before this month ends.

Media analysts say the removal of restrictive clauses may compromise quality in the media in this generation.

However the Minister does not see that way saying that when entrance into any sector becomes easy, it facilitates competition which makes the sector grow fast.

Musoni argues that competitive market will automatically eliminate poor quality emphasizing that many people have been discovered to have better journalistic skills without having necessarily went journalism schools.

Previously, the draft law also required a Rwandan journalist to have, either an associate’s degree in journalism or communication, a certificate obtained from an institute of journalism and communication, or a university degree in another field with training in journalism.

“It is not that we wish the media to have unqualified people. But media practitioners will also want to employ competent people so as to give quality,” The Minister said adding that Editors’ forum will be formed to monitor the profession.

The Lower Chamber had proposed that Rwf 50 million be the initial capital requirement for radio stations, Rwf 100 million for television and Rwf 6 million for print media.

Apart from the Media Bill, lawmakers are also examining a bill on access to information, and two bills on the functioning and organization of the Media High Council (MHC), as well as the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA).

Unlike before, media regulation will now be carried out by the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA).

The bill on access to information aims to enable the public access to information in the hands of public institutions, and some private bodies.

Members of parliament are exepcted to complete srutiny of the bills by Friday.

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Rwanda’s continued gender sensitivity has seen at least 9 female police officers join a contingent of 160 police officers under the Formed Protection Unit (FPU).

The contingent which has left for Jérémie town in southern Haiti will be under the command of Chief Superintendent, Toussaint Muzezayo.

“Rwanda has been ranked first by Department of Peacekeeping Operations(DPKO) in female contributions in UN missions,” Police spokesperson Supt. Theos Badege has said.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a campaign in August 2009 to lift the percentage of women peacekeepers to 20 percent in police units by 2014, and to 10 percent in military contingents.

It is estimated that only 2.3 percent of the 88,661 military peacekeepers serving in 17 different missions are women, whereas in 2008 they made up 2.18 percent of military contingents.

It has been also reported that approximately 8.2 percent of the 13,221 UN police are women, a figure that jumped from 6.5 percent in April.

In 2000, Resolution 1325 of the UN Security Council called on the Secretary-General to progress on gender mainstreaming throughout peacekeeping missions and all other aspects related to women and girls.

Subsequent Security Council resolutions outlined more comprehensive methods for using peacekeeping missions to protect women and girls from sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict zones, including increasing the number of women peacekeepers.

The first all-female Formed Police Unit (FPU), was deployed in Liberia in 2007, where a significant difference to the women victimized in rampant sexual violence during the country’s civil war was attained.

A five-year campaign to boost the number of UN female peacekeepers was also launched though not many countries have equally involved in realizing the campaign.

Early last year, the United Nations Police Commissioner General, Ann-Marie Orler, visited Rwanda appreciating Rwanda’s gender sensitivity and called upon nations to contribute towards female recruitment or sending to peacekeeping mission.

She announced that the DPKO Police Division had taken up a drive to recruit more female police officers, that targets 20 percent in 2014 from 8 percent 2009, with a long-term goal of having a 50-50 ratio of men to women.

The second Rwandan contingent to Haiti will replace another 160 police officers that were deployed nine months ago, whose mission has ended and expected to be in the country by December 31.

FPUs, among others, provide humanitarian assistance, conduct patrols and guard VIPs and key installations.

Currently, there are 416 police officers on mission in Sudan, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Haiti.

As at October 2011, it was estimated that 1,342 female police officers represented about 9.4% of the total police deployment of 14,239.

This reflected a marginal improvement over the participation of female police in peacekeeping. This improvement also covered participation in FPU.

However, a number of African member states appear to have taken on the challenge of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, by deploying all-female contingents.

African examples include Namibian Police Force (31 females in UNAMID), Rwanda (89 in Darfur), Tanzania (25 in Darfur) and Ghana (35 in Darfur).

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The mayor of Kayonza District John Mugabo has announced that 10,000 people will undergo adult literacy trainings in a period of six months.

The aim is to reduce poverty and giving them basic skills which would also facilitate them in managing small income generating activities.

At least 3 classrooms in every sector will offer lessons on reading, writing and counting numbers supported by Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) that is so far trained 150 teachers on special syllabus.

The executive secretary of southern province Jean-Marie Vianney Makombe commended ADRA’s initiative adding that it is in line with government initiative to alleviate poverty.

“Education is important in improving one’s welfare and also enhances the country’s development,” he said.

Maxime Ngarambe one of the teachers urged those who are illiterate not to feel shy of going to class even though they’re old since the program doesn’t ignore anyone.

“I ask local leaders to help us in the campaign process and encourage those who are defensive of the school because of their inferiority complex,” he remarked.

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Rwandan prosecutor general Martin Ngoga has announced that the government will file charges against the recently released genocide suspect Callixte Mbarushimana by International Criminal Court (ICC).

According to Ngoga there’re charges he never faced at the Hague based court like the original genocidal cases.

Ngoga says Mbarushimana was tried crimes committed under his command of the FDLR in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in 2009, and not his alleged participation in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Mbarushimana was released last week after the court concluded that there was no enough evidence in all five counts of crimes against humanity and eight counts of war crimes, including charges of murder, torture, rape, inhumane acts and persecution, and destruction of property.

“We shall definitely press original Genocidal charges. He never faced those charges at the ICC. We said in the past and we so repeat, that, there is no relenting until he faces his day in court,” Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga, said on Monday.

However, Mbarushimana is believed to be a senior member of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) operating in eastern DR Congo, whose fighters were widely believed to be responsible for hundreds of deaths and sexual assaults
He is said to have returned to France where he has a refugee status and worked as a computer specialist.

Rwanda has in the past issued an indictment for his arrest but French authorities paid no heed.

Mbarushimana is believed to have played a role in organizing and executing killings during the 1994 Genocide, where he was a computer technician in the UNDP office in Kigali.

In 2001, a UN investigative team linked Mbarushimana with the murder of 32 people, including Tutsi colleagues at the UNDP.

After closely monitoring the trial at the ICC, Rwandan prosecutors, remain undeterred as they seek to bring him to justice for his alleged involvement in the Genocide.

Mbarushimana was arrested in France last October after the ICC Prosecution issued a warrant for his arrest on five counts of crimes against humanity and eight counts of war crimes, committed by FDLR in DRC.

On October 11, 2010, Mbarushimana was arrested in France, where he had been living as a political refugee since 2003.

On arrival in French capital, Paris, Mbarushimana was taken by police to meet an investigating magistrate who is to notify him of his parole conditions, says the AFP.

Despite ICC charges being dropped, the AFP says he is under investigation in France for his alleged role in the 1994 Genocide, hence the interview with the judge.

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Hundreds of men have been flocking Gasabo’s Kibagabaga hospital to undergo circumcision for free.

The program which started in June with training, the actual circumcision starting October intends to cover 2 million men by the year 2013.

Kibagabaga Hospital carries circumcision every weekend but this time it carried it on Monday, the boxing day due to Christmas feastive.

Circumcision has been recognized as one of the tools to reduce risks of acquiring HIV.

In 2009, the Minister of Health Dr Agnes Binagwaho published a paper on PLoS Medicine website to show Male Circumcisions (MC) cost effectiveness. It is also said that Binagwaho is a board member PLoS Medicine.

PLoS Medicine is an open-access, peer-reviewed medical journal that publishes outstanding human studies that substantially enhance the understanding of human health worldwide.

According to the paper now on the PLoS medicine website, MC is one of the oldest and most common surgical procedures with approximately 30% of men circumcised worldwide.

While MC is almost universal in North Africa and most of West Africa, it is less common in Southern Africa where HIV prevalence is much higher.

In Rwanda, MC is not a traditional procedure and it is estimated that only about 15% of men are circumcised. Nonetheless, due to the ongoing debate about MC in the country, demand for the service is increasing according to the Ministry of Health.

Conclusive evidence from three randomised control trials conducted in Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa showed that MC reduces the risk of HIV infection by about 55%: 51% in Uganda , 53% in Kenya , and 60% in South Africa.

Studies also report a substantially reduced risk of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among circumcised men, such as syphilis (summary risk ratio (RR) = 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54–0.83) and chancroid (RR 0.12–1.11).

There is also evidence that MC protects against urinary tract infections (RR = 0.13, CI 0.01–2.63) [8]; invasive penile cancer and reduces prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) (adjusted RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.46–0.90; p = 0.009).

Most studies report a reduced risk of gonorrhoea and chlamydia trachomatis infection in female partners Moreover, MC protects against balanitis, posthitis, phimosis, and paraphimosis.

The paper presented by Dr Binagwaho indicate that infant MC, total costs (US$2,250,000) are lower than discounted total savings (US$3,808,523) meaning the intervention is cost-saving.

For adolescents and adults, total costs (US$8,850,000) are higher than total savings, for net costs of US$2,940,180 and US$3,407,951, respectively.

The cost-effectiveness ratio (net cost per infection averted) is US$3,932 and US$4,949 for adolescents and adults, respectively.

The findings from the analysis in Rwanda show that neonatal MC is less expensive than adolescent and adult MC (US$15 instead of US$59 per procedure) and is cost-saving; even though savings from infant circumcision will be realized later in time.

The fact that MC of infants in Rwanda is a cost-saving intervention means that for each MC performed, the government of Rwanda will save money.

Simoni Kanyaruhango who is heading the program through Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), noted that there’re efforts to enhance the program which for the past four years of its existence hasn’t shown much progress.

“So far we’re equipping all District hospitals countrywide with necessary tools, we also have plans to take similar services in rural areas,”

A report by the Ministry of Health show that only 12% of men were circumcised by the year 2007. Kanyaruhango noted that the idea was to reduce the risks of men acquiring HIV/AIDS and other sexual transmitted diseases.

Also this report shows that 50 to 60% of circumcision men in the region had lesser risks of acquiring HIV/AIDs.

Fabien Kalisa aged 25 was among hundreds of male lining up to undergo the minor surgery done in three theater rooms, decided to be circumcised after learning from one of the RBC campaign.

“I commend the initiative of this hospital in giving out free circumcision since many are reluctant to pay the amount while others don’t fully understand the advantages, the doctor has told us that after seven days I will be fine and ready to get back to work and my genital hygiene will improve too,” he remarked.

Due to the big number of people interested for the free service, the Director of Kibagabaga hospital Christian Ntizimira noted that the exercise intends to end its first phase by February followed by evaluation then continue till 2013.

He says that every weekend between 80 and 90 men are circumcised and that between 300-400 men have been circumcised so far and all operations have been successful, Ntizimira said.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has killed more than 25 million people since 1981 and more than 31 million people (22 million in sub-Saharan Africa alone) are now infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS.

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Kigali City mayor Fidele Ndayisaba has refuted allegations of a ban against overnight parties and concerts that go until break of dawn.
“I didn’t say that. Rwandans should have fun anytime they want.”

In a phone interview, Ndayisaba insisted that during the festive season everyone should enjoy, visit their friends and family and there’s no time limit for celebrations.

“I wish all city dwellers and Rwandans at large a merry Christmas and a happy new year.”

However he cautioned people to party responsibly by avoiding drink driving or engaging in fights, “security will be tight as usual”.