Latest news with #RwandanGenocide
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Qatar presents draft peace proposal to Congo and M23 rebels, source says
DOHA, June 5 (Reuters) - Qatar has presented a draft peace proposal to Congo and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels after months of mediation in Doha, and the two sides will consult their leaders before resuming talks, a source briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Thursday. Fighting in eastern Congo escalated this year as M23 staged an advance that saw it seize the region's two largest cities. African leaders along with Doha and Washington are trying to broker a peace deal that would put an end to a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago. Qatar successfully brokered a surprise meeting in March between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Both leaders called for a ceasefire after the meeting. In April Congo and M23 issued statements pledging to work towards peace, though sources in both camps expressed patience over the pace of the talks in Doha. "Negotiations between the AFC/M23 and the DRC government in Doha have entered a deeper phase, with both sides engaging on the core issues underlying the conflict," the source briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Thursday. But it was unclear there had been major breakthroughs. Congo says Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces are acting in self defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed around 1 million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis. The draft peace proposal is the result of more than two months of direct and indirect talks between M23 and Congo held in Doha and mediated by Qatar.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New York beekeeper ‘was Rwandan Genocide perpetrator'
A beekeeper living in the United States for two decades was a participant in the Rwandan Genocide, prosecutors claim. Faustin Nsabumukunzi, 65, of Bridgehampton, New York, was a local leader with the title of 'Sector Counsellor' in Rwanda in 1994, according to documents made public by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). 'The defendant participated in the commission of heinous acts of violence abroad and then lied his way into a green card and tried to obtain US citizenship,' said Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ's criminal division. 'No matter how much time has passed, the department will find and prosecute individuals who committed atrocities in their home countries and covered them up to gain entry and seek citizenship in the United States,' he continued. Mr Nsabumukunzi was arrested on Thursday and scheduled to appear before a judge. It is not clear if Mr Nsabumukunzi has a lawyer or has had a chance to enter a plea. An image published by the New York Post, purportedly of Mr Nsabumukunzi, showed him standing outside a house with an American flag flying from a post. The newspaper said when Mr Nsabumukunzi was arrested in the Long Island area of New York, he allegedly told the authorities: 'I know, I'm finished.' During just 100 days in 1994, members of the majority Hutu population persecuted the minority Tutsis, committing acts of violence including murder and rape. An estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. The killings were triggered by the death of the Juvenal Habyarimana, the Rwandan president, who was a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on April 6 that year. In 2006, a French judge claimed Paul Kagame, the current Rwandan president, at the time the leader of a Tutsi rebel group and his associates were involved in the attack, something he has always denied. The DOJ said Mr Nsabumukunzi applied for refugee status in in 2003, and denied any involvement in the genocide. He was allowed to enter the US as a refugee in 2004, and received a green card in 2007. In New York, he worked as a beekeeper with the Hamptons Honey Company. He has been featured several times in the media. 'They are my activity,' he said of the bees, in a 2006 interview with The New York Times. 'Beekeeping is my life.' According to the DOJ, the documents unsealed this week allege Mr Nsabumukunzi used his leadership position 'to oversee the violence and killings of Tutsis in his local area and directed groups of armed Hutus to kill Tutsis'. It added: 'He is alleged to have set up roadblocks during the genocide to detain and kill Tutsis and to have participated in killings.' Darren McCormack, a senior agent of US immigration and customs enforcement homeland security investigations division, said: 'This defendant has been living in the United States for decades, hiding his alleged horrific conduct, human rights violations, and his role in these senseless atrocities against innocent Tutsis.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
New York beekeeper ‘was Rwandan Genocide perpetrator'
A beekeeper living in the United States for two decades was a participant in the Rwandan Genocide, prosecutors claim. Faustin Nsabumukunzi, 65, of Bridgehampton, New York, was a local leader with the title of 'Sector Counsellor' in Rwanda in 1994, according to documents made public by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). 'The defendant participated in the commission of heinous acts of violence abroad and then lied his way into a green card and tried to obtain US citizenship,' said Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ's criminal division. 'No matter how much time has passed, the department will find and prosecute individuals who committed atrocities in their home countries and covered them up to gain entry and seek citizenship in the United States,' he continued. Mr Nsabumukunzi was arrested on Thursday and scheduled to appear before a judge. It is not clear if Mr Nsabumukunzi has a lawyer or has had a chance to enter a plea. An image published by the New York Post, purportedly of Mr Nsabumukunzi, showed him standing outside a house with an American flag flying from a post. The newspaper said when Mr Nsabumukunzi was arrested in the Long Island area of New York, he allegedly told the authorities: 'I know, I'm finished.' During just 100 days in 1994, members of the majority Hutu population persecuted the minority Tutsis, committing acts of violence including murder and rape. An estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. The killings were triggered by the death of the Juvenal Habyarimana, the Rwandan president, who was a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on April 6 that year. In 2006, a French judge claimed Paul Kagame, the current Rwandan president, at the time the leader of a Tutsi rebel group and his associates were involved in the attack, something he has always denied. The DOJ said Mr Nsabumukunzi applied for refugee status in in 2003, and denied any involvement in the genocide. He was allowed to enter the US as a refugee in 2004, and received a green card in 2007. In New York, he worked as a beekeeper with the Hamptons Honey Company. He has been featured several times in the media. 'They are my activity,' he said of the bees, in a 2006 interview with The New York Times. 'Beekeeping is my life.' According to the DOJ, the documents unsealed this week allege Mr Nsabumukunzi used his leadership position 'to oversee the violence and killings of Tutsis in his local area and directed groups of armed Hutus to kill Tutsis'. It added: 'He is alleged to have set up roadblocks during the genocide to detain and kill Tutsis and to have participated in killings.' Darren McCormack, a senior agent of US immigration and customs enforcement homeland security investigations division, said: 'This defendant has been living in the United States for decades, hiding his alleged horrific conduct, human rights violations, and his role in these senseless atrocities against innocent Tutsis.'
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Speaking to protect, prevent and remember
By Forrest Adams Her face was intense as her eyes recalled a room full of 6-foot-long tables with skulls on them. Machete marks were still in the skulls, and Dr. Ellen Kennedy said she began to sob. 'I was overcome by what I saw,' her eyes focused on the present. 'There was a horrific loss of life.' The interim director at the University of Minnesota Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies will be at the Chanhassen Library this Saturday speaking about international peace building and conflict resolution as part of the library's Great Decisions series. Rwanda In 2005, Kennedy traveled to Rwanda, Africa. A professor, now retired, she had been teaching and speaking about the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 since it happened. Experiencing its effects first-hand brought the harsh reality into her life in a whole different way. 'In Rwanda I met a woman named Alice,' she said. 'Alice is an orphan survivor of that genocide. One day in 1994 her mother asked her to go to the next village on an errand to her cousin's house. When Alice returned home, she was the one to discover the bodies of her grandparents, her mother and her father, her 12-year-old sister, and her 9-year-old and 2-year-old brothers. She became an orphan as a consequence of that genocide, like literally hundreds of thousands of other children.' In that hut full of unidentified skulls, down a dirt path in the jungle, Kennedy's heart was torn. She said, Alice told her, 'You don't need to see this. This isn't your problem. It's our problem.' The statement was an indictment of the world's response to genocide, she said. It seared into Kennedy's conscience. She returned to continue teaching at St. Thomas University, but on the topic of the Rwandan Genocide she had a renewed sense of obligation and personal responsibility to increase awareness about what had happened. One day after class a student asked her what could be done by ordinary people. Genocides happen for many complicated reasons. Was there anything immediate that people could do to stop the massive loss of human life? The student wanted to know, and Kennedy is still responding to that question. World Without Genocide In 2005 she founded a not-for-profit organization called World Without Genocide ( The organization has a four-fold mission: to protect, prevent, prosecute and remember. The intention is to protect innocent people, prevent genocides from happening, prosecute the perpetrators, and remember the victims. Her efforts have been recognized locally and nationally. In 2009 Kennedy was the recipient of the Anne Frank 'Outstanding Citizen' Award. She is driven by a mission 'Genocide is a global problem. It's our problem,' she said. 'We believe that knowledge plus action equals power.' Now retired from the classroom, she herself is like a mobile classroom. She concentrates on educating people about the crises that go on in the world and about steps they can take to make a difference. 'Ordinary citizens can do a great deal,' she said. 'Former President Clinton was president in 1994 during the Rwandan genocide. He said that he could have saved probably a few hundred thousand lives, but he did nothing because he heard nothing from senators or representatives urging him to take action.' The reason elected officials failed to take action was because ordinary citizens failed to take action, she said. 'We encourage ordinary citizens to contact their representatives. We encourage people to call 1-800-Genocide (436-6243). All you need to know is your zip code, and you will automatically be routed to your representative or senator,' she said. The charge now for World Without Genocide is to alert people to contact their elected officials about applying pressure to stop the ongoing conflict between Africans and Arabs in Darfur, Sudan. The United Nations puts the death toll in Sudan at roughly 300,000, while up to 2.5 million Darfuris have fled their homes and live in refugee camps throughout Darfur, in neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic. Great Decisions Discussion Who: Ellen Kennedy Topic: Peace building and conflict resolution When: 1 p.m., Saturday, May 8 Where: Chanhassen Library
