PISTO LERO
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- Mar 8, 2011
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Aliyekuwa rais wa marekani Bill Clinton amempongeza rais wa Rwanda Paul Kagame licha ya madai kwamba amekuwa akiunga mkono makundi ya waasi katika Jamuhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Congo ambayo yanakiuka haki za kibinadamu.
Bwana Clinton amesema katika mahojiano na BBC kwamba madai hayo ambayo Rwanda inayakataa hayajathibitishwa mahakamani.
Pia alisema kuwa kuna changamoto kubwa katika mpaka wa Rwanda na Congo, kwani una watu chungu nzima ambao walihusika na mauaji ya halaiki miaka ya tisini.
Lakini bwana Clinton amesema kuwa anathamini serikali ya Rwanda kutokana na mafanikio ya kiuchumi yalioafikiwa chini ya rais Kagame.
Kiongozi huyo amekuwa akizuru mataifa ya Afrika pamoja na mwanawe Chelsea ili kujionea miradi ya wakfu wake.
Bwana Clinton amesema katika mahojiano na BBC kwamba madai hayo ambayo Rwanda inayakataa hayajathibitishwa mahakamani.
Pia alisema kuwa kuna changamoto kubwa katika mpaka wa Rwanda na Congo, kwani una watu chungu nzima ambao walihusika na mauaji ya halaiki miaka ya tisini.
Lakini bwana Clinton amesema kuwa anathamini serikali ya Rwanda kutokana na mafanikio ya kiuchumi yalioafikiwa chini ya rais Kagame.
Kiongozi huyo amekuwa akizuru mataifa ya Afrika pamoja na mwanawe Chelsea ili kujionea miradi ya wakfu wake.
Former US President Bill Clinton has criticized international human rights organizations attributing the problems facing eastern DRC to Rwanda President Paul Kagame, saying they were silent when the Hutu militias were killing Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.
By Edison Akugizibwe 5 hours 45 minutes ago
Kagame and Clinton during the latter's recent trip to Rwanda Clinton is a longtime friend of President Kagame.
Speaking to BBC on Tuesday morning, Clinton posed a rhetoric question: "Where were those human rights groups criticizing Rwanda today when Hutus were slaughtering Tutsis?"
He also deflated media criticism of his support of Kagame, who has been branded a human rights violator, saying a free media in 1994 helped Hutus incite violence that led to the mass slaughter.
"All those people who talk about that where were they when the Hutus went crazy in 1994? They had a free press that was venomous, hate-filled radio that urged people to go out and commit mass murder."
"Look, I believe in a free press. When I was President, I helped to keep the press free that made a living out of feasting on my bones everyday! And I think too many politicians are too sensitive to being criticized. I think we have to be a little sensitive to the fact that if you are Rwandan, you don't necessarily hear it that way because you remember that an alleged free press helped push Rwanda into a boiling Colden of butchery…"
Regarding the conflict in DRC, Clinton said Rwanda's support "has not been fully litigated" and that it is complicated by the fact that this section of Congo near Rwanda is full of people who perpetrated the genocide, who spurned the President's offer to come home and not go to prison…and you can't get around the fact that the economic and social gains in Rwanda have been nothing short of astonishing under Kagame, and he says he going to leave when his time is up…"
Kagame intends to quit presidency at the end of his term in 2017.
Clinton expressed his disappointment that "some people in the human rights community believe that every good thing that has happened in Rwanda should be negated by what they allege they [Rwandans] have done in eastern Congo."
The Human Rights Watch has for the last few years been accusing Rwanda of funding the M23 rebellion, a charge Kigali denies.
Following the allegations of backing the rebels, western countries responded by suspending aid to Rwanda, a move that temporarily hurt the East African country's economy.
Clinton's statement is the latest from a high ranking personality in defending Rwanda against accusations of fomenting trouble in DRC.
A few months ago, President Barack Obama urged DRC to "do more" in extending state authority and social services to Eastern Congo.
Obama said the presence of militia groups that threaten regional security needed to be addressed.
Rwanda recently accused the DRC government of providing weapons to FDLR, a militia group composed of perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, to destabilize Rwanda.
