To Orwell Today,

Hello Jura,

What happen to you that you are not talking anymore about rwandan genocide! People so called negocianiste can pass through your eyes in Canada without saying anything?

What about genocide celebration? Are you celebrating with us? or you are becoming a negative force too.

-Kaguyure Kabare

Greetings Kaguyure,

Who exactly are you? You've never written to me in all the years I've been writing about Rwanda. You've never commented in praise or condemnation on any of the hundreds of articles I've written exposing the truth about the genocide in Rwanda and about which I am unequivocably on the side of those who STOPPED the killing, not DID the killing. See RWANDA'S GOOD MAN KAGAME

If you wanted the negationists' meeting in Montreal last week discussed on my website why didn't you send an article and give your own comments?

Do you think my website "Orwell Today" is concerned only with what is happening to or in Rwanda when elsewhere in the world there are NEW genocides happening that I am talking about, and about which you are probably not at all interested - as they don't concern just you.

I am aware that this week - actually today, April 7th, 2008 - is the 14th anniversary of the start of the genocide in Rwanda and that today the ceremony will be held in Nyamata in Bugesera. I went there last year and paid homage to the thousands who died there. See NYAMATA SCHOOL PHOTO and NYAMATA GENOCIDE CHURCH and RPF INKOTANYI SAVED SURVIVORS.

My thoughts today are in Rwanda, and I'm picturing the memorial celebrations going on there. And tomorrow - when photos and the articles appear in the Rwanda news - I will be posting them for "Orwell Today" readers who have begun sharing my passion for Rwanda.

Until that time, I will continue worrying about and covering other important events going on in the world today.

Amahoro ("peace" in Kinyarwanda language),
Jackie Jura

Major lessons in Zimbabwe & Rwanda (genocide "Never Again" for all Africa). KenyaToday, Apr 9, 2008
Two news items draw my attention this week! Yesterday, we kicked off the Genocide Memorial Week in Rwanda. In the same week Zimbabweans also await a verdict from a court decision on whether the judiciary has jurisdiction over the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s announcing of poll results.The two events are related in a way in that they add to the list of Africa’s humanitarian failures. They both raise one’s eye brows and give us (Africans) something to ponder over....What kind of hatred can lead to one’s brutal hacking of another all in an attempt to completely exterminate or cleanse their ethnic identity? In Zimbabwe it is called Gukurahundi! Gukurahundi is a word used by Zimbabweans to literally mean ‘the early rain that washes away the chaff’. This can be used to mean ethnic massacre. ‘Gukurahundi’ was an operation conceived in President Robert Mugabe's mind long before Zimbabwe’s independence as a way of consolidating power. It is believed that in October, 1980, six months after attaining independence, Mugabe signed an agreement with Kim II Sung of North Korea to train a crack team that would not fall under official military set up and would report directly to him. Andrew Meldrum, a former journalist with the ‘Guardian’ reporting from Harare, wrote in his book ‘Where We Have Hope’ that in August, 1981, 106 North Koreans travelled to Zimbabwe to train 3,500 recruits from the Tongogara Camp which was mainly Zanla (Zanu's military wing) dominated. Zapu's military wing recruits were not allowed to join this outfit. Their training was specialised in torture tactics and was declared complete in September, 1982 by then Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi. It was headed by Mr Mugabe’s fierce right hand man; one Perence Shiri who called himself 'Black Jesus'. To cut the story short, more than 20,000 Ndebele civilians were killed by Mugabe's North-Korean trained soldiers led by ‘Black Jesus’ during the Gukurahundi. To many, this was some kind of ethnic cleansing, to others it was some kind of genocide....There are people in the Diaspora who deny the genocide in Rwanda. There are also people in Zimbabwe who say ‘Gukurahundi’ was a myth. Denial of these acts of crimes against humanity, are also a deliberate way of encouraging their recurrence. Rwanda is still fighting the genocide ideology that is seemingly creeping back into school. While the country mourns this week the call should be to emphasise the ‘Never Again’ notion all over the world and in Africa in particular.

ZIMBABWE'S SMART GENOCIDE and MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE MUGABE

Zimbabwe opposition slams 'deafening silence' of Africa. AFP, Apr 8, 2008
...While there has been a flurry of behind-the-scenes diplomacy in the 10 days since the country went to the polls, African heads of state have declined to put their name to calls for the presidential results to be announced. Exasperated by the lack of a diplomatic breakthrough, MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said "the deafening silence by our brothers and sisters" in Africa was symptomatic of the continent's failure to react to crises. Drawing a parallel to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which some 800,000 people lost their lives, Biti urged institutions such as the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to take a clear stand as he reiterated party claims that pro-government militias were being armed. "We (Africa) responded poorly in Rwanda and a million people were killed," Biti told a press conference. "I say don't wait for dead bodies on the streets of Harare. Intervene now. There's a constitutional and legal crisis in Zimbabwe."...The opposition fears that a state of emergency could allow Mugabe, who has ruled since independence in 1980, to suppress the election results and therefore cling to power....With an unemployment rate of some 80 percent and six-digit inflation, around three million of Zimbabwe's 13 million population have left the country, where even basics such as bread and cooking oil are now hard to come by.

Rwanda: 14 years after the genocide. Kampala New Vision, Apr 6, 2008
"...We recall with sadness the victims who were thrown into river Nyabarongo, one of the tributaries of River Kagera River. Kagera carried the bodies for a long distance to the banks of Lake Victoria in Uganda. Some 10,994 bodies were recovered from the lake by fishermen and were buried in mass graves at six different sites....The 1994 genocide not only claimed lives but also left traumatised and physically-disabled survivors. Relatives are waiting to see justice done. Thousands of suspects are in detention and many others are still at large. A reconciliation process is ongoing because we believe that with a reconciled society we shall be able to manage post genocide problems and prevent similar occurrences in future. About 50,000 prisoners have been released through the presidential directive. Some of these contribute to the reconstruction process through communal work in lieu of imprisonment. By the end of this year, minor cases will be substantially reduced. However, it important that justice is done to end impunity. Accordingly, we have put the necessary laws in place including the Gacaca. There is also the International Court of Tribunal for Rwanda based in Arusha, Tanzania. Although this court has not tried many cases, it has given the genocide an international face. A number of countries have cooperated in arresting and handing over suspects to the ICTR while others have tried some cases under their laws. The killers were not able to achieve their objective to exterminate all the Tutsi in Rwanda because the RPF moved in swiftly and stopped these senseless killings...."

Genocide Commemoration Will Be Held In Bugesera. Hirondelle News Agency . Mar 18, 2008
This year's commemoration of the 1994 Rwanda genocide will be marked at the national level on 7 April in Nyamata, east of Kigali. "The Council of Ministers has decided that the ceremonies of the 14th commemoration will be held in Nyamata, Bugesera district," according to Rwanda government statement. The location is among areas affected by the genocide, especially the killings at the Ntarama church where ethnic Tutsis had sought refuge. This year's theme is: "Let us commemorate genocide while fighting against genocide ideology; render assistance to survivors while working for development", stated further the statement." The week of national mourning will end on 13 April, the date also devoted to a ceremony in memory of the politicians who were killed during the genocide. According to the United Nations estimates, about 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed during the April-July slaughter. During the mourning week, flags will be flying half-mast. Weddings and other festivities are banned. Conferences and debates on the genocide will be held all over the country and the remains of victims will receive a worthy burial. Last year, the commemoration was held at national level in Murambi, a district in southern Rwanda.

MURAMBI MASSACRE MEMORIAL and MOURNING IN MURAMBI