The Real Truth About the Conflict in Rwanda and DRC

The Testimony Of Abdul Ruzibiza That Shed Light on RwandaIIThird stage: since the attack of Byumba at the beginning of June 1992 to April 6, 1994
The attack of Byumba was launched by way of test. The FPR wanted to know if it were able to occupy at the same time a greater extent of the territory, because with the development of the negotiations, it wanted to make a show of force so that its claims are granted to him by the pressure of its growing military power. I point out that all the times that there were negotiations; Kagame never said to its army that they could lead to something of good. He repeated unceasingly that the arrival in Kigali was not possibleunless using the fire of the gun. These attacks of great scale led us until Rukomo, beyond Byumba in direction of Kigali. It was the same thing on the left and on the right: Mukarange, a party of Kinyami, Buyoga, Rushashi, one starts from Ngarama, Cyumba, Kivuye, ; in all these localities, people who had not had the possibility of fleeing these attacks were massacred. This point also constitutes an enigma, because the FPR made a serious error there. It also turned over to Uganda to encourage the populations to come to Rwanda to collect the abundant harvest left by the displaced, and to help them to occupy this vast territory, which RPF had just conquered for them. People answered the appeal massively to return to Rwanda. The news was spread quickly at displaced, what corroborated the propaganda of the government, which taught that Inkotanyi had come to kill, to despoil the properties of their former occupants, to restore feudal monarchy, to forward the Hutu to the tutsi domination and the known slavery of the old tutsi regime. Here is another way by which the hatred of the Hutu was poked until reaching the genocide (5).
During this stage, the FPR realized that it was able to conquer greater extents of theterritory and to occupy them. So that it is possible, it was necessary to carry out a second test to increase their territory, but it was necessary to find convincing reasons for them.Firstly, the negotiations and the mechanisms of implementation of cease-fire had been just signed. For the moment, the FPR or rather Kagame and its army planned that in spite of the result of the negotiations on agreements of peace, it was necessary to seek occasions to reopen the hostilities. It is here that it was conceived to create a special squadron, which was under the only orders of Kagame and his closest collaborators: Kayumba Nyamwasa, James Kabarebe and Charles Kayonga. This squadron changed name with the liking of the circumstances, but here the no exhaustive list of the names that it had to carry: NETWORK COMMANDO, or TECHNICIANS, or CDR COMMANDO.
These names adapted to the small groups, instead of the execution of the mission, or with the various objectives. Those, which were assigned to the supervision of the activities ofparty CDR were baptized CDR Commando. Those which supervised the activities of the men who split the firewood in the army of Habyarimana, boys of city in Kigali, servants of the high personalities in charge for the country, technicians were baptized, etc.
What is important to know is that this squadron was designed in a sophisticated way, so much so that even those who formed part of it did not know, except for those who were formed together or for those who came from the same unity. The creation of this special squadron had as an aim of:A. To sow the disorder and anarchy inside the country to cause occasions to show the government to be responsible for the crimes of assassinations having to be used for the resumption of the hostilities;B. To plant the mines through the country in a more organized way;C. To establish cells of the FPR inside the country, to diffuse its ideology, to recruitaccomplices, to poison drinking water consumed by displaced people, spy on the enemy inside his line of face;D. To organize assassinations of the political personalities targeted by the FPR.Meanwhile, there was the attack of February 8 1993 which aimed to test the capacity to go on Kigali, to evaluate the work achieved by Network in the research of the reasons to reopen the hostilities, even if the negotiations were in hand.Atrocities were made at this time, because where I was in certain communes of Ruhengeri, I remember that at “Base” in February, the soldiers who were there killed out of people of which they burned the corpses. Not having been able to be buried, thesebodies broke up along the road and of the river “Base”, until the moment when soldiers of the GOMN had suddenly passed. They were indignant at this state of decomposition of the bodies and of allowed to go to ask whether we did not have shame to live withcorpses in a state of decomposition. We called the population to help to bury these corpses, but when the GOMN was withdrawn, these people were also killed.
It is at the same time that we began from the cruel acts of destruction of infrastructures like the electric pylons of Ntaruka, attacks of the dwelling houses of the authorities to the grenade; I remember that the houses of Rucagu and Colonel Gasake were thus destroyed, it was in Nyarutovu and Cyeru… Nobody can forget the made atrocities with Ruhengeri when Inkotanyi were found in impossibility of occupying the city. People know what occurred to Musanze, with the ITIRU and Karwasa, Kigombe and Kinigi, the inhabitants of this area will never forget what occurred in this locality. And nobody is unaware of the atrocities made by Inkotanyi in Ngarama, Buyoga and elsewhere.
BIRTH OF THE INTERAHAMWE, IMPUZAMUGAMBI-RTLM
Kagame had planned to put the negotiations in failure and to invade Kigali, while Habyarimana planned how to face what he called his enemies, which we really were. He created an armed militia, which received a military drive of the armed forces, communal police force, gendarmerie, and of the same services of the Presidency. This youth that will make the tragedy was omnipresent in all the country. And yet all were not of equal virulence in their eagerness to kill Tutsi. This point must be made available of the public, because it is an authentic fact. Any individual who lived in Rwanda during this period can attest it.
At the beginning of the attacks of Interahamwe with Bugesera, Kibirira, at Bagogwe, attackers arrived each time in the buses of the ONATRACOM coming fromthe camps of war displaced people of Ruhengeri or Byumba. These same people knew already the APR persecutions and cruelty. Other youths Hutu from other region did not understand yet the inhuman behavior their comrades who killed people wildly as one kills out of the flies with a great fury. The majority of the attacks identified before the genocide were launched by these young people, whose cruelty is to be sought in two origins: Government and the FPR. That is why who wants to know how the genocide was possible can also think of these facts (6)
For the FPR, the MRND acted without the knowledge in accordance with the wish ofthe FPR, because when the MRND involved Interahamwe, the FPR found the occasion to plant mines and to reject the responsibility for it on the Government, and found there the justification to take again the hostilities, while the International Community blamed the Habyarimana regime. I do not deny that Interahamwe like the other extremists plantedmines. For the FPR, it was also the occasion to train the commandos of Network, because, when the negotiations were going on, RPF took the opportunity to train more troops and to organize sessions of formation. During only 1993, the FPR trained its forces in the following fields:- It trained two battalions of commandos and other small unities of less importance;- It formed more than 400 soldiers intended to form part of the gendarmerie;- It formed more than four groups of instructors. It planned that in the event of war, each unity has its own instructors to form the new recruits quickly;- It trained all the officers command leadership;- It sufficiently trained its soldiers with the urban guerrilla warfare, within each unity;- It trained and trained the soldiers to make long steps, transporting all the individual equipment, each man with his cartridges and of the bombs allowing him to resist during several days while waiting for that the new provisioning arrives;- It trained the soldiers in what it called the true history of Rwanda, which was not necessarily different, but which was exempted with the objective to insist on the fact thatthe best remedy for the problem arising lay in the inversion of Habyarimana and its regime and in the need for the seizure of power by the FPR.
The weight of this was very important because the soldiers never thought that peace could come from the agreements of Arusha. On this point, the FPR adopted the same attitude as that of the extremists of the CDR and the MRND and other Power, the difference being that the FPR taught it to its soldiers without making publicity of it while, on its side, the MRND was praised some with the radio and in the newspapers, the refrain being that the agreements of Arusha were paper rags, or that they were like a dog in decomposition.
During this stage of the war, the FPR/APR managed to control the methods of intoxication of the public opinion enabling him to trap the Habyarimana régime, and all the errors it made were easily rejected on Habyarimana and its government.We were in the stage where the agreements of peace had been just signed, but where two men, Habyarimana and Kagame, two enemy Generals who are at war, and who if they met somewhere in the country would not hesitate to draw one mortally over the other.
We were in the stage where the FPR obtained the certainty that, if it wanted, it would sow the disorder to seize the power, but also, where it was ready to yield to the international pressure to enter to the government. He as the extremists of Habyarimana did not want to intend to speak about this way of power sharing as a durable solution with the problems arising. This is why each one planned an alternative solution if they would have been constrained to cohabit with a view to cause the rupture of the agreements concluded between the two protagonists of the conflict.Here is what was planned on both sides:- Habyarimana created what he indicated as civil defense, which did not even dissimulate its intention to disseminate weapons within the population, in each cell and each sector of the country that will be used later on to sow disorders.- He created armed militia to refuse the signed agreements, even those signed by him. They were ready to make anything with the simple signal.- He imposed on Radio RTLM on Radio Rwanda and other small affiliated newspapers, the same leading line for saying that the agreements of Arusha were not of any utility for the Rwandans.- He bought new military equipment that was added to the old ones, so that one disseminates them in all the country.- He made draw up lists of all the people who had children or brothers within the FPR Inkotanyi, those which were suspected of propagating the ideology of the FPR, those who sought financings to him, Hutu who behaved as of Tutsi, I want to say those who supported the fight of the FPR, so that as soon as possible, all are massacred. Nobody knew the day when these massacres were to be carried out.- This is different from what the FPR propagates which supports that it was established the list of all Tutsi so that they all are killed. It is a lie because if Tutsi were to be killed simultaneously, that supposes that each one of them was to be carried out by his neighbors, and these neighbors knew each other very well in order not to have to try hard to draw up the list of Tutsi, because even the little children grow up hearing people talking about them at the village.
Here, I would like to stress that even with the death of Habyarimana, and even if he had not been killed, the objective was to massacre all the people inventoried on well drawnup lists, and it is what occurred except for some fortunate, all the others whose one had planned death were massacred in the three days that followed the death of Habyarimana.
On the side of the Government, I affirm that Habyarimana in person or on pressure of hisentourage, wanted that these lists are elaborated, and he knew that at a convenient period, the people appearing would be carried out there.Another point that I do not want to forget, and which appears serious to me, it is that the human life which is usually sacred in Rwanda, had become like the water that runs, especially for Tutsi; I please say that finally Habyarimana and his extremists had sensitized the Hutu of the CDR and Interahamwe that to pour the blood of Tutsi was a banal act. They had been exerted there in Kibirira, in Bugesera, and at Bagogwe, to test that to pour the blood was possible, and that those who did it did not have to tremble. This was serious so much that, as I announced, the other Hutu of the villages and the sectors, and even those of the MRND, were not killers, they were astonished by the behavior and the projects of Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi; others fought them until generated disorders within the political parties. Nobody is unaware of how the youth of the MDR (Inkuba), PSD (Abakombozi) and PL (liberals) faced Interahamwe.All that occurred until Habyarimana manage to divide them into Power and Amajyogi. In short, the extremists sensitized their youths to give death without being worried. Here another sign that made the genocide possible (8).
On the FPR/APR side, many things were done that prepared the last day for Tutsi.- For reasons of control of the Ugandan border, the FPR made enter as much as possible of ammunition to Rwanda, for a use of long duration. This was held at the end of September 1993, on three different localities, and for two reasons:-To take again the hostilities in a decisive way to seize power, in the contrary case, to dissimulate to use them to sow the disorder after our entry in the Government with a view to seize power by the force… For that, who wants to understand Network, here there is a signal. Those who were selected, myself y included, have to dig very large pits, as where I was, the cavity measured 50 m X 30 m X 7 m. We deposited ammunition there and bombs of various gauges of 7,62 mm, 11.5 mm, 12.7 mm, 14.5 mm, 23 mm, 37 mm, 75 mm, 76 mm, 81 mm, 82 mm, 107 mm, 120 mm, 122 mm. Ugandan citizens transported all this armament. They were more than 1.000 and transported it a whole day.We who had the load to ensure the guard of it, we were agreed that one among us could result in the death of all with the old hoe if this secrecy escaped. In this place, three among us were shot because they had been to buy cigarettes without the authorization of the commander. What was affirmed to us by Kabarebe and Kayumba Nyamwasa was that even if it were that we enter to the Government, that there was no question for us of remaining there. We were going to be installed very close of the hiding-places of ourequipment on the border between Uganda and Rwanda, that one was going to supply us discreetly, until the moment when it will be possible to make a coup d’etat.The other hiding-place was in Kirama in Mutara, Bungwe in Cyumba, and between Kaniga and Gatonde. Actually, nothing other was considered if it is not to be able to sow the disorders to seize the power. Very few people were implied in this affair, one counted them at the end of the fingers, it was Kagame himself, Kabarebe his second, Kayumba Nyamwasa, the Chief of the Information, Colonel Ngoga in North, Colonel Bagire in Mutara, Major Jacob called Rubondo who was responsible for military logistics and others who arrived in visit organized by the persons in charge for the military operations or those who were sent to us. The soldiers of the FPR who were selected for this kind of work were to deserve a very great confidence, and it is among them that one recruited those who went spy on the town of Kigali before the assassination of Habyarimana.
- Several soldiers were disseminated everywhere in the country, with mission of posing the mines, to establish the basic structures of the FPR, to involve with the handling of weapons those who could shoulder to us during the war, to know the operation of each political party, to mix with youths of the political parties, and to follow closely those which the FPR decided D ‘ to eliminate.
- The FPR and its frameworks penetrated in the buffer zone, demilitarized zone, where it started to propagate its ideology. For me it was a good deed, only the error that was made was that whoever did not adhere immediately to this ideology was killed with blows of the old hoe. Generally all its family was carried out little time afterwards.The FPR tested its tactic of intoxication of the public opinion by allotting to the MRND the crimes for which it was the author. For example the FPR assassinated people whom it had in aversion or not, to cause occasions to show the regime. By using the technicians of Network or his enlarged branch officers of the intelligence of the unities or bands of killers, or of young people to which it had taught how to manufacture small bombs, the selection of the targets to be cut down was done according to criteria’s hereafter:1° The Hutu who discharged its function suitably, who liked Habyarimana and his Government.2° Any Hutu who made watch of a certain intellectual level (for example Mr. Gapyisi).3° Any Hutu whose assassination could be easily allotted to the government.4° Any Hutu which the survey had of the difficulties of locating.5° Any senior officer if it were possible.6° No Tutsi born in Rwanda could cause the confidence of the FPR, if its death could easily be allotted to Habyarimana, there was nothing to regret (it is necessary to sacrifice Tutsi of the interior).7° Intellectual Tutsi who could not adhere spontaneously to the ideology of the FPR like Landoald Ndasingwa whom we missed several times.8° Tutsi who in general resided in isolated places were assassinated collectively, and this kind of crimes was immediately charged to the MRND, by example the soldiers of the FPR did that in Kabatwa in Gisenyi, under the command of Gashayija Bagirigomwa, Moses Rubimbura of the service of information. These are not rumors, they occurred at the beginning 1994.9° Even after the war, the FPR did not hesitate to sacrifice Tutsi to find the pretext of goto plunder minerals and lumber in Zaire:- It sacrificed the Bagogwe at Mudende, that which in doubt can require the evidence of them, we will provide them to him- It sacrificed the Banyamurenge at Biura and elsewhere, and that is not a secrecy for anybody.
- The technicians of the Town of Kigali (Network) committed innumerable crimes.As I said at the beginning, Network is a broad network made up of elements only known by those who select them. For the remainder, each one knew that with which it was affected. If it happened that you meet some share with another, which you suspect ofbeing your Inkotanyi comrade, there was even no question of making him a wink, because he was achieving a mission different from your. We were involved to occupy us only of what concerned us, each one personally carrying out the received instructions. The criteria of selection were as follows:
1. To be tutsi of father and mother: the examination of this criterion was not to leave any doubt and was not accepted that after a deepened examination, the candidate was to then enjoy greatest confidence.2. To refer physical or to look like a Hutu was an asset, because it was not necessary for them to be camouflaged, the others that posted the face of Tutsi, it was necessary for us to circulate with motorbikes. Each time one feared to be known, we put the helmet on our heads, and one endorsed the tools of the agronomists, this camouflage enabled you to go to carry out the task for which you had come.3. To know Rwanda perfectly, especially the town of Kigali was advantageous because there the center of the majority of the activities was.4. To be a Hutu, of public notoriety, in condition never of not having resided at Rwanda, and to have shown a great hostility towards the Hutu, by disavowing your ethnic membership, and without fear to pour your blood.5. To be Hutu, born in Rwanda for missions determined very well and isolated from theothers, one took care not to put to you in contact with other missions dispatched at Kigali.Openly or without your knowledge, you were spun by more than five agents of the services of information of Inkotanyi.- Personal work was different from that of the others, it happened that one crossed there during the execution of a mission without knowing, but certain secret instructions could enable you to be recognized mutually in the event of need. There were young people who ensured everywhere the services of taxi motorbikes in the country; they furrowed all the places of gatherings of the politicians, taximen, commanders of the military unities or dignitaries Hutu. Boys of street were sent in the streets of Cyimihurura, among the dockers of the markets, some were going to mix with Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi or Bakombozi. Others worked clandestinely, they worked during the night, and others still were engaged as pump assistants at the gasoline stations. Work was diversified so much that when it took again hostilities there, Kagame had all information, which he needed to undertake his last decisive battle.
Each one of those who were considered to be able to involve the others, received the order to recruit the greatest number of accomplices, and often the latter did not know that they had in front of them a Inkotanyi soldier, they had only the impression to have an interlocutor in sympathy with the FPR. We received also instructions to carry out special surveys into personalities, to provide the reports of them by specifying if their assassination could be useful to us, and if it were possible.
- When the negotiations arrived at the conclusion that the FPR Inkotanyi could enter in Kigali with its 600 soldiers, the trap of the FPR was closed again on a new catch. The selection of these soldiers was done with a highly intelligent calculation, because they were not soldiers only we were accustomed to seeing. Here how that occurred:1. Each unity sent a man of great confidence, a soldier who had eaten the teeth of the heart (pitiless), excessively devoted, who almost did not need a superior, able to draw from complicated situations without being assisted, gunner of elite, an example of courage and easy trigger.2. The selection went on the best commanders, the best in the services of information, and which had had a drive sufficient for the urban guerrilla warfare, in order to not see any obstacle to be seized Kigali. We had memorized that one dies the come day, that all the risks deserved to be taken, that courage was the mother of all the other values, that in no case, one did not have to give to the enemy the opportunity to gain the victory.3. According to the usual structures of command of the army, the Sergeants and corporals had troops under their command on the level of the Section. It was not thus with the third battalion of Inkotanyi, the sergeants were mixed with the corporals under the command with a second lieutenant or a sergeant estimated to have competences of the officers. What I want to explain here is that it acted of an autonomous force, which did not need to receive instructions too much, where each soldier could obey his own orders and succeed.4. In more of the lesson exempte


In the recent years,it has emmerged that Nkunda is a product of the world’s dictator Mr. Paul Kagame of Rwanda. The USA and UK continued protecting Mr Kagame in the name of a heor who stopped genocide with their ulterior agenda of going to DRC and exploit minerals there. The Issue in Rwanda or the genocide that the USA and UK media keeps on talking about, it was their own making in order to change regimes in Rwanda and DRC.The world should understand these facts in order to compare the notes of who was behind the planning of genocide in Rwanda।
HERE ARE SOME HISTORICAL FACTS ON THE RWANDO-DRC CRISIS
RWANDA: In 1417-1957As described in the Rwandese folklore story-telling and riddles:Tutsi cattlebreeders began arriving in the area from the Horn of Africa in the 15th century and gradually subjugated the Hutu inhabitants who have been living with Twa in peace and harmony।The Tutsis established a monarchy headed by a mwami (king) and a feudal hierarchy of Tutsi nobles and gentry। Through a contract system of enslaving Hutus known as ubuhake, the Hutu farmers pledged their services and those of their descendants to a Tutsi lord in return for the loan of cattle and use of pastures and arable land. Thus, the Tutsi reduced the Hutu to virtual serfdom. However, boundaries of race and class became less distinct over the years as some Tutsi declined until they enjoyed few advantages over the Hutu. The Tutsi kings killed all the Hutu lords called Abahinza and established their own ruling system which was to subjugate all Hutus into Tutsi serfdom. This lasted for centuries until in 1959 when the UN sponsored a referandum to liberate the farmers who had been under oppression of Kagame’s ancestors.
The 1959 UN referandum succeeded and ended the Tutsi monarchy and prapared the Rwanda independency which took place in 1962 under the leadership of KAYIBANDA GREGORY।This did not flow very smoothly with supremacy spirited Tutsis whose ideology was that every Hutu should be a Tutsi’s serf। This people included the parents of the current world’s dictator President Kagame who fled in 1959 after witnessing the power being taken away from them and handed over to Hutu majority। This group of hardliners Tutsis decided to leave the country simply because they did not want to see Hutu ruling and determining their own future। But majority of Tutsis who were not ruling class decided to continue coexixting in harmony within Rwanda bonderies. The Kagame minded class took their way to DRC,Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. These Tutsis who fled into Burundi got a big support of both economic,and military support to attempt and overthrow Rwandan regimes. In 1967, a rebel movement led by Rukeba attacked Rwanda from Bugesera region which is bordering Burundi. This attack did not resist but left a name which has characterized by Rwanda History.
The men who attacked Rwanda in 1967 under the leadership of Rukeba preferred to use the name of INYENZI (Cockroaches) the same way RPF chose to use the name of INKOTANYI. Why did Rukaba men chose to use the name Inyenzi to describe his combattants it was simply because this people liked to use the night attacks the same way a cockroach bites people at night not during the day but they hide themselves during the day instead. This is the origin of the word INYENZI (Cockroach) that the word of Kagame would never want to know the origin.
After this Bugesera attack there were many attacks from Burundi and Uganda which did not succeed until 1990s when Kagame with the support of Museveni,USA, and UK succeeded. Not because of Kagame’s super tactics but because of the USA,UK interest in Democratic Republic of Congo DRC.
The Eastern region of DRC, mainly the province of Kivu and Bukavu, geologically referred to as the WESTERN AFRICAN RIFT because of its chain of Lakes Kivu,Tanganyika, and Lake Albert। This region is the world’s most richest minaral deposit of all sorts of minerals. Because Americans wanted these minerals without following the International Legal Procedures, they started plotting of how to enrich themselves. This greediness is what is the source of Museveni’s war in Uganda, mass killing in Rwanda, and the death of Desire Kabila and the wars followed in DRC and the origin of the rebel Genral Nkundabatware in Eastern DRC.
The Follwing Articles are going to show our readers of how and why Mr.Kagame is on power in Rwanda and why Laurent Nkunda is enjoying immunity to face International Crime Court ICC.

Rwanda: The Land of Thousand Hills and Thousand Hells

RWANDA IN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE OF RWANDANS BRIEFED HISTORY OF RWANDA To understand what I am talking about you must have a bit of Rwanda’s history. The land of Rwanda was inhabited since around 800 years. the first people to come to Rwanda were pigyms from Ituli forest they were hunters and gatherers. They were occupied with their hunting skills. they discovered a land lying next to the lake of Kivu. they came hunting and found plenty of animals. they decided to settle in the North near Mount Kalisimbi. these are Batwa of Ruhengeri and Gisenyi. Another group went after their prey up to the Mount Mukura where they settled near the forest of Nyugwe. This are Batwa We find in Gitarama,Gikongoro, and Kibuye of Rutsiro. This is a brief history of the first settlers in Rwanda. The second group of people to settle in Rwanda are Hutus who are from the bantu group of Cameroon. This group came down the river Congo following a fertile land to farm. They found beautiful hills in the East side of Ituli forest near Virunga forest. They came farming as they could also enjoy the horizon beauty of this land. They used to stay on the top of the hills. They wanted more land to farm. they spread southward. some groups went behind the volcanoes of Muhabura,Gahinga, and Sabyinyo. Others southward and crossed river Nyabarongo, Akanyaru,and Kagera. They settled in the savan land of Karagwe. Those who went toward Bunyoro, they settled in Bufumbira. These were the second settlers of Rwanda. Then came the third group. This is the group of people who originated from South Egypt and South West of Ethiopia. They were herders and pastoralists. This group some historians and Anthropologists confuse it with some Nilotes but the truth is that they share nothing in common. They came from the Horn of Africa and walked eastward looking for green pastures to flock their cattles. they found beautiful land extending from Ankole, Rutchuru, Masisi, Murera, and Rukiga in Rwanda then they spread Southward to the west of Rwanda. They propered because this land had minimal Tsetse Fly to interfere with their livestock. This is a third and last group to settle in Rwanda. All these three groups met in Rwanda not by any invitation but because of the Economic Migration that forced three of them to in search of greener pastures in the wealthy region of Central Africa near to the Western Great Rift. because of this forced immigration none of them should feel superior than the other because none of them should claim to have discovered Rwanda. May be the credit should instead be given to the Batwa (Pigmies) from the Ituli forest since the history tells us that they are the first to settlein Rwanda. Otherwise the rest both Hutus and Tutsis found Mr. Twa already settled in the land. The only social failure is that they were not concerned with social structures but social communion where none of them was bothered by authoritative structures. It was enough for them to know that age matters. Whoever was older than the other deserved an automatic respect from the young ones. He/She was not concerned of using such privilege to oppress the rest but to protect them. The younger ones used to find peace and comfort from their elders. That was a Twa society. Among all these three tribes, the Hutus are the majority with 85% followed by the Tutsis who are 14%, and Twa 1%. When the Hutus came to settle in the Thousand Hills Land, they established an informal administration which was a bit elaborated than the one of their indigenous brothers from the Ituli forest. They had what we call “ABAHINZA for UMUHINZA in sigular. This was someone who was to oversee the welbeing of the community. He was chosen based on his roles to solving, advising, and making wise decisions concerning matters that could arise from the community. These people were much respected in the society. They helped to ensure that there was a harmony between these two communities. This went for centuries until the coming of Tutsis who were pastolists and herders. They believed that they were the only to rule not the others. They believed to be superior and the rest to be subordinates. This ended the harmonious rule of Hutus and Tutsis. Tutsis came and killed all the Hutu leaders who were there as ABAHINZA. Then they hanged them to the log and were eaten by voltures. After killing the ABAHINZA, the Tutsis instored their own Kings like those ones who used to rule in the Horn of Africa. This Kings were called ABAMI in prural and UMWAMI in sigular. This people were so crual until they could use fattened Hutu children to stand up to address to the public. This made this Tutsi kings look ferocious and cruals. After killing Hutu elders and putting themselves to power. They inversted dictatorship using their cows. They said that only them who were entittled to owning and giving out cows. They asked those who wanted to own cows for their milk and cheese, to come and serve in their household for years. This led to the genesis of slavery among Rwandan community. Those who wanted cows could do a hardwork in the Tutsis courtyards for years and years just to win one cow. This went on for more than 500 years untill Africa started hosting another uninvited race. This is the time that Europeans colonized Africa from 1,700AC. The germany was given Rwanda,Burundi, and Tanzania as East Africa Germany until the time when Germans were defeated then Rwanda and Burundi were handed over to Belgians as a protectorate states. When the Belgians took over, they fostered the Tutsi ideology by favoring them than their countrymen Hutus and Tutsis. They described Tutsis to be taller than the rest thus they should be supported to enslave the rest. This went on for years until some Hutus and Twas who had accessed education through religious institutions got enlightened to what was happening around the continent and they statred fighting for the independence of Rwanda. This period led to the UN sponsored referandum which gave the country the 1962 independence. The Hutu got power through the peaceful revolution and Tutsis feared a perceived revenge due to what they did to Hutus. Some Tutsis remained in Rwanda but who were closer to power fled the country and went to settle in neighboring countries such as Uganda, where the majority went to, Zaire, Burundi, and Tanzania. These Tutsis in exile didn’t stop to try their luck by invading Rwanda to topple down the Hutu regime. The first timwe they invaded Rwanda was in 1967 just 5 years after independence. They attacked from the south of Rwanda in a region ccalled Bugesera. This is because, this people had a support from their Tutsi brothers who were ruling in Burundi. Their attemp was futile because they were defeated and went underground for a decade. In 1977 they came back in the Nyungwe forest. This is still in the south of Rwanda. This is the time they nicknamed themselves as INYENZI (Cockroaches). Because, they liked attacking in the middle of the night the same way Cockroaches bite people in the middle of the ight when there is no light. They were defeated again then went for several years. This time some of us where not yet born. We even forgot about the issue of tribes and most of our generation started intermarrying with Tutsis though it was very hard for a young male Tutsi to marry a young famale Hutu because of their ideology of superiority. the young male Tutsis did not have many problems mingling with Hutu females only that they feared to take our sisters to their families because it was regarded as a Taboo. On the 1st of October 1990, the Tutsi movement of Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) composed by young generation some of whom do not even know when they parents left Rwanda, they took arms and attacked Rwanda with the ideology of revenge of what Hutus did to their parents three decades ago. They got support from leaders who come from Rwanda but ruling other countries such as President Museveni of Uganda among others. They also profited the USA interest in Zaire minerals. They found favor in the leadership of Bill Clinton who was the President of USA with his AFRICOM foreign policy (www.globalresearch.ca F. William Engdahl: Research Associate and the Center for Globalization and author of ‘A Century of War) I remember I was a standard 4 primary pupil at a village Primary School of Busogo. I heard people taling about it I did not understand what it meant to attack Rwanda. Some of the older people were narrating the story of those who fled independence and now their sons wanted to come back and take back the power by whichever means. I could not understand why this people not happy with independence which was put in place by UN. Some days after I started watching photos of maimed people, beheaded children, and pregnant women who had been aborted because they had carried Hutus. It was a puzzle, and confusion swandwitched by politics of divided and confused Hutus of Big Stomaches such as Twagiramungu Faustin nicknamed Rukokoma (Grand Mass Protest) that he used to call to paralyze the Habyalimana’s leadership. It went on for some years then here came negotiation in Arusha Tanzania sponsored by African Union Organization (AUO) and UN. The RPF movement of Tutsis was given 40% in power sharing just for the sake of the much needed Peace. But the Tutsis because they were backed by USA and they had assurance of taking over the country at whatever cost, they refused power sharing though they comprise 14% of the entire population of Rwanda. They went on with the attacks and preparation and violated the ceasefire brokered by a struggling and shaky AUO. THE ORIGIN OF RWANDAN GENOCIDE On 6th of April 1994, the Tutsis backed by Uganda, President Nyerere of Tanzania, Buyoya of Burundi, and Bill Clinton of USA, decided to violate the ceasefire and trushed the peace accords signed in Arusha. They refused to take 40% allocated to them because they were sure of taking over the whole nation, and fulfill USA mission of establishing AFRICOM Command to Africa. They shot down the plane which was carrying two Hutu Presidents: Habyaliman Juvenal of Rwanda, and Ntaryamira Cyprien of Burundi. This sudden death of Juvenal Habyalimana crashed a fragile ceasefire and sparked a massacre of Tutsis and and moderate Hutus whom were believed to be allies of RPF. This masacre was a trap that USA and RPF set in order to portray Hutus to the world to be cruel and merciless, animal beings. This could lead to the whole world to curse and isolate all Hutus wherever they are. The RPF and Clinton government succeeded to draw Hutus into their bloody plan. The Habyalimana’s plane was downed, the people poured into the streets killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus, because they feared that if RPF got power, it could enslave all Hutus. However, little did they know that this killing would make their become the reality. The 1994 Rwanda massacre brought to an end the Hutu rule which they had fought for many years to bring independence to Rwanda. The whole world saw Hutus as criminals and ruthless species thanks to Clinton government, though Hutus reacted to the pre-planed act of killing Habyalimana. Instead of taking to Terrorism Court such as Guantenamo Bay those who shot down the two presidents, the international community started a witch hunt of all educated Hutus as a rapid action to counter the truth and fear that they could expose the true genesis of what happened. After succeeding to depict all Hutus as murderers, killers and genocidaires, the clinton government handed over Rwanda to Kagame and his tribesmen. Millions of Hutus landed into the wilderness of Kibumba-Goma in Eastern Zaire. RWANDAN REFUGEES IN GOMA REFUGEE CAMPS In Goma, hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees died from the poisoned food and drinking which was contaminated by RPF infilitrators who were in Goma selling food and drinking water. more than 200,000 people died from this planed disguised RPF murder. while in Rwanda the Tutsis were mourning for theirs who died because of the Kagame’s thirst of power, beyond the borders her children were dying like flies, and nobody cared because it was universally believed that all Hutus had committed massacre. Unlike the Rwandese saying “Imana Yirwanda Yilirwa Ahandi Igataha Irwanda,”meaning the Rwandese God spends His day elsewhere but He spends His Night in Rwanda, this God of Rwandans had completely gone for the day and forgot to come back for the night. People were helplessly crying for help from nowhere. those who survived the RPF poison in Goma, they went to the interior of Zaire (DRC) to hide from the oppression of RPF, UN,USA,and UNHCR. Those who remained in the camps were exposed to daily threats and intimidation from UNHCR. The UNHCR reduced the food ratios from day to day to force them to go back to Rwanda and face the Butcherer (RPF). THE RPF VENDETTA PARTY AGAINST HUTUS IN DRC In October1996, the RPF backed by USA government invaded the refugee camps of Bukavu, Nyangezi, and Goma in the Eastern DRC. This marked the beginning of real Hutu massacre. According to UN report, nearly 3M Hutus from Rwanda and Eastern DRC were killed in Zaire (DRC). The RPF soldiers were selecting young people from the elderly ones, putting the young people to the right and the elderly people to the left. Those who were on the right side who were generally young enabled people were slaughtered in Sake, and Kibati in Goma, and the elderly were sent home. Those who managed to escape the RPF sword in Goma took the dense forest of Ituli from Goma to Masisi, Walikale, Hamisi, Tingi Tingi, Lubutu, Kisangani, Ubundu, Opala, Ubundu-Opala-Ikela-Bokungu-Boende-Bandaka-Ingende-Bikoro-Irebu-Lukolela in Congo Brazaville. Very few Hutu refugees who managed to survive the RPF massacre. In all this none ever questioned the RPF killing, to them it is a crime to kill a Tutsi and Okay to kill Hutu. A Hutu deserves a sword while a Tutsi deserves justice. This is visible in what UN manufactured as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which is supposed to try all Hutu intellectuals wherever they are to give justice to Tutsis who invaded a sovereign Rwanda in 1990s and killed Hutus untill they were tired to kill ordinary citizens and decided to kill two Hutu presidents, and until today they have not been brought to justice. To understand well what has happened, and what is happening in Rwanda now, one needs to read Nick McKenzie Uncovering Rwanda’s secrets – World – theage.com.au, and UN ’shut down’ Rwanda probe – World – theage.com.au. THE BIASNESS OF INTERNATIONA CRIMINAL COURT AGAINST HUTUS If the international community wants real peace in the Great Lakes Region, if it wants true democracy in the region, if it wants to have a lasting solution in the region, all the people who committed crime against humanity must be brought to books to answer their charges. All blood shed is blood whether in Rwanda, Burundi, or DRC. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has since its inception been biased in applying justice. It has been a shame to the law practioners who have spent years overlooking the truth which is nothing else but truth and hunting Hutus only instead of using the court mandate of bringing all the people who committed crimes against humanity in Rwanda from 1991 to 1995. Now the ICTR has been nicknamed “NANGABAHUTU” meaning I HATE HUTUS by fellow Rwandans who sees the court as the promotion of hatred among Rwandan communities. What UN and USA should understand is that none is going to force Hutus or Tutsis to succumb to political and power hungry motivations.If the international community does not want to see a mass revolution in region, they should help the Rwandan administration to put in place a people’s constitution. This is a constitution that will give power to the people and protect the minority. This is a constitution that will recognize that Rwanda has three tribes: Hutus,Tutsis, and Twas. This constitution should be able to protect all the Rwandan citizens regardless of their ethnic background. This would be a constitution that recognizes and respect the history of Rwanda, it s evolution, and its integrity

Michael Jackson's other funeral

A "funeral" for pop star Michael Jackson has been taking place in the village of Krindjabo, where he was crowned a prince of the Agni people on a visit to the country in 1992.
The village has been in mourning since his death on 25 June.
The villagers appealed without success to have the body returned, but since his official funeral in Los Angeles they have decided he also needs to be properly buried according to the customs in the Sanwi kingdom.
The village football pitch here has been transformed into a green square surrounded on all sides by tents full of what I guess is around 1,000 people from the village and - like us - from Abidjan to formally say goodbye to one of the biggest pop music stars of the last 50 years.
You may know him as Michael Jackson, but here he is Prince Michael Amalaman Anoh.
One of the organisers of the event, Emmanuel Kassy Kofi, said they had appealed through the international media and the US embassy in Abidjan for Michael Jackson's body to be returned.

Michael Jackson was enthroned as a king-in-waiting and should normally be buried in a river.
"If for example the Americans or his family permitted for us to bring the body here we'd do what needs to be done," Mr Kofi said.
"We asked for the body - it's for us. It was Michael Jackson himself who tested his DNA and said it'd be good to find his family.
"'The King also recognised certain signs that he was part of the dynasty. And the royal seat that the king's sitting on - Michael Jackson sat on it too."
The organisers say his spirit is already here and will be put to rest.
The whole village is in mourning here until Sunday when the successor to Prince Michael Jackson Amalaman Anoh will be announced.
Until then, the party and memorials will continue well into the night.

RWANDA-UGANDA: Go home, Uganda tells Rwandan refugees

Thousands of Rwandan refugees in Uganda could lose their status following the expiry of a deadline for voluntarily return to their country, officials said. "We have been pushed to the limits, there is no justification for them to remain in Uganda," Tarsis Kabwengyere, Uganda’s minister of disaster preparedness and refugees, said. Money, he added, was being spent on refugees whose home country was stable and willing to take them back. Ugandan camps had also swollen due to renewed violence in eastern Congo, and there was need for some refugees to return home. James Bigirwa, the deputy Resident District commissioner in Isingiro district where Nakivale settlement is located, said some refugees were faking local IDs following the expiry of the 31 July deadline. In Rwanda, the government said those who did not return by the end of the year would lose citizenship. "We shall apply the secession clause if they have not returned by the end of December, there is no more reason for any Rwandan to become a refugee," Innocent Ngango, the head of refugee repatriation at Rwanda’s ministry of local government said. The refugees are mainly ethnic Hutus whose repatriation has since June been implemented by the Ugandan and Rwandan governments, with the support of the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR. "We have agreed that it is the right time for the Rwandan refugees to take advantage of the improved situation in their country to return home," Stefano Severe, UNHCR representative in Uganda said. In the past two months, however, only 3,000 have returned home out of 17,000, some out of fear of possible persecution back home. Andrew Munyakazi, a refugee working as a cleaner in Mbarara town told IRIN on 14 July that his family had voluntarily returned to Rwanda in 2002, but his father was arraigned before a Gacaca court and imprisoned for 15 years on genocide charges. Our land was immediately confiscated," he said. "How can I return to Rwanda - those who took over our land will cause my arrest again because they will think I have come to reclaim it." In June, the New York-based Human Rights Watch warned the Ugandan and Tanzanian governments against forceful repatriation of refugees living in camps in their countries. "Despite looming camp closing deadlines, neither government has publicly explained the alternatives," HRW said on 19 June. "Instead, both have threatened the refugees with forced return, saying that after the closures the remaining refugees will be "stripped" of their refugee status and treated as "illegal immigrants. "Both positions would be unlawful under international refugee law." Georgette Gagnon, the HRW's Africa director urged Uganda to clearly explain to the refugees options on the table. "Refugees do not lose their status as refugees simply because their camps are closed, and they should not be forcibly returned to their countries," he said.

Hillary Clinton heads to Africa

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on her way Kenya, to begin an 11-day tour of the African continent.
Her trip will include South Africa, Nigeria, Liberia and Angola and she will meet Somali leaders in Kenya.
The visit, her longest overseas journey in her post to date, is part of an attempt by the US to show that Africa remains a key foreign policy priority.
Development issues - including food security, health and gender concerns - are expected to be high on the agenda.
Mrs Clinton's trip comes less than a month after US President Barack Obama travelled to Ghana.
Somali hopes
Ahead of her arrival on Tuesday, the US embassy in Nairobi issued a statement scolding Kenya for its decision not to set up a local court to seek justice for the victims of the country's post-election violence. At least 1,300 people died during clashes following the disputed December 2007 poll.
Meanwhile Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said the meeting with Mrs Clinton in Kenya would be "a golden chance for the Somali people and government".
"It signals how the American government, the Obama administration and the international community are willing to support Somalia this time," he said, referring to earlier failed peacekeeping missions to the country.

Rwanda dismisses calls for FDLR negotiations

Senator Russ Feingold President Kagame

Executive Secretary of the FDLR
Callixte Mbarushimana

Falling short of categorically dismissing the prospect of negotiations with Rwandan militias in DRC, President Kagame urged the International Crisis Group to consult Rwanda before it recommends talks with the rebels, RNA reports.The campaign group called recently for Kigali to hold “direct” talks with some FDLR rebels said not to have participated in the Tutsi Genocide. The same position was picked up by a senior US Senator Russ Feingold encouraging the Obama administration to direct its policy in that direction.“When people start asking for talks with FDLR, I do not know what that means”, Mr. Kagame said while pounding his table. He added that the ICG recommendation for direct talks has “come too late” because many have surrendered.President Kagame said if there are any rebels categorized as “moderates” then they would have surrendered and allowed to be repatriated to Rwanda “like the others” instead of continuing to “kill”.“We have generals, colonels who have come back”, he said in reference to several former combatant officers including former FDLR commander Maj General Paul Rwarakabije and Brig. Jerome Ngengahimana. Both surrendered in 2003, a process that has led to the repatriation of up to 8000 rebels, according to the troubled UN mission in DRC.Mr. Kagame told a press conference that those who are asking for talks have no other alternative to the problem. “Even when we were fighting the government which was murdering people they said we should negotiate”, Kagame said in reference to the Habyarimana government.“If the ICG thinks talks are the best way to solve the problem, Madam tell them they should ask us what we think”, he told the Reuters journalist who has raised the issue.Meanwhile, Mr. Kagame also said his forces remain ready “at short notice” to go back to eastern DRC to flash the rebels if asked by the Kinshasa government

New Revelation on Who Killed Habyalimana and Ntaryamira on 6April,1994

Statement regarding the April 6, 1994 assassination of the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi in addition to all others on board the Presidential Aircraft.
Sparta , Rwanda, Kigali 24 April,2009


By Prepared Statement of Mr. James R. Lyons
I am a retired Supervisory Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) having served from November 1970 through July 1995. Most of my FBI career was spent in the area of counter-terrorism in the New York Office. I was an original member of the FBI/New York Police Department (NYPD) Domestic Terrorism Task Force, which was formed in 1980. I was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent in 1987 with the task of forming a second task force to address the growing threat of international terrorism. In that capacity, I performed supervisory investigative duties in numerous terrorist bombing and political assassination cases committed by various international terrorist groups from all over the world. In addition, I was the FBI, New York Office on site supervisor following the bombings of the World Trade Center and was detailed as a supervisor to the post blast investigation following the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City .
In February 1996, I was contracted by the US Department of State as an investigator for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Shortly after my arrival in Kigali , I was appointed the Commander of Investigations, which was actually a United Nations staff post. At that time there was a Deputy Prosecutor, Honre Rokatomanana, a Director of Investigations, Al Breau and only twenty-three investigators. Seventeen of the investigators were police officers seconded to the ICTR by the Government of the Netherlands .
At that time, the strategy of the Director of Investigations with the approval of the Deputy Prosecutor, was to identify victims/witnesses to the genocide in the western and southern Prefectures such as Kibuye and Butare and obtain signed statements implicating the targets who were the Prefects, communal officials, local leaders of the Hutu Interahamwe militia, and local businessmen. The strategy was to charge these individuals in connection with the Genocide with the hope of gaining the cooperation of some in order to move up the ladder to the “Big Fish.” There was a separate investigation into the role of the media in inciting the Hutu population to violence against the Tutsi and moderate Hutu. In view of the lack of manpower and other resources, other avenues, such as investigating the role of national political and military leaders were put on hold.
In March/April, 1994, more investigators began to arrive, including Michael Hourigan, a former Australian Crown Prosecutor. In view of the influx of a few more investigators, I and the Director of Investigations agreed that a new “National Investigative Team” be formed to target those responsible for the planning of and the eventual execution of the Genocide and at my suggestion, Mr. Hourigan was appointed the Team Leader. The team began with three investigators but eventually grew to twenty members representing the nations of Holland , Germany , the United States , Canada , Senegal , Mali , Tunisia , Madagascar and others.
The National Team was given the task of investigating a number of the ICTR’s most important lines of inquiry. Principal among these tasks were:
1. The Investigation and prosecution of Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, considered to be the leading Hutu military force behind the Genocide.
2. The investigation and prosecution of persons with overall responsibility for the selected killings of Rwandan political leaders and intellegencia by elite Presidential Guard kill teams, which occurred during the first 48-72 hours of the downing of the president’s airplane.
3. The investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the rocket attack on April 6, 1994, which resulted in the downing of the Presidential Airplane, killing Rwanda President Juvenal Habyarimana, Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira, the French crew and all others aboard.
As the Commander of Investigations, I believed that the investigation of the rocket attack was within the mandate of the ICTR. It was the spark that ignited all of Rwanda into a conflagration, which would ultimately take the lives of 700,000 to 1,000,000 men, women and children. The UN Security Council had expressed its abhorrence at this terrorist attack and had directed that all information regarding the event be gathered. The ICTR Statute, Article 4, specifically included Acts of Terrorism in its list of offences. In my view, there was more than ample justification for the ICTR to consider the rocket attack as an international criminal event falling well within its jurisdiction.
No member of the ICTR leadership ever suggested to me that this investigation was outside our mandate. On the contrary, discussions among senior personnel concerned the enormous challenge that lay ahead to identify those responsible.
The National Team’s investigation was thorough but slow moving initially. The world community had long attributed the attack to hard line Hutus close to the President but there was no evidence supporting that theory. There was some speculation that the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was responsible and there were bits of information to support that view.
The National Team obtained information in 1996 that a United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda (UNAMIR) soldier had overheard a radio broadcast over an RPF network shortly after the plane crash saying that the target has been hit. In addition, there was a report that a soldier in the Armed Forces of Rwanda (FAR) heard the same or a similar broadcast.
Mr. Hourigan regularly briefed me and other senior ICTR staff members on the progress of the investigations and that always included the plane crash investigation. Hourigan and some members of his team briefed Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour during one of her few visits to Kigali . At no time did Judge Arbour relay to me, or to my knowledge, any other senior investigator that the plane crash was outside the mandate of the ICTR.
I always worked closely with Mr. Hourigan and his team and was continually briefed on developments. In February 1997, there was a dramatic turn of events in the investigation when three potential cooperating witnesses came forward. Two of the witnesses knew of each other’s cooperation. The third was independent and we believe, had no knowledge of the other two. The witnesses were all past or present members of the RPF and because of their duties were in a position to personally know the accuracy of information being furnished.
The information furnished, although untested, was extremely detailed to the point of naming individuals involved in the planning and the execution of the rocket attack. The sources advised that the then leader of the RPF, General Paul Kagame, formed a commando type group referred to as the “network” and that he and his senior advisors had put into affect the plan to shoot down the Presidential aircraft as it approached Kigali Airport.
During the last days of February 1997 I was present with Mr. Hourigan at the US Embassy in Kigali . He placed a call to Judge Arbour in The Hague on the Embassy secure telephone line. He briefed her on the latest developments in the plane crash investigation. It was obvious to me, from listening to Mr. Hourigan’s side of the conversation, that Judge Arbour was pleased with the progress of the case and enthusiastic about continuing the investigation. Later, Mr. Hourigan advised me that Judge Arbour asked him to travel to The Hague so that they could further discuss this matter personally.
On the first Monday in March, 1997 I returned to the United States as my contract was finished and I did not choose to extend it. I later had a telephone conversation with Mr. Hourigan during which he advised me that during his meeting with Judge Arbour, she unexpectedly ordered him to shut down the investigation. She explained that the shooting down of the President’s airplane was a crime outside the jurisdiction of the ICTR.

Hutus regugees killed in North Kivu by RDF and FARDC

This is an unexhaustive List of the Rwandan Hutu refugees brutally murdered by the joint military operation of Rwanda Patriotic Army (RDF) and the Democratic Republic of Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) at SHARIO and MAROKE in North Kivu
1. Uwihoreye Richard, Male, 40 ans
2. Munyandinda Jean-Marie Vianney, Male, 50 ans
3. Uwamahoro Beatha, Femelle, 2 ans
4. Muhetsi, Male, 40 ans
5. Gahungu, Male, 1 an
6. Gaudence, Femelle, 35 ans
7. Julienne, Femelle, 2 ans
8. Mukandayisenga, Femelle, 1an
9. Mujyambere, Male, 48 ans
10.Kazwinande Jean d’Amour, Male, 50 ans
11.Fumberi, Male, 40 ans
12.Habiyaremye Pascal, Male, 55 ans
13.Nyirarugendo Thaciana, Femelle, 54 ans
14.Bimenyimana Fidèle, Male, 45 ans
15.Ndaziganje Lucien, Male, 50 ans
16.Mugoyi, Male, 45 ans
17.Nyiraneza Elisabeth, Femelle, 70 ans
18.Ntakirutinka, Male, 60 ans
19.Kwigira Cyprien, Male, 42 ans
20.Mushimiye, Femelle, 20 ans
21.Mushi Anastase, Male, 35 ans
22.Byiringiro Erneste, Male, 5 ans
23.Mbabazi Samuel, Male, 40 ans
24. Kaneza Catherine, Femelle, 37 ans
25.Uwimbabazi Anne Marie, Femelle, 12 ans
26.Niyomugabo Emmanuel, Male, 10 ans
27. Mushimiyimana Godeleive, Femelle, 8 ans
28.Nzabazira Eric, Male, 10 ans
29.Ngabonziza Eric, Male, 16 ans
30.Safali Oscar, Male, 3 ans
31.Ingabire, Femelle, 14 ans
32.Bikorimana Jean, Male, 2 ans
33.Ndahimana, Male, 9 ans
34.Uwamahoro Pascasie, Femelle, 44 ans
35.Mukantwari Devota, Femelle, 14 ans
36.Karekezi Adam, Male, 59 ans
37.Muhire Jean Marie Vienney, Male, 40 ans
38.Muvandimwe, Male, 36 ans
39.Koboyi Theogene, Male, 40 ans
40.Uwitonze Jeanne, Femelle, 12 ans
41.Gishuhe Thomas, Male, 14 ans
42.Uzamukunda Lea, Femelle, 20 ans
43.Musabyimana Philippe, Male, 17 ans
44.Nyiranzabonimana, Femelle, 25 ans
45.Agatha, Femelle, 45 ans
46.Nzarora John, Male, 15 ans
47.Ubarijoro Léonard, Male, 65 ans
48.Habimana Fidèle, Male, 12 ans
49.Mukamanzi Drocelle, Femelle, 50 ans
50.Nyiraneza Esperance, Femelle, 17 ans
51.Gashema Moïse, Male, 54 ans
52.Hakizimana Emmanuel, Male, 25 ans
53.Niyonsaba, Femelle, 24 ans
54.Uwiragiye Josephine, Femelle, 8 ans
55.Furaha, Femelle, 5 ans
56.Nahayo, Male, 2 ans
57.Nyiramana, Femelle, 5 ans
58.Mukantwari, Femelle, 10 ans
59.Uwinema Marie, Femelle, 7 ans
60.Habiyambere , Male, 25 ans
61.Ayinkamiye Julienne, Femelle, 24 ans
62.Muhawenimana, Femelle, 6 ans
63.Mukantabana, Femelle, 20 ans

FDLR PRESS RELEASE NR. 06/SE/CD/JULY/2009

The FDLR urge the International Community to impose sanctions against the dictatorial,
bloody and hegemonic Kigali regime that sows confusion, death and insecurity in the African
Great Lakes Region.
The Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) strongly condemn the recent statements of
Paul Kagame in which he rejected any prospect of negotiations with the FDLR in order to find a
peaceful negotiated solution to the political problem of Rwanda.
The FDLR urge the media, the people of the African Great Lakes Region and the International
Community, especially the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations to condemn
unequivocally the war that the Kigali regime is currently waging in North and South Kivu under the
disguised label of the "CNDP" and to impose immediate sanctions against senior officials of that
regime.
The FDLR recall that the CNDP is nothing but a creation of Kagame to lead a hegemonic war in
Eastern DRC where more than 10,000 soldiers of the hegemonic Kigali regime are currently
disguised under the label of CNDP, a number of which are officially mixed with the FARDC. The
recent statements of the dictator Kagame that he is considering a return of Rwandan troops in the
DRC are merely manoeuvres to mislead the international opinion because his troops are already
present in the DRC where they are committing atrocities against the Congolese civil population and
against Rwandan refugees, pretending that those atrocities are committed by Rwandan and
Congolese armed groups, the main one being actually the CNDP.
The FDLR consider that the Rwandan and Congolese people who have lost more than 7 million of
their relatives in less than 2 decades have paid a heavy price and do not need any other war which
would only increase their troubles and their suffering.

The FDLR remain convinced that the Rwandan problem is essentially political and can never be
resolved by war but through a direct and frank dialogue, without preconditions, between the Kigali
regime and the FDLR with the support of the International Community.
The FDLR recall that the warmongers like Kagame and his cronies who want to continue to put fire
on the African Great Lakes Region should be aware that the war they preach can not put an end to
the immense suffering of Rwandan and Congolese civilian populations, solve the political problem
of Rwanda, bring democracy and good governance in Rwanda and stop the plundering of resources
of the African Great Lakes region.
The FDLR remind warmongers like Kagame and the senior members of the Kigali regime that they
will sooner or later answer for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes of genocide, crimes against
humanity and other heinous crimes they are committing against the peace-loving peoples of the
African Great Lakes Region since October 1990.
The FDLR reaffirm their commitments made in Rome as stated in their Declaration of 31 March
2005 and urge once again the Kigali regime to sit on the same table in the process of Rome, to find
a peaceful solution to the political problem of Rwanda.
Done in Paris on 30 July 2009
Callixte Mbarushimana
Executive Secretary of the FDLR
(Sé)

Kagame refuses to negociate with FDLR

Rwanda is prepared to take part in further joint military operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo to root out rebels operating there, President Paul Kagame said on Monday.Congolese and Rwandan soldiers launched a joint operation in January against Hutu militia known as FDLR who took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, and who are also seen as a root cause of 15 years of festering conflict in eastern Congo.Rwanda pulled out a month later and the rebels retook ground they lost during the offensive."We continue to be ready to work on solutions ... including military operations... at short notice," Kagame said.Anti-FDLR operations began after a deal between Congo and Rwanda, but residents say they have not had much impact on the group's estimated 6,000-strong fighting force.They marked a dramatic shift in regional politics, with Rwanda helping end a Congolese rebellion Kigali had been previously accused of backing in exchange for being allowed to send its army to fight the Rwandan rebels."The relationship between Rwanda and DRC has been improving very fast. I'd say it's now at a good level. We want not only to keep it there, but also to advance it ... for the good of the people of the whole region," Kagame told a news conference.However, tensions still remain between the two countries over the whereabouts of warlord Laurent Nkunda, head of the CNDP Tutsi militia operating in the eastern Congo, who Rwanda arrested in January."Laurent Nkunda is not the problem in DRC. He's a very small part of the problem. We need to look beyond him to the bigger issues," Kagame said.Some analysts have recommended that the two governments negotiate with FDLR members not wanted for genocide."They say, 'talk to the FDLR', but which one? Moderates? If they were moderates they would have returned home," Kagame said.The United Nations peacekeeping force MONUC says more than 1,200 former combatants have returned to Rwanda this year alone thanks to the joint military operations between Rwanda and Congo and non-military efforts.Rwanda first invaded Congo in 1996 to hunt down FDLR rebels and Kigali's army ended up toppling the government in Kinshasa and much of the fighting in Congo degenerated into a scrap over mines.

Firms Fuelling 'Conflict Minerals' Violence, Report Says

WASHINGTON, Jul 21 (IPS) - Several international companies are named as helping to prolong the more than 12-year conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a new report by the British-based group Global Witness, released Tuesday.Titled "Faced with a gun, what can you do?", it details how many mining areas in eastern DRC are controlled by rebels and the national army, who violently exploit civilians to retain access to valuable minerals. It names international companies which buy from suppliers who trade in minerals from the warring parties. European and Asian companies, including Bangkok-based THAISARCO, Britain-based Afrimex, and Belgium-based Trademet, have been buying minerals from the DRC that are funding armed groups and fuelling conflict, said Global Witness. Informed by on-the-ground investigations and interviews in North and South Kivu, the report reveals that despite being on opposing sides, the national Congolese army, the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) and rebel groups, in particular the Forces Democratique de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), regularly cooperate with each other, carving up territory and occasionally sharing the spoils of illegal mining. The FDLR use roads controlled by the FARDC, and vice versa, without difficulty. Minerals produced by the FDLR are sent out through local airports controlled by the FARDC in South Kivu. "(The FARDC and the FDLR) don't attack each other. Where both are present, they share the spoils and both extort from the population," a human rights activist told Global Witness last year. The unregulated nature of the mining sector in eastern DRC, combined with the breakdown of law and order and the devastation caused by the war, has meant that these groups have had unrestricted access to these minerals and have been able to establish lucrative trading networks. "(The report) shows the extent to which the Congolese government is incapable not only of controlling the mineral-rich areas, but also of controlling its own army that is profiting from the mineral trade at expense of the state," David Sullivan, a research associate at the Enough Project, told IPS. He added that mine inspectors often cannot do their job because they have not been paid their salaries, or "do not have the resources to travel to mines". Once they do arrive, they are prevented from inspecting the mines with threats of violence. "The Congolese government needs more assistance in order to be able to oversee the trade, but it is not the only actor," said Sullivan, adding that companies that continue to profit from the trade must be held accountable. "As long as we don't change the way we go about purchasing these things economic incentives will override" the need for greater transparency, he added. The profits armed groups make from their illegal control of the mines allow them to survive, as they pay for arms. To sustain this control, the main warring parties have carried out horrific human rights abuses, including widespread killings of unarmed civilians, rape, torture and looting, recruitment of child soldiers to fight in their ranks, and forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, the report said. "All the warring parties in the DRC are systematically using forced labour and violent extortion in mining areas," said Patrick Alley, director of Global Witness. "Despite recent political and military developments, including the apparent rapprochement between the DRC and Rwanda, violence against unarmed civilians is continuing and countless lives are lost each day." Years of unrest have plagued the DRC. Following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, hundreds of thousands of Hutus fled across the border into the DRC, as the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front conquered the country. The conflict has resulted in an estimated 5.4 million deaths over the past decade. This link between armed groups and the illicit mineral trade was also documented by a United Nations panel of experts in December 2008. The "conflict minerals" at the centre of the violence include cassiterite, coltan and wolframite, which are moved from the DRC, usually through Rwanda or Burundi, to East Asia where they are processed into valuable metals, like tin and tungsten, needed for electronics products. One of the companies featured in the report is THAISARCO, the world's fifth-largest tin-producing company, owned by British metals giant, Amalgamated Metal Corporation (AMC). THAISARCO's main supplier, Congo-based Panju, sells cassiterite and coltan from mines controlled by the FDLR. Another company is the British-based Afrimex, already found by the British government in 2008 to be in breach of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises for buying from suppliers who made payments to a rebel group. The British government has yet to take any concrete action on this information. Global Witness wrote to 200 companies and found that most had no controls in place to stop conflict minerals entering their supply chain. AMC denied any wrongdoing, saying that it operated under U.N. guidelines. "Both AMC and Thaisarco have always sought to comply with the requirements and recommendations of the U.N. in respect of minerals originating in the DRC," the company said in a statement. "In accordance with this, Thaisarco purchases DRC minerals subject to a recently enhanced, formal and detailed due diligence programme which ultimately is aimed at providing transparency throughout the supply chain." In a letter to Global Witness in January, F. Muylaert of the Belgian company Trademet said, "Your hypothesis according to which we should verify the exact origin of every kilo of exported material is inappropriate in the current context in Congo." The report points out that comptoirs - trading houses based in Goma and Bukavu - which buy, sell and export minerals produced by or benefiting the warring parties are officially licensed and registred with the Congolese government. Foreign companies use the "legal" status of their suppliers as justification for continuing to trade with them, without verifying the exact origin of the minerals or the identity of intermediaries. "It is not good enough for companies to say they buy only from licensed exporters, when they know full well that their middlemen buy from armed groups," argued Alley The report said that foreign governments, including Britain and Belgium, are undermining their own development assistance and diplomatic efforts to end the 12-year conflict by failing to crack down on companies based within their borders. Global Witness contends that the governments of Rwanda and Burundi have failed to acknowledge that these minerals are fueling conflict and have not held to account companies in their country which engage in this trade. "The failure of governments to hold companies to account, of Burundi and Rwanda to restrict the trade across their borders, and of donors and diplomats to address explicitly the role of the mineral trade, have all contributed to the continuation of a conflict that has killed millions and displaced many more," said Alley.

FDLR troups march in Democratic Republic of Congo

Orlando Events Center Roof Truss Assembly Begins

Orlando, FL – Seven short miles from the site of the new Orlando Events Center, six 380-foot long, 150-ton steel roof trusses for the world-class arena will be fabricated. Roof truss erection began Tuesday (July 14), as the first portion -- a segment weighing 140,000 pounds -- of the first truss was put into place. Steel roof truss erection will continue over the next five months.‪ Orlando’s new events center will open in the fall of 2010 and compete to host major national events, concerts and family shows, while serving as the home to the Orlando Magic. “This is a local success story,” said Schuff President and Chief Executive Officer Glen Davis. "The local construction community needed this project quite badly as did Schuff Steel. We are proud of the Orlando Magic and the City of Orlando for recognizing those needs and for living up to the commitments that they made to keep as much of the work local." The entire structural steel portion of the new Events Center is in excess of 3,000 tons. The cutting, shaping and assembling of the raw steel involves 200-plus local steel workers. An estimated 100 workers will take part in erecting the steel at the site of the New Orlando Events Center. "The effort the Magic, its program manager (Turner Construction) and the construction manager (Hunt Construction Group) put forth made the local and MWBE program a success —bringing people together with a goal of improving the community," added Davis, whose company has a workforce which is 39 percent diversified in administration and 64 percent diversified in operations and production at its Orlando plant. An estimated 95 percent of Schuff’s workforce resides in the City of Orlando and Orange County area. Bolts, supply and fabrication of raw materials, trucking, painting of the steel and engineering are all part of the 24 percent minority package that Schuff is committed to accomplish. Schuff Steel has been involved with the construction of many local and recognizable structures including the new UCF Arena and many phases of The Orange County Convention Center.

L.A. County coroner issues subpoenas for medical records from multiple Michael Jackson doctors

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has subpoenaed medical files and records from a number of doctors who treated the singer, as officials attempt to determine how the pop star died, sources have told The Times.
One source, who has seen one of the coroner’s office subpoenas, said it asked for “any and all” of Jackson’s medical records “including radiology and psychiatric records.”
An attorney for Dr. Arnold Klein, a Beverly Hills dermatologist who treated Jackson for nearly 25 years, said his client was among those receiving a formal request from the coroner’s office.
“It was a standard form subpoena and we turned over medical records to the medical examiner in response,” said lawyer Richard Charnley.
The subpoenas come in addition to at least three search warrants issued last week as part of a Los Angeles Police Department probe into whether prescription drugs played a role in his death.
Authorities have identified some of Jackson’s doctors from the medications and other medical evidence they recovered from the Holmby Hills mansion where Jackson was stricken June 25, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
But those sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because it was an ongoing investigation, said some of the medication lacked prescription labels and that officials were trying to determine how Jackson got them.
A longtime Jackson associate, who spoke on the condition that he not be named, said the pop star had little trouble finding doctors eager to treat him – and prescribe him drugs.
“They rotate in and out,” said the source. “There were a lot of doctors over the years ... They liked to be known as Michael Jackson’s doctor.”

Experts said the task before detectives and coroner’s investigators amounts to a medical jigsaw puzzle. They must get a strong handle on his medical status at the time of his death, including pre-existing conditions, previous medical procedures and his drug-use history—things that can be gleaned through many of the records requested and subpoenaed.
After gathering information about what was prescribed and in what quantity, investigators with medical training look at the patient’s history, the possible reasons each drug was prescribed, the side effects and the interactions with other medications. Investigators must also cross-reference medical files to try to recreate what a physician knew at the time he or she wrote a prescription.
Ed Winter, assistant chief of the coroner’s office, said the office does send subpoenas out in death investigations. “In many cases doctors will hand over the records,” he said. “In some cases, they will ask us for a subpoena to get those records.”
Winter would not comment on whether subpoenas were issued in Jackson’s death. While officials are awaiting the results of toxicology tests conducted by the coroner’s office the day after Jackson’s death, they warn that those tests may not answer all the questions.
For example, sources have told The Times that detectives found large amounts of the powerful anesthetic Diprivan at Jackson’s home. But experts said that Diprivan moves through the body quickly and might not show up in some tests. Diprivan, which also goes by the generic name propofol, is an extremely potent drug that is supposed to be dispensed by a person trained to administer anesthesia.
Paul Wischmeyer, an anesthesiologist at the University of Colorado who co-wrote a 2007 study of Diprivan abuse for the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, said that propofol would be “probably undetectable” in the bloodstream in 20 minutes after a single dose.
But he said that there are other ways that pathologists have used to identify presence of the drug in autopsies, if they know what to look for. “You can find it in the urine,”Wischmeyer said. “There’s a test you have to know how to do. There aren’t a lot of labs that know how to do it. But if you know, you can do it... It wouldn’t be a test a coroner could do, but they could send out for it.”

Top Moments: Michael Jackson Memorial

Michael Jackson "was an idol, a hero and even a king. We come together and we remember the time," Pastor Lucious Smith said in his opening remarks of the Michael Jackson Memorial. In a sweet, somber and incredibly thrilling spectacle, fans, family, friends and fellow musicians gathered at Los Angeles' Staples Center to honor the late King of Pop. Here are some of our favorite moments from the service. Tell us about your favorites, too.12. Tearjerker: Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz open the service with a performance of "I'll Be There." Carey was quivering and near tears as she sang. 11. MJ Is Love: Clearly overcome with emotion as well, Lionel Richie delivers an equally touching rendition of The Commodores' "Jesus Is Love."10. Queen Hails the King: Representing "fans all around the world" and touting Jackson as "the biggest star on Earth," Queen Latifah, who said her first Jackson record was 1973's Dancing Machine, recites poetic words written by Maya Angelou: "We had him. Beautiful, delighting our eyes... . He gave us all he had been given... . We are missing Michael Jackson. But we do know, we had him — and we are the world."
9. From Little Prince to King of Pop: Fighting back tears, Brooke Shields recounts how she and Michael — who were oft labeled an "odd couple" when photographed out together as kids — enjoyed "the most natural and easiest of friendships." Having grown up in the spotlight, she says, "[We] needed to be adults very early. But when we were together, we were two little kids having fun." Shields' speech offers an illuminating glimpse inside the lives of two rising stars who helped each other embrace their inner child and all their fun and weird times, and Jackson's eccentric fashion sense. "If you're going to hold my hand it had better be the non-gloved one because sequins really hurt me," she says.
8. King of Montages: A pulsating, rousing and incredibly poignant montage encapsulates the plethora of iconic MJ images. It ends, appropriately, with the soft ballad "You Are Not Alone," the last No. 1 single of Jackson's career.
7. Remember the Time We Ate KFC?: Magic Johnson provides a moment of levity when he recounts a dinner at Jackson's house. The former Los Angeles Laker visited Jackson to discuss appearing in the "Remember the Time" video and ordered grilled chicken from Jackson's personal chef, only to learn that Jackson had ordered Kentucky Fried Chicken to be served as they sat on the floor. Johnson calls it the "greatest moment of my life."
6. One Glove, One Love: Pallbearers pay tribute to Jackson in one very distinct and unified way — each donning one silver-sequined glove — which was part of an ensemble commemorating the Jackson 5's look during the 1984 Victory tour. It also reminds us that Jackson was not only an entertainment icon, but a style one as well.
4. Summer Goodbye: Stevie Wonder performs the eerily appropriate "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" from his 1971 album Where I'm Coming From album. The song, which was also featured in Janet Jackson's movie Poetic Justice, includes the lyrics: "I never dreamed you'd leave in summer/I thought you would go then come back home/I thought the cold would leave by summer/But my quiet nights will be spent alone." Wonder then asks: "Michael, why didn't you stay?"
3. Come Together: Harkening back to Jackson's video for "Heal the World," which features children suffering from unrest, groups of children came together on stage to perform the tune and to honor, as Kobe Bryant pointed out, the entertainer who holds the most charities supported by a pop star record in the Guinness Book of World Records.
2. No Truer Words Were Ever Spoken: Following a stirring performance of "Will You Be There" from a very pregnant Jennifer Hudson, who herself has endured loss in the past year, the performance concludes with a chilling Jackson voiceover of the spoken portion of the song.
In our darkest hour, in my deepest despair, will you still care? Will you be there?In my trials, and my tribulations, through our doubts, and frustrations, In my violence, in my turbulence, through my fear, and my confessionsIn my anguish and my pain, through my joy and my sorrow, in the promise of another tomorrowI'll never let you part, for you're always in my heart
1. Father First: As Janet Jackson said at the BET Awards last week, to us, Jackson is an icon, but to them, he is family — and to his three children, he is their father. Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris, surprisingly steps up to the mic to remember her father. "I just want to say ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine, and I just wanted to say I love him so much," she says before bursting into tears.

Media gear up to cover Michael Jackson's memorial service at Staples Center

Just as in life, the King of Pop in death is poised to command nearly unprecedented media coverage.Six days before he was to begin a 50-date comeback tour in London, Michael Jackson will instead be eulogized at a massive memorial service today at Staples Center. All the major networks and a host of cable news and entertainment channels, including CNN, MSNBC, E! Entertainment, TV Guide Network and TV One, plan to carry the event live at 10 a.m.Here's a brief rundown of the coverage:* MSNBC will begin its coverage at 8 a.m., with Chris Jansing anchoring. Fox News' Shepard Smith will anchor the day, beginning at 9 a.m. Meanwhile, CNN will start at 9 a.m. with Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Don Lemon as anchors. (CNN will carry the service on sister networks HLN, CNN International and CNN en Espanol as well.)* On ABC, "Good Morning America" will air a special edition from Los Angeles and Charlie Gibson will anchor "Remembering Michael Jackson" with "Nightline" anchor Martin Bashir when the service begins. At 9 p.m., Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters will co-anchor a special edition of " 20/20," reporting on the highlights of the service. " Primetime: Family Secrets" at 10 p.m. will focus on Jackson's children.
* CBS' "The Early Show" will broadcast live from Staples, with Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith anchoring. Katie Couric will anchor the "CBS Evening News" at 6:30 p.m. and "48 Hours" at 10 p.m., both from Staples.* NBC's "Today" will air a "split edition," with host Meredith Vieira in Los Angeles. Live coverage of the services, anchored by Brian Williams, will begin at 10 a.m. Williams also will anchor "Nightly News" from Staples Center. At 10 p.m., Lester Holt will anchor a special edition of "Dateline."The event's ratings are expected to be record-breaking, according to television analysts. More than 1.6 million people registered over the weekend for a chance at one of 17,500 free tickets to the service and Jackson's death has dominated social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.For those without access to television, there are still options. KCRW-FM (89.9) will broadcast the event live and it will also be streamed online on several news sites, including latimes.com and http://www.hulu.com/.The service will also be seen in 88 movie theaters across 31 states, including Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood.

Michael Jackson's Memorial Lures A-List Attendees, Participants

At his public memorial service today in Los Angeles, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson may finally get his wish: to be treated like royalty. From all accounts, the services will likely be of the same caliber as those held 12 years ago for a real member of royalty: Princess Diana. It's only fitting, since Jackson was obsessed with the Princess of Wales and all things royal.
"He famously wanted to be in Princess Di's good graces and the good graces of the queen (Elizabeth II)," Jackson biographer Stacy Brown told ABCNews.com. "He was obsessed with royalty and wanted to be knighted."
Jackson never got the opportunity to be called Sir Michael Jackson, but after today's memorial, there will be no doubt that he was the King of Pop.
"You're talking about the A-list of all A-lists," said Brown, who co-wrote "Michael Jackson: The Man behind the Mask."
"Nobody is going to miss it," he said. "It's going to be the grandest of all red carpet events. It's going to be something you can only imagine was a Michael Jackson production -- his final production."

Michael Jackson will be buried among Tinseltown's legends at Forest Lawn

Bette Davis has long been buried there. So have Gene Autry, Sandra Dee, John Ritter, Freddie Prinze, Isabel Sanford and Telly Savalas.
Two weeks ago, Ed McMahon joined them. And David Carradine two weeks before him.
Now, it's the King of Pop.
Today, at 8 a.m., Michael Jackson will be laid to rest in a lavish paradise of lush green lawns and million-dollar views in the Hollywood Hills.
The immaculate and gentle grounds of Forest Lawn Memorial Park are home to some of Tinseltown's brightest stars, who now rest in green pastures and giant marble mausoleums.
"It's one of the greenest cemeteries in Los Angeles," said author and cemetery historian Lisa Burks. "It's immaculately kept by a massive groundskeeping crew who are very good, and it's notorious for guarding the privacy of their clients."
Cemetery officials wouldn't say where Jackson would end up on the massive grounds, but there was a flurry of activity at the posh Court of Liberty in the south section yesterday, where workers pruned trees and cut hedges, and a backhoe dug a fresh grave.
Buried nearby are stars like Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and Ritter.
The centerpiece of the court is a bronze and marble statue of George Washington by legendary American sculptor Thomas Ball.
Another possible place for Jackson is the Court of Remembrance on the cemetery's north side, home to the giant stone tombs of Sandra Dee, Liberace and Prinze.
The American history-themed cemetery is part of the elite Forest Lawn chain.
"It's a gorgeous location," said Burks. "You can see the Verdugo Hills, you can see into Burbank, and when you're standing at Bette Davis' crypt, you can see Universal Studios and Disney."
Another Jackson family member is already there - Tito Jackson's first wife, Delores (DeeDee) Martes, who was murdered in 1994.
Hollywood Hills is 10 minutes away from Forest Lawn's Glendale Cemetery, the largest of the chain's properties.
Buried on those grounds are Humphrey Bogart, George Burns, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Walt Disney, Clark Gable and baseball legend Casey Stengel.

Michael Jackson's love for his children was all magic, no trick, party magician says

LOS ANGELES - Christmas was two months past, but there was still a pair of withering Christmas wreaths on the front gate and the grounds beyond were poorly tended.
The plants needed watering and this Holmby Hills mansion was itself falling into disrepair - not at all what the magician Rob Zabrecky expected from having seen photos of Michael Jackson's previous residences, the Neverland Ranch and the family compound in Encino, Calif.
"Disheartening," Zabrecky recalled. "We have this grand picture of how this person lives on this grand scale, always surrounding himself by things he loved."
As Zabrecky would later recount to L.A. Weekly and then to the Daily News, security guards took him to a side room. He waited with the three other acts hired for the show, a Double Dutch team, a juggler and a Hula-Hooper.
Zabrecky went second. He stepped into the backyard and noticed a toy pirate ship bobbing in the swimming pool, right out of Peter Pan and Neverland, yet battered, the sails broken.
"Lost at sea and in a storm, but still floating," he recalled.
Zabrecky did not see the crowd of kids or the balloons or the cake he anticipated when he was hired to perform at a birthday party for the youngest of Jackson's three children, Prince Michael Jackson 2nd, known as Blanket.
Zabrecky saw only the birthday boy, his siblings and their father on a row of patio chairs. The father was at the end, not surprising in black pajamas, wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses.
The children sat beside him in ascending order of age. What was immediately remarkable about them was how much they dressed and looked like children.
"Normal," Zabrecky later noted.
The biggest and best surprise regarding all four Jacksons was made only more so by the disrepair of the house and the grounds.
"They seemed like a really happy family and to see that was beautiful," Zabrecky said. "They just kept smiling."
Unlike some children he has encountered, the Jackson kids remained attentive and appreciative through the whole performance.
"These kids were focused. They were going to see a show," Zabrecky remembered. "Spoiled children won't give you their attention."
The show was interrupted when a helicopter clattered overhead. The children had each brought some Indian print fabric, and they covered themselves with accustomed ease to guard against paparazzi shots from above.
"It just seemed, 'This is the part [when] we have to cover ourselves because of a helicopter. ... This is what we do,'" Zabrecky said.
The helicopter flew on and the children uncovered. The show proceeded to the finale, a shrinking card trick that seemed to be their favorite.
The father joined in applauding and thanking the magician at the end.
"A great audience member," Zabrecky said of the star who had thrilled millions from the stage.
Then it was over, and Zabrecky walked back out through the disrepair that made what was manifestly intact only more remarkable. Here was true magic that involved no tricks.
"I left with a really warm sense that these were four peas in a pod," Zabrecky said.
Four months after that Feb. 21 party, tragedy struck. Grieving fans were still piling fresh flowers in front of the gates yesterday.
Someone had replaced the withering wreaths with fresh ones, complete with red ribbons and oversize pine cones, perhaps because Christmas was always such an important holiday for Jackson and his kids.
"Big time," a former head of security noted.
They will never have another Christmas together, nor a Fourth of July weekend such as so many happy families are now enjoying.
The stark fact that three kids have lost their father is what should be foremost in everybody's mind as we proceed to Tuesday and what is neither a show nor a spectacle, but a memorial.
For the sake of the three forever bereft of a fourth, let's hope there is portent in that toy pirate ship right out of Peter Pan and Neverland, battered and broken as if by a storm, but still afloat.

Final tally for Michael Jackson memorial: 1.6 million people register!

The registration process for free tickets to Michael Jackson's public memorial service has closed. Now AEG, the company behind the memorial, is charged with the unenviable task of sorting through 1.6 million registers, "scrubbing" all entries to eliminate duplicates and those suspected to have been made by auto-entry, and randomly drawing 8,750 tickets. Fans selected will receive an email on July 5 after 11 am PST with instructions on how to obtain their two free tickets. Tickets will be distributed on July 6 at an off-site location. The service will be held on July 7 at the Staples Center or the live simulcast at the Nokia Theatre.

Powerful sedative Diprivan found in Michael Jackson's home

Investigators discovered the powerful sedative Diprivan inside Michael Jackson's home, a law enforcement source told the Associated Press Friday.
Diprivan, an intravenous drug used in hospital operating rooms to knock out patients, is highly unusual to have in a private home.
It is also known by its generic name Propofol.
Sources told CNN Friday Jackson suffered from such a severe case of insomnia he traveled with a private anesthesiologist in the mid-1990s.
Dr. Neil Ratner regularly helped "take down" and "bring him back up" during the pop icon's HIStory tour, sources told CNN.
The revelation adds further evidence to the theory that prescription drugs played a role in the pop star's death.
A California nurse has said Jackson begged her for Propofol for months. In a phone call from one of his staffers days before his death, she became convinced he had gotten his hands on some.
Experts say the drug can lead to cardiac arrest, especially when combined with others.
Jackson, 50, died suddenly on June 25 after going into cardiac arrest inside his Bel Air estate.
Authorities have yet to determine Jackson's official cause of death, pending toxicology results.
Ratner confirmed that Jackson suffered from a massive sleep disorder, but refused to comment on any of the other allegations.
"It's really something I don't want to talk about right now," he said outside his Woodstock, New York, home Thursday.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is also looking into the role of drugs, two federal law enforcement sources said a day earlier.
Meanwhile, the city of Los Angeles on Friday began gearing up for a monstrous tribute to the fallen pop legend.
After days of intense speculation, a Jackson spokesman announced late Thursday a public memorial would be held Tuesday morning at the Staples Center.
Fans who want to attend the memorial in the 20,000-seat Staples Center in Los Angeles must register for free tickets, said the Jackson family's spokesman, Ken Sunshine. Details on how to do that will be announced Friday.
Although only 11,000 tickets will be available - and there will be a huge rush on them - it's expected many thousands of fans will gather outside the center and on the streets leading to the arena in a massive outpouring of sorrow.
The venue is fitting: Jackson rehearsed at the arena two days before he diedhttp://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/michael_jackson/2009/07/03/2009-07-03_powerful_sedative_diprivan_found_in_michael_jacksons_home.html#ixzz0KEXXFoW3&D

Watch footage of Michael Jackson's last rehearsal - video

Promoters behind O2 Arena residency release video of late singer's preparations

footage of Michael Jackson's last rehearsal before his death on June 25 has been released.Clips of the singer preparing for his London O2 Arena residency have been published by the shows' promoter AEG Live.The video can be watched below.

Michael Jackson's farewell will be like few others before

Fans who want to attend the memorial in the 20,000-seat Staples Center in Los Angeles must register for free tickets, said the Jackson family's spokesman, Ken Sunshine. Details on how to do that will be announced today.
Although only 11,000 tickets will be available - and there will be a huge rush on them - it's expected many thousands of fans will gather outside the center and on the streets leading to the arena in a massive outpouring of sorrow.
The venue is fitting: Jackson rehearsed at the arena two days before he died.
As plans for the event were being finalized, Jackson's brother Jermaine, his eyes welling with tears, revealed the heartbreak of the final moments he spent with the body of his legendary kid brother at the UCLA Medical Center.
"I kissed him on his forehead, and I hugged him, and I touched him, and I said, 'Michael, I'll never leave you. You'll never leave me,'" Jermaine Jackson told NBC's "Today" show.
"To see him there, lifeless and breathless, was very emotional for me. ... He went too soon. I don't know how people are going to take this, but I wish it was me."
Details of the superstar's funeral were still being worked out but it's expected to be in private after Tuesday's ceremony at the Staples Center.
Several reports said he will be buried at the celebrity-filled Forest Lawn Mortuary in Hollywood Hills - even though Jermaine said he wished his brother could be buried at his Neverland Ranch, and state officials said that wasn't out of the question.
The King of Pop died last Thursday after being found unresponsive at his rented mansion.
The LAPD, along with agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, are probing Jackson's doctors amid allegations he was done in by prescription drugs.
In the day's other developments:
A video of Jackson's final rehearsal emerged, showing Jackson preparing for his upcoming London concerts at the Staples Center two days before he died.
In the clip, obtained by CNN, Jackson appears relatively fit as he dances to his hit track, "They Don't Care About Us."
President Obama spoke out about Jackson for the first time, saying he "will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers."
Jackson will be laid to rest in the same kind of $25,000 solid bronze casket used for James Brown, TMZ.com reported. Called a Promethean, the 14-karat gold-plated casket has a blue velvet interior.

Sanwi kingdom mourns passing of a prince

He was known around the world as the King of Pop. But in a tiny kingdom on the Ivory Coast's south-eastern tip, singer Michael Jackson was true royalty.

'King of Pop' Michael Jackson was true royalty in the small Ivory Coast kingdom of Sanwi, where the people are mourning the passing of a prince.

For Sanwi’s population, the pop star was one of their own. Jackson was made a prince during a visit in 1992, when he came to discover his African roots.

"Michael Jackson comes from Krindjabo, capital of the Kingdom of Sanwi," explains Prince Joseph Koffi Aman, an inhabitant of the small kingdom on the south-eastern tip of the Ivory Coast.

After consultations with the king, district chiefs reached a surprising decision. The council wants Michael Jackson's remains to be transferred to Sanwi's capital Krindjabo, so that there can be an African funeral worthy of the pop star.

This view is echoed by the kingdom's young subjects, for whom Jackson's influence is as strong as ever.

“According to tradition, when a prince dies outside the kingdom, he should be brought back so the funeral can be carried out in line with our customs," says Jerome Tanoh Anoh, leader of the youth of Sanwi.

Anoh and his brothers are keen to attend Jackson’s funeral. However most of them will be mourning from a distance due to visa constraints.