Tag Archives: France
8 April 2014
Following accusations by the Rwandan President Paul Kagame of French involvement in the Rwandan genocide, France did not attend the ceremony on 7 April 2014, marking the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. According to the French Foreign Ministry, Rwanda barred the ambassador from the commemoration.
Kagame told the magazine Jeune Afrique in an interview last month that both France and Belgium had a ‘direct role in the political preparation of genocide and participation in its execution.’ Kagame accused France of training and arming the Hutu armed groups who were the main perpetrators of the genocide and of involvement in the slaughter of Rwandans who attempted to escape through a French-controlled territory. (more…)
Source: Reuters | France to shun Rwanda genocide ceremony after Kagame accusations
Source: The New York Times | 20 Years After, Rwanda Pauses to Recall Carnage
Source: The Wall Street Journal | Rwanda, France Spar on Anniversary of Genocide
21 March 2014
The German government has requested federal prosecutors to investigate if German companies violated the law by exporting materials to Syria during the 1980s and early 1990s that may have enabled the country to develop a chemical weapons programme. Based on information given to it by Syria, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has provided a list of companies to Germany, said a spokesman of the German ministry of economy on 19 March 2014. According to a report by the Süddeutsche Zeitung on 19 March 2014, Russia, France and China were also involved in providing Syria with materials that could be used to produce chemical weapons.
Source: Reuters | German prosecutors probe firms for Syria chemical weapons links
11 March 2014
On 10 March 2014, the heads of state of Caribbean nations unanimously adopted a 10-point plan requesting reparations from European states for the continuing suffering caused by the Atlantic slave trade. Sir Hilary Beckles, the chair of the reparations task force, insisted that the main objective of the plan was not money, but to enter into a dialogue with former slave-trading nations including the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Spain and Portugal. (more…)
Source: The Guardian | Caribbean nations prepare demand for slavery reparations
Source: The Washington Post | Caribbean adopts plan to seek slavery reparations
5 March 2014
While the US military involvement in Africa, Niger in particular, seeks to combat Islamist militants, the government does not want to put a lot of soldiers and money into the African region. Therefore, the Obama administration focuses their involvement on training and advising African troops, and providing assistance to European allies that have forces in the region as well. Part of the US mission in Niger is to train African troops to conduct combat patrols and how to foil terrorist ambushes, however, the US also helped organise a medical clinic in a nearby village. The US has spent USD 33 million in the past two years on building Niger’s counterterrorism abilities and providing equipment. Additionally, the US mission also focuses on assisting its European allies in the region, for example, the US has provided intelligence to France, which has soldiers in Mali. (more…)
Source: The New York Times | U.S. Takes Training Role in Africa as Threats Grow and Budgets Shrink
26 February 2014
On 24 February 2014 the members of the Caribbean’s political and economic body Caricom met in order to discuss their campaign for reparation by former slave-owning nations in Europe – principally the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The claim is channelled through the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which can be employed as a forum for negotiation according to Caricom. If no agreement is concluded, however, the Caribbean leaders will take their claim to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). (more…)
Source: The Guardian | UK sternly resists paying reparations for slave trade atrocities and injustices